Seems to me like it would take some pretty crazy 3D modeling to come up with that structure. I'd love to see the model of that and how they computed what to put where in order for it to collapse just so. Along the same lines I'm sure the manufacturing of that is pretty unique too.

Not really. If you look closely at the video, you can see it's just flat pieces of foam layered on top of each other. Presumably, she hand-made one chair for the competition. My guess is that the "crazy 3D modeling" involved a bunch of trial and error.

I love the simplicity of it, and I'm always amazed at what design students are capable of coming up with.

I don't think the structure of the surface textures have much to do with how the chair is collapsing, the biggest factor is the compressibility of the foam material itself. If you built the structure out of a more rigid material then yes, the shape of the object would play a larger role.

Here is a video of the chair:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRWIRWZ9hos&feature=playe...

Original story with background:

http://www.cctv.com/english/special/news/20091026/103440.sht...

From the start of the second page: "Wu, who has a girlish hairstyle, ..." ... WTF?

My first thought was that the writer's boss said "and I want you to mention her haircut somewhere in there." And the writer couldn't find a good place and just said: "screw it."

Yeah the headline also calls her a 'girl' even though she's a University graduate. When does she become a 'woman', I wonder?

I'm guessing, when she gets married? Until then it's all messing around with 21st-century algorithmically designed materials, you know, 'girl' stuff.

That's what you call getting paid by the word.

I think it's probably the work of a translator.

For some reason, this chair reminds me of:

http://www.keilhauer.com/pdf/brochures/Felt.pdf

Wow. Where can I buy one?

It's a good gimmick, but on the video it seems to be a regular chair with a few thin layers of foam stretched out over it.

It looks more jello-shaped than tofu-shaped to me, although I concede it is more tofu-colored.

Tetris chair: http://technabob.com/blog/2009/10/28/line-breaks-tetris-chai...

I seriously wish HN could handle the humour. Sure, eventually we would degrade from an intelligent discussion to being knee deep in lolcatz and welcoming overlords.

That said, your comment brought needed mirth to my morning.

That was actually a serious question.

For anyone that sits for 17 hours a day, you would understand the importance of the ability for your ass to breath.

I switched from an Aeron to Steelcase and it was a huge mistake, for the simple fact that I could not fart sitting down without the odor lingering far longer than it normally should.