The Kirtipur Study Chair was developed in response to a commission from a writer in the Kirtipur neighbourhood of Kathmandu who wanted a chair specifically designed for the act of writing by hand — not typing, not reclining, but sitting upright at a desk for extended periods with a pen and paper. The brief was precise: a seat height of 450mm, a slight backward tilt to the seat, a backrest angled at exactly twelve degrees from vertical, and arms low enough to rest the elbows without raising the shoulders. Everything else was left to the studio.

The frame is deodar cedar, chosen for its lightness, straightness of grain, and the faint resinous fragrance it retains for years after cutting. The joinery is entirely mortise-and-tenon with the back legs cut from a single curved piece of timber — a technique that avoids the weakness of bent laminations and produces a back leg and back post in one continuous grain, as found in traditional Windsor chairs. The seat is woven lokta paper cord, produced by a cooperative in the Bhote Kosi valley that has been processing the lokta shrub into paper and cord products for several generations. The weave pattern used — a simple over-under twill in alternating tones of natural and charcoal lokta — creates a surface with just enough texture to prevent sliding and just enough give for comfort over hours.

The chair is not adjustable, stackable, or available in variations. It is what it is: a single carefully resolved object for a specific purpose, made one at a time by hand in a small workshop. It weighs 4.2kg. It takes approximately forty hours of craft time to complete. It is intended to last, without maintenance, for the lifetime of its owner — and probably longer.