Silver Furniture Design · 2026
Silhouette Convertible Chair
- A' Design Award 2026 Silver Winner in Furniture Design
- Awarded April 15, 2026
- CLIENT: Jonah Rappaport
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 26,164
- Verification code 3403C74AD5 · Verify this award
About Silhouette Convertible Chair
Silhouette is a convertible chair that shifts between an armchair, lounge chair, and chaise lounge through the reconfiguration of its primary elements. Instead of relying on exposed mechanisms or concealed hardware beneath upholstery, it transforms by reassigning the roles of the same visible components that define the chair in each position. With its sleek, sculptural form and clear structural expression, Silhouette offers a contemporary alternative to conventional convertible seating.
Situated within the discourse of contemporary furniture design, Jonah Rappaport's Silhouette Convertible Chair represents a compelling synthesis of structural innovation and ergonomic refinement that speaks to enduring human desires for comfort, contemplation, and aesthetic pleasure within domestic environments. The work demonstrates sophisticated engagement with the modernist tradition of the continuous-form chair, wherein seat, back, and base emerge from a singular conceptual gesture rather than assembled discrete components. Rappaport appears to have developed this principle through a distinctive vocabulary of parallel linear elements, possibly aluminum or steel rods, that collectively define volume and surface while maintaining visual permeability, a quality that allows the surrounding environment to participate in the object's visual identity. The technical achievement evident in the precisely calculated curvature suggests either advanced computational design methodologies or exceptional material expertise, as the compound curves must accommodate both structural integrity and the organic requirements of the reclined human body. The convertible aspect implied by the nomenclature invites consideration of functional versatility, perhaps suggesting adjustment between upright and reclined positions or transformation between rocker and stationary modes. Thematically, the work explores the relationship between industrial precision and organic comfort, between transparency and substance, between the chair as autonomous sculptural object and as frame for human repose and contemplation. The placement within this elevated interior space, overlooking extensive parkland and urban fabric, amplifies these meditations by positioning the seated figure as observer of vast temporal and spatial expanses. The dark chromatic choice establishes the chair as a definitive presence, a contemplative anchor within the luminous architectural envelope. Viewers might consider how the design negotiates the tensions between visibility and comfort, between aesthetic statement and functional service, and how the ribbon-like construction creates its own visual rhythm that echoes across the herringbone pattern of the supporting floor surface.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Silhouette is a transformable chair that shifts between an armchair, lounge chair and chaise lounge. Its defining feature is that the structure itself performs the transformation. In the chaise, the suspended headrest and legrest rotate to become load-bearing supports in the armchair, and vice versa. The chair changes function through structural reconfiguration rather than added mechanisms, and in each state the form reads as complete and resolved.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Approx. 545 mm x 900 mm x 860 mm (armchair configuration) and 545 mm x 1400 mm x 780 mm (chaise lounge configuration).
Materials: Baltic birch plywood; steel sheet metal; steel rods; aluminum tubing; custom mechanical locking components; rubber gaskets; black powder-coated steel washers and elongated hex nuts; and leather-upholstered cushions.
Finished with a true black stain and clear polyurethane coating.
All moving connections are metal to metal, with no glue or permanent bonds between joints, allowing the chair to be fully disassembled, repaired, and reassembled without degrading the wood elements. - Tags
- convertible chair, transformable furniture, adaptive design, experimental furniture, contemporary chair design, multifunctional seating, sculptural minimalism, craftsmanship, human-centered design
- Production Technology
- Developed through multiple full-scale prototypes, the geometry, proportions, and biomechanics were refined so that each configuration provides appropriate seat depth, height, and support, rather than functioning as a compromise between positions. After extensive hand drawings and scale models, a precise digital twin was developed before fabrication. The chair’s wood components were laser-cut, hand-routed, sanded, and stained, while custom sheet-metal components and steel rods were cut, manually threaded, welded and finished by hand.
- Design Challenge
- Three main challenges defined the project. Conceptually, the chair had to function and appear resolved in multiple configurations while allowing elements such as the headrest and legrest to shift structural roles. Mechanically, suspended components required the development of a concealed locking system capable of resisting human load without visible hardware or auxiliary mechanisms. Fabrication demanded precise tolerances, extensive prototyping and iterative refinement to reconcile structural performance with formal clarity.
- Project Duration
- The project was conceived at the Yale School of Architecture in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Designed and fabricated entirely in the school’s wood and metal shops, the chair was completed in June 2024 following a four-month independent design-and-build process.
- Operation Flow
- The chair transforms through a fluid rotation of its headrest and legrest: when shifting from chaise lounge to armchair, the headrest becomes the rear legs and the legrest the front legs. Concealed locking mechanisms within the base guide and secure each movement, allowing each position to be locked or released smoothly as needed. Adjustable armrests and an infinitely variable backrest support natural transitions in posture, from reclined to upright, with minimal effort and no external tools.
- Research
- This project is an experimental study on adaptable seating. The objective was to create a single chair that can be transformed to support multiple postures without relying on exposed mechanisms or hiding them beneath upholstery. The methodology combined precedent analysis, including measuring and cataloguing existing chairs and chaise lounges, with hand drawing, digital and physical modeling, and full-scale prototyping. Peers participated in use tests of successive prototypes to analyse and help improve comfort, balance and proportion. The research demonstrates that adaptability in furniture can be achieved without compromising structural clarity or formal integrity, expanding the possibilities for how seating is conceived and produced.
- Inspiration
- Silhouette emerged from a long-standing interest in transformation in furniture: how an object might adapt to different ways of sitting without compromising formal clarity. It was inspired by the tension between movement and structure, and by the question of whether transformation could emerge from the form itself rather than from added mechanisms. Formally, it draws from the disciplined geometries and material restraint of modernist design while pursuing a distinctly contemporary expression.
- Image Credits
- All photography, video, and images by Jonah Rappaport, 2024-26.
- Patents
- United Kingdom Design Registration Nos. 6450716, 6450717, 6450718.
European Union Design Registration Nos. 015106528-0001, 015106528-0002, 015106528-0003.
Canadian Design Application No. 241084.
United States Design Patent Application No. 29/979,089.
United States Utility Patent Application No. 19/419,859.