The Aesthetic: Mid Century Modern

The current design idea consists of utilizing key elements of mid century modern. I plan to utilize a black coated steel frame  with a light colored wooden bench top. Some of the key elements of mid century modern are as follows: minimalist, mix of materials and aesthetics, fusion of indoor and outdoor, and natural hues with pops of color [1].

This fits a mid-century modern aesthetic by keeping a minimalistic design. The frame geometry and bench top will be very simple and it will utilize two main colors. The black steel will be a solid color while the wooden bench top will be one color but patterned by wood. By mixing wood as the top and steel as the base, it utilizes a mix of materials. The natural aesthetic of the wooden top blended with the artificial steel base structure should lead to an interesting blend of aesthetics. Overall, the combination of wood and steel, simplistic design, and combination of aesthetics is what leads it to be a mid century modern piece.

My Aesthetic: Beachy

I, being from San Diego, fully embrace a beachy aesthetic at times. I have a large collection of Hawaiian shirts, love wearing flip flops and board shorts, and really like palm trees. Strictly from the standpoint of what I wear (when it is warm enough) this is definitely my personal aesthetic. Looking more broadly at my character, it ranges all over the place from minimalist, outdoorsy, and anything in between.

The Inspiration

Designing an indoor slackline has been on my list for quite some time now. The idea pops into mind every now and then, however, until recently, I didn’t think I would be able to do such a thing until I lived in a place where I could drill into the walls, studs, etc. In addition to designing and building an indoor slackline, I also want to to try my hand at building a piece of furniture. By combining these two ideas, the idea struck that I could make a double sided bench for a dining room table. One side is for sitting, but you take the bench and flip it over in order to have an indoor slackline!

The Design

The main design considerations for my project are as follows:

General constraints:

• It must be able to be transported easily
• It must be structurally sound
• It must be able to handle one person standing with a reasonable factor of safety
• It must be a normal table bench height

My initial design sketches are as follows:

Figure 1 demonstrates the bench in use as a bench whereas Figure 2 demonstrates the bench in its secondary position, able to be used as a slackline.

Sources