Ta.Tamu, a lightweight, foldable chair developed through a partnership between 3D CAD software provider Dassault Systèmes and French designer Patrick Jouin, was presented in Paris on June 25, 2025. Designed using Dassault’s 3DEXPERIENCE platform, the project explores how digital tools and biomimicry can support more sustainable design and manufacturing methods.
“Nature uses only the energy and materials it needs,” said Patrick Jouin. “We wanted to apply this very simple philosophy to the development of Ta.Tamu. With the help of new collaborative technologies of Dassault Systèmes, we are now able to come up with new ideas and make them possible, creating more efficiently while producing less waste, right from the design process.”
Virtual Collaboration and Design Process
Ta.Tamu was developed over four years through collaboration between Patrick Jouin and Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform. The chair’s structure was inspired by biomimicry, incorporating aspects of human anatomy such as bone density and joint articulation. The lattice framework weighs approximately 8.6 pounds (3.9 kg), supports up to 220 pounds (100 kg), and can be 3D printed in a folded, flat position without requiring assembly.
Design teams used an AI-powered virtual twin to simulate the behavior of assembled components and applied topological optimization to refine joints, articulation points, and pressure zones. The design evolved in real time through interaction with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, with changes reflected in the virtual twins. The final design, which featured modified geometry and improved aesthetics, weighs approximately 75% less than it would if printed at full density.
“To improve the world we live in, we have to change the way we produce, design and use materials. Ta.Tamu represents a call to action for industry to embrace a generative economy instead of continuing to create without limits,” said Anne Asensio, Vice President Design Experience, Dassault Systèmes. “Ta.Tamu was created with the technology used to innovate sustainably in industrial contexts. As a science-based company, we want to create value for society in every aspect of people’s lives through our 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Design processes integrating modeling and simulation from the start lead to innovations that improve real life.”\
3D Printed Furniture
Ta.Tamu adds to an ongoing exploration of 3D printing in furniture design, a field that has gradually moved from experimental prototyping to more advanced applications involving simulation, sustainability, and structural performance.
In 2016, U.S. furniture manufacturer Herman Miller began incorporating 3D printing into its design and development workflows. Known for its Aeron and Eames chairs, the company used additive manufacturing to produce prototypes more quickly and iterate designs before committing to production. Much of this work took place at its facilities in Bath and Chippenham in the UK, later consolidated into a 15,974-square-meter headquarters in Melksham called Portal Mill. The new site brought together research and development teams under one roof to support a more integrated approach to product testing and refinement.
In 2018, Spanish design group Nagami collaborated with various architects and designers, including Zaha Hadid Architects, for the project Brave New World: Re-thinking Design in the New Age of Technology. Two of the resulting pieces, Bow and Rise, were designed by Patrick Schumacher and Sebastian Anda using PLA bioplastic and printed via pellet-extrusion. The chairs were influenced by “structural optimisation processes typically found in nature,” and featured complex surface geometries and color gradients. According to Nagami, the forms aimed to reframe the spatial relationship between furniture and its setting.
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Featured image shows Ta.Tamu char. Image via Dassault Systèmes.
