And some products made of cardboard, like tar-impregnated sewer pipe, have become an infrastructure nightmare, further tarring (sorry for the pun) cardboard’s lowly reputation. While it’s strong when dry, wet cardboard falls apart, giving it an ephemeral reputation. It’s generally seen as scrap material, destined for the recycling bin, not the dining room. There are many possible reasons why most consumers don’t take corrugated cardboard furniture seriously. In the early 1970s, Frank Gehry (who would become the Starchitect of buildings like Bilbao’s Guggenheim Art Museum) was creating furniture designs out of cardboard in a series he called “ Easy Edges.” The philosophy of these corrugated cardboard designs was to promote low-cost furniture made of low-cost materials - ironically they have become expensive collector’s items, found in museums like the Museum of Modern Art and the Vitra Design Museum. Charles and Ray Eames were famous for their experiments in developing furniture designs crafted of bent plywood. The design movement that we today call Mid-Century Modern kicked off lots of experimentation with different materials. Interestingly, hardwoods are used for the corrugated internal structure - to give the cardboard strength, while softwoods like pine are used for the exterior sheeting - to give it a smooth, fine appearance. If you enjoy manufacturing as much as we do, you’ll be fascinated to watch this detailed video from the Georgia-Pacific company that explains all this steps needed to create pre-cut corrugated cardboard boxes. Manufacturing Corrugated Cardboard So What About the Possibility of Using Corrugated Cardboard Boxes for Building Furniture? And by 1890, the first pre-cut cardboard box was invented - for packaging fragile items like glass and pottery. By 1871, corrugated cardboard was patented for use as a shipping material. Designers are rediscovering corrugated cardboard, which started out as a material for making tall hats back in the 1850s.

But advanced metal alloys are not the only kid on the block.

Last week we took a look at the high-tech world of advanced metal-forming and welding.

Download cardboard design lab