Two fourth-year architecture students are finalists in the American Institute of Architecture Students’ Chair Affair competition.Sarah Clement and Drew Wallace teamed up in January to begin creating their chair. The duo submitted the design in March. They were informed later that month that they were in the top six of the 171 contestants. Clement and Wallace then shipped the chair to San Francisco, Calif., for further judging by the AIA.  The students will find out in early May how well the chair placed.Awards will be presented to the first- and second-place winners in Las Vegas later this year.The chair will be on display in the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. over the summer. “We were really excited when we found out that we placed,” Clement said. “But now we’re kind of nervous to find out the final results.”The challenge was that the chair could only be made of cardboard and glue. The competition is unlike others of its kind because the design had to be actually built.Clement and Wallace used digital fabrication technology, a three-dimensional computer program, to design the chair. The components of the chair were cut with a laser printer.The students recycled 13 cardboard boxes for the chair and put about 13 man-hours into building it.”It all felt up in the air until we actually constructed the chair,” Clement said. “The moment of truth was when we first sat on it.”The chair is estimated to sustain 200 pounds. The duo was inspired to enter in the competition in December while at the AIAS convention. They saw last year’s chairs and decided that the competition would be a fun project.The pair said that they collaborated very well. While Wallace concentrated more on the structure, Clement concentrated on the texture and connecting the pieces. The two felt that they worked equally on the project and made a great team.Clement and Wallace explained that the continuous support from their instructors and classmates really helped them finish the project.”It was great to stay up all night and then have everyone be excited about the progress made. It made it all worth it,” Clement said.——Contact Lindsey Nunez at [email protected]