Kaiten Bench

The Kaiten Bench is the result of my Honors Design Thesis at the Fay Jones School of Architecture + Design at the University of Arkansas.

Kaiten, Japanese for “rotate” aptly describes the mechanism by which this bench, assembled exclusively by CNC cut Japanese joinery methods, is put together. As the two spines rotate up into place, they are conversely pinned back apart by the seat slats which bracket down from above, locking the assemblage together. Because the connections are so simple, yet remarkably strong and reversible, the bench can be assembled completely in as little as three minutes, from a pile of less than 40 individual pieces.

To see the complete documentation for the Thesis, and months of progress work, see previous blog posts located under the “Architectural Studies” section.