Inhabitat

My cats would love this. Of course it wouldn’t last long.

I posted my remarks about this—very enthusiastic remarks yesterday, but they’re not here. I said I liked this stuff so much that I’m in the market, especially if it’s collapsible. Is that the problem—why the remarks weren’t posted? That you’re not supposed to include any “where to buy” info on this site?

I am somewhat amazed with the casual way in which ‘manufacture the products using cheap labor’ is offered as a piece of design advice. Not to be ‘wet blanket’, but labor is not a material, it is the time an individual sells to manufacture an object. It is no surprise that western impulses are to consider labor just another factor - it has been so far removed from our consciousness that we are barely able to consider the reality that it is a human component. It is just another variable in the complex economic equations that we allow to govern our lives and value judgments. I would remind you that labor is not a standalone factor; exporting labor is often bundled with so-called externalities that end up contributing to massive long-term costs to the health, safety, and livelihood of the dehumanized worker that produces this product, not to mention the environmental cost. Though, it is probably best to ignore these until they become problematic.

i would just like to give an answer to richie. first of all i am currently doing a project on modular furniture which involves cardboard and i know that you have outlined some problems with cardboard but can i just say that corrugated plastic is not the way forward. plastic is much less eco-friendly than cardboard and as for you point on manufacturing costs they are both extreemly cheap and virtually that same. the ponts which you raised to do with flamability and moisture resistancy are perfectly valid and yes are a downside to the use of cardboard but let us remember that all designs involve a compromise and it is getting that compromise correct which is what makes a good design. now the makor problem with corrugated plastic is that it only can be made at 4mm thick and is extreemly hard to layer it up ontop of each other using eco-friendly methods in order to make a thick stable material which could be used as a table top for instance. cardboard on the other hand can be made either using a single large fluting which can be customised to the designers requirements or it can be layerd up on top of each other either in alternating layers (like plywood) to increase bending strenght or just by simply folding multiple layers upon itself in order to create a thick board. none of these can be done with corrugated plastc at an industrial level because of the different manufacturing processes in which they are made.

plese feel free to critisize my points and suggest alternatives