Phú Chair
A chair for the overworked and underpaid immigrant family
Individual members still can have privacy
Flattens into sleeping mat
faces with other chairs to encourage socializing
Antibacterial and sound absorbant
Low cost and soft
Cardboard for strength when flat while still being flexible when lifted. Also very low cost sustainable.
lean forward to engage
lean back to work on your own
Zip off liner for machine washing
Flattens to store
THE PROCESS
PROBLEM STATEMENT
84,988
Refugees arrived in US in 2016
1,183,505
immigrants claimed permanent US residence in 2016
18.2MILLION
Children of immigrant parents born from 2000-2017
Feed The Family
The Tran family has recently immigrated to the United States. Most are only able to work low paying jobs so they depend on each other to support the house. With technology moving forward, many of them are working from home. Each member needs space to work to support the household.
Incredible pressure is put on everyone to try to make enough to support the family. Every member is working under heavy stress leads to isolation within the family.
Overworked and Underpaid
Staying Connected
Despite always being closely huddled up together, every family member is so caught up in his/her own work that they rarely talk, causing loneliness and disconnection throughout the family.
How might we bring together and relieve stress from overworked immigrant families?
CONCEPT EXPLORATION
Exploring the problems and needs of each family member
The small office (turned home) space
What problems come up in a small work space that also becomes a living space? Users need to leave work when they need to.
Creating meaning in a stressed space
Many traditional Asian families don't talk about their feelings. Choosing to go for my hugging chair as the chair is the most immediate thing to grab when working on the couch as a nonvocal call out for help.
Crowded but lonely small space?
Designing for a workspace where family members feel unable to speak to each other Choosing to continue the hugging chair because it creates a vehicle for work and emotional expression
Refining the chair to be collapsible into a floor mat. This reduces space usage and references the towels/blankets laid down every night to sleep on in many immigrant households. When sitting, the chair would hold the user like a hug
Expanding ideas
Based on different folding techniques from traditional Vietnamese cooking and origami for flatpacking while being expandable to create a secluded space
Exploring different ways of expanding forms through origami
SIMPLE AND INTUITIVE
OVERLY COMPLICATED AND EXPENSIVE
Too tall
Too low unstructured
Comfortable to lay on
lean forward to engage
lean back to work on your own
Zip off liner for machine washing
Flattens to store
