Getting Closer to Downloadable Furniture

Design might not get any more practical or accessible than this.  The Swiss-based online furniture initiative known as Foldschool, allows one to download free plans of a foldable stool, chair, or rocker for the small set, and then construct the pieces at home, with self-sourced (i.e., recycled!) cardboard.  Led by architect/designer/bike messenger Nicola Enrico Stäubli, with some support from an IKEA foundation, the group clearly has sustainability as its primary tenet, as they proclaim “Mass culture is run by superficiality and ecological absurdity”,  and “The mindset of foldschool is to restore design to one of its original missions: to provide a product at an affordable price through a smart manufacturing process.” With this strong mission behind them, it’s no surprise that Foldschool has been getting so much attention within the green design and DIY world.

By streamlining their approach to the point that users can download and print design plans, and then construct usable furniture out of everyday cardboard, Stäubli and his team suggest what the future may have in store for contemporary design if viewed through a simpler lens.  To literally have all the tools at ones’ fingertips, means that we may someday have a more democratized manufacturing  process with less dependency on resource-sapping large-scale infrasctructure.  Some note that  widely available and affordable home-based CNC’s run by your PC, are not too far from reality, although if adopted, they too may raise their own set of questions.  Meanwhile, if you think you want to try your hand at one (or all) of their designs, go on over to Foldschool to download your plans today.  It will be interesting to see how this group evolves, and what products they may have in store for us in the future!