Dezeen Magazine

Sandro Lominashvili's ant-like Allo chair is constructed like a puzzle

Sandro Lominashvili's ant-like Allo chair is constructed like a puzzle

Georgian designer Sandro Lominashvili has created an angular chair from 18 segments of wood, which are pieced together to form a structure that bears resemblance to the body of an insect.

Called Allo, the chair is constructed from various sections of walnut that have been cut with a CNC machine before being placed together like a puzzle and secured with wooden latches and glue.

This configuration forms the seat and spine. These raised elements also add to the ergonomics of the chair.

"The geometry of the shell was designed to be comfortable," Lominashvili explained. "It is angled in such a way as to provide maximum comfort – this is what directed the angles seen on the chair body."

Sandro Lominashvili's ant-like Allo chair is constructed like a puzzle

Legs and armrests made from 25-millimetre-thick, square-sectioned steel pipes have been welded together and bolted to the walnut shell.

To create an almost foam-like effect, Lominashvili added extruded details on top of each section of wood. These were also made from CNC-cut walnut MDF and were glued onto the chair's main body.

The designer then filled in any holes before powder coating the entire structure to achieve a matte-black effect.

Sandro Lominashvili's ant-like Allo chair is constructed like a puzzle

Although it wasn't his initial intention, Lominashvili likens the chair – with its T-shaped backrest that attaches to thin arms and legs – to the body of an insect, or more specifically an ant.

Lominashvili, who is based in Georgia, took visual cues from various other works by names including German industrial designer Konstantin Grcic and New York designer Karim Rashid.

He was particularly inspired by Grcic's Chair One – which is constructed "just like a football" with various geometric sections assembled at angles to each other, created for Italian furniture brand Magis – and Rashid's chiselled Vertex chair, which features triangular planes that join together to create a seat.

Sandro Lominashvili's ant-like Allo chair is constructed like a puzzle

The Allo chair, which measures at 80 centimetres-tall by 55 centimetres-wide, is also designed to be stackable.

The designer named it after his full name, Alexander Lominashvili – taking Al from his forename, Lo from his surname, and combining the two together.

He plans to develop an upholstered version of the chair in the future, which would see the extruded sections covered in fabric.

Sandro Lominashvili's ant-like Allo chair is constructed like a puzzle

Lominashvili has previously designed another angular chair – called Chair 3/4 – from steel tubes that has a square seat with four corners, but with only three attached to the frame.

Photography is by Tornike Aivazishvili.

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Sandro Lominashvili's ant-like Allo chair is constructed like a puzzle