Re-Steltman
Product Design, semester 3 Minerva
Assignment: Choose and recreate/duplicate a Gerrit Rietveld chair. Make an original design inspired by Rietveld
The chair I choose to recreate is the Steltman chair of Rietveld. The chair originally made in 1963 for Steltman Jewellers, was designed for couples to choose their (wedding) jewels. With white leather the original chair was upholstered.
I think it’s a very interesting design. The first time I saw the chair it reminded me of an infinity drawing by M.C. Escher. I was intrigued by the lines of the wooden version of the chair.
Starting with a 1:5 scale model. I drew the chair schematically and calculated all de sizes.
At the end the replica of the Steltman turned out well! Mortise and tenon joints are well fixed and the chair is solidly. I expected the chair to be bigger, so I had nice starting point to make a reaction chair.
Inspired by Escher and Rietveld I designed a chair not to sit on.
The final chair is made from metal tubes and 15 welding bends.
While making the chair I still wasn’t sure about the seating. I thought of a wooden seat or maybe fabric/leather. I even thought of just a block of wood in the middle. To see what the different options would do to the design I just made them all as a sort of research. (results below)
Some seats were nice, but none of them made the desired effect on the chair. All the seats broke down the ‘simple’ one line design.
A chair could have more function then just sitting. How often do you use a chair different then to sit on it? You can use it as a stand to reach to something on a high shelf or to toss on your dirty clothes when you go to bed. A chair could also be used as a pedestal for a plant. I decided to not give my redesigned Steltman chair a function for now. Use the frame in a way you like.
Do you have ideas, suggestions or want to see more of this design?
Please contact me, I would be happy to talk to you!
