MIFF 2016 - World Furniture Export

Ranked as the 10th largest exporter of furniture in the world, Malaysia exports around 80% of its production. With large markets in US, Japan and Australia, Malaysia has a strong position in the global furniture industry. With tremendous growth in exports to UAE, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Russia, Malaysia is now eyeing countries like Algeria, Greece, Puerto Rico and Libya.

Malaysia has always been known for its wood based furniture, owing to its natural resources. The government has set an annual growth target of 6.5% for wood based furniture, estimated to reach up to RM53 billion by year 2020. In recent years, the growth has shifted from producing general products towards designing its own, and this has been key in propelling Malaysia onto the international arena. Popular with overseas buyers of the middle to high category, foreign buyers look to Malaysia for manufacturers who can meet their high production demand.

Despite numerous economic downturns, the industry is still supported by a strong global demand. While lower priced Chinese and Vietnamese furniture pose strong competition, Malaysian furniture continues to set itself apart with original design that places importance on aesthetics as well as its good work ethics.

The government also plays an important role in nurturing the industry. Providing Pioneer Status for tax exemption and Investment Tax Allowance, the pro-business environment makes doing business easier and faster.

With a business-friendly environment, good quality products and a high potential market, the Malaysian furniture industry is poised to exceed expectations and to continue its exponential growth.

• Why Visit
• Malaysian-Made Furniture
• Rubberwood
• HTD Wood
• Certified Timber

SEE QUALITY PRODUCTS

High quality, dependable, creative, aesthetic and trustworthy- these are just some of the ways foreign buyers describe Malaysian manufacturers. With a proven track record, MIFF also brings in exhibitors from 13 countries and region, making it the premier meeting place for industry players.

EXTENSIVE PRODUCT RANGES AND CHOICES

World-class design in office furniture, home furniture and wood furniture makes MIFF a one-stop exhibition for everything in between. From fittings to furnishing materials, the choices are wide-ranging and cater to all your business needs.

WORLD CLASS FACILITIES

Held in two of Malaysia's top exhibition venues, visitors are assured of comfort and convenience.

VISIT MALAYSIA

A beautiful country that alternates undulating landscapes, white beaches and tropical forests, Malaysia is a safe and exotic country for visitors to relax after a long day's work at the exhibition.

For more information website:2016.miff.com.my

FURNITURE DESIGN HISTORY

Furniture design has been a part of the human experience since the beginning of history. Evidence of furniture survives from as far back as the Neolithic Period in the form of paintings, wall Murals discovered at Pompeii, in sculpture and examples have also been excavated in Egyptian Pyramids and found in tombs in Ghiordes (modern day Turkey). 

These notes will track the main advancements, developments, styles and materials in furniture design highlighting the identifying features of each period, the materials used and show images of some of the most significant pieces of furniture ever designed. 

The furniture design timeline below outlines just some of the different periods of furniture design and gives you a basic overview of the timeline of furniture design history. Choose from the menu below to look at one furniture design period in more depth.

Neolithic Period Furniture 

A excavated site dating from 3100-2500 BC in Skara Brae, Orkney uncovered a range of stone furniture. Due to a shortage of wood in Orkney, the people of Skara Brae were forced to build with stone, a readily available material that could be turned into items for use within the household. 

Each house was equipped with an extensive assortment of stone furniture, ranging from cupboards, dressers and beds to shelves and stone seats. The stone dresser was regarded as the most important as it symbolically faced the entrance in each house and is therefore the first item that was seen when entering a house.

Ancient Egyptian Furniture 

The hyperarid climatic conditions of Egypt since the third millennium BC are perfect for the preservation of organic material. Thanks to these conditions Ancient Egyptian furniture has been excavated and various sites and includes 3rd millennium BC beds, discovered at Tarkhan, a 2550 BC gilded bed and chairs from the tomb of Queen Hetepheres, and boxes, beds and chairs from Thebes. 

There were two severe sides to the furniture excavated, the intricate gold gilded ornate furniture found in the tombs of the Pharaohs and the simple chairs, tables and baskets of the ordinary Egyptians . 

Ancient Greek Furniture

Ancient Greek furniture design can be dated back to the 2nd millennium BC, including the famous klismos chair. The furniture designs are preserved not only by the examples still in existance, but by images of them depicted in Greek vases. In 1738 and 1748 excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii revealed perfectly preserved Roman furniture. 

The ashes from the eruption at Mount Vesuvius preserved the furniture from 79 A.D. right up its excavation in the eighteenth century. Characteristic of this early furniture were highly influenced by the furniture of the ancient Egyptians with a stiff, rectangular, and unflattering shape.

