Includes The Dance Floor for the Homed and Water Drop.

Furniture designers are often accused of designing for a fictitious user group in the middle of their lives with spacious homes, good health, a keen sense of aesthetics and quality and a substantial disposable income.

This year, the Cabinetmakers´ Autumn exhibition has chosen to focus on a different target group, one that is often neglected the third age, the golden years or, in plain English: old people.

The challenge was: Abandon the institution look and aim for a personal feel. Design a piece of furniture – or more – for yourself, for your own old age. No old ideas pulled out of the drawer. Give us something new and exciting. Other than that: No limitations. Age is no obstacle. All points of view are welcome.

Graphic: Rasmus Koch Studio b/Rasmus Koch
Exhibition layout: Rasmus Koch Studio b/Alexander Häggström

Dance floor for the homed / Dansegulv til dit hjem 2007

Death on the dance floor.

At the age of 35 and a farther of two, I have to admit to myself that my dance floor days have passed me by.
I once wowed my girlfriend on the dance floor when we first met and I still know a few tricks. However my nights are confined to my armchair, but this is living on the edge. One has a higher chance of dying while using an armchair than being attacked and killed by a shark. I have swam with sharks and survived. My armchair has never really offered me the same excitement.

I am unaware of the statistics of how many people die annually in armchairs. Yet it could be questioned, if armchairs should not at least come labelled with a large health warning,
- WARNING ARMCHAIRS CAUSE SERIOUSLY BAD HABITS -
In time they could well be banned altogether from private spaces. I say replace armchairs with home dance floors; it could solve a number of societies problems.

Personally I have died many times on a dance floor but it does not scare me. While it might have once been attractive to be found dead in an armchair, now days, for a life style lead society, being found dead on a dance floor sounds much better.

Get a dance floor.

The dance floor for the homed was produced together with PP Møbler for the SE 2007 exhibition ‘A furniture for when you’re old’.
In response to the exhibition brief, I focused on myself as already being old now at the age of 35 and took a side ways look at armchair furniture and its ill effects. Furniture design holds chairs aloft but what are they really about and what do they really say about the way we live. Denmark has an overweight epidemic, and is up there with the biggest countries in the world. Denmark is recognised throughout the world for is beautifully designed chairs; the majority of these are expensive lounge chairs. The fat rich image has had its day. Get a dance floor.

Using 3D computer aided drawing technology, individual Tetra Pak milk cartons (almost 500) are formed within the computer programme. Then each milk carton is extracted and turned into a 2D line. This line is used as a template on real milk cartons in the real world and with the help of some careful notation and numbering, the real life version is reconstructed and it is now on my wall in my work room collecting small memories and no doubt some amount of dust.

The Water Drop hangs on the wall and acts as a wall display for keeping small treasures. It is based on the old drawers once used by printers for keeping letter stamps. Known as Type Case drawers, people salvage these drawers and hang them on their walls as small display cabinets. These drawers are now only found in antique shops or markets.
In response to the exhibition theme I focused on the idea of people being active and creating something that would be available for all, irrespective of income.
I have many fond memories of my grandmother and the many creative uses she would find for waste bottles and her collection of odds and ends.

Using 3D computer aided drawing technology, 484 individual Tetra Pak milk cartons are formed within the computer programme. Then each milk carton is extracted and turned into a 2D line. This line is used as a template on real milk cartons in the real world and with the help of some careful notation and numbering, the real life version is reconstructed.
The concept is based on it being something that people can download and make at home, but this is more of an exhibition model. Maybe one day I shall find the resources to put the templates for this model on-line as a pdf. The JW-001 model, that is available as a download, originates from this Water Drop. I have taken nine of the milk cartons along the diagonal.
Working with nine cartons it is easier for both myself and for people to get to grips with it. Plus probably more importantly, this model almost needs to be made in one go, or at least in quarters. That involved a lot of cleaning of milk cartons. When they are whole and loose, they take up much more space than can be imagined . Making them in units of nine with the ability to add more over time is a very good development, trust me.