When designing their latest furniture design, The Beams Chair, Berlin-based designers E & J Studio looked to the I-beam structure of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge for inspiration.

The Beams Chair by E & J Studio is a lightweight wooden armchair inspired by the I-beam structure of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

The chair is made using three different kinds of thin plywood panels: bent plywood, multiplex and aircraft plywood. When pressure is applied to the panels from the sides, individually the sheets are strong, however when pressure is applied to the surface they are very weak. By layering the plywood panels at perpendicular angles to each other, the designers have created an I-Beam structure which greatly increases the compressive strength and torsional rigidity of the panels.

Flexible aircraft plywood is used to cover the seat and backrest, which, as the designers explain, “saves the molding cost of production and reduces the weight of the chair.”

For more information contact ericandjohnny@hotmail.com or visit  www.eandjdesignstudio.com

About the designers: E & J Design Studio is a Berlin-based design studio established by Taiwanese designers Eric Chang and Johnny Hu. Their work spans product, furniture and graphic design.