Seating Tool
| Year | 2024 |
| Context | Bachelor diploma project — New Design University, St. Pölten |
| Role | Solo project — concept, construction, fabrication |
Context
Seating comfort is usually designed from tables and norms — average bodies, static angles. But comfort is individual and best found empirically. The Seating Tool is an instrument, not a chair: an adjustable rig that lets designers and users find the best-fitting seating geometry by sitting, adjusting and measuring.
Brief & Role
Practical bachelor thesis at New Design University, St. Pölten — a self-defined task: build a working measuring instrument that makes ergonomic dimensions tangible instead of theoretical. Concept, construction and fabrication are my own work; final photography by Nikolaus Korab. [ASSUMPTION — verify: academic supervisor to credit?]
Process
From ergonomic research (seat heights of 40–50 cm, seat depths of 38–43 cm, backrest angles up to 120°) to a first full model, then a systematic revision: ten documented improvements between the first build and the final design — narrower stance, aluminium guide bushings instead of bare drill holes, a purpose-built angle indicator, and measuring scales engraved directly into the uprights during laser cutting. Steel parts were adapted on the lathe; acrylic jigs distributed the gluing pressure.
Material & Sustainability
The structure is 6 mm beech plywood, laminated in pairs to 18 mm — cut and engraved in a single laser pass. Pivots run on threaded rods in aluminium bushings; connections use standard fasteners throughout. The tool itself is a long-life instrument: repairable, with separable material groups — and conceived for a possible open-source release of its cutting plans.
Outcome
A stable, fully adjustable seating instrument: seat height (front and rear), seat depth, seat angle, backrest height and backrest angle can be set continuously and read off precisely — six reference configurations are documented with exact values. It supports designers in early-phase decisions with real, individual data instead of table values. [ASSUMPTION — verify: was it exhibited or used in teaching?]
Images
Placeholder — photography follows (build process, engraved scales, Korab studio photography of the final tool).