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If a chair is the embodiment of a Tsonga being, what does that look like?

Through our research, we found that the act of "seating" is more fundamental than the object of a "chair," which led us to question the conventional, Eurocentric notion of what a chair is. The core argument is that a chair is not merely an object; it's a material reflection of a person’s identity, role, and community. This idea challenges the standard view of a chair as a fixed piece of furniture and instead sees it as something shaped by the user.

A chair's function is secondary to the person who uses it.
Instead of a passive object, we began to see the chair as an active personification of the sitter.
This idea led us to think of the chair as a verb an object that facilitates and empowers, embodying the identity of its user.
The etymology of the word "chair." traces back to the Latin cathedra and Old French roots:

Latin: cathedra (meaning “seat, bench, chair”), from kata- (“down”) + hedra (“seat, base”). This root also gives us words like cathedral (literally “the seat of a bishop”).
Old French: chaiere or chaire (12th century) Meaning “seat, throne, chair,” used to describe authority or leadership.
Middle English (13th-14th century): chaire Adopted from Old French, initially referring to a throne or seat of authority.

Over time, it became the general term for a seat with a backrest.

For design theorists, it is important to separate seating as a human condition from the chair as an object. Humans have been sitting for hundreds of thousands of years, and long before chairs, seating was temporary and responsive to the environment: earth, rocks, logs, and mats formed adaptive, modular surfaces that could be reconfigured or abandoned with mobility. These practices dominated across much of the world and remain embedded in floor-based traditions, where the body organises space directly. They were modular and impermanent, adjusted to circumstance rather than fixed in form.
Chairs appear comparatively late, and from their beginning they were not about sitting in general but about people who held defined roles. To be given a chair was to be set apart, and the structure of the seat adapted to the authority of the person in it. The chair is therefore a recent cultural invention layered onto the far older practice of human seating, with its meaning bound less to comfort than to the power and identity of the sitter.

This thinking moved us away from the traditional, Eurocentric notion of a fixed chair and towards the concept of a "nomadic chair": an object that is collapsible, portable, and compact. This approach, with its emphasis on versatility and impermanence, aligns with our heritage focus and an understanding of seating as a fluid, adaptable practice. Ultimately, the most significant conceptual breakthrough came from integrating Tsonga identity. The chair would be a metaphor for Tsonga people, shaped by the communal and resourceful values of the sangu or xitheve mat.

We want to challenge your assumptions about an everyday object. By deconstructing the chair, we hope to inspire a deeper appreciation for the cultural and historical forces that shape design.
Focusing on Tsonga culture and the heritage of seating introduces a non-Western perspective, broadening the conversation beyond the conventional design narrative.
In essence, the entire piece is a philosophical journey to redefine a common object by linking it to personal history, cultural practices, and the fundamental question: "Who does it embody and enable?"
The ultimate "chair" is not a fixed piece of furniture but a fluid, responsive structure that accommodates the complexity of a living presence and its context.

For us Tsonga people, seating is defined by sangu or xitheve, a grass mat that supports multiple aspects of daily life. It is used for sitting, sleeping, eating, and during larger life events such as birthing; making it central to one’s living space and living practice. The mat is not treated as precious, and it is assumed that it will be well worn, and that the owner will have many of them over time. While reeds form the base, its construction often incorporates found materials such as sweet wrappers, fruit sacks, crisp packets, and shopping bags, which serve both practical and decorative purposes. Patterns vary widely, from straight rows to chicken-wire motifs, but the choice of motif ultimately lies with the maker. The approach to design emphasises flexibility and ownership, where the mat reflects the individual through its form, material, and use.

This chair draws from that logic without replicating its form.

Certain material and functional properties align directly: a flat, even surface; natural texture that resists slipping; insulation from the ground; the ability to withstand pressure from sitting or resting; and portability through compact storage. Other qualities associated with the mat such as full flexibility, porosity, or multipurpose application remain intentionally unresolved, pointing toward a broader spectrum of material possibilities rather than a single definitive solution.

