Project Brief

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This project is part of the Furniture Design 2 course, led by Doonyapol Srichan, a leading Thai furniture designer who was awarded Designer of the year in 2017. With a strong background in both traditional craftsmanship and modern industrial production, Doonyapol pushes the boundaries of how furniture is made, inspiring students to explore new ways of thinking about design and making.

The Creative Manufacturing brief challenges students to rethink conventional furniture production by exploring alternative manufacturing methods. The project encourages an experimental approach, bridging the gap between craft-based techniques and industrial production. Students will investigate unconventional materials, digital fabrication, modular design, and sustainable practices to create furniture that redefines functionality and production efficiency.

Through this project, students will develop a deep understanding of manufacturing processes, critically examining how furniture is designed, produced, and adapted for different scales of production. The outcome should demonstrate a balance between conceptual innovation and practical feasibility. Deliverables include a research-based concept, material experimentation, prototyping, and a final proposal that showcases an alternative manufacturing approach. By blending creativity with technical insight, students will push the limits of furniture-making, challenging traditional norms while addressing contemporary needs in production and design.

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Furniture with Packaging Manufacturing

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My project investigates the intersection of steel furniture manufacturing, upholstery, and packaging techniques through the SCAMPER method. Traditionally, steel furniture is assembled by welding individual metal pieces together, upholstery is created by stitching fabric components, and packaging secures products by sealing plastic materials. I identified a correlation between these processes each involving the joining of separate elements to form a cohesive structure and explored how they could inform a new approach to furniture making.

Instead of relying on welding, I experimented with LDPE shrink film, a packaging material, to bind steel components together. This technique challenges conventional assembly methods, offering flexibility, reversibility, and a more material-efficient alternative. Similarly, I explored how sealing plastic, like in packaging, parallels upholstery techniques, suggesting new possibilities for form, structure, and aesthetics.

By merging industrial steel furniture production, upholstery principles, and packaging techniques, this project redefines material application, assembly, and functionality in furniture design, introducing new structural and visual languages in manufacturing.

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Impact

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The innovative nature of this exploration was recognized at Bangkok Design Week 2018, where it was selected as an outstanding student innovation and exhibited among cutting-edge design works. This recognition reinforced the project’s potential in pushing the boundaries of material applications and blending industrial and craft-based techniques. It sparked interest from professionals in the design and manufacturing industries, highlighting its relevance in the discourse of alternative production methods and new aesthetics in furniture design.

Beyond the exhibition, this project continues to inspire future explorations in hybrid manufacturing, encouraging designers to rethink material combinations, sustainability, and modularity in furniture-making, proving that interdisciplinary experimentation can lead to groundbreaking innovations.

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