Abstract

The home experience of serving food for friends and family, and sharing food is a significant event in my life. Furnishings play a prominent role in this circumstance. For my thesis, I created works that enhance the conditions and ambiance of the residential dining and living experience.

When sharing with friends, happiness is my primary objective. I love to create works containing peacefulness and coziness that could help people calm down and relax. For my thesis body of work, I incorporated gentle curvilinear lines and symmetric shapes to suggest peaceful and harmonious feelings. My material choice was wood as the primary material, along with other materials, selected for reasons of contemporary aesthetics and appropriate function. I took advantage of colors and textures coming naturally from the materials. To invite users to enjoy my work, I created smooth, continuous and tactile surfaces. Each piece of my design was based on the research into lifestyle and dining culture. Creating furniture and other objects that help bring people together through the ritual of the dining experience was my goal.

My aesthetics is influenced profoundly by Scandinavian design because of my summer experience in Denmark, 2015. Seven weeks was not a long period in a lifetime, but it was long enough to get a sense to begin with. I started to know a new environment with a deep history of modern design, and refreshed my mind. I researched the Scandinavian influential designers, such as Alvar Aalto, Finn Juhl, Arne Jacobsen, Bruno Mathsson, etc. I also researched furniture brands and designers world-wide to study what is timeless and what is happening currently, such as Michael Thonet, Charles and Ray Eames, and brands like Vitra, Carl Hansen & Søn, Design Within Reach, Normann Copenhagen, and Menu. My sources also included leading design and lifestyle magazines about travel, food, design and culture, such as Monocle, Wallpaper, Cereal Magazine, Elle Decor, Rum Interior Magazine, and Gentle Woman.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Dining room furniture--Design; Dining room furniture--Social aspects

Publication Date

4-19-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Furniture Design (MFA)

Department, Program, or Center

School for American Crafts (CIAS)

Advisor

Andy Buck

Advisor/Committee Member

Richard Tannen

Advisor/Committee Member

Stan Rickel

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

WOOD-MFA

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