book

THE “INSTANT” FURNITURE DILEMMA:

FUTURE DESIGN CAPABILITIES

GLOSSARY

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modular furniture is: designed as a set of parts that can be modified to create more than one piece. open source design is: building plans and design files posted online for public consumption. often, pieces can be 3d printed or developed with simple materials in order to increase building accessibility and lower price.

GLOSSARY 2 minimum viable products are: the most simplified versions of a product that are still able to be released to a “market� for the purpose of testing and quick design iteration.

NOTES: ACCESSIBILITY + 1. DESIGN FOR ALL is both a general philosphy and an international non profit est. 2001 with the purpose of diseminating design information and “good practices” projects.

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2. Though products can be designed to meet ADA guidelines, the federal government does not issue approvals or certify specific products as ADAcompliant.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PUBLICATION IS TO EXPLORE POPULAR “DIY” DESIGNERS OF PAST AND CURRENT GENERATIONS IN RELATION TO VARYING DEFINITIONS OF ACCESSIBILITY

http://designforall.org/

HISTORICAL LACK THEREOF

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1. praised DIY furniture designers of the twentieth century repeatedly express the desire for ease in utility and form, rather than decoration; so why can’t their designs be modified to meet a demand for ada supportive spaces?

2. many well accepted books on DIY furniture were produced by successful white, male designers in Europe and the US, so why do universal designers resort to “hacking” to make such pieces fit their basic needs and desires. as pictured in future pages, companies like ikea’s thisables and care hacking provide users the instructions to “hack” furniture that’s often viewed as the cheapest and most universal....in order to make it usable

CONTINUED

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EX: THE ADA? ADA REQUIREMENTS do not apply to modular furniture. standards for public space (table depth, chair height) only require built-in fixtures to meet such measurements. ’

DS R A OW TY, T E I MOV DULAR E? E AS W AL MO CHANG TOT WILL AT WH

27’’

42’

also... planning software like revit, sketchup, autocad are often unwilling to make user interface adjustments for those with visual and hand coordination needs.

https://www.ada.gov/

NOTES

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CELEBRATED DESIGNERS + THE GENTRIFICATION OF “POOR MATERIALS” for example, the “crate chair” by gerrit rietveld explicitly directs the public to the source of the material, an old crate, which acknowledges fabrication from one object to another. finding a crate feels like a relatively easy task, however, measuring, cutting, and drilling wood to the specification of the designers is daunting for many. then, the crate chair becomes a product to be sold, prefabricated by a few select companies and sold at a price bracket up to 30 times the cost of the materials.

see PG # 11

ARCADIA CHAIR FLAT PACK BY

BY NICK ROSS BRAM/STIJN PG PG # 10 #9

RIETVELD’S CRATE CHAIR PG # 11

DONALD JUDD CHAIR PG # 12

RAG CHAIR BY TEJO REMY PG # 13

FOAM BOARD COFFEE TABLE PG # 14

CINDERBLOCK EXAMPLE PG # 15

KWANGHO LEE OPEN RICE STRAW SOURCES PG CHAIR PG # 17 # 16

IKEA THISABLES PG # 18

WIKI HOUSE PG # 19

PLYWOOD

ARCADIA CHAIR. NICK ROSS. 2018. is made of 4 interlocking boards, an iteration of a design mechanism first produced from marble.

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ENZO MARI’S 1974 AUTOPROGETTAZIONE? greatly influenced diy furniture trends within design academia. Mari and the book claim to work for expression of quality though building rather than decoration.

R: https://www.corraini.com/en/catalogo/scheda_libro/62/autoprogettazione L: https://nckrss.com/Arcadia

PLYWOOD

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plywood has remained a popular choice for modern furniture design as it’s always “cheap,” a blank slate, and takes a step back to allow design and craftsmanship to shine.

FLAT PACK TABLE.

BY BRAM/STIJN DESIGN STUDIO. 2014. is made of pre fabricated legs which hold a tabletop and bottom support via ratchet strap.

http://cargocollective.com/bramandstijn/Furniture

PLYWOOD

11 1934 solid beech. originally sold in diy packs.

RIETVELD CRATE CHAIR

~$50.00 minimum viable product, comes unvarnished.

https://rietveldoriginals.com/en/collection/crate-chair/

PLYWOOD

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LOW SHELF CHAIR #84.

1990. DONALD JUDD.

like many plywood designers, donald judd’s simple furniture pieces were a product of nessecity. judd is well known for producing a fixed catalog of numbered pieces available for order only through the judd foundation, but many design specifications for diy judd pieces are open source online.

https://judd.furniture/#chairs-stools

INSTANT 13

RAG CHAIR. 1991.

TEJO REMY. arrives ready made but the user has the option to recycle its own discarded clothes to be included in the design.

instant furniture does not require hand or power tools. it’s the fabrication of one piece made from found object or material via stacking, tieing, glueing, balancing, etc. obviously this type of making can still require dexterity + mobility and is not an end all be all of accessibility; but rather a way of thinking about mobility and modularity in space.

https://www.droog.com/product/rag-chair/

INSTANT

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FOAM BOARD TABLE

balancing acts: found object chairs for workers taking a rest. part of michael wolf’s series “bastard chairs” R: http://photomichaelwolf.com/#bastard-chairs/1 L: unknownsource

INSTANT objects with very different weights can create sturdy balance based pieces. universal design on cinderblocks allows for additions across. although heavy objects can often stand alone and be “furniture,� their weight is a barrier to universal use and require mobility to transport and place.

unknown source

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INSTANT

16 rice straw chair. kwang ho lee. 2007. will eventually decompose. ratchet straps allow for narrowing or widening seat, +portability.

http://www.kwangholee.com/

TECH 17 OPEN STRUCTURES offers a “database of modular parts all of which are compatible with the openstructures grid and the design principles.”

GARDEN HOSE SHOWER

BY JONAS GÖRGEN 2019

METAL PROJECTOR SCREEN

BY OS STUDIO 2017

https://www.openstructures.net/home-page

TECH

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ikea “hacking” is more than a pinterest trend, it’s a way of creating more enjoyable living and working spaces around barriers imposed by the mass products items.

IKEA “THISABLES” +“HACK CARE” uses the “report a makes adjustments need’’ form to drive to IKEA products to new projects. the improve the quality deliverable is a 3d print of life for those with file for additions to memory loss. the existing ikea pieces, ie. deliverable is a new bigger drawer handles, book by Singapore’s soft corners, visibility Lien Foundation markers. indexing such suggestions and directions, rather than actual files. suggestments support user independence and material familiarities. https://thisables.com/en/about/ https://www.wallpaper.com/design/hack-care-dementia-ikea-inspired-book

TECH

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WIKI HOUSE acts as an education and fabrication platform giving the public 3d printable files for the entire building process of a house. focuses on designing out toxins, dependencies, and chance. building materials are able to be printed at local microfactories to eliminate shipping and lower carbon footprint. the cost effectiveness of the project could allow individuals and companies to built custom structures for individual habitant accessibility rather than pouring resources into altering pre existing inaccesble structures. it also questions the role of the architect by in some cases eliminating the professional title from the process.

https://www.wikihouse.cc/

an autonomous design future is in reach!