Sella The Valet Rack
This project was part of a studio course that I took in grad school at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Fall of 2018. I was inspired by the mind of legendary designer Charlotte Perriand and how she would sometimes come up with design ideas because she personally needed that object. I needed a coat rack.
Sella - valet rack
This humble valet rack sits in the corner of your bedroom and takes on the form of that chair that currently resides in your room, hidden under a pile of clothes.
You no longer have to feel guilty about throwing clothes on it at the end of the day because this object invites you to celebrate that very human behavior that we have all acted upon: To just let go and relax at the end of the day.
finding form
Something playful
I had wanted to create a quirky but live-able form for this object. I started off with envisioning my own living space and sketching all the different designs that would be pleasing to be around.
I narrowed down on these three forms through some rapid prototyping of scale models. The image below shows “mockettes” of the final form as I was figuring out the details.
construction
Equal angles
The construction was fairly simple with effective results. I used a dowel joint for the back hook which makes it strong enough to hang coats and scarves. The three legs are slightly angled uniformly so that they look evenly slanted from all sides. This was an important design as well as construction decision because I wanted Sella to be stable and to distinguish it from other coat racks I had seen.
Working on the full scale model and prototype was illuminating in many ways and allowed for testing out various proportions and fabric colors.
feature
Dancing valet rack
The leather “seat” invites you to throw your clothes at the it. Every time it manages to catch your clothes, it dances and sways a little. The longer it is used, the better the quality of this object becomes due to the nature of the leather material.
At home
Sella at home