BIY - Build It Yourself: Democratically

Is good design attainable to the masses? Explore making with simple materials and techniques to create a furniture design for all.

Build It Yourself (B.I.Y.) looks at creating a furniture design made from simple materials and techniques that reflect democratic design principles. In 1974, Italian designer Enzo Mari published Autoprogettazione?, a booklet of design plans for people to build their own furniture. Mari believed that good design should be accessible to all and not just a select few. Utilising the same concepts of attainable materials, simple construction, and developing an instruction guide, students will explore their personal ideas of what makes an object both good and accessible to everyone, culminating in final full-scale furniture design.

The ten-day workshop will cover research, hands-on model making, full-scale test mock-ups, and final prototype building. We will learn 3D modelling and rendering to explore early concepts and create the material needed for an instructional guide. 

The first week will be exploratory, and students will learn the basic skills. We will split our time between the classroom building models and the computer lab learning 3D programmes. During the second week, students will focus on making the final design, documenting, and creating a compelling instructional guide for anyone to build his or her own. The workshop will come to an end with a group exhibition and presentation.