Furniture Design

The comprehensive guide to furniture design― expanded and updated

Furniture designers draw on a range of knowledge and disciplines to create their work. From history to theory to technology, Furniture Design offers a comprehensive survey of the essential craft- and practice-related aspects of furniture design.

Generously illustrated with photographs and drawings―including a new color section―this Second Edition features updated coverage of material specifications, green design, digital design, and fabrication technologies. It also features twenty-five case studies of furniture design that represent a broad selection of works, designers, and techniques, including recent designs produced within the last decade.

The book explores:

• Furniture function and social use
• Form, spatial organization, and typological orders
• Structural integrity and composition
• Accessibility, universal design, human factors, and ergonomics
• The design process, from schematics through fabrication
• Materials, processes, and methods of fabrication
• Professional practice and marketing
• The history of furniture design, from prehistory to the digital age

Complete with a glossary of terms and a comprehensive bibliography, Furniture Design, Second Edition is a one-stop resource that furniture designers will turn to regularly for the advice, guidance, and information needed to perform their craft.

JIM POSTELL is Professor in the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati. He has taught design studio and seminar courses for thirty years and maintains an active design practice. He is the coauthor of Materiality and Interior Construction.