Examining Responsible Furniture Design in Terms of Sustainability: A Review on Cafe Furniture

ABSTRACT: The concept of sustainability is generally referred to as being permanent. Today, with the effect of population growth and increasing resource consumption, the concept of sustainability has gained great importance. Sustainable design is responsible for society and the environment, so designers should understand the importance of sustainability in designs and develop creative solutions. Especially in the public spaces that the society uses in common, the designs that people interact with the most are furniture. Independent organizations in sustainable furniture design prepare various standards and certification systems. However, in these certification systems, environmental sustainability criteria are prioritized, and the score weight is higher. To develop furniture in a human-centered manner, a need was felt for an evaluation system in which social sustainability has an equal value with environmental sustainability. The aim of this study is to create a checklist that can help architects and interior architects in the problem of sustainable furniture design, evaluating environmental and social sustainability equally. In addition, since the existing sustainable furniture certification systems have a complex scoring system, designers are hesitant to approach sustainability. This research aims to help designers to design sustainable furniture by preparing this checklist that can be easily followed during the design process. For this purpose, as the first step a vast literature review was realized to define environmental and social sustainability and to find out the current criteria for sustainable furniture design which shaped the base for the proposed checklist. Then, using the suggested checklist, chairs and table furniture in selected cafes in Çanakkale are evaluated in terms of environmental and social sustainability. In the case study, the researcher experienced the field practice in situ and collected data with measurements, photographs, and drawings. By using the information and experiences obtained, the checklist for sustainable furniture design and the evaluation tables of the furniture were created and the study was concluded by summarizing the findings. Keywords: Furniture Design, Environmental Responsibility, Social Responsibility, Public Space, Sustainability, Eco-Friendly Use