ADAPTABLE FURNITURE FOR VILLAGES IN SENEGAL MASTER’S DEGREE IN ADVANCED STUDIES IN DESIGN-BARCELONA SPECIALTY IN CONTEMPORARY DESIGN AUTHOR: HALIMATOU M’BALLO DIAO COURSE: 2020-2021 DIRECTOR: JOSEP MARIA FORT MIR ADABTABLE FURNITURE FOR VILLAGES IN SENEGAL HALIMATOU M’BALLO DIAO ABSTRACT Most houses and rooms in the villages in Senegal lack space since most rooms are used by more than one person. And since there isn’t a space specifically used as a living room, the bedrooms also work as such. That is why the owners of those rooms end up not having enough space to store all their belongings and have all the furniture that they need. This project aims to create a product that works as adaptable furniture for people, mostly women, and their children, who live in the villages of Senegal. We can define adaptable furniture as objects that can be easily moved around, adjusted, and changed, according to the situation. Therefore, I can solve the problem of lack of space while showcasing the traditions of Senegal and the skills of the craftsmen and manufacturers of this country. It is also important that the products will be manufactured in a sustainable and humane way. So, I can pay fair wages to the workers and create a minimal environmental impact. To prove the hypothesis that the villagers of Senegal truly need my product, I made an initial study, analyzing the place and the target user along with a study with similar cases in other countries and similar products that already exist in the market. Following this step, and with the information gathered, I defined what are the parts that my furniture will have, and how each one should interact with the other. In this project, I also had to justify different aspects like the materials I choose and the ornamentation on the different parts, and why it is so important and vital to add traditional Senegalese decorations in my product. It was also important to create a relationship between the craftsman and manufacturers with my product. Explaining the environmental impacts that my product would produce from the beginning of its creation to the end of its life was also necessary. Because I want this product to be accessible for the majority of the villagers in Senegal, I also created a business model explaining and justifying the prices of the product and how I would be able to finance the whole project. I can conclude that my product does satisfy the needs of my users and does solve most of the problems explained at the beginning of this project. While creating this adaptable furniture, I tried to create a product that would be modern, functional, and incorporate traditional aspects from Senegal. While it is true that some parts could be improved for a better user experience, overall, I could say that my hypothesis has been proved to be correct. 2 ADABTABLE FURNITURE FOR VILLAGES IN SENEGAL HALIMATOU M’BALLO DIAO ABSTRACTE La majoria de les cases i habitacions dels pobles del Senegal manquen d'espai, ja que la majoria de les habitacions són utilitzades per més d'una persona. I com que no hi ha un espai que s’utilitzi específicament com a sala d'estar, les habitacions també funcionen com a tal. Per això, els propietaris d'aquestes habitacions no tenen prou espai per a emmagatzemar totes les seves pertinences i tenir tots els mobles que necessiten. Aquest projecte pretén crear un producte que funcioni com a mobiliari adaptable per a les persones, en la seva majoria dones, i els seus fills, que viuen als pobles del Senegal. Podem definir mobles adaptables com objectes que es poden moure fàcilment, ajustar-se i canviar, segons la situació. Per tant, podem resoldre el problema de la falta d'espai al mateix temps que es mostren les tradicions del Senegal i les habilitats dels artesans i fabricants d'aquest país. També és important que els productes es produeixin de manera sostenible i humana. Per tant, podem pagar salaris justos als treballadors i crear un impacte ambiental mínim. Per provar la hipòtesi que els habitants del Senegal realment necessiten el nostre producte, vaig fer un estudi inicial, analitzant el lloc i l'usuari objectiu, juntament amb un estudi amb casos similars en altres països i productes similars que ja existeixen en el mercat. Després d'aquest pas, i amb la informació recopilada, vaig definir quines són les parts que tindran els nostres mobles i com han d'interaccionar cadascun amb l'altre. En aquest projecte també havia de justificar diferents aspectes com els materials que hem triat i l'ornamentació en les diferents parts del nostre producte i per què és tan important i vital afegir decoracions