chair question  

More than any other piece,...
More than any other piece, people try to make a personal statement with a chair. That is the reason many chairs are allowed to be popular and uncomfortable at the same time.

necessary?
as a short answer to one of your questions: no, more chairs aren't necessary, at least in the same respect of providing the world's inhabitants with clean drinking water. [but for you it will become necessary if you choose it as your assignment!]
does the world need more cars? probably not, but that doesn't keep me from attending the detroit auto show and admiring the new models. uh ... cars, that is.
there were probably "enough" chairs before any given designer put their attention to sitting and their hand to drawing. but i'm glad most of them carried on with their aspirations that they had something different--perhaps even better or more suitable--to offer the standing public.
somehow i believe that the world is ever-so-slightly a better place because of the womb chair. of course, for every "success" story, there is a rummage sale or landfill giving testimony to the other end of the continuum.
it could be that you're very motivated by a sense of need; i would encourage you to pay attention to that inclination and let your mind travel down the path of creating something for a given demographic that is possibly being overlooked. not everyone feels the way you do, and your unique observations and personal convictions can be a positive springboard into a pool of innovation and opportunity.
stop, look and listen. this is what we were taught as children before crossing the street. i think we'd all be a bit more wise and enriched if we practiced that same simple little exercise in the rest of life's undertakings.
good luck!

What KDC said, and...
Everything KDC said, and more. When designing a chair you are not only recreating the wheel, you risk re-recreating the wheel - that is, relying heavily on all of the really tremendous chairs that have come before. Is it possible to make a plastic chair and not think about Eames? Or a cantilevered chair and not think about Mies? To quote Mies himself: "A chair is a very difficult object. A skyscraper is almost easier."
When we think about great designers we almost invariably think about their chairs. Eames, LeCorbusier, Saarinen, Wegner, Jacobsen, Breuer, Panton etc. etc. Their chairs are often microcosms of the rest of their work - and in many cases overwhelm what we know of the rest of their work.
Still, it is an admirable and quite difficult challenge! I hope, if you pursue it, that you update us with your progress and your results. Good luck!

I recently visited 100%...
I recently visited 100% design in London and while there I was thinking that so many of the items have been done before so why do people still keep at it ? The answer I came up with is that everyday there are new materials and new challenges that face designers so therefore they dont have to redesign the chair they just need to make it suit the moment.The other thing that struck me is how the world is now a very small place when it comes to shopping so I would imaging that one of the current challenges is making something in Korea and selling it to someone in Ireland and making it cost effective (including shipping) so that designers can retail their own goods.
I think we are going to start seeing more design that takes the existence of the global market into account before the design process begins.

You could...
Choose at random a page from Taschen's 1000 Chairs, remake it in a different material, and paint an anime cartoon on it.
[/joke]

... OR JUST DRAW A RAYGUN ON...
... OR JUST DRAW A RAYGUN ON AN EAMES SHELL!

Hmmmm...
thanks for your...
Hmmmm...
thanks for your comments a lot, I found them really valuable.
I know my question about necessity of a new chair could sound a bit naive..
But I'm quite aware of reality of real market that wouldn't stop production just because one designer refuses to design new stuff..
on the other hand, I don't want to look like some ascetic minimalist 🙂 I'm also happy about new things in IKEA catalogue,
and enjoy seeing new worthful ideas on design blogs..
I'm just a bit frustrated about aestetics of nowadays and products that don't last more than couple of years...
hmm... i would probably need to settle my thought down to write more.

Give yourself more credit. I...
Give yourself more credit. I design glass lighting and furniture, as well as the the design aspects of my sculpture. I have been doing this for years. Your thought process is hardly naive. I worry about designers who dont have your concerns. I would call it having a conscience about what you inflict on the world. A Environmentally aware approach would be very appropriate direction at this point in history. It is a deep and controversial subject, especially in how these ideas are implemented, so no end of fun is to be had. Definitely note KDC's second to last paragraph. It is flawless.

well...
Well, if you see a perceived need for a chair that is well desinged, durable, and in your aesthetic - perhaps that is your challenge. I think the gist of comments here are "don't design a chair JUST to design a chair". However, if you can see a problem with current chairs, you should solve it with your own.

i've just read an interesting paragraph..
from the book "the chair - by galen cranz". there is an interesting assumption about the habit of sitting on chair still, we are learned since childhood.
"the process begins early in life. It is well known that schools prepare children to reproduce the workforce, with appropriate habits- both physical and mental.
A contemporary German philosopher and historian, Hajo Eickhoff, has argued, that the chair is a sedative to create a docile population not inclined to criticize or become politicaly active (verb "sedate" meaning "to calm" comes from latin "to sit") This process of socialization to passivity starts early in schools, where the first task is not to teach children content, but to teach them orderly behaviour / specifically, the ability to sit still for long periods of time. He sees the practice of sitting quietly in rows of seats as primarilty a way for teachers to maintain authority and keep radical ideas safely contained.....
Adults certainly have become fully devoted to chair sitting..
🙂
i don't know how much to agree with this, I prefer sitting on pillow on a floor rather than a chair 🙂 but unfortunately I could't find more from this book published on web. although this study sounds very interesting...

Having a conscience is a grea...
Having a conscience is a great thing 🙂 More people should get one, not sure how much they cost these days.
Seriously though if its a one off and doesn't use obscenely toxic or rare materials I wouldn't sweat it, its only when something awful gets put into mass production that we should be concerned.
It'll be a very stimulating exercise for you, enjoy it, the world doesn't need any more chairs but we can allways do with a little more beauty.
My only suggestion is to avoid the chair as shiny plastic pseudo sculpture, it has its place but its become such a common approach I barely take notice of them anymore. Perhaps something low tech and knock down in a plantation grown timber if you want to make it a hypothetical exercise.

Entertainment system solution
Brnki, why not design a piece to contain a sound system instead of a chair? There seems to be a real need if you read a few threads down the page. Chairs seem to be in uber-abundance. Isn't part of good design filling a need? Good luck and let us know whatever you decide.

KDC said it well....
....so can only make a few comments.
The first one would be that design is driven by three major ever changing factors of similar importance. By exploring them you might very well find that most of the existing solutions are not as appropriate as one would think.
Function is not only comfort, safety, proper anthropometrics etc. it also includes appropriateness for a particular group of users. Generally spoken chairs are huge compromises. Most compromises were inspired by the willingness to reach the kind of large markets that would justify the investment in both design, development and specific tooling, but these compromises are not necessary anymore because a very specific market, say for elderly people with a specific physical handicap can be reached on a global scale. In other words the way we look at function has changed?.and some anthropometrics have obviously changed as a result of our perception of food.
New technologies are another reason to re-consider a product and quite often we do not make the link between a new and advanced technology and a particular users group. For instance most people up to a certain age do not find the weight of a chair very important, simply because they have the capacity to lift them easily anyway. On the other hand we are not inclined to think about carbon fibre re-enforced chairs for elderly people, in spite of the fact that they would enjoy them most.
Finally culture. The way we perceive the chair as an expression of what we are as a culture, changes and that changing perception could find an expression in a better designed chair. Of course we do not need yet another chair, but there is plenty of room for a better one. I for one was impressed with the Academy of Fine Arts and design in Bratislava. I understand that?s where you are studying. So, good luck!

I have to disagree with Koen ...
I have to disagree with Koen on the idea of the elderly enjoying the lightness of carbon fibre composites. They may momentarily appreciate being able to more easily move their furniture but I don't think it would provide for much in the way of emotional connection, a sense of history or comfort.