Wayback Machine: Foam Furniture Rises Like Bread, 1970
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.30.07
Here is a thirty-six year old idea for flatpack furniture that needs revisiting. We quote the article:
What goes up and doesn’t come down? A new kind of furniture called “Up.” You buy it flat-as-a-pancake in a vinyl package. Cut open the vinyl and the pancake automatically expands into a modern chair. Once expanded, it cannot be recompressed and cannot be punctured.
It works like this: At the factory in Italy the furniture is molded of poly-urethane foam, and covered with stretch upholstery. Then, in a vacuum chamber, the piece is compressed to force out the air, and sealed in the airtight package. Open the package and the foam absorbs air, expanding to its
designed size and shape.
The foam in this furniture is very heavy, and dense enough to fully support you when you sit. The chair below, for example, weighs 90 pounds-packed. Price? A child’s chair costs $63; the armchair below costs $588. ::Modern Mechanix
Nice way to save shipping and packaging. And a bit of fun when you open it up, like a flower blooming in front of you.
It can work in reverse too. There are space saver vacuum storage kits designed to let you compress clothes and bedding readily available. All they really are are a sturdy plastic bag with a good sealing system that you hook up to a vacuum cleaner or shop vac. Thermarest camp pads use the same principle too.
Of course, the chair design should be comfortable, and the foam used in the furniture should be high quality, so you have a good sitting experience.
this is stupid.
Not the greenest of furniture. Vinyl bag, heavy p-u foam, energy used to compress, etc. Plus, the flame-retardants used in foam furniture-- not good.
You Americans are so crass. The Global Warming is real, and it is killing our planet. The planet has a fever!
> Not the greenest of furniture. Vinyl bag, heavy p-u foam,
> energy used to compress, etc. Plus, the flame-retardants > used in foam furniture-- not good.
As opposed to the incredibly green process of chopping down trees to make wooden furniture and then upholstering them with foam and other materials after all?
db
As it turns out you can buy an updated version of them
http://www.bebitalia.it/collezioni/scheda_prodotto.asp?ID_Prodotto=59&lingua=en
Fun! Be sure to open them up in a closet!
@Jean-Paul LaCroix
If you were to read the article, you would see it clearly states these are made in Italy. Not America. Way to show your ignorance.
Well if the planet has a fever, the only cure can be... more cowbell.
What do you do if a little kid decided to open one in the store...or better yet, in a car? lol