This Stool Rocks the Future of Furniture Design

'This Stool Rocks' by Irish-born, London-based designer and Fabsie founder James McBennett is not only an exploration of innovative tools for designing and making furniture — it proposes a revolutionary re-invention of the production chain.

With ‘FUKTA’ and ‘FARTFULL’, we are not saying naughty words — we’re talking about classic IKEA products. While the ‘FARTFULL’ portable workbench might not be the most pleasantly named piece of furniture you will ever put in your shed, you can easily assemble it with that famous little hex key, which revolutionized the world of furniture in the late 1950s. ‘This Stool Rocks’ combines the ‘assemble-at-home’ concept with new production tools such as laser cutters and 3D printers.

This Stool Rocks

But what makes this project unique is that McBennett’s company Fabsie works with a network of local manufacturers. When customers order a stool, the digital file will be sent to a local maker near them who makes the piece of furniture and delivers it. Big advantages of this decentralization of production is that it’s faster and it leads to a more direct supply chain. Imagine a future in which you order a new piece of design furniture from an online catalogue, that will be produced at the 3D printshop around the corner, and directly delivered to your door.

This Stool Rocks

Upon arrival the ‘This Stool Rocks’ can be assembled by means of stragically placed slots, which makes it possible to assemble and take apart the stool in less than a minute. There are multiple variants of the stool made for people that ‘rock’ in different ways, like ‘Hard Rock’ (rocks 360 degrees), ‘Soft Rock’ (rocks forwards and backwards) and ‘Easy Rock’ (only rocks forwards).

‘This Stool Rocks’ is on Kickstarter and by pledging £35 you are ensured of a great looking rocking stool that contributes to a re-invention of the production chain. With the revolution of new, local production tools, even that trip to IKEA every now and then becomes obsolete. I cannot imagine a reason to visit the furniture store in the future other than the Swedish meatballs…

PUC × Pivot Dublin

In April 2013, Pivot Dublin invited us to spend two weeks in the Irish capital. We hopped from district to district to fully experience, explore and report trends, stories and ideas right from Dublin’s vibrant design community.

Building Cities on Philanthropy

The City of Dublin has launched plans for a new central City Library at Parnell Square. This new 21st century cultural hotspot will help launch the northern part of Dublin’s downtown as a new cultural quarter. In times of financial crisis it's hard to find money for new public buildings, particularly in the cultural scene and in a city like Dublin. What’s interesting about this project, initiated by Dublin's City Architect Ali Grehan, is that it is financially made possible by a group of philanthropists. They will pay to make the plans and have committed to raise funding for the execution of the whole project. Peter Collins is Managing Director at Kennedy Wilson Europe. He represents the group of philanthropists that will pay for the massive building. We spoke to him about the library and asked him about philanthropy in urbanism.

Dublin Adopts Urban Hacking as a City-Making Tool

During our two-week Blogger in Residency in Dublin earlier this month we discovered quite an innovative approach to urban planning and development that other cities around the globe could learn from. Several departments within the Irish capital's City Council have adopted urban hacking and interventionism tactics as serious tools to improve public spaces.

Modular Urban Rooftop Farm Uses Only Recycled Materials

On top of the roof of the Chocolate Factory in Dublin, a remarkable rooftop farm is being planted. Following the example of other great urban rooftop farms around the world, the Chocolate Factory farm is completely modular, made from only recycled materials, and is based on the concept of composting. This way, the small scale farm that looks out over the city of Dublin integrates an entire food system, from waste to food, on one roof.