The problem discusses the influence that tea trade between England and China may have had on eighteenth-century English garden architecture and aesthetics. Five chapters include an historical overview of non-Oriental influences on the garden, the relationship between Britain and China, the evolution of the tea trade, the motifs and decoration of tea wares, and a summary with conclusions. Conclusions reached were that tea was responsible for importation of porcelains in Britain, architectural structures in the garden were inspired by scenes on tea wares, predilection for Chinese motifs in the minds of the English may have resulted from their drinking tea, and it seems probable that affected garden aesthetics but there is no conclusive evidence.

This report presents the master thesis project carried out by Pierre Lindgren & Jacob Thagaard Hansen at KTH Royal Institute of technology for IKEA of Sweden. The project aimed to explore the capabilities of so-called smart textiles, as well as to establish clear user needs which these can meet. Based on this, a design proposal for a furniture concept was developed, with the main purpose of offering the client IKEA clearer paths for further research and development on the chosen materials. The final design proposal, which was named ODENSE, was developed based on the needs of users who want to be more active in their homes. The design proposal meets their need to have easy access to their training equipment, by way of a multi-functional storage. The storage solution offers additional functionality in the form of light, thus occupying the same space and providing the same functions as a floor lamp and a small storage shelf. The design proposal potentially offers additional environmental benefits with regard to energy consumption and CO2 emission as it merges two products and functions. As the furniture concept combines the functions light and storage, it also has the opportunity to meet more needs than what it was initially developed for. Thus, Odense has great potential to be further developed to meet the needs of even more users. The project group found great benefit in the concurrent background research on smart textiles, as it enriched the user study significantly and opened up the minds of both the interviewees and the project group members to the future development opportunities. / I denna rapport presenteras examensarbetet som utförts av Pierre Lindgren & Jacob Thagaard Hansen på Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan för Ikea of Sweden. Projektet gick ut på att utforska de möjligheter som så kallade smarta textilier erbjuder, samt att etablera tydliga användarbehov som dessa kan uppfylla. Utifrån detta kunde ett designförslag för ett möbelkoncept tas fram, med huvudändamålet att erbjuda uppdragsgivaren Ikea tydligare spår för vidare utveckling och efterforskning om materialen som valts. Det slutgiltiga designförslaget, som döptes Odense, togs fram utifrån behoven hos användare som önskar vara mer aktiva i sina hem. Designförslaget möter deras behov av att ha enkel tillgång till deras träningsutrustning, detta via multifunktionell förvaring. Förvaringslösningen erbjuder ytterligare funktionalitet i form av ljus. Designförslaget erbjuder potentiellt även ytterligare miljörelaterade förbättringar med avseende på energiförbrukning och CO2-utsläpp, eftersom det slår samman två produkter och funktioner. Då möbelkonceptet kombinerar funktionerna ljus och förvaring har det även möjlighet att möta fler behov än vad konceptet initialt togs fram för. Således har Odense stor potential att vidareutvecklas för att möta ännu fler användares behov. Projektgruppen fann stor nytta i den breda efterforskningen om smarta textilier, då den berikade användarstudien betydligt och öppnade upp både de intervjuades och projektgrupp-medlemmarnas sinnen till de framtida utvecklingsmöjligheterna.

