A Study on the Design Development of the Metal Furniture in Korea

국내 금속가구 디자인 개발에 관한 연구

While furniture making in general has been traditionally regarded as labor-intensive industry, the making of metal furniture has immense potential in terms of its growth and as a value added industry. Granted that the technology and designing of metal furniture in Korea are still behind the standards enjoyed by the developed nations of the world, still its future here is promising when we consider the comparatively short history of its industry, Korea depends on imports from abroad for almost all the natural resources she needs for industry. Metal (especially iron) industry is, however, one field where she has some advantage over other nations. Korea is a major producer of iron and her technology in this field is competitive in the international market. When viewed from the points of environment and ecology metal furniture has good points, as metals are recyclable when they are discarded and collected properly according to their reusability. This adds to the merits its industry has here as this country, with her limited natural resources, has yet to solve the pressing problem of disposing ever-increasing waste matter from homes and factories.