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Allyssa Kim’s Pitta chair folds into a slim wooden frame, giving its stored silhouette the same attention as its open form.
Folded against a wall, Pitta holds its seat upright beneath a broad, curved backrest. The two surfaces sit within a narrow wooden frame, with their pale grain on view. Allyssa Kim developed the chair as a 2025 graduation project at Tokyo’s Musashino Art University, paying close attention to how it would occupy a room between uses.
The idea draws on the flexibility of Japanese domestic life. Kim looked to futons and folding screens, objects that allow a room to accommodate different activities throughout the day. She wanted to bring that adaptability to a chair, alongside the stability and comfort expected of a regular seat.
The front legs make that possible. Each has a U-shaped cross-section formed from molded plywood, creating a channel that receives the rear leg as the chair closes. The curve also adds rigidity to the thin material. Open, the two sets of legs separate to support the seat; closed, they nest together within a much narrower outline.
The graduate prototype combines beech wood, molded plywood and stainless steel, and measures 123 mm deep when folded, just under five inches. Its wide backrest and gently rounded seat corners give the slender frame a softer presence. Small metal connections remain visible beside the wood.
Arriving at that fit took a series of physical mock-ups. Some of Kim’s professors questioned whether such a tight U could be formed in plywood. Building a prototype allowed her to test the bend and experience how smoothly the rear legs settled into place. She also cites Kaare Klint’s Propeller Stool as an influence, particularly the way its curved parts come together when folded. Pitta pursues that same interest in making separate elements read as one.
The project earned Kim the Emerging Furniture Designer of the Year title at the 2026 SIT Furniture Design Awards. She has described discussions with furniture brand JIFANG about bringing Pitta into production. For a chair brought out when guests arrive, the attention to storage has an everyday value. After an extra place at the table has served its purpose, Pitta can return to the wall, with its seat and back still facing the room.
