70
high style plus utility in a
contemporary zigzag
d av i d d u n d a s
It was a revolutionary design in the 1930s, but not everyone can
afford to sit on a piece of art. We work the best features of the original
Zigzag chair into a stylish and completely accessible chair
you can actually pull up to the dinner table.
The original Zigzag chair designed by Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld in the 1930s is an iconic piece of artwork. The cantilevered,
masterful joinery and was hailed as a sublime example of minimalist design. It was not a chair you would want to use for, say, everyday dining.
Nevertheless, with modern adhesives and joinery techniques, it is feasible to build a com- fortable upholstered dining chair both reminiscent of Rietveld’s Zigzag and strong enough for
everyday use. Our chair’s cantilevered frame also gives it a slight comfortable springiness.
To withstand structural stresses, the chair’s side assemblies must be made from a strong hardwood such as jarrah, maple or white oak. The seat
frame can be made from a secondary hardwood. The chair’s miter joints are reinforced and locked with floating tenons, epoxied, and pinned with brass
screws. We designed this chair to be built using the Festool Domino tenon joiner.
Getting started
The visible parts of the chair can be made from an 8' board of
19/16" ensuring that all the faces are square to one another.
Crosscut the parts for the feet, legs, seat side rails, back stiles, and back rails from the 4’ lengths according to the cut list. It is easier to achieve a consistent
length for the matching parts if you clamp a stop to a crosscut sled or use a miter gauge with a long fence and an adjustable stop. Mark out 38" radius curves on the top edges of the back
