Ohio University - 2019

This pouffe needed to be no more than four feet wide, roll without obvious wheels or brakes, and be danced upon. It was also an unusual shape – oval instead of circular. I created hand-drafted scale drawings of the piece in top and front view, then scaled those to make patterns for the block cushions and base. The base layer was of a 3/4 ply ring topped with a solid 1/2 ply lid, sheathed and detailed in bendy ply. The legs were poplar laid up, shaped and notched with the bandsaw before being attached. The bottom ring was not structural, but simply laminated plywood cut to match the top oval and then cut to fit with the coordinating notches on the legs. For each leg I custom fabricated a metal bracket with an attached wheel, while the center support had a triple swivel caster attached to ensure direct connection to the ground at the weight-bearing point. The top piece I created to be detachable, with supports where I knew the upholstery would need to eventually be. In collaboration with our scenic designer and props supervisor we decided that if we used four inch foam for the seats, the soft “squish” of the cushion would create instability as well as make the step to the top for the actor too tall to do safely. Because of this, I built the seats as separate 1/2 ply “boxes” that fit the curves of both the exterior and interior ovals and then covered them with 1” foam and batting to create an illusion of softness. Each upholstery piece I created and pattern matched to all of the upholstery fabric at center.