A long time ago I found Artsthread.com,
a site claiming to be (or become) “The World’s Leading Network For New Creatives” linking Education & Industry.
ARTS THREAD is the leading digital platform for emerging artists and designers a launchpad for the next generation of creative talent representing 300,000 students in more than 100 countries from over 760 design schools.
ARTS THREAD bridges the gap between education and the creative industry. For the first time ever, design students, graduates, universities, schools and the creative industry can network worldwide.
There I found the Aeroformed Chair by Connor Holland
The Aeroformed Chair is a futuristic design that showcases the innovative manufacturing process I call ‘Aeroforming’. Air is injected between two welded metal sheets, which forces them apart as the pressure builds, resulting in inflated objects that resemble metal balloons.
Using compressed air for this purpose is cleaner and more precise compared to using water, known as the Hydroforming process. I first experimented with this at university, creating my steel ‘Lilo Bench’ that closely mimics an inflatable air mattress.
Inflating metal enables the creation of complex three-dimensional forms, which would be too expensive or time consuming to reproduce using conventional methods. The resulting objects are extremely strong for their weight and can support very heavy loads, even when the metal before inflation is only as thick as a 2p coin.
For this new design, I wanted to show that minimal inflation still provides considerable structural strength, while maintaining a sleek appearance without buckles or dents. By carefully limiting airflow into the piece, key structural areas inflate to the required thickness, but the back supports are left with an attractive taper that shows how thin the steel is before inflation.
Connor Holland is an independent product & furniture designer who graduated from Kingston in Hastings U.K.