In the 4th and 5th centuries, once the Greeks developed their own style, furniture became less square and rigid and more curved and flowing .

Renaissance Furniture

Along with the other arts, the Italian Renaissance of the fourteenth and fifteenth century marked a rebirth in furniture design, often inspired by the Greco-Roman tradition. Starting in the fifteenth century, a similar renaissance of culture, occurred in Northern Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France.

These designs were distinctly different from that of Medieval times and were characterized by opulent, often gilded designs that frequently incorporated a profusion of floral and scrolling ornamentation. The aim of these pieces were often to showcase the skills of the craftsmen who made them .

Across the water in the United States, during the early Colonial period, most furniture arrived along with the first immigrants. They brought furniture pieces typical of the Jacobean and Carolean periods in Britain with them, and then later made their own furniture in a similar style. These pieces were generally sturdy and heavily carved, many with turned legs and bun feet. In the harsher environment of some of the Colonies these pieces were simpler representatives of their parent styles, befitting the more straightforward and utilitarian life of the settlers.

Colonial Furniture 

Other settlers also brought their influences with them to the colonies, most notably the Dutch and French in the Northeast, and the Spanish in the Southwest. Although recognisably different from the British inspired designs, the Dutch pieces are essentially in the same tradition. However the different climate and different wood available to Spanish colonists led to a distinctly different style known as Mission or Southwestern.

The earliest American-made piece of furniture is a chest made by Nicholas Disbrowe around 1660. Uncompromisingly rectangular, its distinctively carved frame-and-panel construction, although very reminiscent of earlier British Age of Oak pieces, is already recognizable as a distinct American style. Many other early Colonial era pieces, such as wainscot chairs and heavy joint-tables, are similarly in the Age of Oak tradition . 

Reviral Furniture

The 19th century was marked by the Industrial Revolution, which caused profound changes in society. With increasing working populations in cities, the rise of a new class of wealthy of furniture buyers, together with the arrival of mass-production and the demise of the individual craftsman-designer, the gradual progression of furniture styles that had developed through the previous centuries was replaced by a raft of imitation or revival styles. 

These concurrent revival styles, including Gothic revival, Neoclassicism and Rococo revival became easy and inexpensive to manufacture as technology developed during the industrial revolution.With mass-production technology in place it was a simple matter to graft historically correct ornaments onto all sorts of furniture, thereby making possible for the creation of a continual stream of revival styles to meet the demands of the public. The result was a century of furniture whose common denominator was excessive ornamentation in the form of applied metal or wood carvings, inlays or stencils . 

Art Nouveau Furniture

The name "Art Nouveau" is French for 'new art', and it emerged in the late 19th century in Paris. The style was said to be influenced strongly by the litographs of Czech artist Alphonse Mucha, whose flat imagery with strong curved lines was seen as a move away from the academic art of the time. Art Nouveau furniture used lines and curves as graphical ornamentation and hard woods and iron were commonly used to provide strong yet slim supporting structures to a furniture pieces .

Art DECO Furniture

The Art Deco movement began in Paris in the 1920s and it represented elegance, glamour, functionality and modernity. Art deco's linear symmetry was a distinct departure from the flowing asymmetrical organic curves of its predecessor style art nouveau. Art deco experienced a decline in popularity during the late 1930s and early 1940s when it began to be derided as presenting a false image of luxury, eventually the style was ended by the austerities of World War II  . 

Modern Furniture

Born from the Bauhaus and Art Deco streamline styles came the post WWII Modern style using materials developed during the war including laminated plywood, plastics and fiberglass. In modern furniture the dark gilded, carved wood and richly patterned fabrics gave way to the glittering simplicity and geometry of polished metal. The forms of modern furniture sought newness, originality, technical innovation, and ultimately conveyed the present and the future, rather than what had gone before it as revival styles had done. 

This interest in new and innovative materials and methods produced a certain blending of the disciplines of technology and art. The use of new materials, such as steel in its many forms; moulded plywood and plastics, were formative in the creation of these new designs. They were considered pioneering, even shocking at the time especially in contrast to what came before.

The Middle Ages

                    The Book OF Kells

In the Middle Ages, Celtic art contained a combination of abstract and organic elements - with the 'animal' style and interlacing bands, at first symmetrical, and often in metalwork. It then spread to wood, stone and manuscript illumination. 

After the fall of Rome, Ireland's monasteries produced manuscripts to spread the word of God, which contained this elaborate embellishment, for example in the Book of Kells.

