Prototype monobloc stacking chair, 'Hemp Chair', designed and made by Werner Aisslinger/Aisslinger Studio, 2011

Prototype of a monobloc stackable low chair/easy chair, made from a sandwich composite consisting of moulded hemp-kenaf sheets reinforced with fibreglass.

This example is one of only five prototypes made by hand in the designer’s studio.

Purchased by the V&A in 2013 [RF 2012/565]

The well-known German designer, Werner Aisslinger presented three prototypes of the so-called Hemp-Chair at the exhibition „Poetry Happens“ in Ventura Lambrate during the Salone del Mobile in Milan in 2011. At the Salone in 2012, Aisslinger presented the chair as a production version together with the Italian manufacturer MOROSO. It was claimed that the Hemp- Chair is ‘the world’s first concept for a monobloc chair made of natural fibers’.

The Hemp-Chair is designed in the tradition of monobloc stackable chairs, which have often been made of reinforced plastics. Shaping a complete chair structure from a thin layer of material is one of the most challenging ways to design and engineer a chair. The Hemp-Chair, with its soft curves and its bead structure, embodies a new approach to this complex type of chair.

According to Werner Aisslinger, the development of the Hemp-Chair marks a turning point in the current trend towards a well-balanced and healthy lifestyle that is in harmony with the environment. “Design history is driven by new technologies and material innovation. For us designers, the advent of these technologies has always been the starting point for new objects and typologies in design”.

The natural fibers hemp and kenaf are compressed and moulded under heat with a water-based thermoset binder into a new, lightweight but strong and sustainable composite material, Acrodur, developed in cooperation with the German chemical company BASF.

Acrodur is lightweight, strong, easy-to-mould and eco-friendly. The sustainable sheet material of the Hemp-Chair allows the use of more than 70% natural fibers in combination with BASF’s water-based acrylic resin Acrodur. Unlike with classic reactive resins, this method releases no organic substances such as phenol or formaldehyde during the cross-linking process. The only by-product of the curing procedure is water. Furthermore, the industrial process of compression moulding accounts for low-cost mass production of three-dimensional objects with high mechanical resistance and very low specific weight. This production method is widespread in the automobile industry. Natural fiber composites are often used in lightweight
components such as door linings, glove compartments or rear shelves.

The Hemp-Chair is designed in the tradition of monobloc stackable chairs, which have often been made of reinforced plastics. Shaping a complete chair structure from a thin layer of material is one of the most challenging ways to design and engineer a chair. The Hemp Chair, with its soft curves and its bead structure, embodies a new approach to this complex type of chair.

According to the designer, the development of the Hemp Chair marks a turning point in the current trend towards a well-balanced and healthy lifestyle that is in harmony with the environment. “Design history is driven by new technologies and material innovation. For us designers, the advent of these technologies has always been the starting point for new objects and typologies in design”.

W.3-2013