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[pt] O propósito geral da pesquisa é gerar conhecimento sobre como e por que alcançar um produto de classe mundial na indústria de transformação brasileira, locus do design industrial, com foco conclusivo na indústria do móvel residencial de madeira maciça. Isto é importante pelo fato da indústria de transformação ser o setor de maior capacidade indutora da economia, sendo este seu valor estratégico, e por trazer a ideia de resgate da indústria diante do processo de desindustrialização. A pré-condição para esta proposta é que a indústria seja competitiva a nível internacional e para tal iremos precisar de produtos de classe mundial. A pesquisa é um estudo de caso envolvendo quatro indústrias do móvel residencial de madeira maciça para validar a hipótese de que a conjunção simultânea do design como ferramenta estratégica para os negócios, produção enxuta e incorporação de tecnologia digital no ecossistema da indústria cria as condições favoráveis para o alcance de um produto de classe mundial. A escolha dos casos foi feita de modo a propiciar replicações da teoria prevista. Utilizamos sete categorias de fontes de dados e adotamos a estratégia de seguir nossa proposição teórica que forneceu subsídios ao plano de coleta de dados. Como técnica analítica demos forte ênfase à sobreposição entre coleta e análise, através de percepções registradas ao lado dos dados em matrizes de exposição. Estas também trazem as consistências com a literatura revisada e as evidências entre os casos, de onde extraímos os padrões cruzados que resultaram em um conjunto de balizadores de referência para o alcance de um produto de classe mundial. A conclusão traz os casos selecionados mostrando resultados similares e proporcionando assim consistência com nossas proposições teóricas. Como toda pesquisa, esta também apresenta limitações a serem exploradas: promover generalização analítica com outras tipologias de indústrias de transformação, com outras categorias de indústrias pois as quatro selecionadas são indústrias familiares, e que os balizadores de referência não se esgotam nos encontrados, com novos podendo ser mapeados. / [en] The overall purpose of this research is to generate knowledge on how and why to achieve a world-class product in the Brazilian manufacturing industry, locus of industrial design, with conclusive focus on the solid wood residential furniture industry. This is important because the manufacturing industry is the sector with the greatest inductive capacity of the economy, this being its strategic value, and for bringing the idea of industry rescue in the face of deindustrialization process. The precondition for this proposal is that the industry is internationally competitive and for that we will need world-class products. The research is a case study involving four industries of solid wood residential furniture to validate the hypothesis that the simultaneous conjunction of design as a strategic tools for business, lean manufacturing and incorporation of digital technology into the industry ecosystem creates favourable conditions to reach a world class product. The choice of cases was made in order to provide for replications of the predicted theory. We used seven categories of data sources and adopted the strategy of following our theoretical proposition that provided subsides to the data collection plan. As an analytical technique we strong emphasis on the overlap between collection and analysis through perceptions recorded alongside the data on display matrix. This also brings the consistencies with the revised literature and the evidence between the cases from where we extracted the cross-patterns that resulted in a list of reference beacons for reaching a world-class product. The conclusion brings the selected cases showing similar results and thus providing consistency with our theoretical propositions. Like all research this one also presents limitations to be explored: to promote analytical generalization with other typologies of manufacturing industries, with other categories of industries since the four selected ones are familiar industries and that the reference beacons are not exhausted in the found ones, with new ones being mapped.

Till följd av att Europeiska unionen försöker uppnå de globala klimatmål som ställts i och med Agenda 2030, uppkommer även förslaget Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulations (ESPR) av den Europeiska kommissionen. Förordningen har i mål att skapa en större hållbarhet på den europeiska produktmarknaden genom att kravställa redovisning som kan främja cirkularitet inom framtida produktlivscykler. Med ESPR framkommer även begreppet kring digitala produktpass (DPP), en digital representation av en fysisk produkt som redovisar produktrelaterad data i syfte av att främja cirkularitet, transparens och mer hållbara konsumentmönster. Det digitala produktpasset är en central del av ESPR och gäller för samtliga produkter som säljs på den europeiska marknaden. Denna studie har undersökt hur ett praktiskt fall av implementation av digitala produktpass har tagit form hos en svensk, medelstor möbeltillverkare. Studien har undersökt hur dynamiken, som uppstått på grund av ESPR i en tillverkningsbaserad sektor, tagit form och vilka förberedelser, problem samt möjligheter som uppstått i och med förordningen. Genom kvalitativa intervjuer med centrala aktörer inom IT- och möbelproduktion har studien identifierat kritiska områden kring behovet av standardisering, utmaningar som medföljer teknologin samt osäkerheter kring validitet av data. Trots de tekniska och organisatoriska hinder som uppkommit, visar resultatet även på fördelar och möjligheter med DPP såsom ökad hållbarhet, större tillförlitlighet till kunder samt möjligheter till utökade och effektivisering av befintliga affärsprocesser och affärsmodeller. / In response to the European Union’s efforts to meet the global climate goals set forth by Agenda 2030, the European Commission has introduced the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulations (ESPR). The regulation aims to enhance sustainability in the European product market by requiring disclosures that can promote circularity in future product life cycles. With the introduction of ESPR, the concept of Digital Product Passports (DPP) emerged. A digital representation of a physical product that documents product-related data with the goal of promoting circularity, transparency, and more sustainable consumer patterns. The digital product passport is a central part of the ESPR and will apply to all products sold on the European market. This study has examined a practical case of how implementing digital product passports has taken shape at a medium-sized Swedish furniture manufacturer. The study explores the dynamics that have arisen due to ESPR in a manufacturing-based sector, examining the preparations done, problems that have arisen and opportunities that have emerged due to the regulation. Through semi-structured, qualitative interviews with key actors within IT and furniture production, the study has identified critical areas concerning the need for standardization, challenges associated with the technology and uncertainties regarding validity of data. Despite technical and organizational obstacles that have arisen, the results of this study also highlight the advantages and opportunities of DPPs, such as increased sustainability, greater reliability for customers, and opportunities to expand and streamline existing business processes and models.

