Sustainability in Practice: Furniture Upcycling as A Pedagogical Framework for Circular Design Education

Abstract

The consumption of linear furniture causes a lot of waste, especially in the situations when the discarded ones are regularly delivered to the landfills even though they still have material and functional potential. To resolve this discrepancy between material worth and disposal procedures is essential to developing the strategies of the circular economy. This paper explores the topic of furniture upcycling as an environmental intervention and a pedagogic methodology of modern design education. Undergraduate design students worked in a learned studio (integrating manual fabrication and digital design tools) using a project-based learning framework to disassemble, redesign, and reassemble discarded wooden furniture. Environmental, educational, and design outcomes in terms of furniture upcycling were evaluated by means of a mixed-methods approach. Environmental assessment was done on the material recovery, landfill waste diversion, approximated carbon reductions and the durability of furniture. Questionnaires and student diaries were used to assess the outcomes of education. The results indicate that furniture upcycling is an efficient way to save the material and decrease waste, raise the awareness of sustainability, the knowledge of the circular economy, and the skill of problem-solving among students. The project led to the change in the perception of discarded furniture to a valuable design resource and enables the incorporation of discarded furniture as a tool of designing curricula and shows the possibility of community sustainability programs and environmental education.