UC Architect s Book Recognizes Furniture Design as Emerging Discipline

Furniture design as a distinct creative form is practiced by architects, artists, interior designers, carpenters, corporations, craftsmen (and craftswomen), engineers, industrial designers and others.

And, perhaps, because of its many disparate practitioners and the fact that while individual courses in furniture design are offered, there are few comprehensive, academic programs devoted to it, furniture design has not – traditionally – been recognized as a discipline in its own right.

By means of his new book, James Postell, professor in the University of Cincinnati’s

top-ranked

School of Architecture and Interior Design, part of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), hopes to help change that.

Due out in early November,

“Furniture Design”

(2nd edition, Wiley) offers a comprehensive survey of the essential craft and practice-related aspects of a broad range of furniture design – chairs, desks, screens, shelves, tables and more – comprised of a variety of materials, including plastic, glass, metal and wood.

It also offers specifications, green and digital design options, fabrication technologies as well as history and theory.

Said Postell, “The book also features 25 case studies of furniture design that represents a broad selection of works, designers and techniques. Whenever possible, the book displays more than one image of each featured piece in order to show form and perspective.”

Also included in “Furniture Design” is

• Furniture function and social use
• Form, spatial organization and typological
• Structural integrity and composition
• Accessibility, universal design, human factors and ergonomics
• Design process, from schematics through fabrication
• Materials, processes and methods of fabrication
• Professional practice and marketing
• Furniture design history, from prehistory to the digital age
  

The best part about writing the book, according to Postell, who maintains an active practice and himself designs and makes furniture – specializing in furniture for worship spaces – was the opportunity it provided him to “learn about young designers now at work and the chance to meet other people who are passionate about furniture from entrepreneurs, store owners, consumers, students, artists, designers and others."