Seems to me like it would take some pretty crazy 3D modeling to come up with that structure. I'd love to see the model of that and how they computed what to put where in order for it to collapse just so. Along the same lines I'm sure the manufacturing of that is pretty unique too.
Not really. If you look closely at the video, you can see it's just flat pieces of foam layered on top of each other. Presumably, she hand-made one chair for the competition. My guess is that the "crazy 3D modeling" involved a bunch of trial and error.
I love the simplicity of it, and I'm always amazed at what design students are capable of coming up with.
I don't think the structure of the surface textures have much to do with how the chair is collapsing, the biggest factor is the compressibility of the foam material itself. If you built the structure out of a more rigid material then yes, the shape of the object would play a larger role.
