Studio Gang Care + Repair Workshop

Studio Gang Care+Repair Workshop Maddox Townsend - Architecture Internship Summer 2023

Studio Gang Care+Repair Workshop Studio Gang Architecture Internship Summer 2023 The Brief: Choose a damaged or broken piece of furniture or other object and perform a visible “grafted” repair that upcycles it, allowing the piece to become functional and desirable once again - giving it a different or additional use as well as a renewed appearance.

The “rootstock,” or original piece of broken furniture, was an oak and rattan cane side chair with a missing seat and a split wooden frame. We first spent time meticulously photographing, documenting, and researching the piece.

With this information, we developed multiple potential grafted schemes to create the upcycled furniture. We developed the ideas through sketches, 1/4”=1’ study models of the entire chair, and one-to-one models of joints, rattan connections, seat frames, etc. This brought us to the workshop review, with critics including Jeanne Gang (Founding principle and partner of Studio Gang), Ann Lui (Partner of Future Firm), Sarah Herda (Executive Director of the Graham Foundation), Norman Teague (Founder of Norman Teague Design Studio), and Anna Burckhardt (Assistant Curator of Architecture & Design at the Art Institute of Chicago). The main intervention of the design for mid review featured a new seat frame with a rattan shelf and arm rests. While the boxy frame was well received, the main critique was that the chair was not gaining enough additional function. This critique brought us to the final iteration: a similar frame in the form of a bench.

Exploded Isometric of Rootstock

The workshop began with extensive documentation of the found piece. The rattan chair was missing a seat and had a broken back frame piece.

Research and Documentation

Along with the documentation of existing joint conditions, the providence of the chair and the history of rattan was researched and explored.

Mid-Review Exploded Isometric

The idea for mid review included additional program of a shelf and armrests while restoring the old seat with a sturdier wooden frame.

Side Elevation and Profile

Special care was taken in exploring the side profile of the chair. The boxy frame would hug the outside of the original rootstock providing the necessary structural integrity.

1/4” = 1’ Study Models

Different iterations of design ideas for the chair. These include woven seats, boxed frames with armresests and a shelf, a new side profile and plywood frame, etc.

1’ = 1’ Joinery Study Models

Different iterations of design ideas for the joints, seat frame, and framing of the rattan. These models are at scale and helped test out ideas before working on the piece.

Final Design Isometric

The final design builds on the mid-review iteration but adds length to create a bench. The design uses the side profiles of the original piece and a similar tectonic language.