Artefact

This project investigates furniture design, focussing especially upon that for serial production. This necessitates a balance between aesthetics and manufacturing imperatives where the need for economical production has to be reconciled with the need for the pieces to be well able to endure sustained use. As a consequence, the designs have to be predicated upon soundengineering principles. To achieve the ideal of an art and physics synthesis, this body of research inquires into the models and concepts that are offered to us from natural solutions and the subsequent engineering solutions they suggest. In chapter one, I discuss significant background influences, being a preoccupation with music and the seemingly remote activity of sailing. I argue that both these activities are physical and that in fact they are quite sympathetic. Their influence is formative and automatic. Also discussed in the first chapter are a number of significant earlier designs. The works offered in my submission are described in chapter two. While all the objects are related, they are categorised in several groups where, by logic, they form a part of a closer family. The design rationale for each work is discussed and one in particular, the Dechaineux Theatre Lectern, is singled out to explain the process of design and construction for that work but it is indicative of the kind of process that all the pieces have undergone. Further, there is a brief description of significant related works that are not central to the project. Chapter three focuses upon three areas of inquiry. Unlike, the automatic or subconscious background influences described in chapter one, these are at the forefront of my mind. I describe my interest in the universal ideals of proportion, ratio, number and also music. The second area is that of the engineer, how structures are made and the principles that make them a success while the third area deals with the issue of sustainable design. In chapter four, I explain how the three areas of inquiry find expression in my work. In doing so I place this project within an 'ideas' context rather than a stylistic context. The conclusion documents outcomes and the progress of a number of the designs from my submission that are either being manufactured or are planned for manufacture. The potential influence that this project is having with furniture manufacturing in Tasmania is discussed as well as indications for future directions.