Another look at Nomadic Furniture, June 19, 2000

Thirty years later, my eldest son is off to set up his own household, and I looked back into this book for ideas to share with him and I came to this website looking for a copy to buy him. Beds with eggcrate bases, swing arm lamps, crutch-tip/spring supported legs bearing bookshelves, creating your own private "living module" in rental properties, even some structural cardboard furniture - all were things I tried, inspired by this book. Many of those creations I lived with for years, and a few I still have.

As I began to get a feel for designing my own possessions, I came to appreciate more and more the Papanek/Hennessey philosophy that a simple solution could also be an elegant one, and it could also be resource responsible. I've spent most of my life designing and building things, and looking through this book again has helped me realize how much I owe the authors.

Readers who use this book, and it's difficult to imagine anyone looking at it who won't use at least some of it, will also profit from NOMADIC FURNITURE 2, published in 1974. It's more of the same, and in this case, more is good. Papanak also authored another book in 1973, Design for the Real World which establishes his philosophy of sustainable design, and for aiming design at all the world's peoples, not just the wealthy West. The NOMADIC books are simple, practical introductions to that philosophy. They contain ideas that could, at their basis, be used anywhere.

NOMADIC FURNITURE is a book for students and retirees (rich or poor), for newly established live-in relationships, for the cash-poor middle class, for the bored wealthy and for everyone of every life-style who finds importance in how they live, who understands that it is important to have some possessions, but not be possessed by them.

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