Res Mobilis

Diseño, domesticidad y modernidad porfiriana: una lectura crítica de privacidad, domesticidad, confort e higiene, de Martha Eugenia Alfaro Cuevas

2025-07-21T10:53:05+02:00

The review analyzes the book Privacidad, Domesticidad, Confort e Higiene. Diseño de interiores en México durante el Porfiriato by Martha Eugenia Alfaro Cuevas. The work offers a critical reading of domestic spaces in 19th-century Mexico through four guiding principles of design: privacy, domesticity, comfort, and hygiene. Its contribution to the historiography of design and its focus on everyday life are especially valued.

Dressing in Winter, Dressing in Summer in Burgos in the 18th Century

2025-06-12T14:00:41+02:00

The clothing worn by members of the Burgos households in the 18th century was not the same at all times of the year, whether in summer or winter, and the fabrics of the garments were adapted to the weather. Thanks to the descriptions of clothing found in an inventory of goods, it is possible to make an approximation to these circumstances, directly related to material culture and the culture of appearances. In practice, clothing was the bodily ‘furniture’ that each person wore outside the domestic interiors.

Traditional architectural elements reinterpreted in post-war Japanese home furnishings. Kiyoshi Seike's movable tatami and Kisho Kurokawa's paper blind.

2025-03-31T15:54:50+02:00

In Japan in the 1950s and 1960s, the necessary reconstruction as well as the country's growth after the post-war period and the American occupation, were seen as fertile soil for architects to develop their new ideals. In them, aspects of modern architecture coexisted, which had been developing since the beginning of the century, with personal experiences and concerns typical of the moment. But above all, a conflict was emerging in society, that of the necessary reformulation of a unique identity that seemed lost, and in which Western influences and tradition had to coexist, to give rise to a new, characteristically Japanese reality. In this scenario, the reinterpretation of tradition takes on a relevant role, not only in architecture in general, but also in furniture and other domestic equipment, promoting the survival of tradition in a modern space.

Between the Domestic and the Sacred: Furniture as a Relic in Don Bosco’s House Museum

2025-07-03T18:34:42+02:00

This article examines the 19th-century furniture preserved in the house museum of Saint Giovanni Bosco, focusing on its symbolic, devotional, and museographic value. Through an interdisciplinary approach—combining art history, museology, and material culture studies—it analyzes a set of everyday objects that, beyond their practical function, acquire a sacred character through their association with the saint. In the absence of detailed documentation, the research relies on in situ analysis and historical photographic sources. Although modest in artistic quality, these furnishings serve as key testimonies of Don Bosco’s daily life and of the processes of patrimonialization that transformed private spaces into places of pilgrimage. The study emphasizes the need to reconsider domestic furniture as a vehicle of memory, identity, and devotional experience within religious museum settings.

Cultural Crossovers: Danish Furniture Design and its Impact on Indonesia’s Rattan Furniture Industry

2025-07-11T09:42:38+02:00

Indonesia, a major rattan producing country, has a long history of making rattan furniture. Traditionally, rattan furniture is seen as cheap and fragile, mostly associated with lower economic classes. However, in the 1970s, some Indonesian design educators and practitioners began to change this perception by introducing modern design principles inspired by Scandinavian furniture design in particular Denmark. This shift brought rattan furniture into the realm of high-quality mid-to-high-end furniture. This paper explores the influence of Danish design on the early development of modern rattan furniture in Indonesia through two main channels: product design concepts accessed through international design media, and the academic influence brought by Indonesian designers studying in Scandinavian countries. Using comparative study methods, this research reveals how Indonesian designers have successfully translated Danish design values—traditionally applied to wood—into rattan furniture, creating a modern design identity rooted in global aesthetics and local materials.

Space Configuration Through Design. The Project For Modular Divider Tegula

2025-07-06T15:47:56+02:00

This article discusses modular design in the optimization of spaces, adapting them to the needs of their inhabitants. These circumstances triggered the design of the Tegula Modular Divider, conceived to enhance the flexibility of interior spaces. Tegula conceptually interprets the curved tile, while applying innovative materials such as ecogrés, combining sustainability with aesthetics.

The design process was guided by technical and creative solutions implemented by other designers, as well as by a focus on both the objective and subjective needs of human beings. The possibilities for configuring Tegula and their implications for the perceptual experience of inhabited space are considered. The results highlight the potential of modular design as a flexible and sustainable strategy, effective in architectural requalification, and contributing to the interdisciplinary debate on design and housing.

Between Floors and Chairs: The changing role of seats in the Indonesian Archipelago

2025-09-25T09:09:37+02:00

Sitting positions can reveal complex modes of spatial interaction, especially in multi-cultural settings where appropriate modes vary. In the Indonesian archipelago today, lesehan (floor-sitting) and chair-sitting occur at different situations. Tracing their history through longue durée approach reveals much intricacy in their shifting socio-cultural roles. Everyday sitting was for a long time synonymous with lesehan, which was supported by diverse sitting implements such as mats, cushions, and whole structures. Elevated seats are linked with the ancient notion of status-enhancing thrones, which were augmented by cultural layering from Hindu-Buddhist then Islamic influences. Colonial chairs represent the gradual domestication of elevated seating in the archipelago, although existing notions of exclusivity were appropriated and their use were carefully controlled by colonial socio-political norms to exclude most everyday Indonesians. It was through the critique of these norms by 20^th century nationalists that chair-sitting became democratized as an everyday alternative to lesehan.

The bridge between nature and technology: The impact of artificial intelligence on furniture design

2025-07-04T10:45:02+02:00

The current study investigates the intersection of biomimicry, a design approach inspired by nature, and artificial intelligence, a product of technological innovation. Biomimicry offers solutions by drawing from biological mechanisms to address design challenges, allowing designers to create efficient materials and solutions. Designers using this approach apply insights from studying organisms and natural processes, but conventional computer-aided design software is limited in translating complex biological forms into practical applications. Artificial intelligence (AI)-supported design tools, however, overcome these constraints and provide designers with greater creative freedom. Although studies have brought together the biomimicry approach and furniture design, few studies in English literature systematically analyze the impact of AI-supported software on biomimicry-based furniture design processes. The present research aims to highlight the significance of AI software in facilitating the creation of nature-inspired designs by making the design process more adaptable and innovative. Through a comparative analysis of furniture designs generated with various AI visualization tools, this research examines differences in material use, aesthetic quality, and incorporation of technological advancements. The findings reveal that furniture designs created with AI-supported tools demonstrate notable variations in terms of material efficiency, visual appeal, and representation of contemporary technological trends, emphasizing AI's pivotal role in advancing the field of biomimicry furniture design.

From craftsmanship to industrial design. The botijo: metamorphosis of a symbol, from tradition to modernity.

2025-09-23T09:55:37+02:00

This article explores the transformation of the botijo, a traditional object from Spanish rural culture, from its artisanal origins to its re-signification as a piece of contemporary design. Through documentary analysis and case studies—such as the La Siesta botijo and the work of designers like André Ricard and Martín Ruiz de Azúa—the article examines how this object has been reimagined to meet the symbolic, aesthetic, and functional demands of modern society. The approach draws on theories of user-centered design and the evolution of everyday objects. The results show that the botijo has shifted from being a functional vessel to a symbolic design object that blends tradition, sustainability, and innovation. This re-signification reveals new forms of dialogue between craft, industry, and contemporary design, offering useful frameworks for reflecting on material culture and its transformation over time.