• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.83-90
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• 2011

In the radically changing market situation, surface materials of student furniture are a very important element to decide the consumption pattern and the market price. Thus, this study examined the characteristics of surface materials by classifying the student furniture into children's, juniors', and seniors' furniture while accessing the features of such surface materials through Glulam, veneer, poly paper, finishing foil, high pressure melamine (HPM), and low pressure melamine (LPM), and PVC vinyl. When taking a look at the surface materials that were most frequently produced in each domestic furniture company, the combined materials that used more than 2 elements (31.88%), LPM (23.19%), and Glulam (20.29%) were introduced at the market in the order. Regarding the analysis made on colors, the combination colors took more than half (55.32%) followed by brown (13.83%) and beige (11.7%) in the order. Based on the results derived from the analysis, the study suggests to stress more importance to surface materials when developing student furniture and to exert efforts for the consistent development of new materials and quality improvement, as a way to accelerate the development of the furniture industry in Korea.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.268-276
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• 2014

The purpose of this research is to provide new direction on the field of the furniture design and to establish the identity of Korean furniture design as the flow of craft's juxtapose mixture era where it mix and match Korean traditional craft style materials with the modern furniture design. In other words, it is intended to create new furniture design and propose beautiful Korean luxury furniture design based on the precious unique culture with the traditional craft style, juxtaposition of modern furniture, and reinterpretation. It should grant artistic values that can satisfy consumers having various tastes and scarcity values, plus it should put out aesthetic and creative expressions in furniture design putting into the beautiful traditional craft form values. Furthermore, it is required to create new design through values and spirit, materials, techniques, forms, pattern, and usages by interacting, coordinating, and combining tradition and modern East and West, plus craft and design.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.16 no.2 s.30
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• pp.27-36
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• 2005

Surface materials of furnitures are continuously studied and marketed with new patterns and new technology so as to create designs and fashions but even professionals are also difficult in distinguishing natural materials from artificial materials. Like this, furniture industry is required for rapid coping with the preference of customers which requires high grade of consumption pattern and is rapidly changed; it is intended to review the current situation of our furniture industry. The purpose of this thesis is to activate furniture industry and elevate the importance of surface materials in assumption of continuous R&D based on systemic data analysis of the kinds and colors of surface materials used in the companies within rank five of sales volume in domestic furniture companies.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.166-174
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• 2009

Most of the furniture in the past was dedicated to its original use such as storage and accommodation of articles or sitting tools, but the concept of furniture in contemporary indoor spaces is gradually increasing in its meaning while exchanging close impacts with other spatial components. Indeed, in contemporary furniture, a component other than furniture constituting a space would sometimes serve the common roles of furniture or sometimes furniture would include all indoor objects used to make people's living more convenient. This study reviewed the meaning of furniture and changes in its roles in contemporary indoor spaces and summarized the characteristics presenting a few examples. First, in contemporary indoor spaces, furniture as an independent object does not having a meaning any more. The fusion of functions with other components constituting indoor spaces is the most important characteristics in contemporary furniture and it has been already attempted in diverse ways through fusion with buildings surpassing fusion with other pieces of furniture or electric home appliances. Second, the arrangement conforming to the roles required by spaces and diverse forms of attempts are essential. Since furniture is an item the most closely related to human residential life, studies on human behaviors in spaces must precede. The efforts to enhance work efficiencies and used limited spaces more efficiently will be continued and explorations of new forms should be also continued. Third, with regards to manufacturing methods, new technologies should be applied more widely and furniture materials must be diversified through the use of new materials including not only cutting-edge new materials but also all the materials that can be applied to furniture such as conventional natural materials and environment friendly materials that can be recycled.

• Archives of design research
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.113-119
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• 2012

Under the paradigm of 'Eco', the core of sustainability management, this study aims to establish both domestic and international markets and secure competitiveness in the global markets through the development of children's furniture composed of recycled and unharmful materials. Currently, in Europe and in the Western regions, the concepts of 'eco-friendly', 'children', and 'DIY' are well-placed in the daily lives of the people. On the other hand, compared to the domestic demand for eco-friendly children's furniture, the essential approach and the qualitative improvements about the subject are being slowly progressed. Particularly, the process of applying eco-friendly materials and finishing materials to the children's furnitures are mostly in a non-existent state. Thus, in this study, simple application of basic eco-friendly materials such as natural woods or imitation of overseas furniture designs were avoided to create transformable eco-friendly one-touch DIY children's furniture for children's growth and development through the application of eco-friendly processes of technology, design, and other stages of the development process. In other words, under the big category of eco-friendly children's furniture, the furniture was developed through an environmentally-friendly process of universal design that is suitable for children of all ages, and thus, ultimately maximizing the economical effective value and reducing consumption of resources and environmental pollutions.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.68-78
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• 2015

