Graph by Wilkhahn

August 29th, 2012

Graph is a swivelling conference chair that comes with a four-star base, die-cast aluminium or chrome armrests, a metal seat and back frame, and two backrest heights. All the components that bring an office chair together, right?

Markus Jehs and Jürgen Laub

Yet Graph is one-of-a-kind in its concept and design: its development has engendered a new design and engineering approach which progressively re-interprets the classical values of a conference chair.
Industrial designers Markus Jehs and Jürgen Laub, who conceived the Graph for Wilkhahn, describe the conference chair as being the “perfect balance between aesthetics and engineering.”

The graphical quality of its shape is the first eye-catcher, with its organic seat shell which has been cut through horizontally and vertically, then modified and re-assembled. The result is a fluid yet streamlined form that offers superlative comfort.

Likening Graph to a Porsche 911’s unique combination of form and function, Laub says, “There’s the feeling when you sit in it, the haptics and the smell of fine leather – we were able to achieve this in Graph too.”

“In this respect, Graph can really be compared with a stylish car. After all, in conference rooms it’s about comfort and a feeling of assurance, but also about status and self-confidence,” says Jehs.

The horizontally, vertically cut seat shell eliminates the need for a crossover point between seat and back. This form also changes the structure, so the armrests become the central connecting nodes. It’s an open frame approach, which not only allows seat and backrest to be connected in, but creates a modular structure that make future models easy to create.

Expert engineering created a seamless appearance with concealed force- and form-fit connectors, and surfaces carefully treated in a natural or bright chromium-plated finish.

“In Graph’s case, we were always able to find a solution that provided a perfect balance between aesthetics and engineering,” says Jehs and Laub. “In the end the result is exactly what we dreamt at the beginning.”