Furniture Studio
Pratt Institute NY
Instructor: Mark Goetz
'XXXX' COFFEE TABLE
BACKGROUND
The furniture studio class taught by Mark Goetz had a very open premise. You got to define your user, the environment that you saw your piece in and the even the cost of prototyping that you were willing to invest. On the surface this may seem like win-win but if you look at it closely you can see the catch. It also taught me some very interesting things about myself. It showed me how deep an impact living in small apartments had made on me.
The primary design consideration for the coffee table was to design a multi-functional object for people living in small urban apartments.
PROCESS
After deciding on a mechanism the first step involved making a number of scale models using balsa wood and wire to figure out what shapes were feasible. This exercise gave me the opportunity to explore a large number of variations rapidly.
INSPIRATION
The aesthetic for this piece is inspired by the architecture of the Norman Forster designed “Hearst Building” by making the structural elements a visible part of the design.
The movement mechanism is an iteration on the basic scissor joint, but inspired by the bones in the neck of a turtle that allow the animal to retract its head within its shell.