Nendo, which was established in Tokyo in 2002, is a design company established by Oki Sato, which is gaining reputation as a new design group representing Japan through numerous design tasks encompassing diverse design sectors, such as architecture, interior, furniture, graphic, and products. This study was conducted to investigate the formative features of Nendo furniture by reviewing 133 pieces of Nendo furniture designed for the last ten years and identify the general characteristics of Nendo furniture by reviewing the time of launch, product launch type, and furniture type. As a result, the design features of Nendo furniture are as follows: First, the shapes of basic materials including boards, lumber, and bars are maintained intact and Nendo furniture has simple and moderate design without complicated or decorative elements. Second, Nendo furniture has simply embodied a design characterized by simple transformation, minimization of furniture elements, and rearrangement. Third, Nendo presents new and simple furniture differentiated from other pieces of furniture using optical illusions. Such expressions of optical illusions which are hardly found in preexisting furniture are a major feature of Nendo furniture. Fourth, a majority of chairs of Nendo cause optical illusions with the minimized size. In addition, their top boards made of transparent glass and mirror cause optical illusions with the properties of materials. In short, design of Nendo furniture is characterized by formative expressions, expressions of optical illusions, and differentiated use of materials. Fifth, Nendo keeps launching new furniture items in various exhibitions. As a result, Nendo makes furniture with its own unique characteristics based on its diverse studies and experiments which are applied to furniture design in a realistic way. In summary, design of Nendo furniture is characterized by simply embodied design based on small differences in daily life, minimalism with simple and moderate shapes, and its own witty uniqueness based on formative expressions, expressions of optical illusions, and use of materials differentiated from other furniture brands.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.70-83
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• 2007

Rattan furniture is strips of cane around the frame that consists of wisteria, bamboo and wood. The materials are originally from Southeast Asia, and the material of domestic Rattan goods is Korean wisteria. Rattan, which is strong and elastic, is often used for craft materials, and it also retains the original feel of the material with great touch. It is beautiful and suitable for expressing curves. It is shiny, light in weight, easy for cleaning and ventilation. Rattan furniture is unique product made by human hands and nature and is an environment friendly well-being furniture. The use examples of these domestic rattan furnitures is condensed as below. First, the materials of rattan product is wisteria, rice straw, bush clover wood, reed and bamboo. Second, the use of rattan product which is made of domestic wisteria is limited to farming equipments and living wares. Third, the materials of rattan furniture differs in domestic made and foreign made product. As is the characteristics of timbers growing in warmer climates of Korea, it has many twist and strong and it is not straight in length so it is hard to manufacture into and use as furniture also it is hard to acquire right size for the material.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.130-143
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• 2012

The rapid increase in apartments of Korea brought about overall changes in the life style, and definitely played the biggest role to convert into western style. Since 1960, furniture has been changed for 50 years along with apartments, but furniture companies and the academic world had insufficient historical materials and lack of study. In addition, considering the changing trend according to residents' life style, the data of furniture industries should be collected to study every year or in 5 years at least. Therefore, this study aims to provide basic data that gives historical materials or design clues based on recent AV equipment-oriented storage furniture in the living room that prioritized design in public space. Accordingly, the study looked into the periodical trends of Korean furniture industries, analyzed 10 furniture companies in Korea which is actively doing business as the sample and arranged key points of periodical changes of furniture in the table, and suggested the conclusion according to the image map, style, color, material, and function.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2012

Sustainable furniture designs are expressed through reutilization, reuse or redesign of the whole of part of natural materials and existing products. These designs contain natural emotions and show those propensities such as uncertainty, integrity, essentiality and experimental natures. Designs that use natural materials such as wood, bamboo, cork, plants, stones and water have sufficient beauty in themselves and thus these materials are not specially processed but their essence is pursued in those designs. Of those materials, the natural material water is used to pursue the essence of aqua while presenting a new furniture design through an experimental method. The circularity of aqua shares its meaning with the circularity of sustainable designs. In addition, the liquidity of aqua will be grafted onto IT technology to express variable shapes in order to present a new direction of furniture designs.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.57-65
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• 2009

Library is a communication channel between book and human. Specially public library furniture plays an important role from every aspect in information materials and users, among users and in relationship between library managers and users. This study defined library furniture as a communication channel which connects library materials and users and was based on 35 local libraries and 12 overseas libraries. The author studied major elements and characteristics which constitute communication types among storage furniture, furniture in reading areas and furniture in digital reading area. The followings are the results from the study. First, storage furniture should be designed by reflecting characteristics of library materials and for effective delivering to the users. Therefore utmost communication can be made by searching for various designs in book-shelves and effective manner of display. Secondly, furniture in reading areas should support various users' needs from customized browsing to long hour studying and there should be properly supported for private space and correspondent reading postures. The third, there are needs for design conditions to support privacy and for comfort from long hour reading and mobility out of posture change in digital reading areas. The fourth, there should be ergonomically designed furniture plan and surroundings in public library which can boost various reading postures. Also furniture plan should be done by considering users' bodies and eyes orientations which can result in improved power of concentration.