Folding & Bending
Duration
Type
Team
My Role
10 Months
Graduation Project, Furniture Design
Chen Tseng
Product Design, Prototype
Background
Origami vs. Furniture Design
The aim of the study is to transform the styling vocabulary “Folding and Bending” into furniture design. Inspired by origami, and following the rules of technology and processing limitations of bending, I transformed the ideas which were original and producible into a series of practical furniture.
Designing
Prototypes
In the first phase, I developed as many concepts as possible by folding variety forms with 2mm cardboard. Further, I chose the forms which were original and feasible for developing into furniture.
Designing
Iteration Based on Usability
The development of forms based on the first chosen concepts, refined the prototypes to increase feasibility and usability.
In this iteration, three prototypes were turned into furniture pieces:
Coat hanger: made of 12-bended units and combined together like a loop by screws
Vase: transformed the form from sheets to tubes
Coffee Table: used bended metal to construct a structure that can bear a certain weight
Designing
3D Representation
To produce the concepts in real size with wood, aluminum, and metal, I built the 3D models and exported the engineering drawings. With these materials, I communicated with the manufacturers constantly and tried to overcome various limitations.
Coat Hanger
Vase
Coffee Table
Developing
Manufacturing Process
Several challenges appeared when making the pieces. For instance, the tubes were distorted many times while bending, and it was hard to cut the hole on each tube exactly in the same position since the tubes were too thin and fragile to be fixed in a certain place. In the end, I solved the problems by using jigs to maintain consistency.
Designing
Final Series
The result was an original furniture series made of wood, aluminum, and steel: a coat hanger, a vase, and a coffee table. In this project, I became familiar with the feasibility and constraints of metal bending and gained experience in creating compelling yet functional designs.