tradicionals senegaleses en el producte. També era important crear una relació entre els artesans i els fabricants amb el nostre producte. També era vital explicar els impactes ambientals que el nostre producte produiria des del principi de la seva creació fins al final de la seva vida. Ja que volia que aquest producte fos accessible per a la majoria dels habitants del Senegal, també s’ha creat un model empresarial que explica i justifica els preus del producte i com podríem finançar tot el projecte. Podem concloure que el nostre producte satisfà la necessitat dels nostres usuaris i resol la majoria dels problemes esmentats al principi d’aquest projecte. Mentre es va crear aquest mobiliari adaptable, es va tractar de crear un producte modern, funcional i que incorporés aspectes tradicionals del Senegal. Encara que és cert que algunes parts podrien millorar-se per a una millor experiència d'usuari, en general, podríem dir que la nostra hipòtesi ha estat correcta. 3 ADABTABLE FURNITURE FOR VILLAGES IN SENEGAL HALIMATOU M’BALLO DIAO Home /həʊm/ The place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household. “A house is made of bricks and beams. A home is made of hopes and dreams.” Ralph Waldo Emerson 4 ADABTABLE FURNITURE FOR VILLAGES IN SENEGAL HALIMATOU M’BALLO DIAO KEY WORDS Adabtability, modular, furniture, Senegal, villages, susainability, craftsmanship, tradition, ornamentation. 5 ADABTABLE FURNITURE FOR VILLAGES IN SENEGAL HALIMATOU M’BALLO DIAO AKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my family for cheering and supporting me, and providing me with so much important information. To my tutor for all the help given to me through the whole development of this project. And to my classmates and friends for helping me so much. 6 ADABTABLE FURNITURE FOR VILLAGES IN SENEGAL HALIMATOU M’BALLO DIAO INDEX 1. CHAPTER 1: THE PROJECT 1.1. INTRODUCTION 10 1.2. OBJECTIVES 11 1.3. HYPHOTHESIS 12 1.4. METHODOLOGY 12 1.5. LIMITATIONS 14 2. CHAPTER 2: INITIAL STUDY: THE CONTEXT 2.1. SENEGAL 15 2.2. TARGET USER 24 2.3. FRAMEWORK 34 2.4. FUNCTIONALITY OF THE PRODUCT 35 2.5. FUNCTIONAL CHART OF THE PRODUCT 37 2.6. TYPES OF USERS 39 3. CHAPTER 3: SECOND STUDY: ¿What can we find all over the world? 3.1. STUDY CASES 42 3.2. STATE OF THE ART 56 3.3. TRADITIONAL SENEGALESE FURNITURE 63 3.4. HOLES AND WINDOWS 67 3.5. BRIEFING 69 4. CHAPTER 4: DESIGN PROPOSAL 4.1. CONCEPT MAP 71 4.2. PRODUCT CONSTELATION – MIND MAP 72 4.3. BRAIN STORMING 73 4.4. THE HOUSES AND ROOMS IN THE VILLAGES 76 4.5. CONCLUSIONS ON THE DESING 82 5. CHAPER 5: FINAL DESIGN 5.1. 3D OF THE PRODUCT 84 5.2. PARTS OF THE PRODUCT 91 5.3. INTERACTION PRODUCT-USER 110 6. CHAPTER 6: PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT 6.1. MATERIALS OF THE PRODUCT 113 6.2. DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT OF THE PRODUCT 115 6.3. ORNAMENTATION AND NAME 124 6.4. MANUFACTUIRNG PROCESS AND TRANSPORTATION 156 7 ADABTABLE FURNITURE FOR VILLAGES IN SENEGAL HALIMATOU M’BALLO DIAO 6.5. THE PRODUCT IN ITS CONTEXT 166 6.6. STUDY OF THE RESISTANCE 177 6.7. ENVIORMENTAL IMPACT 181 6.8. BUSINES CANVAS 193 7. CONCLUSIONS 204 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY 207 8.1. LIST OF FIGURES 215 9. ANNEX 10. 9.1. ADDITIONAL RENDERS 224 11. 9.2. 2D PLANS 228 8 ADABTABLE FURNITURE FOR VILLAGES IN SENEGAL HALIMATOU M’BALLO DIAO 1. CHAPTER 1: THE PROJECT 9 ADABTABLE FURNITURE FOR VILLAGES IN SENEGAL HALIMATOU M’BALLO DIAO 1.1. INTRODUCTION Being raised in two different cultures, the Spanish and the Senegalese, has made me realize that there are so many different ways on how a person can live, and a lot of them are beautiful in their own way. When we think about a house, we probably think about an apartment or a house with more than one floor with different rooms, each one created for one specific purpose. A living room to socialize with other individuals and eat meals. A couple of rooms to sleep in, a bathroom to clean ourselves, a kitchen to cook, an office space to study. Even though we are used to seeing this type of house in the northern countries like in Europe and America, these are not the only types of houses we can find. And the villages of Senegal are one of them. While traveling there in 2011 and 2020 I saw that the concept of the house was totally different for them. While it is easy to find all the furniture that we want and need for all the rooms in our homes here, in the villages of Senegal, like many other villages around the world, don’t have the same luck. The houses tend to be smaller and villagers don’t have the means to afford all the furniture that they need.