1 December 2016 - Task 7 OpenDesk

Week 7 – OpenDesk by Nick Lerodiaconou

For this week’s lecture we were honoured to listen to a guest lecture, Nick Lerodiaconou. He is a founder of the company OpenDesk. They are based along the line of a furniture company and have collaborated with big companies such as Greenpeace and Nike, giving a different approach towards furniture curations.

OpenDesks connects designers who create furniture such as desks, tables, chairs, and stools for offices or classrooms with manufacturers such as Renatus that produces orders of precision cut pieces of simple wooden desks and chairs, reaching millions of customers around the world. Consistent level of information was given to people anywhere in the world to make and curate a quality piece of furniture. With just internet, there are plenty of channels online where people could self-publish. This saves the hassle of a traditional method where designers have to negotiate with contractors, distributors and retailers. The process begins with customers making selection of furniture from their database of items made by designers earlier. Any nearby maker could cut out the plywood pieces are sourced, and then it goes under production. After completing cutting out pieces of wood, the boards will be packed and transported items that fits like a key and hole structure – no need any metal parts.

This changes the way in which furniture is produced. It is never time consuming and without expensive shipping and storage facilities anymore, It minimizes waste as the furniture will only be made with demand, thus there will be no “ready stock” waiting and being stored. Moreover, what’s better is the exact same furniture could be repeated and built in anywhere in the world. As the furniture is made on demand, the lesser the amount of time takes to be produced.

As the popular edit stool was passed around, we tried to assemble the legs and the body by slotting in like Lego fittings. As easy as it seems, it creates sturdy and firm furniture with the tag that is inexpensive and practical. 

Bibliography

1. (info@opendesk.cc), O. (2017) Opendesk - Edie Set, Opendesk.cc. Available at: https://www.opendesk.cc/edie/edie-set#get-it-made (Accessed: 20 December 2016).

2. Tucker, E. (2017) Opendesk provides open-source furniture for Kano office, Dezeen. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2015/08/19/opendesk-open-source-furniture-kano-office-london/ (Accessed: 20 December 2016).