In our entry on the designersblock showcase we mentioned a foldable cardboard chair that had caught our attention. Now we know as well as everyone else that are our heads are readily turned by free beer and bagpipes (thanks Calum) - and if you throw in some dub and finest Italian ska and we would lie for you in court. And so we thought we had better wait a day or two before saying anything more about Stuart Miller's fine folding cardboard chair. In case we found something better. We thought we had last night, but no...
Stuart is a student at Glasgow Caledonian University, and the chair is part of his final year project. And as yet unnamed.
As your smow(blog) team were impoverished, over-worked and under-nourished students at Glasgow Strathclyde University, regardless of much stick we took from the oinks at Glasgow University we could at least take solace in the fact that the Glasgow Tech students were even lower down the social scale than us.
That hasn't changed, but Glasgow Tech became Glasgow Caledonian University and the industrial design department has also grown up. And there were genuinely a few good works from the Glasgow students on show in Milan, but the pick was Stuart's chair.
It is comfortable. It is stable. It looks good.
But the important factors are the ease with which it folds flat and its lightness.
Stuart brought two chairs with him in a budget airline - and we all know how strict they are; on account of the weight we once had trouble checking a club sandwich in as hold baggage...
They are light.
And fold flat.
And as such perfect for either keeping in a cupboard in case extra guests turn up unannounced; for putting in the car if your heading-off somewhere and planning camping or stopping for a picnic; or if your flying off to a holiday cottage in the sun and don't fancy sitting on a cheap plastic chair.
Theoretically you could even strap them to the back of your bike...
The range of uses is almost unlimited - for example, as seating while decorating a room - yet the stability and comfort remains.
And as you can see from the video - they take seconds to assemble.
As we said earlier: "Took a problem, analysed it, solved it. And that with style and comfort. Lovely."
In terms of the "extra seating market" the folding chair was, until now, the unquestioned king, queen, prince and illicit son idling in exile and planning his bloody revenge ...
Until now...
A foldable chair made from a recycled cardboard is a real alternative. And not only because of the space and weight savings - aesthetics are also important.
And so if Moormann, Lampert or SCP are reading...
(P.S. Sorry, we weren't thinking when we made the film, hence the sideways image :( And sadly here in Milan we have neither the software nor the RAM to change that, but once we're back in Leipzig...)
