Groov Furniture Collection, 2020
Solo project for my Final Major Project.
Groov is an extensive flatpack range of tables, seating, shelves and lights created using the new joint type without fixings, allowing for quick and easy assembly and disassembly. One material supporting another, utilising the flexibility of metal.
The main focus of groov was to question the perception of flatpack furniture and explore material properties. In my research, the respondents of my survey identified that flatpack was often not durable and therefore viewed as unsustainable particularly when it comes to moving home as the parts can get broken. The respondents also said that flatpack was often boring in its design always looking quite similar to each other, and finally, they said that sometimes it was difficult to assemble with lots of little parts and they would have parts leftover or missing as well as instructions missing or complicated. I wanted to test the flexibility of metal, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic I have not been able to as yet, but I am still developing this product. The pandemic added greater need for the product as people were investing in home offices and were choosing to invest in their homes more and the high quality, yet simple flatpack furniture would be ideal for this current market.
The ease of disassembly of the product also supports small spaces that need to be adaptable as well as long relationships with the products disassembling them and reassembling them whenever required for moving house without loosing the screws and small parts that come with conventional flatpack furniture.
The video shows how the joint works. It requires no fixings, glue or tools for assembly. The metal 'bracket' locates and clamps the adjoining piece in place.
From my dissertation on 'The Illusion of Progress: An Understanding Through Objects', I looked into the way we value objects breaking down consumerism and perception as well as investigating the habitual discarding of objects and how we can prevent this through increased emotional durability. One way to emotionally attach yourself is to be part of the process of making or assembling it, and GROOV achieves it without using tools and fixings, offering an enjoyable consumer interaction with the product. Groovs aesthetics comes from function and does not follow fashion, and so will not be thrown out because it's out of fashion.
