An algorithm is responsible for your Google search, your computer speed and now – the design of your chair. The Elbo Chair is the work of Arthur Harsuvanakit and Brittany Presten of Autodesk’s design lab. Yet they didn't design the piece. Instead, the duo used a generative CAD program called Dreamcatcher, into which they fed specific information – such as models of chairs inspired by Hans Wegner’s iconic Round chair and Zanuso and Sapper’s Lambda chair. After defining basicsize and load parameters, Harsuvanakit and Prestenlet Dreamcatcher do its thing. The software iterated hundreds of designs, bettering each model with improved stress points and minimal dead weight. Though the form was not produced by a human mind, it required human sign-offs – making the final bone-like structure a technical and uniquely artistic collaboration between human and computer. One of the project’s key takeaways, according to the Autodesk mates, was ‘the emerging role of the generative design tool acting as a collaborator’. Dreamcatcher frees them from having to generate dozens of design options, thus allowing them to focus on more creative and crucial tasks on their way to the next iconic chair.



autodesk.com