View source for Open Furniture Project

The Open Source Furniture Project is envisaged as a pilot project in Open Source Tool Design. It should be noted that while most Open Design projects tend to be high-tech, this one is notably low-tech, which is one factor making it particularly suitable as a pilot project.

== An Open Source Alternative to IKEA ==

An easy way to describe the proposed Open Source Furniture Project would be to compare it to IKEA.

IKEA has built a vast network for the world-wide distribution of standardised models of cheap, self-assembled furniture that combines artistic design with high practical usability. However, IKEA also represents much that is wrong with centralised, monopolistic manufacturing: production centers are located in a different country than the consumers, the giant stores are located outside urban centers thus requiring consumers to make long car trips, the selection of available product is limited, used furniture is generally disposed of as waste, and so on.

An alternative would be to develop a similar line of cheap self-assembled furniture, for which all of the specifications are available on internet for free use by anyone. Since the end-user wants to buy a kit and thus avoid the upstream tasks of preparing the elements to be assembled, small locally-based companies would grow up to manufacture and sell the standardised kits.

== An On-Line Library of Open Source Specifications for Self-Assembled Furniture Kits ==

The core of the Open Furniture Project would be an on-line library of specifications for self-assembled furniture kits.

The specifications would include digital drawings showing how to manufacture the elements to be included in each kit, as well as all additional instructions and information (such as types of material, machining tips and so on). These specifications would be for use by the local companies that manufacture the kits, rather than for the end-users who buy the kits. The specifications could also describe the type of machines necessary for producing the various elements. In other words, the available on-line information could include detailed specifications for setting up of the required small manufacturing plants.

The free designs might be produced by university students in appropriate subjects such as industrial design and industrial engineering. For example, a class could work together to produce a specific design, or an individual student might develop a new design as part of a thesis project.

[[Category:Open Design Projects]]