Aaron Lehr

I am a Designer, Maker and Educator with a focus on Industrial, Architectural & Furniture Design. My path to Design started as a child, but I did not see the connection at the time, whenever the opportunity arose, I turned a box into something extravagant. Now I problem solve projects with a user center design approach and iterative design process.

 

Align: A Chair designed for the individual, not the masses

Align is a chair designed for the human body by utilizing digital scanning and fabrication to create a chair designed for an individual.

I am creating a system to improve the design of furniture and its relationship to the human body. By investigating additive manufacturing, 3d scanning and generative modeling as production methods.  This process will customize the manufacturing of chairs to individual sitters. The first part of my research includes the history of chair design and manufacturing in order to understand why chairs are designed for an “ideal” person. Because the majority of our time is sitting due to a shift away from manufacturing job the we are noticing the effects on our bodies.  Trends like standing desk, ball chairs and stools have been solutions till now but I am working to create a system to produce a custom form fitting 3d printed foam mesh structure. This mesh structure can then be applied to a mass produce framework chair in forms such as a desk, lounge, dining chair or even a car seat. Finally I plan to apply studies of medical ergonomics, orthopedics and pain mediation to improve one’s posture or comfort with external medical collaborations.