This thesis explores the architecture, interior design and furniture design of Greta Magnusson Grossman (1906-1999), a pioneering Swedish Modernist who emigrated to the United States in 1940 and became part of the design movement California Modern in Los Angeles. Despite a productive and acclaimed career, her work was more or less forgotten until rediscovered in the early 2000’s.In this thesis, Greta Magnusson Grossman’s broader context is understood through literature studies of the 1930 Stockholm Exhibition, the introduction of Swedish Modern at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, the postwar design movement California Modern, and the International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1948. Similar needs for well designed, low cost housing and furniture in the two countries are found.To further examine the work of Magnusson Grossman, her 1949 residence at Waynecrest Drive in Los Angeles is visually analyzed and compared with contemporary Case Study House #8 by American design couple Charles and Ray Eames from 1949, and Swedish furniture designer and architect Bruno Mathsson’s Exhibition Hall from 1950. Several correlations between the three environments are identified, and confirms Greta Magnusson Grossman’s progressive contributions in the fields of architecture, interiors and furniture design.

The main purpose of this report is to analyze a practical method of design while doing an innovation project connected to a specific armchair. The aim is to re-vitalize the pre-existing product. This project is done within the context of a specific furniture producer. This report describes theories about practical methods of design and how the practical intellect is used in a creative process. It also contains background research about classics. The background research is based on a brief literature review on the subject as well as interviews with professionals within the field of furniture design.  A few factors that can be said to characterize what makes a classic are suggested. The development of a specific armchair is described. Earlier projects where practical methods of design have been used are also described. The practical methods of design used in this project are described. The main method for this is making physical models by hand together with hand sketching.  The design process of developing a new product is described and discussed. As a final result visualizations and a description of a suggestion of how one can re-vitalize the specific armchair are shown. The outcomes and learning from using a practical method of design are discussed. The final suggestion is analyzed according to the factors suggested in the background research to characterize what makes a classic.

