During the spring semester of 2022, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Department of Architecture offered an advanced course focused on sustainable and digitally-enabled future product design, partnering with Emeco to provide students with high-quality manufacturing technologies. The course, highlighted by a project dubbed The Next 150-year Chair, encouraged students to reimagine the concept of furniture. Students explored various innovative designs, such as modular and recyclable components, focusing on longevity and adaptability. Their creations, ranging from a multi-functional childhood furniture piece to a chair enhancing privacy in compact spaces, were later showcased at Emeco House in Venice, CA. This partnership and its resultant designs not only pushed the boundaries of sustainable furniture but also questioned traditional notions of durability and utility in design, setting a new standard for future furniture innovation.
https://www.optima.inc/conceptualizing-the-future-of-furniture/
The Combines collection by Helsinki-based furniture design studio Antti Tuomi represents a novel approach to furniture assembly that eschews traditional joinery for a system based on slits, straps, and wedges. This unique collection is designed as flat-pack furniture that can be assembled entirely without the use of traditional screws. Instead, the pieces are put together using innovative mechanisms such as ratchet or rim screws, allowing for easy assembly and disassembly. All parts are removable and interchangeable, offering flexibility in terms of color and material combinations, catering to diverse aesthetic preferences and functional needs. The name "Combines" not only honors Robert Rauschenberg, who pioneered the concept of "three-dimensional paintings" also called Combines, but also reflects the multitude of combinations possible with the furniture system and the blended use of natural and synthetic materials. This design philosophy creates a versatile, user-friendly furniture line that adapites seamlessly to various settings and preferences.
Claudio Larcher's design project, the Paco y Paco set, represents a practical solution aimed at addressing educational furniture needs in developing countries. This desk and chair set was conceived with the goals of minimizing costs and simplifying assembly for widespread use. The Milan-based designer and professor utilized a streamlined selection of materials including sheet goods, rope, wooden balls, grommets, hinges, and L-brackets. The components are cut into simple shapes to facilitate easy assembly and disassembly, akin to the closing mechanism of a backpack. The ropes help secure the pieces together, with wooden balls serving to knot the ropes efficiently while grommets prevent fraying. Hinges allow the furniture to fold flat, making it easily transportable and storable. This design is a direct response to the need for a cost-effective, simple-to-assemble school desk that can be quickly adjusted or moved as required, embodying functional simplicity and durability.
Carlos Platz, while studying Industrial Design at Kunsthochschule Kassel in Germany, designed the Svolta, a minimalist wooden shelf system that combines the simplicity and efficiency of traditional alpine joinery with modern design. At first glance, the Svolta shelves appear straightforward and unassuming, yet they offer robust stability and an innovative wooden connection system adaptable to various shelf sizes. This system allows for easy assembly and disassembly by a single person in just two minutes without the need for additional parts or tools, utilizing a form-fit principle that locks the shelf legs into the boards. Made from European oak and finished with an eco-friendly, colorless hard oil, the Svolta is not only flat-packable, which enhances its sustainability through simple production techniques, but also space-efficient in packaging, making it easy to store and transport. This design reflects a deep appreciation for the functional elegance of alpine architecture and seeks to transpose its essence into versatile, contemporary furniture.
The Strap chair started out as a sketch that went viral online after many people debated it's feasibility, prompting me to build the prototype. The chair uses several ratchet straps to tighten four legs to a wooden block. Any sufficient material could be used as the legs. I built the prototype in January when NYC was littered with discarded Christmas trees. I trimmed the trees and used the logs for my design. The chair has been exhibited several times and is surprisingly comfortable with the flexible straps as the back support.
The Taut table, designed by Klemens Grund, a Swiss designer and master carpenter, exemplifies innovative woodworking by integrating principles of classic Japanese architecture. Grund’s design incorporates round columns that distribute load centrally, complemented by horizontal elements with a rectangular cross-section, reflecting the structural logic used in traditional Japanese wooden buildings. The table features elegantly thin stretchers that connect to the legs through a blind dovetail through-mortise, secured into place by wedges without the use of metal parts. This assembly technique not only highlights the table’s aesthetic and structural sophistication but also allows for easy disassembly and reassembly, making it ideal for a mobile lifestyle. Grund’s design philosophy extends beyond mere functionality, tapping into a universal subconscious understanding of static principles learned from childhood play with building blocks, thereby enhancing the user's connection to the object through both form and function.
https://www.core77.com/posts/125129/An-Elegant-Knockdown-TableDesk-with-Wedged-Tenon-Joinery?utm_source=core77&utm_medium=from_title
https://www.klemensgrund.de/#projekte
The Traditional Heritage furniture line by Gerlach & Heilig, designed by Kyra Heilig and Lenn Gerlach, revitalizes the craft traditions of Germany's Black Forest where the designers originated. Created for an exhibition showcasing the cultural heritage of the region, this collection employs innovative reinterpretations of age-old wedging techniques, allowing wooden components like chair seats and legs to interlock seamlessly without the need for screws or glue. Utilizing silver fir—a wood indigenous to the Black Forest known for its durability and adaptability to climate changes—the furniture not only echoes the environmental and cultural ethos of the area but also aims to rekindle local carpenters' connection to their traditional woodworking skills. This approach highlights the material’s natural properties, particularly its suitability for wedging due to its softness, blending functionality with a deep respect for regional craftsmanship and sustainability.
https://www.core77.com/posts/125489/Fastener-Free-Furniture-Joinery-from-Germanys-Black-Forest
At MIT, the design class 4.500, taught by Professor Larry Sass from the Department of Architecture, exemplifies a rigorous exploration of design through the lens of computational tools like 3D modeling and animation. This course challenges students to ideate, plan, and prototype, using the chair as a primary focus due to its balance of aesthetic and functional demands. Students learn to navigate the complexities of design, from defining problems to creating tangible solutions, employing various software tools to develop and test their ideas. By designing chairs, they not only gain practical skills in digital and physical prototyping but also engage deeply with design as a creative process that combines utility with experiential quality. Throughout the course, students produce both scale models and full-scale prototypes, refining their designs based on material constraints and ergonomic considerations. This educational journey not only imparts technical skills but also fosters a nuanced understanding of design as a holistic approach to problem-solving.
https://news.mit.edu/2024/mit-students-learn-from-crafting-a-chair-0322
This is a 33/33/33 project, where the designer and manufacturer constructing all the components, and the consumer assembling the chair at home, are equally involved in the completion of the piece.
People used to be much more resourceful, but nowadays we have become lazy, less confident, or even lost the practical knowledge entirely. This is very sad.
I would like to encourage people to re-discover their ability for building furniture and regain the confidence to work with tools. Giving the consumer a certain volume of responsibility, is for them to regain confidence. “third” is a project reflecting these ideas"
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