Process and form of reed mat for development of thai contemporary art furniture design

Abstract

The study of Reed mat making process and develop the design into a Thai contemporary furniture style. This research is an experimental type and the research designs various functioned furniture. The inspiration come the shape of petal of lotus blossom. The lotus blossom petal’s shape has been one of a characteristic of Thai painting for a longtime. Artists from the old day got this inspiration from nature and the curve and the soft outline of pattern represents the warmth and kindness of Thai people. Therefore, the soft outline is the beginning of this design which comes in 3 types. Each type has its own functions but share a lotus blossom petal as an inspiration. First type is the couch, second is the arm chair and last is an end table. From a questionnaire about the function of the reed mat, the statistic shows the average number on the couch is 4.39 and that is good. The couch is the best choice to be developed into reed mat material furniture due to the strongest structure and heavy load capability. The reed mat already is a mat to lie on; just shaping it into a curve according to Ergonomics theory and it will become a very comfortable couch. This is one way to improve the function in Thai contemporary furniture. Because of, the satisfaction average number is at 4.57 which are the highest score; the couch is the best candidate to be applied into more contemporary furniture with Thai art character