FURNITURE: The practical aspect
The
human body is a wonderfully engineered masterpiece of design. Delicate, yet
flexible and highly adjustable, it readily adapts to all kind of ambient
conditions and there are so many postural changes and the furniture should
be on the same principle that it should be a highly adaptable/adjustable
mechanism that adapts to the postures. Designers now understand the
potential of communicating dynamism and flexibility through furniture.
Rapid changes are bound to reflect in furniture design too. Newer material
which are easy to maintain , better craftsmanship , the human comfort and an
urge to explore in design and improve the visual quality are some of the
current developments in furniture technology. Gone now the days of heavy
grandpa's furniture, this is the age of 'sleek' revolution. Today we are
aware of the well-crafted furniture pieces, from the ever popular wood and
cane to stereotype - shattering designs in metal and other textures, there
is the whole spectrum of one can even think of. The range of materials
covered by furniture design include the universal wood and bamboo , steel
and plastic , rope and canvas and many combinations of unconventional
materials that serve to emphasize the user or the creator .The design
methodology focuses mainly on hand crafted and solid wood contemporary
furniture . According to one's taste and preferences, either one goes in for
colonial or contemporary or even futuristic kind of stuff.
WOOD is always been and still is the fundamental and universal
material for making furniture. The wood which is used for making furniture
should be of high quality and properly processed. The wood is purchased in
the form of logs and sawn timber depending on the availability in the timber
market. The timber should be selected by the persons who should have the
through knowledge of the wood nature and processing. The timber should have
all the relevant qualities and should be free from diseases and defects like
rots, fractures, cracks, twisted fibers etc. The logs should be then
seasoned properly. Our ancestors used to season then or drain their moisture
naturally by putting them in some shadow for around a year but since this is
very time consuming process, so nowadays they are seasoned artificially to
reduce the moisture context to the point where it will not shrink, warp or
change either while it is being worked on or after it has been manufactured.
There are certain other important factors like joinery, the most important
in determining the stability and durability of furniture. One should be
ensured that when two pieces of wood need to be joined, whether in a
straight line or at an angle, there should be a proper joint with one
section either inserted into or overlapping the other end both firmly
screwed together, not simply a casual nailing together of two pieces of wood
.Another important aspect is that one should at least have some idea about
the wood they should use for their furniture. Teak wood or saagwan is still
considered to be the best and is usually recommended. Rosewood or sheesham
is very good but rarer and more expensive. Then comes the mahogany, siris
white, siris black, rubber wood etc. which are also used. Nowadays solid
wood is being replaced by the boards, as they are less expensive and one can
just get the look of any wood by simply pasting any of the veneer or
laminate in a very little budget. Boards are coming in a lot of varieties
like particle boards, block boards, mdf (medium density fiber) boards, hdf
(high density fiber) boards, prelaminated boards, fiber boards and lots of
others. But there are certain requirements of wood which cannot advisely be
substituted by boards like legs of table, base of cupboards, or the parts
which are in contact with floor. These parts should be made of some damp
resistant, hard wood to protect it from wet corrosion.
CANE furniture was popularized in India as the garden furniture but
now there is a tremendous change in its usage. Cane is relatively easier to
reforest and replenish and is therefore termed as eco-friendly. It is
available in any color, one desires to have and above all it is very easy to
maintain.
Now considering the furniture pieces, futuristic chairs, romantic beds,
cubist book tables and what not, the design would certainly speaks in a
babble of languages, appealing to many different tastes, different people.
The CHAIR is the greatest barometer of social change. Seating has
gone from crude benches to thrones to easy chairs. Beyond being functional,
the chair is a work of art. Choosing a chair is not easy - people like to
find out one that not only gives comfort but is a personal expression of
person's attitudes and lifestyles. Today the use of the chair is increasing
as is the demand for a good looking one.
When SOFA is concerned, the latex, foam and coil springs are the
accessories naturally, used in the making of a comfortable sofa, but the
original comfort point is the correctly positioned framework.
The TABLE, with changing styles, has also undergone a
transformation and the innumerable designs which suits individual tastes.
Designers have form and function by giving it elegant curves, sleek lines,
ornate carving, delicate handles and a smooth polished surface. They have
given us classic designs in teak and mahogany, and have experimented with
trendy material.
BEDS were considered once to be a wooden box with storage inside the
box. Now it's not that way any more. One can choose from the infinite
designs or gaze on curls and curves before you fall asleep. A cohesive and
concentrated vision took shape to formulate the production of the so unique
beds. Sternous efforts are been made continuously at every stage of bed
designing to ensure the most faithful designs. Incorporating modern
production techniques and blending traditional crafts, many of the designs
feature the decorative inlaid timbers specifically ebonized inlay, bandings
and veneers.
Another trend is the use of the different materials in the same product or
what is called 'mixed media'. Today's revolution is to use the
'environmental friendly' materials. The concern for the rapidly depleting
forest cover in the country has turned designers to steel, which, just a
decade ago was looked down as a material only to be found in government
offices. New technology and materials developed for industrial uses, rather
than being ignored in residential design, were embraced and used to create
innovative environment. Intended to complement life in machine age. Today's
designers celebrate the intrinsic nature of the materials. They are losing
no opportunity to amalgamate it into their work process. Be it be wrought
iron, mild steel or what ever, they use them innovatively, liberally and
above all subtly in their design. Today's furniture is the perfect
combination of diverse materials - wood , glass , brass, wrought iron ,
acrylic , fabric , sand stone etc. in multifacious permutations and
combinations to create a distinct line of furniture. Each material is used
for certain desired effect, wood for warmth and elegance, little bit of
brass for effect, wrought iron for sturdy simplicity and so on.
Thus , today's designers offer a large variety of well - crafted wood ,
leather , metal and cane furniture in a plethora of hybrid styles . While
some create one of kind designer originals, others do a lot of very good
middle range furniture and yet others copy well known pieces of designers
but the objective is to take a co-ordinate approach to design, so that each
element that goes into a visual ambience seems to be one component of the
whole space.
