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The Year in Furniture Designs: Design/Build Techniques, Learning From the Past and Present
The President's desk, a clever Japanese trick, magnets, joints and more
By Rain Noe - Dec 29, 2015
This year in furniture, we got to write up a lot of furniture building/designing techniques, both old and new. We also got to see some good examples of what the past—not just 2015, we mean "the past" as in centuries ago—still has to offer in terms of learning about furniture design.
Furniture Building Techniques, Old & New
Seeing how other folks have solved furniture design problems, whether this year or centuries ago, can help you refine your own techniques. In 2015 we came across a lot of good examples, like "A Better Way to Steam Wood for Bending: Use a Plastic Bag!
Enter a caption (optional)We saw one company's solution to end user assembly with "Dock 312's Magnetically-Joined Flatpack Endtables.
Enter a caption (optional)We also got to see a neat Japanese woodworking trick in "Clever Design/Build Techniques: Using Sprung Wood as a Latching Mechanism.
Enter a caption (optional)Then there's Steven Banken, who uses tannic acid to produce a beautiful ebonizing effect on his dresser drawers
Enter a caption (optional)In "An Alternative Design Approach to Expandable Tables," designer Andrea Brugnera replaces one fold-out leaf with eight little ones
Enter a caption (optional)Frank Howarth took on the task of "Redesigning the Standard Bookcase for Modularity.
Enter a caption (optional)We got to see one of the weirdest fastening systems ever in "This Joinery System Uses Magnets to Activate Screws Captured INSIDE Your Workpiece.
Enter a caption (optional)Several companies have been tackling the issue of using dead space for stoarge, as seen in "Sexy Design Solutions for Utilizing 'Blind Corner' Cabinet Space in the Kitchen.
Enter a caption (optional)In "Reference: Common Dimensions, Angles and Heights for Seating Designers" we listed a variety of numbers you can use as starting points in a new design.
Enter a caption (optional)For those of you who'd rather work in the studio before going to paper, "How to Build a Simple Chair-Designing Rig" shows you the easiest, cheapest way to determine heights and angles in full scale.
Enter a caption (optional)Lastly, in "Reference: The Ultimate Wood Joint Visual Reference Guide," we gathered diagrams from around the web that folks have created to help make you aware of all of the options.
Enter a caption (optional)Learning from the Past
In "Vintage Drafting Table Designs," we got to see multiple examples of how 19th-Century craftsmen worked out furniture adjustability details in low-tech, but effective, ways.
Enter a caption (optional)Similarly, looking at "How Craftspeople Built Height-Adjustable Shelves Before the Industrial Revolution," we see that when there's a need, clever folks with tools can rise to the challenge without needing fancy machinery.
Enter a caption (optional)Here's over a dozen takes on what must be "The World's Oldest, Simplest Chair Design."
Enter a caption (optional)In "What Type of Desk Does the President of the United States Use?" we got to look at the very unusual, storied, and upcycled desk used by one of the most powerful persons on Earth.
Enter a caption (optional)We also recommended you check out auction sites to find unusual furniture design inspiration from days gone by.
Enter a caption (optional)This year we learned that conservator Christopher Storb has been "Preserving, Documenting and Sharing Early American Furniture Designs," showing us an assemblage of rare pieces not seen in your average History of Furniture Design class.
Enter a caption (optional)"Nomadic Furniture: DIY Designs from the 1970s" showed us Victor Papanek's groovy take on do-it-yourself furniture from humble materials.
Enter a caption (optional)And perhaps a lesson in what not to do came to us via "The Design Benefits of Sunken Conversation Pits."
Enter a caption (optional)________________________________________
More from Core77's 2015 Year in Review
• 15 of Your Favorite Posts from 2015
• The Coming Age of Automobility and What It Means for Designers
• 10 Clever, Innovative or Bizarre Design Processes from 2015
• 10 Brilliant and Beautiful Objects from Our 'Designing Women' Series
• 12 Projects to Inspire Future Living
• Design Entrepreneurs Were Killing it in 2015
• The Year in Furniture Designs, Part 1: The Beautiful, the Innovative and the Unusual
• 15 Tools and Tool-Based Projects We Loved in 2015
• 8 New Types of Digital Fabrication Machines
Rain Noe
Rain Noe is a writer and industrial designer based in New York City.
Continued Reading
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By Rebecca Veit - Dec 29, 2015
10 Brilliant and Beautiful Objects From Our ‘Designing Women’ Series
Since May, I've had the pleasure of researching and writing about great female designers for Core77's Designing Women series. With this biweekly column, our idea was to highlight the achievements of lesser-known and underappreciated female design pioneers—and also, along the way, show off a bunch of awesome and beautiful work
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By Rain Noe - Dec 28, 2015
The Year in Furniture Designs: The Beautiful, the Innovative and the Unusual
So many beautiful, interesting, and just downright strange pieces of furniture came across our desks this year that it was tough to pick favorites. But following a refreshing bout of Core77's end-of-year staff tradition—spontaneous in-office wrestling matches—we emerged with fresh enough eyes to pick the standouts: The BeautifulBruce Shapiro's astonishing
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By Carly Ayres - Dec 28, 2015
10 Clever, Innovative or Bizarre Design Processes From 2015
The best of our “In the Details” column this year
In my weekly In the Details column, I take a deep-dive into the making of a new product or project, always with the goal of figuring out how exactly the thing was made and why it was made that way. In 2015, I encountered all manner of innovative design and
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By Core Jr - Dec 28, 2015
Your 15 Favorite Stories from 2015
A look back at Core77's most popular posts of the year!
It's been a wild and wonderful year for design and here at Core77 and we're feeling #blessed to be wrapping it up with you. Over the next week we'll be taking a look at some of our favorite ideas, stories, projects and moments from the past year. But forget about
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