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It likes nature.

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It was not easy to convince Latvian wood – turning company that it is really needed to make a chair like this. They said it is too complicated and is not rational at all. But finally they did it. 

Wood. There is always something about it.

Start of the weaving the surface.

Knots probably were the most tricky. After this week of “weaving”, my fingers are experienced!

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The reed were drying in the attic for 2 weeks.

I thought these would be the proper tools for starting the weaving.

To make the reed stronger, I had to twist 2 of them together.

From the day until the late night – it twisting took more time than I expected…It turned out that I need around 200 twisted pieces…when I had good practice, I could make 12 per hour…Thanks to Stase, Katrīna and Madara for help!

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If there is a saying that best friends are those, who are to with you in hardest times, than I have a new saying – best cousins are those who are ready to go with you to cut reed in the lake. Like Ansis.

It took quite a while to find accessible reed! Mainly they grow in the middle of the lake.

If our Granddad would know how we are using his scythe…

Cutting

Separating

Smelled like lake…

Taking home !

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School year was over, but not the eco chair.

I was changing my location to more greener place.

And more primitive working conditions – dad’s garage!

I made a mockup from something I could find there for testing dimensions, positions of the horizontal details, proportions & ergonomics. The mockup was totally adjustable, I liked it!

Somebody said  that it looks like a new grilling machine…

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When I had a drawing, I wanted to try something real in scale 1:1 – where I can sit & test dimensions and angles. There was only 1 week left until the end of the study year. Wood workshop masters suggested me to try turning the wood instead of mockup. So, I did.

This was the amount of solid birch needed.

Tuning using the turning-copy machine. 

Turned details for the chair. My first experience in doing this!

Innovative way, how to connect details – tape! Ok, I just wanted to check the dimensions without spoiling details…

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When nothing works with small scale models – that is the stage 1:1 should be used! So I made a collage of the possible turned chair. Seemed quite promising.

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After my little ugly models, I felt stacked.

From my previous experiences I know, that in such a cases nothing really helps as just to make whatever crap.

Just to orientate my own thinking about an issue.

Learning by doing again & nothing else helps.

So I made something to understand the STRUCTURE of the Vidzemes krēsls (Vidzeme chair).

This is  like a little skeleton of the chair. Just for having a TANGIBLE  structure of it.

And – thiese coctail-straws are recycled from other scale model, in case somebody thinks, I am doind non-ecological scale model for eco chair.

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I was really impressed bu Vidzemes krēsls (Vidzeme chair – eng) and understood, that it would be great to create some kind of contemporary version of it.

As the base I wanted to use this chair:

I was thinking about it in terms of sustainability & the triangle – economy, ecology & equity. I understood that in terms of ecology the chair is relevant, as it is locally produced, from natural materials and long lasting. That what could be added, to make it more suitable for nowadays would be to make it stacking and more loose sitting position. I wanted to do the UPGRADING for the traditional chair.

So, I wanted to try, how it works  and made few scale models:

This was the stacking version. Actually 1/2 stacking, only…

This was just the version with different angle.

Even if I have been thinking quite a lot about eco chair until now and had many ideas about it, looking at my ugly scale models I felt that it is not working like that. It is not possible just to add new qualities to the existing chair. The only thing I could say after our meeting with course mates & teachers was: I should continue…

But – how ?

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I wanted to try the viewing with some natural material.

I got some reed – like material from Seurasaari.

I tried to, if it works.

And it worked! May be not the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, but I have experienced something new. And natural.