The Next One_ Big Box Vernacular
The Next One certainly sat right, rotating my pelvis forward, putting weight on my feet, positioning my back in the way that I am sure it was intended. As peers and professors tried it out, they all seemed immediately taken by how different, yet good this new seat felt.
It was so good I thought everyone should be able to have one, yet barring a company taking it into production on massive scale to get the cost down, The Next One would remain a one off...well I made two.
Once again, efficiency is not absolute.
While at my core I believe people should be empowered to gain as much tacit and explicit knowledge as possible, I realized even in my own idealized world, efficiency for the object may in some instances be better than efficiency in the system.
Almost everyone has access to dimensioned lumber, a cross cut saw, drill and screws or hammer and nails, and with little practice they can develop the skills to use them. The capital investment is low. The required knowledge is low. The material investment is low.
At production scale the bent plywood and birch veneer which make up The Next One_A could be great for its producer. Few parts, stable material, few operation, simple joinery.
However if the goal is to get more people sitting in more postures that are better for them, maybe production isn’t the most efficient approach. Maybe, just maybe the best way was Big Box Vernacular.
Driving screws in at the oddest of directions, achieving tapers without angled cuts but purely by their position, working with wood I didn’t mind getting dirty. The next, The Next One, came to shape one evening on my garage shop workbench cluttered by the leftovers from some projects past, some still ongoing. What appeared to the eye as a crude prototype for a piece I had already made represented an evolution in my entire way of thinking.
Made from select or common grade boards and 1-1/4 inch screws found at any home improvement center, The Next One_ Big Box Vernacular is intended to be made by its user. With a hand saw, a drill, and 2 clamps, anyone with limited experience can process the wood and assemble the components, and have their very own Next One.
Walking in the footsteps of giants such as Gerrit Rietveldt and Enzo Mari, I went about designing a new version of The Next One. A Next One for everyone. The Next One_ Big Box Vernacular.
