Dassault Systèmes has partnered with renowned French designer Patrick Jouin to create Ta.Tamu, a 3D printed foldable chair representing a radical departure from traditional design and manufacturing methods. Ta.Tamu is a functional, featherlight structure, designed using Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform. This collaboration encapsulates the principles of the generative economy: resource efficiency, design agility, and sustainable innovation.
Ta.Tamu is a result of a four-year creative dialogue, illustrating how AI-powered digital twins and topological optimization can help reimagine even the most familiar objects. Inspired by biomimicry and human anatomy, the 3.9 kg lattice structure supports up to 100 kg and is printed in a flat, folded form that requires no assembly.
“Nature uses only the energy and materials it needs,” said Patrick Jouin in a press release. “With the help of Dassault Systèmes’ collaborative technologies, 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.”
The design teams’ workflow included life cycle assessment at the early stage of development, modeling, and simulation. Realistic virtual twins enabled the creators to refine every joint and articulation, achieving a chair 75% lighter than if printed at full density. Every evolution in shape was driven by real-time interaction on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
“To improve the world we live in, we have to change the way we produce, design, and use materials,” said Anne Asensio, Vice President Design Experience at Dassault Systèmes. “Ta.Tamu is a call to action for industry to embrace the generative economy.”
This latest project aligns with Jouin’s mission of pioneering 3D printed furniture and channels a shared ambition to redefine how design meets sustainability.
