Furniture Design

Jim Postell

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9781118090787
• eBook ISBN: 9781118353189
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Interior Design

The comprehensive guide to furniture design— expanded and updated

Furniture designers draw on a range of knowledge and disciplines to create their work. From history to theory to technology, Furniture Design offers a comprehensive survey of the essential craft- and practice-related aspects of furniture design.

Generously illustrated with photographs and drawings—including a new color section—this Second Edition features updated coverage of material specifications, green design, digital design, and fabrication technologies. It also features twenty-five case studies of furniture design that represent a broad selection of works, designers, and techniques, including recent designs produced within the last decade.

The book explores:

• Furniture function and social use
• Form, spatial organization, and typological orders
• Structural integrity and composition
• Accessibility, universal design, human factors, and ergonomics
• The design process, from schematics through fabrication
• Materials, processes, and methods of fabrication
• Professional practice and marketing
• The history of furniture design, from prehistory to the digital age

Complete with a glossary of terms and a comprehensive bibliography, Furniture Design, Second Edition is a one-stop resource that furniture designers will turn to regularly for the advice, guidance, and information needed to perform their craft.

chapter 1

Introduction to Furniture Design

Dictionary and encyclopedic sources use words like accessories, equipment, and movable objects to define furniture.1 Words can describe the performance and physical characteristics of furniture, but those who design, make, and use furniture know that furniture design extends far beyond dictionary or encyclopedic definition. Furniture design concepts lead to the production of useful items that result in tactile experiences (Figure 1.1). In nearly every case, furniture is something people experience through direct human engagement. In addition, one’s understanding and knowledge of furniture evolves with use and over time.

Figure 1.1 The Knit chair in use. Designed by Emiliano Godoy (2004). This chair was awarded a Bronze Leaf at the International Furniture Design Competition Asahikawa 2005 in Asahikawa, Japan.

Photography courtesy of John Curry, GODOYLAB, 2005.

Designing furniture relies on intuition, judgment, design skills, engineering principles, and knowledge in a broad range of disciplines helpful with problem solving. Designing furniture requires inspiration, a concept or idea, and the commitment to give pleasure to those who use it.

The inevitable shift from designing furniture to fabricating furniture generates an appreciation for both the obvious and subtle ways in which making can influence the design process. Through the process of making furniture, one will learn about hand, power, and digital tools, material properties and working methods, assembly processes, and the time required to finish a project. Fabricating furniture demands precise skill and workmanship and often results in a sense of craft for those directly involved in the process. Making furniture does not necessarily guarantee an ability to design furniture, but it will result in an expanded knowledge of materials, tools, and joinery, which in turn generates a broader appreciation and respect for furniture design.

Furniture design is deeply rooted in the human condition. It is a social science that belongs to the humanities, an applied art that draws upon many design disciplines, and is dependent upon a working knowledge of materials and fabrication techniques. It is a holistic and interdisciplinary field of study.

Before delving into the nature of furniture design, consider the terms furniture and design and reflect upon the fundamental and symbiotic relationships bound in the meaning and etymology of these two words.

Furniture

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furniture

• noun 1. the movable articles that are used to make a room or building suitable for living or working in, such as tables, chairs, or desks. 2. the small accessories or fittings that are required for a particular task or function: door furniture.2

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By many accounts, furniture includes a broad range of moveable objects organized in four main categories:

• Human body support devices (Figures 1.2 and 1.3)
• Surfaces and objects to support various activities (Figures 1.4 and 1.5)
• Storage and display pieces (Figures 1.6 and 1.7)
• Spatial partitions3 (Figures 1.8 and 1.9)

Figure 1.2 Reclining with the chaise longue at Villa Savoye, Poissy, France.

Photography by Stephan Dober, 2011.

