The Mikado Shelf
A Mikado Shelf is a free-standing shelf for living room inspired by the pick-up stick game (Mikado Game).
Project Brief
Our lives are becoming more informal, hybrid, nomadic and entertaining. People, especially millennials, either at home or at work, want to be entertained and express their personalities. Brands and designers are working to meet all these needs with a more experimental, interactive and playful design.
Furniture and accessories should bring us joy, stimulate our creativity and give us the possibility to express ourselves.
The purpose of this design is to be a piece of art of storage. It aims to make people smile and be a delighted point of any environment it got placed in.
Inspiration
The inspiration for the Mikado Shelf comes from the pick-up stick game/ the mikado game. The shelves aim to mimic the randomness of the sticks, the color stripes on the sticks, and the process of stick selection and moving.
Concept Decision
I went through a team workshop in the class to sort my ideas and prioritize the design criteria for myself.
I chose the top 3 concepts, and narrow it to one to develop more. The concept I chose to develop more is the one mimics the mikado game.
Concept Development
After choosing the concept about the Mikado game, I think about multiple ways to show my idea, and improve the form based on rough prototypes.
Exploration
Exploration
Exploration
Exploration
Explorations
Explorations
Explorations
Rough Decision
1/2 Size Rough Mockups (Need knobs to support the board)
1/2 Size Rough Mockup (The form is stable enough to hold items)
1/2 Size Rough Mockup (The sticks need to be round headed and be identical for users to build it easily)
Final Form Decision
Finite Element Analysis (FEA Test）
I hired an engineer to do a FEA test for my final cad model, so I can understand the maximum load of the shelf.
Based on the report, if the shelf is made with solid wood, the maximum load would be about 800 lbs, but to be safe for the users, we decided to claim the maximum load would be 400-500lbs.
Full-Size Prototype
The full-size prototype is made with Birch Wood. The boards are made by cnc, and the sticks and knobs are hand made by me.
Detailss