CHAIR. therefore exists between states:
between mat and chair,
between permanence and mobility,
between cultural memory and contemporary form.

Rather than attempting to resolve every functional criterion, the object makes visible the act of translation itself.
What is retained, what is transformed, and what remains open all contribute to its meaning. In resisting the idea of the chair as a universal solution, the work repositions it as a situated embodiment one shaped by identity, constraint, and context.

“Therefore, if chair is me within the frame of my Tsonga identity: what does that mean?” - P.M

The answer is not a fixed object, and it is rather a responsive structure; one that accommodates the complexity of a living presence and acknowledges that identity, like seating, is never singular or static.
Rather than approaching design as an isolated act, this project was guided by two intersecting sets of principles that shaped both what we made and how we made it.

princinples, with another:
The first is Acknowledgement or Furtherance the understanding that all design emerges from inherited histories. To design responsibly is to recognise these layers, to decide what must be carried forward, and what must be allowed to change. In this process, we were guided by the question: what kind of ancestor do you want to be?
This chair does not attempt to overwrite existing seating traditions, nor does it seek novelty for its own sake. Instead, it acknowledges Tsonga practices particularly those embedded in the words xitheve and sangu, and extends them into a contemporary design conversation where Tsonga life is referenced not only through language, but through lived practice.

In parallel, the principle of Course and Effect shaped the process itself. Design decisions were not arbitrary, decorative, or excessive. Each component of the chair exists because it is necessary. There is no surplus structure, no ornamental excess. Every part works. The chair is process-oriented, documented from conception to iteration, with each choice understood as contributing to a longer trajectory rather than a singular outcome. Swatches of future colours, variations in height, and a functional checklist comparing the chair to the mat all point toward evolution rather than completion.

This process-led approach is inseparable from Multi-Sensory Materialism, which resists the reduction of design to visual form alone. The chair is not only something to be looked at. It is something to be touched, heard, occupied, and activated. Its materials carry stories, histories, and emotional weight knowledge that exceeds what can be diagrammed. At its public activation, the chair engaged sound, tactility, and digital layers, acknowledging that understanding is shaped as much by sensation as by sight.

None of this work exists in isolation. The principle of Joint Wisdom and Custodianship recognises that expertise is distributed across people, land, and practice. Makers, community members, and cultural custodians were engaged throughout the process, not as consultants but as co-authors. In this way, the chair becomes a shared responsibility rather than a singular authorship reflecting Tsonga values where individuality exists within collective belonging. We can share objects, yet make them our own.

These principles resonate deeply with ALCD, which further grounds the work:
Design here is understood as ritual a mindful, intentional act connected to heritage and belonging, rather than a neutral exercise in form-making. The process was grounded in Tsonga ways of seeing, including colour, material expressiveness, and life-centred reference points, rather than default Western furniture paradigms.

By recognising origins, the project immersed itself in Tsonga seating traditions, treating them not as aesthetic references but as epistemologies systems of knowing that inform how life is organised, and only secondarily how objects are made.

Through centering the periphery, the work positions Tsonga culture within a broader design discourse that has historically overlooked it. This is not a claim that Africa is peripheral, but an acknowledgement that within dominant cultural narratives, Tsonga voices, languages, and practices are often marginalised. This project insists on their relevance.

The principle of land as co-designer ensured that materials were not forced into form. Reeds and wood led the process, dictating what was possible and how they wished to be treated. Vision followed material, not the other way around.

Communal interdependence shaped the collaboration itself. Each contributor entered with a distinct role and intention, and the work honours those differences rather than smoothing them over. The chair exists because of this interdependence.

Finally, regenerative co-creation and adaptive resilience frame the chair as an evolving system. Its components are not fixed; they can be taken apart, reconfigured, reused, or returned to the earth. The chair has already been piloted, iterated upon, and remains open to future transformation able to move with life rather than resist it.