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Design & Craft

Chairs

How great chairs are designed and made — from mingei and Danish modern to the green-wood revival — taught half through appreciation and design thinking, half through real shop work, ending in plan-verified builds, two capstone chairs, and original measured projects in a practical plan room.

38 lessons ~5 h

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Who it's for

Anyone who wants to understand chairs deeply and learn to build them: the Japanese and Scandinavian design traditions, the joinery and techniques behind them, and hands-on projects from complete beginner shop plans to two capstone chairs.

Unit 1

How a Chair Works

4 lessons · 27 min

  1. 1 The Two (and a Half) Families of Chairs 6 min Start
  2. 2 The Geometry of Sitting 7 min Start
  3. 3 Wood for Chairs 7 min Start
  4. 4 What Makes a Chair Good 7 min Start
Unit 2

Makers & Movements

6 lessons · 40 min

  1. 1 Mingei and Modern Japan 6 min Start
  2. 2 The Japanese-American Synthesis 7 min Start
  3. 3 Danish Modern 7 min Start
  4. 4 The Wider North 6 min Start
  5. 5 Continental Currents 7 min Start
  6. 6 American Studio Furniture (and Eames, Briefly) 7 min Start
Unit 3

Design Thinking, Drawing & Chair Math

7 lessons · 48 min

  1. 1 How Chair Designers Work 7 min Start
  2. 2 Reading and Making Plans 6 min Start
  3. 3 The Geometry of Chairs 6 min Start
  4. 4 The Physics of Chairs 8 min Start
  5. 5 Proportion and Form Language 7 min Start
  6. 6 Designing Your Own Variation 7 min Start
  7. 7 Rocking Chairs 7 min Start
Unit 4

Joinery & Techniques

10 lessons · 72 min

  1. 1 The Mortise-and-Tenon Family 7 min Start
  2. 2 The Chairmaker's Joint 7 min Start
  3. 3 Japanese Joinery and Hand Tools 7 min Start
  4. 4 Riving and Shaving Chair Parts 7 min Start
  5. 5 Carving a Plank Seat 8 min Start
  6. 6 Bending Wood 7 min Start
  7. 7 Turning for Chairs 7 min Start
  8. 8 Woven Seats and Finishes 8 min Start
  9. 9 The Slip Seat: A First Upholstered Seat 7 min Start
  10. 10 Repairing Chairs 7 min Start
Unit 5

The Builds

7 lessons · 55 min

  1. 1 The Designer's Invitation (Mari's Sedia 1 or Rietveld's Crate Chair) 7 min Start
  2. 2 Stick Chair Warm-Up (*Build a Chair from Bulls%$t*) 9 min Start
  3. 3 Bent Lamination: The Butterfly Homage 7 min Start
  4. 4 Building an Icon (Choose Your Track) 8 min Start
  5. 5 Rustic Stretch 7 min Start
  6. 6 Capstone A: The Democratic Side Chair 8 min Start
  7. 7 Capstone B: The Post-and-Rung Ladderback 9 min Start
Unit 6

The Plan Room

4 lessons · 46 min

  1. 1 The Chairmaker's Resource Atlas 8 min Start
  2. 2 Complete Plan: The Four-Square Stool 11 min Start
  3. 3 Complete Plan: The Three-Point Backstool 18 min Start
  4. 4 Museum to Mockup: An Honest Inspiration Plan 9 min Start