This leather-covered chair folds flat like a folder for easy storage

Most people dream of owning eye-catching furniture, but not everyone has room for fancy yet large tables or distinctive but voluminous seats. Space becomes even more of a problem if you find yourself hosting guests once in a while, but not often enough to warrant purchasing permanent chairs in your already cramped living quarters. Foldable tables and chairs have become solutions to this dynamic space problem, but most of these sacrifice aesthetics in exchange for flexibility. Of course, there are some exceptions, especially within the realm of speculative or concept design, where form and function are both treated with equal dignity. This foldable chair, for example, clearly has a utilitarian construction, but it still manages to throw in a few design elements that give it the same stylish characteristic as leather-covered furniture and stationery.

Designer: Jeongwoo SEO

Traditional foldable chair designs come in wooden or metallic forms, with hinges and pivots that allow parts of the choir, usually the seat, to fold up or down to create a more compact shape. Although it’s a practical and simple design, it’s definitely not the only way to fold a chair. Given certain factors, it might not even be the best solution.

The Folio Chair takes a different approach to the folding puzzle, requiring no hinges or screws to implement the mechanism. Instead, it seems to take inspiration from papercraft and art such as origami, where simply pushing or pulling a single part can change the object’s shape. In this case, pulling the top of the chair upward causes the folds of the seat and the back legs to straighten up and lie flat on the middle layer that serves as the supporting structure of the chair.

The end result is a very flat but long piece that is almost reminiscent of a folder, which is probably where its name comes from. In addition to being easy to carry around, whether by the handle or under your arm, it also makes the Folio Chair easy to store away. You even have a stack of them either lying down or standing up in a closet, depending on how much space you have.

The Folio Chair also has a distinct charm with its leather surfaces and stitch marking at the edges. This calls to mind not only the leather upholstery used on more luxurious furniture but also the leather bindings on some notebooks and organizers. To some extent, it’s a design that wouldn’t look out of place in an office, even though it’s clearly meant for more casual settings.

Despite its unique proposition, the Folio Chair might still raise some concerns regarding its practicality and safety. While it might be flatter than most folding chairs, it is also a lot taller when collapsed, taking up more vertical space instead. Depending on the materials used, it might also seem a little bit unstable, simply relying on physics and folding patterns to make sure the chair doesn’t collapse under a person’s weight.

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This camping chair doubles as a carrying tool inspired by a traditional Korean jigae

Single-purpose products have a particular appeal to them. They’re simple to use because they only have a single functionality, so there’s little to no room for misunderstandings or mistakes. These kinds of things can often afford to have more elaborate designs because designers can focus on things other than functionality that is inherently simple and fixed. At the same time, however, these products can also be a waste of space and material, especially when they can do a little more than what they’re designed for. Of course, these different functions still need to present a coherent theme, like this chair and carrying tool that is useful for outdoor activities, whether you’re sitting on it or not.

Designers: Sangeun Park, Minseo Kang, Junsang Park, Do hoon Kim

Given how outdoor activities have become trendy these days, it’s no surprise that there has also been a rise in interest surrounding outdoor equipment. From lamps to tools to grills to even portable power generators, more and more people have started to look into products that they can take with them for a road trip or weekend camping. When you’re packing for a trip or an outdoor activity, you often have even less space than you would at home. In cases like these, multi-functional products that save space and time are preferred, and a chair that does something when not in use is probably going to be a hot item for regular campers.

When it’s completely unfolded, the Chair – A looks like a typical foldable camping chair. It’s not going to be the most comfortable, of course, with a fabric seat and an absence of a backrest, but that’s to be expected from space-saving chairs like these. Unfortunately, even such a chair would become extra luggage you have to carry around since it won’t have any purpose when it’s folded up. This particular design concept, however, is anything but useless, and it can actually become a tool that helps you carry your luggage instead.

The Chair – A can be “half folded” into a form that almost resembles a “jigae” or a traditional Korean carrying tool. It is practically a frame that lets you load more things on your back without having to cram them into your backpack or have them dangling precariously from bags. This kind of tool has been used to easily transport loads of firewood, and its design hasn’t really changed at all in the past centuries. This chair, however, applies an A-frame design that makes the carrier look a bit more aesthetic while also providing more stability.

Of course, you shouldn’t be carrying more load than your back can support, but the Chair – A’s design, particularly its arms, does help shift the weight a bit to prevent strain and injury. And when you’re really done camping and carrying, it still folds completely flat so that it can be conveniently stored in cramped spaces. It’s not exactly a revolutionary design, and it even borrows ideas from tools that have existed for a long, long time. Still, even that slight change gives a camping chair another purpose even when you’re not sitting on it.

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Designed for National Geographic, this collapsible camping furniture that fits in a suitcase is your perfect outdoor companion!





