Thomas Feichtner sculpts chair from carbon-fibre sheets
Milan 2015: Vienna-based designer Thomas Feichtner has created a chair by laying sheets of woven carbon fibre over a mould and coating them with epoxy resin.
![Carbon Chair by Thomas Feichtner](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/04/Carbon-Chair-by-Thomas-Feichtner-Milan-2015_dezeen_468_2.jpg)
Carbon-fibre fabric was draped to form the three concave legs, sloping triangular seat and two-sided backrest of Feichtner's sculptural black Carbon Chair, which is available as a limited edition of just eight pieces.
![Carbon Chair by Thomas Feichtner](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/04/Carbon-Chair-by-Thomas-Feichtner-Milan-2015_dezeen_468_1.jpg)
"This sheet of carbon fibre is almost like a two-dimensional object," Feichtner told Dezeen. "It is more about playing with the surface."
"I wanted to find different angles, proportions and lengths without repetition or symmetry. I wanted to create a chair that was only possible in this material," he said.
![Carbon Chair by Thomas Feichtner](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/04/Carbon-Chair-by-Thomas-Feichtner-Milan-2015_dezeen_468_3.jpg)
To create the sheets of fabric, strands of carbon fibre are woven in two directions into a flexible cloth-like material.
When coated with the resin and placed over a mould, the sheets hardens to form a solid, lightweight structure, with a seat shaped to help the sitter slide into the back corner.
![Carbon Chair by Thomas Feichtner](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/04/Carbon-Chair-by-Thomas-Feichtner-Milan-2015_dezeen_468_5.jpg)
"I was absolutely fascinated by the lightness of it," said Feichtner, who was working with these materials for the first time. "We made a negative mould and laminated it by hand very carefully."
![Carbon Chair by Thomas Feichtner](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/04/Carbon-Chair-by-Thomas-Feichtner-Milan-2015_dezeen_468_14.jpg)
"After a day, we 'de-moulded' the piece," he continued. "It made a loud sound, a crack, and it ejected out in a second. We lifted it and were really surprised how light it actually is."
![Carbon Chair by Thomas Feichtner](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/04/Carbon-Chair-by-Thomas-Feichtner-Milan-2015_dezeen_468_4.jpg)
The Carbon Chair will be presented for the first time as part of the exhibition Austrian Design Pioneers exhibition in the Brera Design District of Milan next week.
![Carbon Chair by Thomas Feichtner](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/04/Carbon-Chair-by-Thomas-Feichtner-Milan-2015_dezeen_468_6.jpg)
Carbon fibre is becoming an increasingly popular material for furniture designers. Last year Marcel Wanders moulded the material around party balloons to create a lightweight chair, while Il Hoon Roh created a seat by intertwining carbon fibre strings into a branch-like pattern.