This summer (June 2009), the Pratt Design Incubator (a division of CSDS) partnered with the home furnishing company West Elm to design and produce a series of sustainable home office furniture. For eight weeks during June and July, a 12 person design team led by Pratt ID professor Robert Langhorn split into two teams to collaboratively design a line of furniture – desk, chair, lamp and shelf.  The group of recent alumni were given a “top secret” design brief  and the goal to meet the criteria of the third party certification programs of Greenguard and the Forest Stewardship Council.

Through research, concept development, scale models and full size prototypes of key details, the design team developed and presented their ideas to West Elm’s design group. Throughout the process West Elm generated “real world” feedback which guided the designers in refining and solidify their ideas.

For the final presentation, the Pratt designers presented eleven final designs for consideration and West Elm selected six to take to the next level of design development and the fabrication of full sized prototypes from their manufacturing plant in Vietnam.

UPDATE: November 2009.  The fullsized pieces have arrived at West Elm and the design teams got the first peek at West Elm’s headquarters in DUMBO Brooklyn,NY. Four of the designs have made the final cut – and will be in showrooms and on the West Elm website this next August.