Nomadic Furniture [Paperback]

Victor Papanek (Author), James Hennessey (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 149 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon Books - Random House; 1st edition (January 12, 1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039470228X
• ISBN-13: 978-0394702285
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #492,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another look at Nomadic Furniture, June 18, 2000

By 

"jrlindh" (Bellingham, Washington, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nomadic Furniture (Paperback)

Back in the early seventies, when I first saw a copy of NOMADIC FURNITURE, I was fascinated by the variety of basic necessities one could make for oneself using inexpensive building products and a minimum of technique. With basic materials and mechanical skills, and the ideas, and seeds of ideas found within this book I took off on a long journey of experimenting with furniture design and construction. That journey, and this book are no less valid today.

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.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book, workable ideas., June 13, 2005

By 

R. Witzky - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nomadic Furniture (Paperback)

I bought a copy of this book a long time back. I've made up several of the designs, including the no nails or screws workbench. I made the workbench up because I wanted a big desk cheap. That was over twenty years and four major moves ago - and I'm sitting at that workbench desk right now. I lost my copy ten years ago (never, ever lend books that you can't stand to lose!), and am delighted finally to be able to replace it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nomadic Furniture, September 4, 2006

By 

J. S. Esche (Newburyport, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nomadic Furniture (Paperback)

I got this book in when it was published in 1973. Shortly therafter had a new house built. Of special use were the dimensions provided for seating heights, counter heights. I was able to negotiate my good but conventional builder into some new ideas.

When we moved into the house with, of course, limited resources my wife and I turned again to the book for furniture and lighting ideas and achieve a pretty good aesthetics/cost benefit.

I have since lived at sea, lived in other homes, set up office and other workspaces designed to accomodate the user to very great satisfaction.

The book is both a simple how-to and a significant philosophy of living in a better harmony with the world.

A few highlight ideas :

Use hollow core doors as worktop surfaces, old doors can be sometimes be scrounged from the curbside. (Doorset holes can be used for power cables) new doors can be finished to your taste and can be quite handsome as well as light weight.

Use file cabinets as office furniture bases - place them form a desk kneehole and put a hollow core door on top for a top. Serviceable and easily portable!

Modular bookshelves were great, too.

Live well!