Unassembled Edie Stool
Parts
2013 (designed), 2016 (manufactured)
2013 (designed), 2016 (manufactured)
This is an unmade digitally fabricated three-legged stool, the unmade laser cut parts are fixed in an ‘air-fix’ style pack. The parts slot together to create the Opendesk Edie Stool which is also in the V&A’s collection (W.28-2016). It was designed by brothers David and Joni Steiner as part of the Opendesk collection. Opendesk is a global platform for local making. The website can be used to download, make and buy (work space) furniture. Because that furniture is designed for digital fabrication, it can be downloaded as a digital file and made locally on demand, anywhere in the world.
The Edie stool was one of the first Open desk products and was designed by Joni and David Steiner for their niece, Edie who was 2 years old at the time. The Edie Stool is part of Opendesk’s ‘Open Making’ ethos whereby the disconnection between designers and manufacturers is challenged. The platform brings together three components, the maker who makes money from manufacture, the designer who gets global distribution and the customer who has the choice to pick from open source designs and where they want it produced. It prototyped the use of ‘Lego-style’ friction fastenings which can be slotted together and hammered in to produce tight fitting joins without necessitating the need for glue. The stool is produced with standards sheets of plywood. The air-fix kit is incredibly diagrammatic of how the piece of furniture can easily be put together.
Opendesk represents an alternative to current mass manufacturing models and mass produced products. Whereas traditional manufacturing takes place at a limited set of factories, Opendesk offer a decentralised system where products can be produced in any workshop with a CNC cutting machine.
This ‘air-fix’ pack was acquired as part of the Shekou Project, an international partnership between the V&A and China Merchant Shekou Holdings (CMSK) to open a new cultural platform called Design Society in Shekou. It was included in the inaugural exhibition, ‘Values of Design’, in the V&A Gallery at Design Society in a section exploring the critical issue of cost and design for distribution.
The Edie stool was one of the first Open desk products and was designed by Joni and David Steiner for their niece, Edie who was 2 years old at the time. The Edie Stool is part of Opendesk’s ‘Open Making’ ethos whereby the disconnection between designers and manufacturers is challenged. The platform brings together three components, the maker who makes money from manufacture, the designer who gets global distribution and the customer who has the choice to pick from open source designs and where they want it produced. It prototyped the use of ‘Lego-style’ friction fastenings which can be slotted together and hammered in to produce tight fitting joins without necessitating the need for glue. The stool is produced with standards sheets of plywood. The air-fix kit is incredibly diagrammatic of how the piece of furniture can easily be put together.
Opendesk represents an alternative to current mass manufacturing models and mass produced products. Whereas traditional manufacturing takes place at a limited set of factories, Opendesk offer a decentralised system where products can be produced in any workshop with a CNC cutting machine.
This ‘air-fix’ pack was acquired as part of the Shekou Project, an international partnership between the V&A and China Merchant Shekou Holdings (CMSK) to open a new cultural platform called Design Society in Shekou. It was included in the inaugural exhibition, ‘Values of Design’, in the V&A Gallery at Design Society in a section exploring the critical issue of cost and design for distribution.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Unassembled Edie Stool |
| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | 'Edie airfix kit' (unassembled Edie Stool) designed by David and Joni Steiner for Opendesk, 2013. Manufactured by Machines Room. |
| Physical description | A rectangular plywood board with the individual unassembled parts of an Edie Stool indented into the plywood. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Gallery label | Edie Stool
Opendesk
UK, 2013
The Edit Stool is one of the first products offered by Opendesk, an online platform providing digital templates for plywood furniture. Instead of mass-manufacturing the stool in a central location, stools are ordered on-demand sent to local workshops where constituent pieces are cut. Customers can then assemble the furniture at home. |
| Object history | The Edie airfix kit was included in ‘Values of Design’ at the V&A Gallery, Design Society in Shenzhen, China in 2017. |
| Summary | This is an unmade digitally fabricated three-legged stool, the unmade laser cut parts are fixed in an ‘air-fix’ style pack. The parts slot together to create the Opendesk Edie Stool which is also in the V&A’s collection (W.28-2016). It was designed by brothers David and Joni Steiner as part of the Opendesk collection. Opendesk is a global platform for local making. The website can be used to download, make and buy (work space) furniture. Because that furniture is designed for digital fabrication, it can be downloaded as a digital file and made locally on demand, anywhere in the world. The Edie stool was one of the first Open desk products and was designed by Joni and David Steiner for their niece, Edie who was 2 years old at the time. The Edie Stool is part of Opendesk’s ‘Open Making’ ethos whereby the disconnection between designers and manufacturers is challenged. The platform brings together three components, the maker who makes money from manufacture, the designer who gets global distribution and the customer who has the choice to pick from open source designs and where they want it produced. It prototyped the use of ‘Lego-style’ friction fastenings which can be slotted together and hammered in to produce tight fitting joins without necessitating the need for glue. The stool is produced with standards sheets of plywood. The air-fix kit is incredibly diagrammatic of how the piece of furniture can easily be put together. Opendesk represents an alternative to current mass manufacturing models and mass produced products. Whereas traditional manufacturing takes place at a limited set of factories, Opendesk offer a decentralised system where products can be produced in any workshop with a CNC cutting machine. This ‘air-fix’ pack was acquired as part of the Shekou Project, an international partnership between the V&A and China Merchant Shekou Holdings (CMSK) to open a new cultural platform called Design Society in Shekou. It was included in the inaugural exhibition, ‘Values of Design’, in the V&A Gallery at Design Society in a section exploring the critical issue of cost and design for distribution. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.29-2016 |
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| Record created | June 27, 2016 |
| Record URL |
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