DESIGN FOR OBSOLESCENCE SIR,—Under this title Mr,. Kenneth Robinson has
some rather hard things to say about the Furniture Development Council.
Mr. Robinson, however, confuses facts with opinion. The bulk (if the Furniture Development Council's report that he refers to consists of an examination of the present economic trends and their projection into the future. It states that the statistical average of the life of furniture, that is to say its average replacement, in this country is twenty to twenty-five years. and in America about eleven years. Whether either of these figures is good or bad is a matter of opinion.
This does not mean, as Mr. Robinson seems to think, that furniture only lasts twenty to twenty-five years. In this country today, furniture is probably made better than ever before. Much of it will last a good deal longer than twenty to twenty-five years, and, incidentally, most of the research work carried out by the Furniture Development Council is aimed at improving quality and durability.
The point is that furniture is changed not so much because it is worn out, but because its owner wishes to replace it for other reasons; no doubt fashion is one of these, but there are others. For example, the growing popularity of the open plan and requirements of television may need other designs of furniture. There are also the new materials and processes that make it possible for the furniture manufacturer to design more comfortable chairs that are lighter, easier to move and clean, and such furniture is likely to be bought to replace that which is heavy and not so easily moved but may have very many years of service left in it. Even if Mr. Robinson does not wish,to, take advantage of new developments, there are many housewives who do.
Personally, I would like to sec the standard of the bulk of our thirteen or so million families raised to a sufficiently high standard (even comparable with that of the United States of America) to enable them, should they wish, to replace their old furniture for some of the new examples shown so attractively in the Council of Industrial Design showroom in the Haymarket. Should the Council of Industrial Design be so suc- cessful as to influence large numbers, and should the work of the Furniture Development Council in help- ing to raise the efficiency of the industry give the con- sumer increased value for money, the average replacement life of furniture might drop from twenty to twenty-five years to a lower figure.—Yours faith- The Furniture Development Council, 11 Adelphi Terrace, Robert Street, WC2
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