Create Flexible Office & Home Furniture With 3D Printed PlayWood Connectors

By

Updated October 11, 2018

This story is part of Treehugger's news archive. Learn more about our news archiving process or read our latest news.

It's easier than ever before to save money and exercise the creative muscles by making one's own furniture, whether it's simply using recycled pallet wood or drafting up more complicated stuff using open source software.

There's also the possibility of using customized connectors that allow you to mix and match off-the-shelf materials, which can be easily disassembled when you move, or let you re-adapt old self-made designs into new ones. That's the idea behind PlayWood, a collection of 3D printed connectors by Italian designer Stefano Guerrieri and seen over at Inhabitat, which permits you to change your environment up as often as you like, and without the need for tools (perhaps only an Allen key to tighten the connection up) nor traditional expertise.

© PlayWood

© PlayWoodThe collection consists of three recyclable polyamide connectors that would join boards together at either 90 degrees, 105 degrees or 150 degrees. Users can cut their own materials to fashion their own chairs, shelves, tables and more, as long as they are between 1.5 centimeters to 2 centimeters thick.

© PlayWood

Though it can be used anywhere, PlayWood was inspired as a tactile, modular response to static office environments that can stifle creativity, says Guerrieri:

We experience the physical space just as like we read human emotions. Without even realizing it, we sense and internalize what the space communicates us and that affects the way we work. The immediate feeling you get after walking into most offices isn’t that of a place where people share ideas and work together but rather a place for lone workers and meaningless working hours. [..]
We believe that people should be able to shape their own places according to what they do, we believe in modularity and creativity freedom. It doesn’t matter if it is a freelance studio or a billion dollar corporate office, the ability to organize your space is a powerful tool that brings office relationships to the next level and fosters innovation.

© PlayWood

The company recently won an A’ design Award, and you can see PlayWood at work in the Impact Hub co-working space in Reggio Emilia, Italy where the connectors have been used to create furniture for a more flexible workspace.

© PlayWood

Not only can you buy kits of six connectors starting at USD $20 (or individually at $4), you can also download some free furniture designs made with PlayWood. More over at PlayWood.