School chairs for developing countries: Designing for strength and durability, simplicity, and ease of construction

Abstract

Persistent shortages of school furniture pose serious educational problems in underdeveloped and developing countries. Research has shown that strong durable school furniture can be produced with simple tools and production processes. Thus, the opportunity exists to solve school furniture problems by utilizing participatory cottage industry at the local level as well as larger manufacturers at the regional or country level. To do so, however, it is necessary to have designs that inherently ensure long maintenance-free service life, using parts that are easy to manufacture and constructions that are easy to assemble. This paper describes a design for school chairs, based on proven round mortise and tenon construction, which is not only strong and durable, but also easy to assemble and manufacture.