Central Image Source: design-milk.com

What is open source and how does it relate to contemporary design? Can anyone print and build furniture by important designers within their own homes? All one needs is to download - purchased or free - the desired design and send it to the CNC, a machine that cuts wood based on a template in the form of a digital file -just like printed pdfs or 3D printers. But what possibilities does this new personalized "product" really offer and what sort of problems arise in the end?

A large number of designers now create individual files for building furniture like bookcases, tables, chairs and benches. Platforms, like Opendesk, provide anyone who wishes the ability to acquire their favourite furniture in parts -granted they have access to a specialised woodcutting lab or a CNC- and assemble them by themselves in their own space or even modify the end result.

The creative and easy process proposed by Open Source resembles, hence the common title, the 90s programming movement. Open Source at the time offered programming code for free to be used and modified by anyone. The free access to knowledge that constitutes the DNA of cyberspace co-shaped it since pages like WordPress resulted from access to said code.

moveisparacasa.com.br

Thus, taking this mind frame a step further, Open Source (which is about design) used copy-and-paste programming as a new form of the production line that successfully combines the modern DIY objects trend with the experience of minimalist design. By uniting functional and creative design with the logic of personalized services and the concept of the production line, but without the large facilities, pollution and exports-imports, design changes its face completely, bringing forth an entirely new market and a different type of commercial philosophy. Moreover, in this way, the ecological industry is promoted which occasionally helps and favours small and local businesses that simply have the necessary equipment to "print" the furniture. "Share Globally and Produce Locally" is one of the slogans of the Open Source movement.

The cost of the furniture is shared between the designer, manufacturer-workshop and platform, eg Opendesk, which provides a platform to hundreds of designers and woodworkers around the world. Even the designs that are available for free retain the identity of their creator, thus protecting their intellectual property. The first designer to recognise and make use of the potential of Open Source was Denis Fuzii, who designed and digitally printed the parts of a chair for a client. The demand that arose after this first printing led to the solution to the problems that would arise. The issue of transportation, the cost and the ecological footprint. So, he promoted his design to CNC workshops in Europe while he was in São Paulo. The founders of Opendesk invited him to participate in their project and he created designs for them that, in less than two months, were "downloaded" over 5,000 times and assembled in over 100 countries.

aoini.com

Despite the freedom and solutions offered to several sectors by DIY printed furniture, there are quite a few problems lurking just like with 3D printing in general. Greater familiarity and consumption of these services means a larger market and a wider range of printable products. Looking at the -perhaps- more widespread 3D printing, we can predict some issues that may arise correspondingly in the printable object-furniture business. There has already been legislation in the US to ban the printing of weapons as well as the design and distribution of them through open source.

In particular, considering that a long-term, legal, collaboration with the gun industry, one of the main sources of wealth worldwide, is impossible, PrinTrackers have already been proposed for 3d printed weapons to track them and prevent their illegal distribution.

wdo.org

The loopholes in legislation -and the need to prevent them- highlight the power of this new version of manufacturing. Although it prevents big problems, mostly related to environmental impact and the increase of global cooperation between creators, at the same time, like anything new, it also creates the ground for misdirected demand. One major issue is the lack of control over the commercial use of the works, while the production cost ends up being a problem to solve since it further restricts the market to a small specialised target group rather than democratising it.

Further Reading:

shareable.net

archdaily.com

pedroterralab.com

opendesk.cc

dyvikdesign.com