There are many types of campers and camping regimes. Some travel with friends and family to the remotest wilderness and others like to drive their RV and park at a nice spot with a view. In both cases, at the end of the day, one desires a nice chair to sit on and a decent table to serve up the meal. This is where the portable and convenient Bungalow Luggage for National Geographic comes to the fore.

Whether you’re backpacking, planning on fishing, or just want to spend time at the lake, a foldable and easy-to-carry furniture is definitely going to be on your top priority list. A collapsible furniture range that is relatively luxurious, ultra-lightweight, and packs up into a travel trolley you can tote after you; the Bungalow Luggage by designer Eunsol Lee sets a stage for unique camping experiences.

There is no dearth of foldable camping chairs and tables out there. You could even pick a set of table and chairs off the shelf but this idea of a portable furniture set has its own merits. Unlike the other metal rod collapsible furniture for the outdoor, this one designed for National Geographic is convenient to transport. Just fold up the two chairs and the table into their bags and the trio sits evenly inside a suitcase you can lug along. This ease of portability also comes in handy when you want to fit the furniture in the boot of the car.

Packed in a travel trolley-style sturdy case with four wheels, you get a pair of chairs and a table with a foldable top. The collapsible frame, seat, and backrest form the chair, while the metal spokes aligned as hollow table legs become the base for a wooden plank tabletop. The chairs have a nice canvas seat and the table seems pretty robust; together the furniture outside your camp will become your closest confidant in comfort!

Designer: Eunsol Lee





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This folding chair is inspired by origami and can be literally hung like clothes on a hanger!

Chair designs are the first category designers are told to explore because it is simple and yet the smallest of tweaks can make it innovative. Also, let’s accept it – you never get tired of looking at new chair designs! It could be a new material, a bold shape, maybe it has a dual purpose or something like KERF – a space-saving chair that you can literally hang up like clothing!

It can be called a stool or a chair, but KERF gives the otherwise rigid object warmth and flexibility. You can literally put it on a hanger and store it like clothing in a wardrobe which makes it stand out from its counterparts. When needed, simply open the fold and you can get a setup ready for your guests in a few seconds.

The intention was to enrich plywood, make it flexible and fold it like it was paper for origami art. KERF has been designed for small living spaces and for practicality, it is perfect for those living in urban apartments or shared spaces. It reminds me of Japandi style furniture or Scandinavian home decor with its warm and minimal aesthetics.

The unique chair gets its name from the technique of kerfing – it is the method of bending plywood by patterned cutting. It is only good for doing it once to achieve the desired curvature, but not suitable for repetitive, long-term bending because that would cause the veneer layer to crack. The kerfing technique can be optimized for the CNC milling process to save production time and cost.

The mood board for the project shows bending plywood with kerfing, flat-pack laser cut furniture, folding chairs, and interlocking leather belts – all of these come together in the final design as details. The chair us.es kerfing, the hinges are made from leather, it can be compactly packed and it has an origami-like silhoutte.

To make sure it was durable yet flexible, Hamza decided to use thick leather instead of hinges. This detail lets KERF withstand repetitive bending cycles while the alternative hinge (leather) can outlast the traditional hinge making it a piece of furniture that stays with you in the long run (its moving-friendly too!). KERF is definitely a wonderful example of how chairs can be simple while still adding on to the existing form and function!

Designer: Hamza Bavčić

This versatile lounge chair opens up every room with its foldable build and Scandinavian design

Living in small spaces calls for either multifunctional or foldable furniture. When you have the choice to fold up and stow away a lounge chair or use hidden compartments in a bed frame for storage, the space in your bedroom or living area completely opens up. Following the debut of their modular FK Bookcase System, furniture maker Carl Hansen & Søn introduces the Plico Chair, a handcrafted wooden lounge chair that folds into itself for easy storage.

The Plico Chair got its name from the Latin translation, “To fold.” Built using Scandinavian design flairs and minimal ornamentation, the Plico Chair’s frame is crafted from solid oak wood for a natural look and sturdy base. The rear legs of the Plico Chair fall back, allowing a natural recline for the cushion to rest. Upholstered in linen canvas, the cushion also evokes a subtle comfort with organic tones and lasting protection from inevitable wear and tear. A natural leather hide strap extends from the rear legs to the front of a chair to create an armrest propped up with a center wooden peg. Designed to be disassembled for easy storage, the Plico Chair features exposed brass fitting and visible joints, enhancing its already elemental aesthetic.

With such an elegant look and versatile design, Knud Erik Hansen, CEO of Carl Hansen & Søn describes the chair’s appeal, “The Plico Chair is an extremely versatile piece of furniture – not only in its function of being a foldable lounge chair, but also in its appearance, and it fits elegantly into the living room, the cottage, and the hotel room and lobby. It is a comfortable and cozy chair to sit in with a good book and a cup of coffee.”

