THE BOX-IT-UP CUPBOARD A DESIGN FOR THE FUTURE
LIFESTYLES IN THE FUTURE The future...we all have different expectations of how we expect life to be in the future. From self driving cars, to 3-D printed functioning organs, and artificial intelligence being the order of the day, one thing we do know is that life will be easier. There is access to transportation, accommodation, food and all the things needed for daily activities. With shopping and shopping malls basically extinct, inhabitants can borrow what they need on demand, and get it delivered right to their doorstep by commercial drones.
With all these advances and changes, the question is how do we use this information to design the furniture of the future. We will try to focus on innovative space saving methods, using new materials which serve our purposes, but most importantly we aim to make designs the bring ease to our future selves
FUTURE FURNITURE DESIGN CONCEPT GSEducationalVersion
With the conclusion of the design of the flat of the future, we went further to pick a specific piece of furniture that we wanted to design. The Box-it-up Cupboard, got its name from the physical outlook as well as the main concept behind it. With our design, we aimed to fulfil the following requirements. * The furniture should seat at least 4 people, * Any extensions of the cupboard should fully fit into it after use * It requires minimal stress or strain to set up *It is innovative and interesting
Inspiration was taken from the modrian painting as well as the diagram for golden ratio. We usesd these to divide a normal 300x60x210 cupboard into big and small boxes of different ratios, to give it a sophisticated but simple look. Hence boxes from a physical outlook.
To fulfil our other requirements, we made the chairs and tables fit into the cupboard, essentially getting boxed up and stored away, when not in use, but also adding to the aesthetic value of the cupboard. This also, by the way, increases the amount of usable area in the flat!! With this, I believe our design works in accordance with Dieter Rams’ ten princinples for good design
THE CHAIR CHAIR BACKREST
CHAIR
CONCEALED TABLE
HOW DOES IT WORK
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The chair is a 52.5x45x54 cm cuboid, made of 4cm thick pieces of wood. Each chair has a designated spot in the cupboard for storage which are all of the same size. To make for easy access, there is a cut-out peice of the wooden seating, which also acts as an opening for the optional backrest. The backrest has an irregular t-shape, also with a cut out piece to make the easier it carry and store as the backrests are stored in the bottom layer if the cabinet
THE CONCEALED TABLE The table is an adaptation of the already existing Goliath table. With the use of special mechanisms, it can expand to a total length of 150cm. There is constantly a wooden board of 60cm on top of the mechanism casing, so that at any time a table with a length of 60cm can be easily made, by pulling out the table and affixing the board. The table has 2 extra boards of 45cm each, so the table can be extended to 3 different lengths depending on need.
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For the cupboard doors I made use of Blum inset hinges without a face frame, to give it a neat flush look with the rest of the cupboard
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This detail shows the aluminium telescoping 3LQ PkOH mechanism which is used for the concealing table. It moves forward and back with ease, folding into a neat row as it its pushed back into place
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DETAIL 3
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3-D RENDERINGS
MATERIALS
Balsa wood was used for the chairs and for the tables because of its incredible combination of strength and lightness. It is a fast growing sustainable and recyclable raw material, that produces no toxic substances. I believe more materials like this will be utilised in the future. White oak painted white, was used for the casing of the cupboard, and aluminium was used for the different hinges required. With the amount of ease simplicity and sophistication, that the Box-it-up cupboard gives you, there is no doubt that in every way, this funiture was made for the future.