Gallery: The Lowly Folding Chair, Reimagined With Algorithms

  • Image may contain Furniture Wood Table and Coffee Table
    Carlo Ratti Associati
    01

    DI-CRA-Swish-11.jpg

    Meet Swish, a folding stool with simple looks that belie how it was made.
  • Image may contain Tool and Brush
    Carlo Ratti Associati
    02

    DI-CRA-Swish-16.jpg

    Carlo Ratti, the director of MIT’s Senseable City Lab, had designed the stool for Italian furniture company Cassina. The stool looks midcentury modern, but Ratti designed it using parametric design.
  • Image may contain Tool Brush and Musical Instrument
    Carlo Ratti Associati
    03

    DI-CRA-Swish-08.jpg

    The chair’s 27 cherry wood pieces interlock via a series of hinges. Those hinges all conform to a slightly different shape, which let the stool kind of twirl open, like it’s doing a cartwheel.
  • Image may contain Furniture Chair and Crib
    Carlo Ratti Associati
    04

    DI-CRA-Swish-13.jpg

    Ratti a series of inputs into modeling software, a furniture-making technique he calls “programmable wood”. The stool needed to fit certain weight and height requirements, and to stand in a more unique configuration than an average folding chair.
  • Image may contain Furniture Chair Bar Stool Table Tool and Brush
    Carlo Ratti Associati
    05

    DI-CRA-Swish-10.jpg

    It also had to be comfortable, so Ratti designed the seat shape around a 3-D scan of a human body.
  • Image may contain Wood and Plywood
    Carlo Ratti Associati
    06

    DI-CRA-Swish-14.jpg

    Unlike other examples of parametric design, which tend to look bony and organic, Swish looks pretty normal. Ratti prefers that. With Swish, he’s exploring an aesthetic he calls digital minimal.
Read More
Ebay Has to Pay $55.7 Million in Settlement for Its Unhinged Harassment Campaign
For months on end, eBay employees and contractors made life hell for a couple that had criticized the company. Six years later, the company is finally paying up.
Lauren Goode
Laura Loomer’s Reversal on Ukraine Stirs Up the MAGA Civil War
Donald Trump’s base has been increasingly spilt. Laura Loomer’s sudden embrace of Ukraine has only widened that divide.
David Gilbert
Is the Electric Trike the Next Big Thing in Shared Micromobility?
Veo is launching accessibility-focused electric tricycles in Denver, with plans to put its e-trikes on the streets nationwide.
Boone Ashworth
What WIRED Writers Would Actually Give Their Moms
Your mom never gets you a thoughtless gift, so you shouldn’t get her one, either. Here’s every cool gift WIRED writers would give their mothers.
Nena Farrell
Which Apple Watch Should You Buy?
Should you splurge on the new Series 11, or will the SE 3 do? Let us help you figure out which version to get (and which to avoid).
Boutayna Chokrane
12 Adventurous Gifts for Hikers, Backpackers, and Outdoorsy People
Let them pick out their own hiking boots. Instead, try gifting a useful blade or a nature journal to delight your outdoorsy friend.
Scott Gilbertson
A Two-Person Startup Has Fixed One of the Most Hated Sounds in Modern Life
Beeeep. Beeeep. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
Jeremy White
Can the New York Times Save Journalism From Our AI Overlords?
In 2023, the Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement. They’ve since spent more than $20 million on the case, and publisher A.G. Sulzberger has no plans to stop fighting it.
Katie Drummond
Silicon Valley’s Next IPO Billionaires Are Coming. Nonprofits Are Ready for Them
Anthropic and OpenAI employees are expected to give generously after their companies go public. “It’s going to be a wild ride,” says one nonprofit leader.
Paresh Dave
The Dyson V16 Piston Animal Can Do It All
Dyson’s new stick vacuum can vacuum and mop in a single cordless device—if you’re willing to really splurge.
Nena Farrell
‘They’re Fucking a Lot of People’: 7-OH Users Brace for DEA Ban
The opioid-like compound, which is found in kratom, can cause brutal withdrawal symptoms and will soon be a controlled substance. Some users tell WIRED it has relieved their pain and anxiety.
Manisha Krishnan
An Extreme Solar Storm May Be Even More Devastating Than Previously Imagined
Scientists have long assumed that there’s an upper limit to the intensity of the solar winds that reach Earth. New research suggests there’s not—and the implications are alarming.
Javier Carbajal