AINA
STOOL
The Aina stool originated from a collaborative project between Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and U6-Workshop. The objective was to utilize surplus materials from Kierrätyskeskus to create products for sale at the U6-Shop. Although the project's aim was not fulfilled due to the design being overly sophisticated and the fact that it couldn't be manufactured at the U6-Workshop, the end result is a beautifully simple seat.
Recycled seat belts and surplus fabrics have been incorporated into the materials of the Aina stool. The stool's timelessly designed body is made from light pale ash. The seat section, featuring fabric upholstered seat belts, ensures a sturdy weave. The design's foundation was built upon timelessness and quality, allowing the stool to harmonize with a variety of spaces and interior styles. Beyond myself, credit is due to designer colleagues Olga Autio and Miina Sirviö for their contributions to this project.
We realized quite quickly what we were going to do with the supplies we got from the Kierrätyskeskus. The idea was to design a stool for which all the materials could be obtained from the Kierrätyskeskus. The wooden parts will be made from trees felled from the city, the seat belts would come from old cars, and the fabrics would either be woven at the U6-workshop or used from industrial surplus.
Although we wanted to keep the stool simple and easy to make, it still required many work steps to make. For the first stool, we tried to divide the work steps so that everyone participates in all steps. For the second stool, I took care of the part to be done in the woodshop. We had to strengthen the structure of the stool after the first prototype, because tightening the fabrics created too much torsion on the frame and the joints failed.
We are very satisfied with the end result and the stool fits the intended environment even better than expected. The development of the stool remained at the prototype stage and the realization of the actual product series would still require iteration.