Hamburger Stool
What if stools came alive?
FALL 2023
︎ Material: Maple, Walnut, Cork, Cotton
︎ Skills: Lathe, Woodworking, Lamp Assembly, Product Photography
︎ Software: SOLIDWORKS, Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Blender
︎ Credits:
• Hanbyul Lee (Model) https://onestarlee.com/
• Isabella Choi (Model) https://isabellachoi.cargo.site/
• Sanghyuk Seo (Model)
https://www.sanghyukseo.com/
Hamburger Stool brings a playful twist to furniture design, exploring how life can be brought to a simple stool.
From toys and dolls to animals, the concept of "life" often comes through their eyes.
Why can't stools have a cute, lively side too?
Even with just two simple dots, every living being tells a story with just its eyes. Hamburger Stool isn't just a furniture; it's alive, illuminating light through its very own eyes.
From toys and dolls to animals, the concept of "life" often comes through their eyes.
Why can't stools have a cute, lively side too?
Even with just two simple dots, every living being tells a story with just its eyes. Hamburger Stool isn't just a furniture; it's alive, illuminating light through its very own eyes.
Process
Ideation
Inspired by the lifelike elements in sci-fi films, I aimed to create a stool resonating with familiarity. Sketching various concepts, including legs, head shapes, and eyes, I found eyes to be the most captivating as they show a sense of character into the furniture.
Using CAD, I rendered the basic form, choosing cork for the head due to its soft, friendly aesthetic when paired with wood.
I also began thinking of different joinery systems for how the stool can be assembled together.
Body
Utilizing CAD, I determined leg placements, used a drill, and shaped the form on a lathe for a circular, soft design. I allowed the lathe to guide the process, such as creating a groove in the bottom section for a portable grip.
Head
The head piece went under a similar lathe process to achieve its circular shape, presenting a new challenge—creating a space for the cork piece. I ensured the depth of the head piece was not too deep to hide the cork eyes, yet not too shallow to make the cork stand out too high.
To enhance the assembly process, fluted dowel joints were incorporated at the bottom of the head to create an easy connection with the body.
Legs
Using an initial prototype from scrap poplar wood, I crafted leg pieces.
The challenge involved deciding if a bottom stretcher was necessary. After turning two leg prototypes, the stool proved sturdy without stretchers. I began turning four legs from maple wood, using a CAD template for uniform height and width.
Assembly
Following the lathe turning, the assembly phase commenced, revealing challenges with leg size errors and loose joints. To address this, I inserted walnut wedges into cross cuts on the legs for added tension. Some legs required two cross cuts for improved stability.
Another challenge involved ensuring all four legs laid flat on the ground. Identifying the uneven leg causing instability, I added a circular maple wood piece at the bottom, achieving a uniform height.