Gegenstand dieser Arbeit sind die Möbelherstellung auf dem Gebiet des (Groß-) Herzogtums Mecklenburg-Schwerin und die vom (Groß-) Herzog Friedrich Franz I. in Auftrag gegebenen Neuausstattungen von Appartements in der Zeit vom Ende des 18. bis ins erste Viertel des 19. Jahrhunderts. Sie wurden für zwei Generationen Erbprinzen anlässlich ihrer Hochzeiten vorgenommen. Zum einen wird nach der Qualität der im Land hergestellten Tischlerwaren und nach den stilistischen Impulsen sowie ökonomischen Bedingungen ihres Entwerfens und Anfertigens gefragt. Zum anderen gilt es nachzuvollziehen und zu begründen, wie sich der (Groß-) Herzog bei den Neuausstattungen gegenüber den Tischlern seines Landes verhielt und wie diese Projekte von den bei Hof tätigen Architekten organisiert wurden. Die vorliegende Arbeit in zwei Teile gegliedert: Im ersten Teil werden zunächst die Bedingungen der Tischlerausbildung und Möbelherstellung in den Städten Mecklenburgs und den Städten im westlichen Teil der damaligen preußischen Provinz Pommern (heute Vorpommern) erarbeitet und durch Vergleich mit politisch oder wirtschaftlich verbundenen Regionen bewertet. Man gewinnt ein zwar nicht lückenloses, aber detailreiches Bild von der Situation der Mecklenburger Tischlerämter. Im zweiten Teil der vorliegenden Arbeit werden die höfischen Raumausstattungen sowie die bei ihrer Planung und Ausführung vom Herzogshaus beschrittenen Wege erläutert. Dabei wird ein Wandel in der Repräsentations- und Wohnkultur des Mecklenburger Hofes deutlich. Die (Groß-) Herzöge zwischen circa 1790 und 1840 erteilten keine großen Aufträge, um das (Tischler-) Gewerbe zu fördern, obwohl fortlaufende kriegerische Auseinandersetzungen im 18. verheerende Auswirkungen auf die Bevölkerung hatten. In der Konsequenz entwickelte sich hierzulande keine eigenständige Möbelkunst. Großherzog Friedrich Franz I. nutzte die dynastischen Verbindungen und die Kontakte seiner Architekten zu den großstädtischen Märkten für seine Projekte. / This dissertation deals with the topics of cabinet making in the former (Grand) Dukedom Mecklenburg-Schwerin and the projects for new interior decoration of the appartments for two generations of hereditary princes. The new interiors were ordered by the (Grand) Duke Frederic Franz I. of Mecklenburg-Schwerin between 1799 and 1822 due to the upcoming marriages of the princes. For answering the questions in both the fields I consider on the one hand the quality of the produced furnitures circa 1790 and 1850. On the other hand I investigate whether the (Grand) Duke engaged the cabinetmakers of his own land for his projects or not. The question also is how interior planning and bulding were organized by the architects of the court. To address this it is necessary to study the historical documents. My text is divided into two parts. In part one, I investigate the conditions of the practical and theoretical education of the carpenters in Mecklenburg and the towns of the Western part of the former Prussian province Pomerania. Today it is part of the German federal state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. I discuss all the still existing furniture and drawings of cabinetmaker’s work for which the regions or cities where they were made are verifiable. In the end it is possible to draw a picture of the possible capability of the carpenters in the (Grand) Dukedom of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. In addition to this I compare the results to the situations in other regions which were connected by trade and the exchange of the knowledge by the craftmen. In the second part of this dissertation, the planning and organization during realisation of the court interiors will be introduced and explained. In the end it is possible to see a change in the culture of representation and court life. The (Grand) Dukes didn’t support the cabinetmaker’s trade by special orders in between 1799 and 1850. As a consequence in this country the art of furniture making could not prosper. Frederic Franz I. relied on dynastic relations and the contact of his architects to the international markets in Hamburg and Berlin.

Working through methods of abstraction and comedic mimicry I choreograph awkwardly balanced sculpture with objects of adornment as a means to defuse personal sensitivities surrounding my experiences of gender, desire, and home. The research that follows is concerned with the adjacent, the in between, above and underneath, because I feel that this kind of looking means that you are, to some degree, aware of what lies at the edges. Maybe this is what Gertrude Stein means to act as though there is no use in a center—because this concerns a way of relating, though there are many things in the room. ‘A spectacle and nothing strange’ is an arrangement of gestures, of made difference, of kinships, of orientations and possible futures, sustained tension, coded adornment, big dyke energy, shifts in hardness, leaning softness, much more than flowers, ...and in any case there is sweetness and some of that.

<p>The purpose of this final thesis isto develop a model for justification and evaluation of RFID technology. RFID is a new, relatively untested, technology using radio signals for automatic identification of different objects. Our theoretical frame of references focuses on research about RFID and implementation iss ues, we also conducted case studies and interviews in order to learn about RFID. Most RFID installations of today are Pilots or early adopters wanting to try new technology. A lot of the written sources were reports from consultancy firms or suppliers of technology. </p><p>Implementing RFID in real environment gave important insights into potentials and limitations of the technology. It proved that it is difficult to achieve sufficient readability in a steel environment. We also learned that one should not underestimate the time for installation and tuning in order to meet higher readability. The project finally resulted in an iterative model for justification and evaluation of RFID technology.</p>