The caustics chair combines the resilient ideologies of modernism whilst simultaneously, testing the threshold of today's technological capacities. Who says one has to exist without the other?

The key structural component of this chair is a single, continuous and bent 3/4 inch thick stainless steel tube. 194 points line this tube and with each point is its corresponding “alter ego” point. They are then joint by a 1-millimeter thick mo-no-filament-nylon string, each able to hold the weight of 60 lbs. These 97 nylon wires proceed to create a new surface that forms and completes the caustic chair.

These network of wires mimic the illusion of a volume. One that is light, seamless and almost non-existent. We are perpetually reminded of the beauty of this simple connection between points in space. A simple operation resulting in an intricate geometric form resembling light rays refracting off an object to create a network of caustics. The caustics chair achieves the same result of distinct highlights and shadows and this effect transforms as the viewer changes their position relative to the chair.

The caustics chair is ergonomic, allowing one to comfortably sink into the chair, personalizing the experience to the natural contour of one’s body. It is innovative, allowing technology to aid us in a precision that would otherwise be im-possible. And most importantly, it is in tangent with the modernist principles; particularly, the beauty in simplicity. Let’s design a chair that works.