Ready-to-(dis)assemble: experimentations on elastic joinery for engaging and environmentally friendly furniture

Joints are a crucial part for the performance of a piece of furniture. They are even more relevant in case of ready-to-assemble furniture as the product need to be assembled by the user. Nowadays, the field of ready-to-assemble furniture is mainly composed of products that require tools and fastening means for assembly. These elements, typically made of metal or plastic, could be responsible for issues on the environment, user experience and product performance. The development and the diffusion of CNC technologies offer new opportunities in this context. Thanks to them it is now possible to produce completely new shapes, previously unthinkable, and thus develop a new type of stereotomy no longer based on planar surfaces and sharp edges but on the smoothness of the surfaces. The present research aims to exploit the new technologies and the elasticity of wood to develop new types of joints for ready-to-assemble furniture easily and quickly assemblable without tools and accessories, feasible with numerical control milling machines and characterized by low environmental impact.