JAN-MICHA GAMER DISMANTLES ARMCHAIR INTO NINE DOMESTIC OBJECTS
Designed by Jan-Micha Gamer, Raw Material: Armchair, or Armchair as Resource, is a circular design study that deconstructs a single discarded leather armchair into nine distinct functional objects forming a domestic ensemble. Salvaged from municipal bulky waste, the multi-component seating typology serves as a material test case, investigating how complex, heterogeneous consumer goods can be comprehensively repurposed to replace virgin resources without downcycling.
Armchair as Resource project explores circular furniture reuse
The project by designer Jan-Micha Gamer prioritizes material-driven detailing, mechanical separability, and circular cascades. Gamer began by disassembling the chair’s structural core, upholstery layers, and exterior envelope, sorting the timber, metal fasteners, foam, textile webbing, and worn leather hides. Instead of concealing imperfections, the design adapts production processes around the irregular dimensions and patinas of the recovered feedstock. Joinery solutions prioritize dry, reversible connections over permanent adhesives, and finishes are selected to maintain monomaterial purity for future disassembly cycles. The resulting nine objects—ranging from small tables and storage vessels to adapted fruit baskets lined with reclaimed textiles—demonstrate small-scale decentralized fabrication methods capable of processing non-standardized waste streams into functional domestic products.
floor basket — recovered leather is shaped into a floor basket, carrying the material’s creases and traces of use into a new everyday objectcandleholder — the geometric form of the original beechwood feet is carried into a single candleholder, retaining the character of the original componentslamp — layered geometric forms create the lampshade, while a thin fabric covering reveals the texture of the repurposed upholstery batting beneathfruit basket — the distinctive spring geometry and tension of the armchair’s wave springs are translated into a sculptural bowl, joined with screwable stainless-steel connectorspouf — foam layers of different densities converge into a compact, architectural seating piece, with the geometry of the material defining its final formpicture frame — wood offcuts frame a print of the original armchair; many pieces remain in their original state, preserving their individual charactercabinet — made entirely from greyboard, the cabinet reuses surfaces once covered with foam; adhesive residue and staples remain visiblecarpet — irregular leather pieces form a shape reminiscent of an animal hide, embracing the material’s traces of use as an aesthetic qualitytable — a translucent, hard-wearing coating highlights the unusual grain of the armchair’s low-grade frame timber, turning an overlooked material into a defining featureprocess – applying a suitable coating as part of the finishing process, balancing surface quality, durability and the potential for future material recoverydisassembly – carefully separating the chair’s layers and components to minimise damage and preserve the material fractions for further use
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