Clix is a series of three folding stools. The design was developed in response to architect Keith Griffiths’s brief to create ‘a product of fundamental use to an architect … so useful that the architect will treasure and use it all his working life.’ Griffiths also specified that the design should reflect an understanding of global cultures and his working philosophy, ‘local and global’.
The design, by Marcus Beck and Simon Macro of Freshwest, is a wood folding stool that an architect can take with him on site visits. Freshwest worked out the structure to be a configuration of timber sections that evoke both Chinese typography and the ancient Celtic symbols of Wales, where Griffiths was born and Freshwest now live and work.
The design has a hinged mechanism that allows the stool to fold flat with a satisfying ‘clix’ sound – for which it is named. The seat is designed to provide a handle for carrying when flat. While the main colour used is black, the visual accent is in the use of a single red element – a colour that is a powerful symbol in Chinese and Welsh culture and that features in both national flags.
