Making to Care
Alex Wang
See it On Campus: Level 2
Making to Care
some assembly required
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Overconsumption has become the new normal in our current world. Disposability, planned obsolescence, and trend cycles dominate nearly every market of every type of object, from clothing to furniture. The prompt of this project was to re-imagine this skewed relationship we have with the world around us.
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How could you communicate the labour behind an object? How can you make it understandable?
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How could you involve someone in co-creating their own object. something suited perfectly to them?
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How could the expression of an object change along with their owners, shifting styles as identities change?
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These were the questions that were asked and explored throughout this project.
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Making to Care is a furniture set designed to be designed. A lamp, and a credenza that act as blank canvases for expression and exploration. Through engagement with craft, this project connects people to the hidden labour of their surroundings, tying them to their belongings.
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The Credenza
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The credenza is the centrepiece of any room; made of solid ash and ash veneered plywood. Filled with details, with room for more.
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Front and centre are two sliding doors.
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Functioning as tapestry looms, these removable doors feature hidden pegs within their frames; allowing users to weave in anything they want.
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Quite literally anything can be slipped into the looms, from recycled ocean plastics, to dyed fabric swatches. Once finished the weave can be left on or taken off whenever wished. These looms allow your own ideas to sit central in your space, able to change as you change.
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The credenza also holds three drawers, with a unique assembly system
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Each drawer is held together with a pair of dovetails and four tenons, tightened together with a climbing rope and dowel.
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Much more involved than traditional ready to assemble systems, putting the drawers together allow users to familiarize themselves with the basic language of wood joinery. Learning the push and pull of the small details that make up their belongings.
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Flat packable and ready to assemble; the carcass of the credenza can be put together using a single hex key. Lamello Clamex joints hold panels together, while the legs are attached with bolts. Every part of the credenza is engaged by the user, from the drawers right down to the weave.
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The Lamp
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The lamp, made for play and experimentation.
Its lampshade is made up of 16 solid ash strips that can be shaped through a simplified steam bending process with no extra tools required (other than a pot and stove).
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Steam bending steps
- Soak ash strips in water
- Boil or steam ash strips in or above a pot for 5 minutes
- Bend, and hold in place using pegboard
- Let dry overnight
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The versatility offered by the pegboard, gives users the space to experiment and fail. Any bend or twist can be tried, developing a connection to the material through play.
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By changing with the lampshade, users are given the chance to not only manipulate form, but also light. Each curve revealing a soft glow, or a sharp beam.
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Making to care is a small intervention into our material culture. A set of objects that serve as experiences and opportunities for expression and connection. A project meant for the now. As our world becomes ever more embroiled in the consumption of both material, and labour; it is important to remember that ultimately it is human hands that shape our surroundings. To make is to understand this and to care is up to you.
