Pin

Modular Shelving System

In collaboration with

Letian Tu

Fall 2022

Problem

Ideation

Final Design

Goals

Pains

Move to new places effortlessly


Find affordable & good-looking furnitures


Be able to keep her old furnitures every time she moves


Assemble furnitures easily

Spend physical labor moving in and out every year.


Discard furnitures and buying new ones frequently.


Spend too much money on buying furnitures.


Most of the affordable furnitures are hard to assemble.

Has this ever been you?

Young adults living in urban areas move frequently due to changes in school or career.

Packing

Dumping

Moving

Buying

Olivia goes through this process every year when she moves into a new apartment

This is Olivia

Age/Gender

22 / Female

Location

Queens, NY

Year of Study

3rd Year Undergraduate

# of Roommates

2

Olivia’s lives in a small apartment in Long Island City so that she can save up on rent. Because of this, buying large furniture pieces is impossible for her.

“Because of the increase in rent, I have to move to new places every year. Every time I move, I have to discard a lot of usable furnitures because they are too heavy.” - Olivia

Design Requirements

Compact

Modular

Affordable

Problem

about

sketchbook

projects

Pin

Modular Shelving System

In collaboration with

Fall 2022

Letian Tu

Letian Tu

about

sketchbook

projects

View project details on a larger screen

In the early stage of ideation, we explored universal connection methods to attach every module

Sketch Prototype for Final Direction

In this sketch model, we mocked up a universal connection to assemble every part on each module. The connection is constructed with a threaded rod, a copper tubing as spacer, and two nuts to fasten every part.

Ideation

Module 1

Module 2

Module 3

  • Modular Seating

  • Shelving

  • Modular Shelving

  • Coffee Table

  • Housing for Module 1

Universal Connection Rod

Every part on each module is connected by the connection rod. On both ends of the rod, there is a screw-on cap to secure every parts. Such connection method enables users to assemble each module without any tool.

Magnet to attach every module together

D-ring enabling user to tighten every part without any tool

Combination Possibilities

Storage & Seating

x4

x2

Shelving

x2

x1

Shelving + Seating

x2

x1

Table + Seating

Final Design