Built form and Culture
People from different cultural backgrounds view the built environment in different ways. Correlations between furniture, culture, and use develop into complex associations between built form and culture. Culture is a …
MODERNISM
Modernism is more than a style. It is a philosophical way of thinking about architecture and design. It came into being in an emerging industrial world that rapidly embraced mechanization. …
Venustas
What distinctions can be made between aesthetics, a personal reaction to physical or visual stimuli and is subjective. Pleasure is revealed by sensation through the tactile nature of materials, finishes, …
Utilitas
Utility must precede beauty. Christopher Dresser, "General Principles of Ornament," The Furniture Gazette, London, 1877, pp. 173-174. Commodity (utilitas) is determined from a range of observations and experiences based on …
FIRMITAS, UTILITAS, AND VENUSTAS
For years, architectural theories were dependent on three interrelated terms—firmness, commodity, and delight. The Latin terms of origin firmitas, utilitas, and venustas are attributed to Vitruvius's text, The Ten Books …
Systems theory
Systems theory sprang from the origin of human factors engineering—a view primarily interested in looking at everything as a complex series of interrelated systems. Everything is, in a sense, a …
Furniture Design Theory
theory • A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena. A belief or principle that guides action or assists comprehension or judgment.1 INQUIRY …
Lessons from the 25 furniture case Studies
What recurring themes or cumulative lessons are apparent from the furniture studies? Some furnishings were the first to use a specific material or a new fabrication technology. Some pieces have …
An investigation of digital design and digital fabrication processes
Date: 2006 Digital technology and CNC fabrication techniques have become a reliable source for producing complex forms with little concern for the material being used or the waste that is …
Riverside Architectural Millwork (production model)
Context:
Social, sustainable, and environmental design strategies
Date: 2004 Since 2004, Emiliano Godoy has worked on the design of furniture made with knitted pieces of wood (Figure 4.101). This project started while Godoy was studying industrial design …
It will age, and one day—when I am no more—disappear
He transformed into mortal clay or ashes.17 The design is a solid wooden cube. The sitting surface is concave over grooves that are convex—the lower and upper parts of a …
Furniture Case Studies
In this chapter, 25 furniture case studies are organized chronologically. Text descriptions, computer-rendered images, hand drawings, and photographs help present the context and background, tectonics, and aesthetics of the studies. …
. Mechanical (Transformative Pieces)
Mechanical joinery can allow furniture to transform into different shapes, as shown in the American drop-leaf table (Figure 3.45). The classic American colonial chair-table was an armed chair resembling a …
Freestanding
Most furnishings are freestanding, but relatively few are designed to be experienced in the round. Beds, couches, case goods, and rectangular tables are often placed against a wall or next …
Built-in/Stationary
When built-in furniture is carefully integrated with its surrounding space, it can enhance the continuity of the architecture. Built-in casework and millwork require on-site installation and mechanical attachment to a …
TYPOLOGICAL ORDERS
Order results from the confluence of ideas present in the conception and development of design. Furniture is nearly always movable, but not all furnishings are designed to move easily. Furniture …
Linear
Lines are made by connecting two or more points and generally are conceived as being straight (Figure 3.34), but they also curve, warp, and transform, as illustrated in Bookworm, designed …
Clustered
Clustered arrangements are apparent whenever a group of three or more elements (or axial orientations) share the same field (Figure 3.30). Many office systems are designed to enable a broad …
. Centralized
Centralized spatial order draws focus toward the center of a space. The interior of Eero Saarinen's chapel at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology relies on three elements to draw the …
Spatial Organization
Space is the medium that architects, designers, and artists use to compose form. Space and form are codependent. Without space, form would not exist, and without form, space could not …
Orthogonal
Orthogonal furniture is composed of rectangular geometric forms created by lines, planes, and volumes positioned at 90 degrees to one another. Armoires, beds, buffets, shelving, and sofas are often orthogonal …
Curvilinear
Inflated therapy balls (gym balls) are simple curvilinear forms (Figure 3.17). Gym balls have neither front nor side, unless implied by surface treatment, seams, or branding logos. They offer a …
Composite
Furnishings that utilize two or more geometric systems, such as curvilinear and orthogonal, or two or more distinct materials such as stone and wood in one piece are considered composite. …
. Form, Spatial Organization, and Typological Orders
This chapter focuses on the physical and spatial characteristics of furniture and is organized in three parts: Form, Spatial Organization, and Typological Orders. FORM Form constitutes the physical structure and …
Storage Furniture: Containing, Organizing, and Accessing
The significance of a container is often related to the significance of its contents. It is not surprising, then, that the quality and value of jewelry and other personal collections …
Retail Furniture: Displaying, Storing, Transactions, and Sales
Retail furnishings should be flexible, durable, and require low maintenance, but above all else, they need to promote the sale of merchandise. In addition to the design of product storage …
Dining, and Organizing
A home can be considered an organized closet, shaped by personal possessions and members of a family. Residential furniture provides the basic necessities of dwelling and includes freestanding and built-in …
Furniture in a Mosque
Within a mosque, the mihrab, minbar, and prayer rug are liturgical elements designed for worship. The minbar is a high pulpit, an elevated structure from which the khutba (an Islamic …
Religious (Liturgical) Furniture: Altars, Arks, and Minbars
Religious environments and the practice of unique rituals require specific furnishings. Liturgical furniture is determined by collective ritual practices that help structure how a given set of people worship together. …
Recreational Furniture: Play, Leisure, and Outdoor Furnishings
Play and Leisure Poker tables, foosball tables, and Ping-Pong™ tables are equipment and gaming furniture designed for leisure and play. Concepts of health, safety, and welfare have transformed the landscape …
Office Furniture: Ergonomic Seating, Workstations, and Systems Furniture
Office furniture constitutes a large segment of the furniture industry. The U. S. office furniture industry has grown significantly over the past 20 years, reaching $12 billion in gross sales …
Multifunctional Furniture: Sit-Work, Sit-Sleep, and Store-Display
Furniture becomes multifunctional the moment we toss clothes on a chair or sit on a table. Tabletops function as places to set items and serve as places to eat, drink, …
Institutional Furniture: Education
Institutional furnishings are used in classrooms, libraries, and training facilities. The phrase contract furniture is used to describe institutional furniture. On occasion, institutional furnishings are custom designed for specific places, …
Lobby and Reception Furniture
Lobbies and reception areas are social-centered places that draw people together for relatively short periods of time (Figure 2.32). Verner Panton's Living Tower (1969) is composed of interrelated components that …
