OVERVIEWThis project sought to understand the needs of various user groups at Cleveland Institute of Art and develop appropriate furniture solutions that would enhance the on-campus experience and increase productivity. All of the designs utilized material reclaimed from buildings deconstructed in Cleveland. The project was intended to meet a local need, with locally designed/manufactured products, from locally reclaimed materials, which would have otherwise ended up in a landfill.

FOCUSIn a typical classroom situation, desks work as separate units, facing in one direction. This can be seen as a result of the traditional classroom hierarchy, in which the teacher acts as the lecturer and students, the audience. However, The Cleveland Institute of Art is not a traditional institution and, as such, has an atypical classroom environment. This classroom desk should be designed specifically for the CIA classroom, where the students play a more important role in class discussions. The classes are held less like a lecture on a subject and more like a conversation about a subject. Often classes attempt to create a circle with the standard rectangular desks to facilitate this conversational atmosphere. However, this is a difficult task and usually results in an awkward orientation. CIA requires classroom desks that work in a modular system to better facilitate its progressive classroom atmosphere.

RESEARCHTo begin the research process, the junior industrial design class was divided into four teams. Each team pursued research in the furniture needs of individuals in specific space that will be located in CIA’s new building. The four individual spaces consist of smart classrooms, staff offices, integrated media studios and public spaces. The research took the form of interviews of users of the existing spaces, observation and study of the architectual designs for the environments in the new building. It was determined what was successful and lacking with the current furniture in the existing spaces of the school and the potential for the new environments. The collected information will better inform the design of the furniture to its respected environment.

INITIAL CONCEPTSAfter thoroughly researching the problems and opportunities within the four environments, I began coming up with concepts for furniture, which would attempt to solve the problems and take advantage of opportunities within their respected environment.

Solution: Hexagonal TessellationsBy using trapazoidally shaped desk tops, which couple to make regular hexagons, it allows for students to make creative classroom orientations, that best facilate the needs of the classroom enviroment. Having the ability to tessellate, the desks act as a modular system, bringing ease to manipulation of its conjunctive form. Given 20 to 30 desks in a classroom the number of unique seating orientations measure in the thousands.

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DESIGNIn a typical classroom situation, desks work as separate units, facing in one direction. This can be seen as a result of the traditional classroom hierarchy, in which the teacher acts as the lecturer and students, the audience. However, The Cleveland Institute of Art is not a traditional institution and, as such, has an atypical classroom environment.

This classroom desk should be designed specifically for the CIA classroom, where the students play a more important role in class discussions. The classes are held less like a lecture on a subject and more like a conversation about a subject.

Often classes attempt to create a circle with the standard rectangular desks to facilitate this conversational atmosphere. However, this is a difficult task and usually results in an awkward orientation. CIA requires classroom desks that work in a modular system to better facilitate its progressive classroom atmosphere.