Architectural Furniture -furniture combining architectural functions

Toshihiko Suzuki

Infill is generally positioned to be freely-designable by a resident within a frame of a skeleton (structural building). However, it is regarded as only movable partitions or changeable equipment plan, and it’s actual change is not easy at present. In this paper, infill is positioned to have immediate response to its residents’ changes of family structure or life over time.

For the purpose, we consider that something like furniture partitioning space, providing functionality with the divided spaces, and being easy to move and change is necessary, stated differently, furniture combining architectural functions. We call such furniture “architectural furniture”, as well as define how it should function, and practiced and tested it in the renovation of the one apartment room as the case study.
The more enhanced interior flexibility becomes by architectural furniture, the longer architectural duration as a skeleton would be facilitated.

It is indeed like European architecture examples that architecture will be specified to play a roll to form city landscape while its inner space is converted in order to respond to the demands of the present age like, for example, a station house is renovated to be a museum. Thus, furniture complements infill by having architectural functionality, while architecture as skeleton recovers its essential role to a city. Architectural furniture will be lubricant to complement skeleton-infill.

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