Monday, August 31, 2009

Beyond the chair… Blurring the line between furniture and architecture in home design leads to a new generation of innovation

Understanding furniture as a basis for understanding design: focus on home

3 approaches
• Furniture as catalyst for architecture
• Architecture as catalyst for furniture
• The critical integration of furniture and space

Architects to study: Eames, Saarinen, Jacobson, Wegner, FLW, Rietveld, Bauhaus, Gropius et al, Prouve, Hoffman, Breuer, Macintosh, Le Corbusier, Aalto, also Greg Chang suitcase house, Bill Hisel z box.

Precedents that are off subject: not about objects, Not about distrust of peoples taste, not about image making, even if fun… Oldenberg, Starck, Gehry

Place-making furniture of interest: multi-functional walls, storage, daybed, bench/couch, kitchen elements, chair, lighting, fireplace… working from the lifestyle and possessions of an individual or a pair.

The wisdom of the object: multi-functionality, affordability, manufacturability, detail is king, understanding scale and anthropometrics, material efficiency, commonality of needs and necessities.

& Beyond the object: place and time variations, ergonomics beyond anthropometrics, shifting scales, sustainability

Precedent studies for inspiration and for setting goals for a visionary residence that blurs the line between furniture and architecture.

Goals:http://sowby.com/projectpages/furn/thesis.html

An early vision:
The bento box becoming the summer cottage, protective, unfolding, expanding, accommodating, compartmentalizing, understanding the building as a kit of parts, beyond necessities to ergonomics and functional invention, contextual, regional.

Furniture as waste disappears, replaced space as furniture that is mobile and highly crafted, valued.

the integration of furniture and architecture creates a new paradigm.

Furnitecture –
Not the right word yet…. Since I Stumbled upon Stephen D Ritchings sdrdesign@yahoo.com definition
fur*ni*tec*ture, n. 1. the science, art, or profession of designing and constructing furniture; see ARCHITECTURE. 2. furniture which refers to, is related to, derives from, or is intended to accompany, architecture. 3. furniture which mimics, imitates, or (God forbid) mocks architecture. 4. furniture made of architectural materials, or of recognizable substitutions thereof. 5. furniture which creates an architecture. 6. furniture which attempts to create an architecture. 7. architecture made of, or from, furniture.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14287804@N07/sets/72157602332868541/

http://course.jingpinke.com/wenxue/jiajusheji/ppt/10/07.pdf

2 comments:

  1. nico,
    i am intrigued... i wish you were tackling this project this semester but it will be nice to see your thought process and then the resultant at the end of next semester. i think the correlation between furniture and architecture is sometimes overlooked and your idea of using furniture as a catalyst for architecture and vise versa is really provacative. it makes me wonder if you are going to take a more global/universal approach, almost like a prototype, or perhaps depending on the culture/climatic circumstances this new innovation will be varying from context to context.

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  2. While site and context do play a great roll in the needs of a user, I will begin by addressing necessities from the inside out and the outside in, leaving room to consider multiple climates, and sustainability.

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