A super lightweight stool with a 3D printed structure and carbon-fiber shell.

The shape of the Gaudi Stool was created in the same way that Spanish Art Noveau architect Antoni Gaudi designed the structure of his churches, by making a model of hanging chains, so letting gravity determine the strongest and most logical shape for withstanding forces.

Carbon-fiber and 3D printing were used to be able to apply Gaudi's methods in lightweight furniture.

When a chain hangs in between two supports, it will follow a line defined by gravity. This is the catenary. When this line is reversed, a strong form for taking compressive forces emerges.

Materials and techniques:
The stool consists of a shell made out of carbon-fiber, and a substructure which was made by 3D-printing . The product weights exactly 1KG.

There is a .stl file that you could use for printing. Note that the stool was designed to print using Selective Laser Sintering machines. You might want to tweak the file to make it suitable for other machines.

I also included the orginal .3dm files. You can use those if you want to create derivative versions.
You'll notice there is a hollow sleeve in one of the legs. I used that to fit in a carbon-fiber insert that created a stronger connection between the carbon-fiber shell and the printed structure. It also adds to the strenght of the stool.
Through the layers in the model you can follow the different steps I took to get from lines to solids.

For an elaborate instruction manual check: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Nr6gTMHCRU-gY8mjmFuCyFk_zjXIkMQrwYX1t4X9O0w/edit?usp=sharing