Milan 2016: Austrian product designer Thomas Feichtner has collaborated with a group of craftspeople to create a minimal wooden chair using traditional carpentry techniques.
Feichtner created the A-Chair together with members of the Werkraum Bregenzerwald, a cooperative of master craftspeople in Bregenz.
They set out to turn one of the unrealised sketches from a recent exhibition of the designer's work into a finished product.
The idea they chose to develop was for a minimal chair that used the least material possible while still retaining its function.
"When I looked at the silhouette of a sitting person, I realised that you only need the front part of the seating shell and just one contact point on the back to get a short rest," said Feichtner.
"I minimised the chair by using one diameter of squared timber which is bevelled at the back."
In order to get a smooth finish, the designer worked with Austrian furniture maker Schmidinger Möbelbau who created a series of traditional wood joints for the chair.
The simple wood connections allow the sides to be created separately from the seat and then joined afterwards, meaning the chair can be efficiently mass-produced.
A-Chair, named for the typographic shape of the chair from side-on, is made from beech wood but will eventually be on sale in various colours and other types of wood.
The chair is now due to be displayed as part of the Back Ahead – New Austrian Design Perspectives exhibition at Villa Necchi Campiglio during this year's Milan design week, which takes place from 12 to 17 April 2016.
"The central theme of the exhibition is the interplay between perspectives that look back at Austrian design history and those that look ahead to the future development of the Austrian creative industry," said a statement from the organisers.
"In these turbulent times the Austrian position is calm, down to earth, less bling-bling and more focused on the real essentials" said the designer.
"I think the A-Chair is a very appropriate contribution for this year's Back Ahead exhibition in Milan. The chair is a symbiosis of Alpine craft tradition, associated with a very clear design access."
At past Milan design weeks, Feichtner has exhibited products including a triangular chair created from a single carbon fibre sheet and a seat made from steam-bent wood in the same factory as Thonet's iconic wooden furniture.
Also on show during this year's event will be a furniture range by Hem that can be flat-packed for easy shipping and a transparent rocking horse based on the shape of I-beams created by Nendo for Kartell.
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