This article was taken from the January 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
OpenDesk is taking flat-pack furniture open source. Just pick a design, such as the Half Sheet Table, from its website, download and tweak the CAD file, and OpenDesk will find a local fabricator to mill and send you the cut-out parts. (Or, if you happen to own a computer numerically controlled milling machine, you can make the pieces at home.) "We wanted to explore the idea of open making, by connecting designers and makers, [and removing] middlemen," says cofounder Nick Ierodiaconou, 33. Founded in 2013, London-based OpenDesk was spun out of 00, the British design and architecture collective behind the open-source WikiHouse project (WIRED 02.12). The vision: to make the physical world more like software -- but rather than developers modifying code, it's designers and makers sharing and tweaking physical obejcts. The result is "somewhere between GitHub and Airbnb for furniture," says Ierodiaconou.
More than 150 makers have already signed up to OpenDesk in 38 countries. "It allows for furniture to be made locally all around the world," Ierodiaconou. "In one case, weh had a client in east London. We found a nearby workshop, got the order made, finished and shipped within a five-mile radius [all of them] - but the design they chose came from Sao Paulo."
At present, each OpenDesk order is processed on a case-by-case basis; the company will roll out a full online marketplace in 2015.
And although the mostly modern, functional designs are currently limited to plywood ("it's stable, predictable and universal")
OpenDesk hopes to add other materials soon. "It's not so much about saying we're going to topple IKEA," says Ierodiaconou. "It's about recognising that the web is unlocking this completely new supply chain."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
