Origami Chair by Paul McCobb for St. John Seating
Designed c. 1950’s
No longer in production
Paul McCobb was an American artist and industrial designer. His Origami Chairs were used in three Star Trek series: The Original Series in “The Trouble With Tribbles,” Deep Space Nine in “Trials and Tribble-ations,” and Enterprise in “Horizon” and “In a Mirror Darkly.” According to Ex Astris Scientia, when the set designers for TOS were seeking these chairs, they found that they were too expensive for their budget and that furniture stores didn’t carry enough in stock to meet the demands of the episode. The solution was to buy the chairs that were available, and then return them after filming. Actors were warned not to damage the chairs during famous fight scene in Deep Space K-7′s mess hall. Years later, when Deep Space Nine began production of the “Trials and Tribble-ations” episode, the chairs were similarly difficult to come by. The Origami Chairs used in DS9 are actually knockoffs, likely plastic casts of the original fiberglass chairs. The one used in Enterprise is a leftover plastic chair from DS9.
Used in:
The Original Series
Deep Space Nine
Enterprise
Source:
Ex Astris Scientia
