Cardboard Furniture: Summary

As a summary of the project I enclose a presentation I did.

However, while working on the project I was really thinking about the sustainability of such a chair. The material is for sure recyclable (cardboard up to five times, if I am not wrong) and after all you can even compost it. The question is, does it make sense to do such a furniture? In Brazil, for example, where I am at the moment, the high air humidity in the summer (around 90-96%) is very aggressive to almost everything – furniture, clothes, walls, paints (here I do really appreciate the exotic sorts of wood and plastics). Thus, catching the water from the air and being exploited cardboard furniture within a short time are losing their rigidity. Of course, laminated corrugated cardboard is much more resistant but is not the “Luis XV Chair” more sustainable lasting for years?

I think these kind of furniture I would see in many “temporary situations”, growing children, moving all the time students or even in the catastrophe endangered areas, where the quick availability of the furniture can be an asset.

Please, feel free to comment or discuss the pros and cons of the solution.

Leave a comment

11 Comments

  1. petit4chocolatier

     /  March 6, 2013

    Wow, well done! Sustainability 🙂

    Reply
  2. What a very interesting idea!

    Reply
  3. BePe

     /  October 21, 2011

    Looks nice although (since I am getting older with every year) I would like more support for legs. Maybe even something for half-lying.

    Reply
    • Oh… actually the idea is to have a chaise-long, too. Please have a look in the second video about the Final Chair Solution (with “English Bear”) or in the earlier post.
      (it is inevitable, we all are getting older with every year)
      Anyway, right… in case of the chaise-long you need some support, small cardboard coffee table would fulfill the wish or… some cardboard box full of wine bottles to make it more stable 😉

      Reply
  4. RRiley

     /  October 21, 2011

    Well done, I love the idea of using recycled materials in times of such general wastage – along a similar theme, I spotted this site which might be of interest to you too. I particularly like the shopping trolley chair!

    Refab: 20 Eye-Catching Pieces of Recycled Urban Furniture

    Reply
    • Thank you RRiley 🙂 and absolutely I agree with you that in our times we need to care more about our environment and about the products we are using. For me it is incredible how big is the pile of packaging materials only after doing shopping in the supermarket.
      Thanks as well for the link, I came across it already but it can be helpful for others so it is good to have it here.

      Reply
  5. Aga

     /  October 20, 2011

    Very nice and interesting blog! I’m sure you have done a lot of work to make it on the way he is. Congratulations

    Reply
    • Thanks Aga 🙂
      It is indeed a bit of work but actually nowadays with the available tools you can do it quite easy. It costs only time.

      Reply
  6. TN

     /  October 20, 2011

    Seems quite interesting, but I share your doubts. In my opinion, something called “paper wicker” would be much more long-lasting, even in Brazil, due to the use of acrylic or polyurethane varnish (the latter is resistant to water and humidity) as a top coat. Here’s an example: http://www.folkownia.pl/meble/33-pleciak.html

    Reply
    • Thank you TN for comment and for the suggestion. I don’t know the paper wicker very well but I would afraid that it would be not really possible to fold it and unfold it, in case you would like to move for example to a different apartment.
      Anyway, I will look into this. Thank again.

      Reply

Leave a comment