UPS Flat-Pack Furniture: Just Soak in Water to Expand

Furniture

Happy Jasta  ·  21 May,  2024

A team of Master Product Design students and five researchers from the University of Art and Design in Lausanne, Switzerland (ÉCAL) have come up with innovative  flat-pack furniture

These pieces are part of Under Pressure Solutions (UPS), an experimental research project exploring the potential of shape memory materials in furniture design

Inspired by Gaetano Pesce's iconic Up5 armchair, the Furniture under Pressure project aims to create a compact seat that expands to its original form after unpacking in order to deal with the transportation issue

The team has come up with lightweight furniture collection made of cellulose sponge – a bio-sourced and biodegradable material

These objects can be shipped in a compressed form

Once the flat-pack items have reached the destination, they are moistened in water to expand and transform into furniture pieces

The furniture pieces are capable to hold significant weight

The collection was exhibited at the Milan Design Week 2024