STARP SYSTEM

The project, submitted to the 2nd National Furniture Design Competition promoted by the Portuguese Wood and Furniture Industries Association, was awarded 1st Prize in the “Everyday Design” category.

The proposal, in line with the competition's theme (the search for the essence of deshorning), combines two technologies: cutting the plywood pieces with CNC machines and fixing the pieces with polypropylene or polyester straps.

The combination of these processes reflects a rational design in terms of form and resources. From a production point of view, the use of CNCs allows for optimization, greater precision, use of raw materials, less waste and the flexibility to produce single units or on a smaller scale, without additional costs.

Each piece of furniture is produced individually, making the most of the plywood boards, and then packaged disassembled to reduce assembly and transportation costs.

Assembly requires no screws or fittings; the strapping system also allows for repeated disassembly and assembly. This model facilitates temporary furniture moves or installations, based on the “do it yourself” concept.

Depending on the number of pieces, large-scale assembly can be done with manual strapping tools, which allow the straps to be tensioned and sealed, while small-scale assembly uses clamps or tightening and locking buckles to secure a single piece of furniture.

The furniture is versatile, with families of objects (armchair/desk, chair/table, bench/table) and base modules for shelving. The system responds to two main needs: daily use (sitting, working, eating, sleeping) and storage (cupboards, shelves).

The system was named "STARP", a pun on "strap" and "star". Star as a guiding thing or idea.