Zene Cathaoir Bhìdh by John G Williams is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2018 Duais Iarainn A' Design Award in Dealbhadh Àirneis Competition Category.

IarannÀirneis· 2018

Zene Cathaoir Bhìdh

by John G Williams

Client: John G Williams

Duais Iarainn A' Design Award Winner in Àirneis Category

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Verified Award Winner

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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Zene Cathaoir Bhìdh

Tha cathaoir bhìdh Zene a' faighinn a bhrosnachaidh bho fhiodh dùthchasach agus dealbhadh Nuadh-aimsireil Danmhairgeach. Tha na frèamaichean uinnsinn aotrom sìmplidh agus làidir agus a' cumail taic ri suidheachain is cùl-thaicean fiodha chruaidh a tha coltach gu bheil iad a' seòladh air an fhrèam. Chan eil cumaidhean lùbte an t-suidheachain/cùl-thaice air an cruthachadh le bhith a' lùbadh an fhiodha ach an àite sin le bhith a' ceangal agus a' cumadh fiodh cruaidh làn. Mar shreath tha na frèamaichean uinnsinn aotrom a' toirt seachad co-leanailteachd, agus tha stuthan ionadail eadar-dhealaichte a chaidh a thaghadh airson nan suidheachan/cùl-thaicean a' cruthachadh ùidh agus buntainneas.

The Recognition

About the Duais Iarainn A' Design Award

Tha Zene Cathaoir Bhìdh air Duais Iarainn A' Design Award a bhuannachadh, aithneachadh urramach a bheirear do dhealbhaidhean math a choinnicheas ris na riatanasan proifeiseanta is gnìomhachais a thathar a' sùileachadh bho chruthachaidhean a chaidh an dealbhadh gu math. Tha buannaichean Iarainn a' nochdadh sgil mhòr, speisealachadh àrd, tuigse eòlaiche agus comas cruthachail an luchd-cruthachaidh. Thathar an dùil gum bi Zene Cathaoir Bhìdh na chruthachadh air a bheil mòran meas, ion-mholta agus gràdhach a tha practaigeach agus ùr-ghnàthach. Tha an dealbhadh seo a bhuannaich Duais Iarainn A' Design Award a' cur nan cleachdaidhean as fheàrr sa ghnìomhachas còmhla agus tha feartan teignigeach comasach aige ceangailte ri eòlas-dèanamh agus tàlant. Tha meas air Zene Cathaoir Bhìdh airson a dhùrachd agus chaidh a dhealbhadh gus leasachaidhean càileachd beatha a thoirt seachad a chuidicheas le bhith a' dèanamh an t-saoghail na àite nas fheàrr.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

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

Unique Properties: This series of dining chairs have American ash frames and showcase different hardwood timbers for the seat/backrest combinations.

The chairs draw on the ancient art of 'coopering' or how oak barrels are made for fermentation purposes. The curved forms of the seat/backrest are not formed by bending but rather by joining and shaping solid hardwood timber.

The chair strives to be very strong and beautiful. In short: Zene -
elegant, comfortable and dependable.
Dimensions & Packaging: 515mm wide x 570mm deep x 890mm high
seat: 515mm wide x 390mm deep
back:515mm wide x 200mm high
Tags: zene, dining chair, south africa, hardwood, curved, cooper, danish modern, minimalist
Production Technology: The Zene design evolved over a number of years. The starting point was probably a fascination with the art of coopering and how this has been applied to furniture design. Building the segmented seat and backrests took some practice to perfect, as did the development of custom modifications to standard workshop tools to shape and finish the smoothly shaped forms.
Design Challenge: Building the coopered seat/backrests was challenging as it required careful attention to the compression forces on the material and how best to achieve high compression without causing the seats to 'implode'.
Shaping the rough seats into finely finished and smooth curves required considerable re-working of the custom tooling to achieve the desired results
Research: Danish modern designs were studied and absorbed to consider different ways of rendering the frame, and its relationship to the seat, and to think through the spatial relationship of the seat to the backrest.
Web search was used to think about typical dimensions for the seat but in the end prototyping proved most fun.
Inspiration: The beauty grain and colour of indigenous African timber was a key aesthetic inspiration for this project. The more technical inspiration for the overall work, including the frame design came from iconic designers such as Hans J Wegner (for example the CH20 Elbow Chair). The coopering technique was inspired by Ontario furniture designer Adrian Ferrazzutti.
Project Duration: The first prototype was conceived in Johannesburg in 2007. It was slowly refined as background task over 10 years, and the first set of 6 chairs was produced in 2017
Operation Flow: Zene is designed mainly for use at the dining table and is designed for extended dining comfort.
Patents: no patents pending
Team Members: John G Williams: designer, craftsman
Image Credits: all images by the designer: John G Williams