Can't Afford an R18? How About an R18 Ultra Chair

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prototype racer designers did not just sit around during the off-season. In fact they make things to sit on. R18 UltraAudi R18 ultraGermany, 2012 > present11 photos
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designers Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram have created a chair and will be entered it into the Milan Furniture Fair in April 2013. They call it the R18 Ultra Chair. Audi's Lightweight Construction Center helped build the chair. 

The R18 Ultra Chair is made from carbon fiber, carbon and high-strength aluminum. It weighs 2.2kg (4.85lbs), and Audi designed it to waste as little production material as possible.

Famous furniture designer Ray Eames photographed people sitting before creating a new design to make the design comfortable. Audi did the same thing in a high tech way for the Ultra Chair. They measured the pressure points of 1,500 people as they sat in a chair equipped with sensors at last year's Milan Furniture Fair. It says that the information allowed the chair to be sturdier, more comfortable and 1kg (2.2lbs) lighter. 

“The technology was used for an item of furniture for the first time and allowed us to depict the forces at play in the chair," said Weisshaar.

The chair will be on display first at Design Miami from December 5 through 9, and it will include sketches, material swathes and prototypes. Audi will also have an R18 Ultra at the exhibit.