Paper furniture is not just a good dream

Furniture made of paper? No mistakes? Can it be used? Very low-grade, which is suitable for modern living rooms? If you still have such an idea, you can only say that you have OUT.

Long before the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen said the buzzword "low carbon", low carbon design has become the subject of research by international design masters. At the Guangzhou International Design Week, held almost concurrently with the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, a number of special furniture from abroad were exhibited. They were hollow chairs, colorful vases and embossed photo frames. At first glance, there is no difference between ordinary furniture and ordinary furniture. Only then are they found that they are all paper furniture made of environmentally friendly paper.

In fact, it can be said that paper furniture is actually very tough, and not afraid of water is not afraid of fire, the design is unique and unique, can be comparable to modern fashion furniture.

Text / Photo: Reporter Liang Hongju

Glossary

As the name suggests, paper furniture is made of paper-based furniture, which is widely known as environmentally friendly furniture in the industry. Through the structural design, paper furniture with the same weight-bearing function as traditional furniture, its weight is only 20% to 30% of traditional furniture, and can be recycled 15~17 times.

From the current situation, the entire process of paper furniture production, the required coatings, glue, paint and other chemical substances are less, after cutting, only need to be simple assembly and bonding can be formed. In foreign countries, after customers buy paper furniture home, they can fold and install according to the indentation made by the manufacturer. However, at present, paper furniture has been finalized by manufacturers.

Paper furniture

Colorful

In the reporter's impression, as early as 2006, a creative agency in Shanghai developed a relatively mature technology for children's paper furniture, completely escaping the concept and shape of traditional furniture. At that time, these paper furniture did not use conventional adhesives, paints and other furniture accessories, which made the paper furniture light, fashionable and completely pollution-free. It was especially suitable for children's furniture health and safety and fast replacement.

After that, in order not to affect recycling, there are also brand-issued paper furniture that are not waterproof, fireproof or anti-corrosive, but in any case, the paper furniture at that time was mostly based on corrugated paper of primary color. However, the paper furniture that appears on the market today is basically made of low-carbon high-strength paperboard and corrugated paper. The reporter saw the YOTHAKA paper furniture imported from Singapore by Jisheng Weibang. The outer material used pineapple fiber paper and brushed the rainbow's seven-color tone, which was very sunny. Design is a simple combination of curves and planes, quite simple. However, in order to maintain the solidity of the furniture, this casual sofa still uses a metal skeleton.

In fact, the world has long used honeycomb paper core to make paper furniture. Not to mention Europe and the United States, it is Japan in Asia, and lightweight honeycomb paper furniture is very popular among family women. In Hong Kong, China, the high-end furniture called "aircraft wood" is very popular, and its material is also a high-grade sheet made of high-quality honeycomb materials.

Not afraid of water and fire

The biggest concern for consumers about paper furniture is the balance between lightness and stability. According to industry insiders, since paper furniture is glued to each corrugated board, the product has a certain hardness after molding (after the glue has dried out), and for the stability of each piece of furniture, the designer will also be at design time. Make the necessary considerations for the product's center of gravity, even the very light furniture, can master the balance, not easy to dump.

The texture of the paper is softer than other materials, so the load-bearing is based on a scientific and reasonable structure. As for the splicing method, it is generally spliced ​​and spliced, and the most stable is the U-shaped groove.

Some consumers have doubts about the weight bearing of paper furniture, but it is not necessary. Taking paper bookshelves as an example, the current paper bookshelf can achieve a total load capacity of 50 kilograms. In actual testing, there is no damage to a person who weighs more than 80 kilograms on the top, so paper furniture is no problem. In addition, the paper furniture is folded, and the effect of the load can be achieved by adjusting the direction of the force during the folding process.

Don't think that paper furniture is afraid of water and fire. In fact, they are not afraid of water. Since most of the paper furniture is imported paper, and it has been waterproof and fireproof, the performance is very good. It will not be damaged if it is soaked in water for 10 minutes, so don't worry about it is not easy to clean. It can be scrubbed with a damp cloth. As for fire prevention, the industry has done tests early, throwing cigarette butts on it until it is naturally extinguished, there will be no open flames, even Mars will not, and the surface will only have black marks.

Stylish design and strong personality

At present, the main demand for paper furniture is the younger generation. Therefore, most designers also highlight the personality and creativity of paper furniture based on the characteristics of high frequency and constant change. These paper furniture are versatile in shape, can be flexibly divided and combined, freely colored, and placed in different families to reflect different personalities. The reporter has seen a set of products called “Paper Cube” in Shenzhen. It uses the common 5-layer BE type corrugated paper. It is made of three small and medium paper cubes, which can be combined with free DIY. Bookshelves, sofas, chairs, coffee tables, etc., light brown solid color appearance can also be free to graffiti.

Paper furniture is available in a variety of colors and can be combined with different home spaces. For example, a set of light gray paper dining chairs, criss-crossed paper strips woven into a simple and powerful pattern, without extra decoration, but with a green grass, flowers, screens to form a quiet, harmonious atmosphere.

Paper furniture can also display a gorgeous feeling, dyeing the color into a noble and mysterious black. Through the craftsman's skill, thick back, and thick legs, the whole set of paper sofas can be stable and generous. With a bright yellow embroidered cushion, it adds a bit of elegance and chic.

In the style design of paper furniture, the current European design is the most colorful, many paper furniture popular gray, brown and beige "coffee" color series, can easily match with all kinds of solid wood furniture. It can be said that paper furniture can be compared with traditional furniture such as solid wood furniture, rattan furniture and bamboo furniture, regardless of style design or color use.

Warm in winter and cool in summer

Compared with traditional furniture, paper furniture not only has the characteristics of environmental protection and lightness, but more importantly, paper furniture also has the texture of wood and textile. Although paper furniture is less hard than solid wood furniture, it is safer than light and cheaper than metal and wood furniture. It has become a potential environmentally friendly product.

Paper furniture also has an advantage that is easily overlooked by consumers, that is, its characteristics of warm winter and cool summer. Because the paper's thermal conductivity is similar to that of wood, it is cool and not stuffy when used in the summer; when it is used in winter, the body does not feel cold. In developed countries in Europe and America, because their waterproof and sun-proof paper processing technology is quite mature, the paper furniture they make has been applied to the outdoors, and can be seen in streets, parks, swimming pools and other places.

Because the paper furniture is natural and simple, the shape is elegant, the feeling is brilliance, and the fashionable concept, the furniture market in Japan, Singapore and some countries in Europe and America is not uncommon.

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Honeycomb paper cores are starting to pop

Honeycomb materials originated from bionics and were first used in the aerospace industry. They can be paper, metal, or other materials.

In Europe, more than 80% of interior doors are honeycomb composite doors, and most furniture panels above 20mm thickness are honeycomb composite panels. At this year's Guangzhou International Building Materials Expo, honeycomb paper cores and honeycomb composite panels have a very high voice in furniture manufacturers. The reporter carefully understood at the time that the honeycomb paper core was made of recycled paper by gluing, laminating, pressing, cutting and joining, and had excellent compression and bending resistance. The paper honeycomb composite panel can be made into various thick plates of more than 18 mm, and is widely used for panel furniture, for example, for side panels, panels, roof panels, partitions, floor panels, door panels, partitions, and some decorative parts.

According to reports, the thicker the plate, the better the performance of the honeycomb material; the thick plate also has good bending resistance, used in dining tables, coffee tables, TV cabinets and so on. There are even furniture manufacturers who use it to make support legs for furniture, which shows the wide range of applications.