Figure 1.3 Plan side and front views of chaise longue (known as LC/4) designed by Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Jeanneret, and Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier) (1928–1929). Originally manufactured in chrome-plated steel, fabric, and leather by Thonet Frères, Paris, then by Cassina, Italy since 1965. 22¼ inches wide; 63 inches deep; 28¾ high (56.5 cm wide; 60 cm deep; 73 cm high).

Drawing by Ashley Hermann, 2006, courtesy of Jim Postell.

Figure 1.4 Outside café tables and chairs, Paris, France.

Photography copyright © William A. Yokel, 2005.

Figure 1.5 Drawing table, designed by Robert Mallet-Stevens (1927) for professional use in his Paris office. Made with tubular metal, poplar wood, and hard lacquer paint.

Photography by Jim Postell, 2011.

Figure 1.6 Case goods (cabinet and bookcase) designed by Mogens Koch, fabricated by Rud. Rasmussen (since 1932), Copenhagen, Denmark.

Photography courtesy of Rud. Rasmussen, Denmark, 2006.

Figure 1.7 Cabinet, designed by Ettore Sottsass (1948–1949). Made with lacquered wood and brass-plated tubular steel.

Photography by Jim Postell, 2011.

Figure 1.8 Furniture as space–space as furniture. Dupont Corian exhibit, designed by SOM, 2005.

Photography by Brian F. Davies, 2004.

Figure 1.9 Living Sculpture in nine components, designed by Verner Panton (1970–1971). Made using mass-polyethylene, with an internal armature supported by expanded polystyrene foam, upholstered in wool. Overall size: 86 inches wide; 201 inches deep; 169 inches high (220 cm wide; 510 cm deep; 430 cm high). Fabricated by Mira-X.

Photography by Jim Postell, 2011.

Furniture pieces are designed and fabricated to assist in the many ways people sit and rest, work and play, organize or display items, and partition space. This view suggests a broad utilitarian framework, in which function is perceived to be the primary intended purpose of furniture. Although function, utility, and social use are important aspects of the performance of furniture, rarely does function alone inspire great design. Furniture design draws upon ideas of beauty, principles of design, theory, material properties, fabrication technologies, business economies, environmental design matters, and the surrounding spatial context in which it is placed, all of which are integral and intertwined with function, utility, and social use. Considerations that influence what we think about and feel regarding furniture design include:

• Aesthetics (the meaning of form)
• Historical precedent (examples from the past)
• Principles of design (i.e., unity, harmony, hierarchy, spatial order)
• Function and social use (ergonomics, comfort, proxemics)
• Design processes (sketching, iterative overlays, model studies, digital modeling, full-scale working prototypes, collage assemblies)
• Material (classification, characteristics, properties, availability, cost)
• Fabrication processes (hand, power, digital)
• Environmental design matters (sustainability, renewable materials, off-gassing)
• Surrounding context (the spatial setting for furniture)
• Professional practice (economic, legal, and business decisions)

A goal in designing furniture is to consider all design aspects in a comprehensive and integrated manner, while maintaining focus and critical engagement upon the primary concepts and ideas that inspire design.

Utilitarian considerations can channel the development and refinement of design ideas but rarely inspire them. Utility is grounded by specific categories of social use, associated with the broader classifications of building and zoning nomenclature. In this book, categories of social use include:

• Health care
• Hospitality
• Institutional
• Office
• Recreational
• Religious
• Residential
• Retail
• Storage

Broad categories of social use are dependent on pa...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Title
• Copyright
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Foreword to the First Edition
• Chapter 1: Introduction to Furniture Design
• Chapter 2: Function and Social Use
• Chapter 3: Form, Spatial Organization, and Typological Orders
• Chapter 4: Furniture Case Studies
• Chapter 5: Furniture Design Theory
• Chapter 6: Design
• Chapter 7: Materials
• Chapter 8: Processes and Methods of Fabrication
• Chapter 9: Professional Practice and Marketing
• Chapter 10: Historical Overview
• Appendix: References and Sources
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index
• Supplemental Images