[ T ] Furnitures

Useful information

Team members: Hugo Pilate
Country: France
Keywords: 3d printing enzo mari local production upcycling sustainable design ephemeral designs

Short Description

3D printed joinery and furniture designed to encourage the reuse of low-grade materials.

Detailed Description

How can 3D printed joinery encourage the reuse of low-grade materials?

The [ T ] joinery system was designed to create a visual language that celebrates the assembly and disassembly of products as well as their hacking or altering. Both the [ T ] chair and shelf use the 3D-printed joinery but in fairly different ways, specifically relevant to their purposes.

Like Legos, the interlocking mechanism becomes an integral part of the design and a soft nudge towards the viewer, reminding them that things could still be changed, rearranged, and played with.

Although the [ T ] chair and shelf have a similar aesthetic, informed by what was available at the time of their design, the idea is that when moving homes, their owner could choose to only carry the joinery, like seeds, and use them with materials found in the new location.

Project Details

Does your design support sustainable production, embodying circular or regenerative design practices?: The [ T ] joinery were designed to be versatile and hackable. With this ethos, the aim is to encourage the decentralization of affordable production solutions like fablabs and other communal fabrication center. In turn, these will hopefully present a more sustainable alternative to the DIY-flavored consumerism several furniture companies have now popularized. [ T ] joinery supports regenerative practices by:
1 | Encouraging the recuperation of materials
2 | Allowing for improvisation and hacking when building / assembling / repairing
3 | Supporting decentralized production networks
4 | Being fully opensourced

Does your design use principles of distribution and open source?: The 3D print files and blueprint are available online and can be easily replicated.

Does your design promote awareness of responsible design and consumption?: It at least hopes to, however modestly. It requires more adoption by others so the system can really be challenged and taken forward, but the core philosophy of the design is one that hopes to celebrate ad hoc fabrication culture and playful invention. The [ T ] system hopes to be and invitation to hack rather than a prescriptive template to follow.