HONEYCOMB FURNITURE

---

 Deviating furniture from being merely a stationary object within a home to something far more interactive and personal to the user was one of my primary motivations. An essential consideration throughout the project was portability: how easily could one carry a piece of furniture around for added comfort, wherever it was needed?

Experimentation with the material, and its interaction with other materials, remained a constant throughout the project. Honeycomb paper is a material with enormous potential. Its applications seem endless, yet implementing them can be challenging, particularly when creating complex forms. One of the greatest hurdles was machining the paper. Outsourcing the work became the only viable option, turning it into an expensive endeavour. Machine tools frequently broke, sourcing the right cutting bits required considerable investment, and much of the process involved trial and error. However, once the material, tooling, and manufacturing processes were better understood, the possibility of honeycomb furniture became increasingly realistic. It offered a compelling solution for affordable, environmentally conscious furniture, particularly for a younger audience seeking temporary and adaptable products as they moved into their own spaces.

Challenges were often encountered when cutting intricate shapes, and even more so when experimenting with contoured forms. Endless research can only provide a certain amount of factual knowledge about honeycomb paper. Its true behaviour under different conditions can only be understood through testing and application.

The way I came to understand the material was by working directly with it; using it extensively, treating it in different ways, experimenting, failing, and trying again. Many of the concepts that were eventually developed emerged from accidents or failed experiments that unexpectedly led to new products and ideas.

My exploration of honeycomb paper focused on its reactions to different materials and treatments, including facings, skins, paints, light, and weight. Over the six months of the project, numerous iterations gradually led to simple yet effective forms, some of which introduced an element of playfulness and interaction.

(Dissertation Project, Srishti School of Art and Design, 2010)