The aim of this thesis has been to develop and document a research
project that takes the form of a strategic response by a furniture designermaker
(Philip Koomen Furniture) to the challenging ecological issues
raised by the Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro, 1992) and detailed in the
document Agenda 21: Sustainable Development for the 21st Century. A
Literature Review contextualises this research project in relation to issues
around global resources and sustainable practices and considers various
models of sustainable design in relation to the commercial mainstream
but more particularly with regard to the role of the furniture designermaker
in contemporary society. The thesis explores the rationale for what
became termed the “Signed & Sealed” project and describes the
development of an associated body of designs through the negotiation of
the degraded state of the U.K.’s native woodlands and the location of
three critical strands which together came to define the “Signed & Sealed”
brand – strands identified by the terms semi-bespoke, local cycle and
unique signature. These terms are illuminated in turn by discussion of
the commissioning processes favoured by designer-makers and by
consideration of the economic and aesthetic problems to be found in
connection with the sourcing, development and use of local, noncommercial
timbers. The thesis also describes the project’s formal
presentation in the exhibition “Out of the Woods” (River & Rowing
Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 17 September 2004 to 7 January 2005)
and the two conferences “Our Woods in Your Hands” (River & Rowing
Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 25 September 2004) and “Out of the
Woods: Design for Sustainability” (River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-
Thames, 20 October 2004) and considers the peer reviews and
responses which followed these events. Finally, the thesis offers a critical
evaluation of the PhD research process which framed the project together
with some discussion of further potential avenues of research and
development