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Modern Chinese Chair by Jonathan Nieh

Modern Chinese Chair by Jonathan Nieh is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 Silver A' Design Award in Furniture Design Competition Category.


SilverFurniture· 2022

Modern Chinese Chair

by Jonathan Nieh

Client: Niehworks

Silver A' Design Award Winner in Furniture Category

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Verified Award Winner

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Colors

The Design

About Modern Chinese Chair

Modern Chinese is an armchair intended for seating and also suitable for display as an art piece. The form borrows from the traditional Chinese armchair and from Marcel Breuer's No. B33 chair. CNC processing shapes plywood and solid walnut into a fluid and seamless outline, replacing the angular parts and woodworking joints of traditional construction. The structure and the strength of the wood were calculated to support body weight. A metal tube frame was studied first, but wood was chosen for its warmer appearance.

The Recognition

About the Silver A' Design Award

Modern Chinese Chair is a Silver A' Design Award winner, an extraordinarily prestigious recognition granted to top-of-the-line, gorgeous, and impressive designs. Silver winners are tremendously brilliant and exceedingly creative works that illustrate the outstanding expertise, talent, and acuity of their designers. Modern Chinese Chair is expected to be a wonderful, showpiece work that is remarkably professional and profoundly innovative. This Silver A' Design Award-winning design is a highly notable, admired invention that benefits and advances the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Modern Chinese Chair is a vastly envied creation that evokes desires, introduces positive feelings, and sparks amazement and wonderment.

Where to Get It

Custom Furniture Design Services

We blend traditional aesthetics with contemporary techniques to create bespoke furniture that reflects your unique vision. Our award-winning approach combines artistic expression with functional design, bringing elegance and innovation to your living spaces.

Commission Design

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties
The overall concept is to borrow the shape of traditoinal Chinese armchair and fused with current technology and material such as CNC processing and plywood to create a modern and organic looking Chinese style furniture.
Dimensions & Packaging
Width 765mm x Depth 650mm x Height 800mm
Seat Height 420mm
Tags
chair, furniture, minimalism, simplicity, creative, oriental, Chinese, design, artistic, beautiful
Production Technology
CNC Processing,
Plywood, solid wood(walnut)
Design Challenge
The most challenging part of this chair concept is to design proper structure and calculate wood strength enable to support people's weight. The original idea was to use metal tube and bending technique to create the chair structure, but the finish appearance looks too cold and contemporary, therefore, the material was switched from metal back to wood.
Research
For this project the idea/design was just pop into my head when I was reading a book called "Encyclopedia of China Traditional Furniture Making and Appreciation" Therefore, it is difficult to position this chair as a design piece or an art work.
Inspiration
Modern Chinese Armchair was inspired by traditional Chinese armchair and Marcel Breuer's No. B33 chair design. The original motive was not to simplified a traditional Chinese armchair into a modern looking one, but to borrowed the design from the past and infused with present technology and material to expand a new style of Chinese furniture.
Project Duration
The project started in March 2021 in Taipei, Taiwan and minor changes are undergoing
Operation Flow
Modern Chinese Armchair is mainly for sitting purpose but can also be viewed as piece of art work.

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Good Design Deserves Great Recognition

The A' Design Award is an international, juried accolade for good design. Take part in the A' Design Award to get an opportunity to earn meritocratic recognition, gain fame, prestige and publicity for your work. Nominate your work for the A' Design Award and compete for the coveted A' Design Prize.

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