MYUTA
Flexible Evolution
Flexible furniture, for a changing world.
Published
June 15, 2019
Authors
Teacher:
Matthew Waldman
Researchers:
Shin Tanaka
Xavier Ferré
Yuma Ichiba
Keio University Graduate school of Media Design.
CONCEPT
Furniture is one of the least recycled items in households worldwide. The construction is complex, and knowledge of the toxicity of materials used is not clear. Circular design thinking needs to be applied to this industry in a more stringent and transparent manner.
With the continued urbanisation of the planet, affordable furniture will only continue to add to environmental stress. Moreover, fun and well-designed furniture for small spaces are not well-imagined. We hope to change that by presenting adaptable furniture that can be folded and used when necessary.
After a natural disaster, temporary housing and furniture often need to be shipped. MYUTA can be stored in minimum space with minimum cost to be used when necessary. It is also light to ship. We believe this project will also reduce carbon footprints because of the lightweight nature of the products.
CIRCULAR DESIGN ECONOMY – …And our aim for the future. Based on the framework laid out in The Circular Design Guide by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and IDEO, MYUTA takes into account the efficiencies of a Circular Design Economy (CDE) to solve for the problems of “fast furniture”. Our aim is to borrow resources from the planet without further contributing to climate change.
CIRCULAR DESIGN PIONEERS – …With biodegradable packaging. Circular design thinking is relatively new, but there are pioneers across industries who are leading the way. Parley is working with brands like Adidas and Soma to build products from ocean plastic. Studio Swine is innovating techniques in upcycling materials. And Ecovative is creating biodegradable packaging grown from mushrooms. These trials prove MYUTA’s viability and worth, all while moving us toward complete circularity.
CIRCULAR DESIGN – …In numbers. A 2015 study by McKinsey and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation found that, in Europe alone, a CDE would account for a 48% reduction of CO2 emissions after 15 years, £1.8 trillion in economic benefits, and a 0.6% additional annual growth in employment. Most of the impact — around 80% — comes from supply chains, which affect industries at rates up to 24 times compared to direct operations.
Using origami and kirigami design principals that are low-impact for the environment.
FURNITURE SOLUTION
FLEXIBLE & ECO-FRIENDLY – MYUTA presents flexible Eco-friendly furniture solutions for living in small and community-driven spaces and provides transportable and recyclable furniture solutions for disaster relief housing.
TRUNCATED SPHERICAL TESSELLATION – Fashionable & joyful! Using origami and kirigami design principals that are low-impact for the environment, MYUTA provides a fashionable and joyful experience for humans everywhere in many different cultural and socio-economic environments. Our designs can be constructed with simple tools and a variety of Eco-friendly, upcyclable, or recyclable and reclaimed materials.
CHAIR – Elegant & Flexible! The MYUTA chair is an elegant and flexible seating opportunity. Made of interconnected tapered prisms, the chair can rest at a number of ergonomic angles. When not in use, it collapses into a stunning arc shape, which can rest against a wall or stack atop one another to form a flat circle. To keep the furniture lightweight, we will employ materials like the Solid Textile Board developed by Really and Kvadrat.
LAMP – Lightweight & Elegant! A lightweight and elegant lighting fixture, the MYUTA lamp offers an endless variety of arrays. Varying in size from a spotlight to a large dome evocative of a geometric chandelier, the lamp can also be collapsed for storage and transport. Because the fixture must remain significantly lighter and ought to control light, we are considering a translucent recycled thermo-plastic alloy (TPA). Extruded into thin sheets, the plastic will direct light while diffused light envelopes the structure a soft glow.
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