Nothing is Wasted: Challenging Product Consumption in the Furniture Industry.
by Nonceba Nyoni
Discarded sofa with sink basin and bed frame, Paddington, NSW.
Abstract
With growing commercialisation, globalisation and access, product consumption has increased exponentially, with more products being produced and purchased. This has led to a growing throw-away culture where consumers are less likely to purchase for longevity and are unlikely to attempt to repair or maintain their property but choose early disposal and replacement to meet their changing desires and needs.
Product autopsy of an office chair.
Research into materials and construction techniques used in the production of fast furniture.
An exploration of the re-making an office chair into another piece of furniture incorporating reuse of armrest components, plywood and seat foam.
The swivel base mechanism remained intact and functional allowing it to be reused with the other reclaimed materials.
“This research project aims to highlight how both consumers and designers can contribute to a circular economy in which less products are disposed of prematurely, but can be repaired, reconfigured, or recycled in order to reduce furniture in the waste stream and in landfill. ”
“The hypothesis guiding this research is that greater education of consumers and more mindful design practice from the furniture industry can effect real change to the pervasive culture. ”
Discarded steel storage unit in re-use as a side table.
A further incarnation of the discarded steel storage being transformed into a group of pendant lights.
Through qualitative research into the literature, conducting interviews and experimental prototyping, it is demonstrated how products can be designed for the long term. The research illustrates how consumers and designers have a responsibility to provide solutions to the growing waste management problem. A framework is developed to describe how designers can produce furniture: i) with end-of-life principles in mind; and ii) for long-term attachment through specific material selection and product customisation — routes proposed to break the throw-away cycle.
The final design, Morphology Series, is a multi-functional transformable design that, in its primary form, takes on the features of a desk. The term 'morphology' is derived from the scientific study of form and structure of organisms in biology and is a good fit for the study of form and structure within this type of furniture design.
Design Intent
The main intent of the final design is to provide consumers with the flexibility they need to modify their product as required for different circumstances and environments. Further, to encourage designers, especially fast-furniture producers, to consider the principles employed in the final design when creating their own designs, particularly for products at the lower price point which are more accessible to the majority of consumers, and where the most impact could be seen, reducing throw-away behaviour.
The final artefact seeks to encourage designers to ask themselves more questions about their design process and to serve as a vehicle to explore new ways of expressing industrial design. Beyond asking themselves how the object they design will serve a single purpose or function, the design of the final artefact seeks to prompt designers to consider questions such as:
‘How will this be repaired, by whom and with what tools?’
‘What are the first likely points of failure and what solutions will solve the problem when it occurs? “
‘What affordances are embodied within this artefact and what other structures could it be?’ ‘What could this artefact be reconfigured into if change was necessary to inhibit disposal?’ 'What materials would allow for the greatest durability and ease of user maintenance?
Early form study of table model transforming into a bench, bookshelf and coat stand using the same components pictured in the centre of the image. The user would change the form according to their requirements.
Rendering of final coat-stand model from the Morphology Series.
Render of final desk model from the Morphology Series, showing underside of desk.
Model of coat stand top section with coat stand hooks extended.
Rendering of final bench model from the Morphology Series.
Bio
I have worked within the interior design and styling industry for several years, and more recently, in retail furniture. As a consumer myself, I think it is evident that many of our lifestyle choices in the western world are adversely affecting our planet. In pursuing further study in the Product Design Honours degree at UTS, I have developed a growing appreciation for the product design process, and also for my own role in product consumption. I think that consumers need to be educated to see that our current consumption habits are unsustainable, and our planet is suffering for it.
I believe people have been gifted with our planet by God and that its stewardship is completely in our hands. This gives me a growing sense of responsibility to challenge the current cultural norms and to contribute to creating a better way of designing beautiful products without causing more harm to the planet.
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