The Coffin Chair, from Chinese student Yeyang Liao, is designed for the owner to be cremated in after he/she dies.
Made of 12 strips of wood moulded using highly precise digital techniques - and featuring no metal parts - the chair is used as an average piece of furniture while the owner is alive. Upon death, those close to the owner transform the chair's seat into a body casing for cremation, reports Dezeen.
The chair's base slides open to the length of an average human body, allowing the bent wooden strips to spread apart sort of like a Slinky toy.
Liao says the Chinese government is looking to forbid burial and implement forced cremation. The goal is for half of all ceremonies to be completely green by 2020.
Liao says many Chinese citizens, especially those of older generations, follow the ritual of preparing one's own coffin. He hopes his Coffin Chair will help preserve that ritual and appease the government. He also says the function of extension symbolizes a long life.
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