Designer: Carl Hansen & Søn

The Plico Chair comes in two forms, one includes a headrest, while the other does not.

Easily disassembled, the Plico Chair fold into itself for easy storage and portability.

The Plico Chair was designed to add an elegant, yet inviting flair to every room.

Leather strap and exposed brass fittings give the Plico Chair an elemental look.

Canvas linen covering gives the Plico Chair a comfortable and durable feel.

The ‘Pad’ transforms from a simple flat wooden slab to a complete folding chair!

Pad Folding Chair Shaohan Yang

The Pad Chair transforms from a benign wooden mat into a neat chair with a backrest! Made from multiple wooden strips joined together in a rather unique way, the Pad Chair possesses the ability to transform from a flat, 2D shape into a neat, comfortable 3D chair. I’m sure there’s a locking system in place that allows the chair to lock in either closed or open positions, but for now, the Pad Chair provides a radical alternative to those ugly metal foldable chairs (the kind you’d see in wrestling matches). What the Pad Chair offers as an alternative looks incredibly classy, in both its closed as well as open versions!

Pad Folding Chair Shaohan Yang

The chair’s ingenuity lies in its simple, minimalist compact design. It isn’t made to look utilitarian when closed (like most foldable chairs do), but rather, assumes the avatar of a flat, wooden plank or slab when closed (quite like the Ollie Chair from RockPaperRobot). In its closed form, the Pad Chair occupies 1/11th of the space as it would when opened, allowing you to easily store multiple chairs together in your compact apartment, saving up on space.

The Pad Chair is a winner of the A’ Design Award for the year 2021.

Designer: Shaohan Yang

Pad Folding Chair Shaohan Yang

Pad Folding Chair Shaohan Yang

Pad Folding Chair Shaohan Yang


Similar Innovations

The Ollie Chair by RockPaperRobot opens with a ‘swish and a flick’!

This folding chair perfectly balances its Japanese materiality with Scandinavian aesthetics!

Furniture for small spaces is essential and can make the difference between you loving or disliking your cozy zone. So why let an ordinary bulky piece of furniture take up the precious space when a compact chair that can fold up to store in some corner can fill its boots? There are a number of superb examples of folding chairs, but where the Departo folding chair makes room for its exclusivity is its portable form factor – you can set it up on the balcony, for a dinner party – fold, hold it by its leather strap and carry it to where life takes you later!

Arguably, many folding chairs are conceived with the concept of portability but their design anomalies leave them high and dry. Departo folding chair however offers a high-quality seating solution conjured up with unification of aesthetics of two cultures. The utilitarian chair is built with Scandinavian design inspiration and focus on Japanese materiality realized with the steel frame and ash wood legs. The rounded wooden backrest of the chair complements the comfy canvas seat while the leather handle allows for easy carrying.

Provided in light ash and dark ash colors, this hand-crafted foldable seating solution is a brainchild of Departo founders Glenn Pushelberg, George Yabu and Yuichiro Hori and is priced at $295 apiece. Departo folding chair is a piece of contemporary furniture whose minimalist design, warm simplicity and inherited advantages of easy to carry, is a solution well thought out for urban apartments, travel trailers, and tiny homes.

DesignerDeparto

LAYER Design’s flexible chair is based on human psychology and sports

Being in the house all the time, many of us are on Pinterest making mood boards of furniture we wished we had! On that board is my all-time favorite studio, LAYER Design, who has unveiled a chair called Membrane which I want for two reasons – 1) a change of scenery in my home so I can have something new to chill on and 2) because it is a beautifully crafted product that works for a flexible lifestyle. The current times have taught us a lot, and one of those things is choosing products that are highly functional in various situational settings.

The Membrane has been described as a highly engineered, ultra-lightweight chair that resonates with the flexible needs of future homes which truly shows in the details of its build. Its form and function were based on qualitative research from the sports industry and combined with minimal visuals which resulted in this sustainable chair. The assembly is simple – there are 8 supporting tubes with 2 ring-like tubes that form the structure of the chair. You then pull the stretchy, cushioned fabric over the assembled skeleton and that’s it, that is your chair. If you move houses or want to carry it out for camping, you can just fold the fabric and collect the short tubes to set it up wherever you like.

“We deliver technically demanding solutions that respond meaningfully to human behavioral trends,” says the team. The chair is portable, modern and based on a design strategy that accounts for emotion as strongly as functional needs. The materials used give it an airy appeal unlike the bulky furniture we are used to, it truly lightens (see what I did there?) up the room. LAYER Design wanted to create a chair that was innovative with its material use but also based on the ever-changing human needs and they have delivered it with Membrane.

Designer: LAYER Design