Conceptualism:

One and Three Chairs by Joseph Kosuth

Conceptualism, also begun in the 1960's (Duchamp can, however, be considered its first proponent, in the beginning of the 20th century) is concerned with the idea of a work of art being more important than the execution of the work, i.e., idea over product. This movement has produced an infinite number of variations of this idea - each artist and each work of art presents a new visual form and idea, rather than a stylistic similarity. 

Sometimes there is no visual product involved - perhaps only photographs taken of the art as it was enacted. To a lesser extent, this also contains the idea that art in our contemporary world has become a "commodity" like any other - to be bought, traded, and measured in financial value. If the artwork is only an idea without physical form, it defies commodification. In this sense, there is no "design," or "composition," or sometimes even any visual component to conceptualist art.

Asian Furniture

Sendai-dansu for kimono, zelkova wood, note the elaborate ironwork, handles on side for transportation, and lockable compartment.

Asian furniture has a quite distinct history. The traditions out of India, China, Pakistan, Indonesia (Bali and Java) and Japan are some of the best known, but places such as Korea, Mongolia, and the countries of South East Asia have unique facets of their own.

The use of uncarved wood and bamboo and the use of heavy lacquers are well known Chinese styles. It is worth noting that Chinese furniture varies dramatically from one dynasty to the next.

Traditional Japanese furniture is well known for its minimalist style, extensive use of wood, high-quality craftsmanship and reliance on wood grain instead of painting or thick lacquer. Japanese chests are known as Tansu, known for elaborate decorative iron work, and are some of the most sought-after of Japanese antiques. The antiques available generally date back to the Tokugawa era and Meiji era.

Eco designEdit

Great efforts from individuals, governments, and companies has led to the manufacturing of products with higher sustainability known as Eco design. This new line of furniture is based on environmentally friendly design. Its use and popularity are increasing each year.

Modernism

The first three-quarters of the twentieth century are often seen as the march towards Modernism. Art Deco, De Stijl, Bauhaus, Wiener Werkstätte, and Vienna Secession designers all worked to some degree within the Modernist idiom. Born from the Bauhaus and Art Deco/Streamline styles came the post WWII "Mid-Century Modern" style using materials developed during the war including laminated plywood, plastics and fiberglass. Prime examples include furniture designed by George Nelson Associates, Charles and Ray Eames, Paul McCobb, Florence Knoll, Harry Bertoia, Eero Saarinen, Harvey Probber, Vladamir Kagan and Danish modern designers including Finn Juhl and Arne Jacobsen. Postmodern design, intersecting the Pop art movement, gained steam in the 1960s and 70s, promoted in the 80s by groups such as the Italy-based Memphis movement.

19th century

The furniture maker by Ludwig Deutsche

The nineteenth century is usually defined by concurrent revival styles, including Gothic, Neoclassicism, Rococo, and the EastHaven Movement. The design reforms of the late century introduced the Aesthetic movement and the Arts and Crafts movement. Art Nouveau was influenced by both of these movements.

Early North American

Red and Blue Chair (1917), designed by Gerrit Rietveld

This design was in many ways rooted in necessity and emphasizes both form and materials. Early American chairs and tables are often constructed with turned spindles and chair backs often constructed with steaming to bend the wood. Wood choices tend to be deciduous hardwoods with a particular emphasis on the wood of edible or fruit bearing trees such as Cherry or Walnut.

- WIKIPEDIA

STRUCTURAL ENGENEERING

Composite construction 
Is a generic term to describe any building construction involving multiple dissimilar materials. Composite construction is often used in building aircraft, watercraft, and building construction. There are several reasons to use composite materials including increased strength, aesthetics, and environmental sustainability. It is not to be confused with the composite order which is a specific order of classical architecture that combines elements of the Ionic and Corinthian orders.

Structural Engineering 
In structural engineering, composite construction exists when two different materials are bound together so strongly that they act together as a single unit from a structural point of view. When this occurs, it is called composite action. One common example involves steel beams supporting concrete floor slabs. If the beam is not connected firmly to the slab, then the slab transfers all of its weight to the beam and the slab contributes nothing to the load carrying capability of the beam. However, if the slab is connected positively to the beam with studs, then a portion of the slab can be assumed to act compositely with the beam. In effect, this composite creates a larger and stronger beam than would be provided by the steel beam alone. The structural engineer may calculate a transformed section as one step in analyzing the load carry capability of the composite beam.

Composite Wood DeckingThe traditional decking material is pressure treated wood. The current material many contractors choose to use is composite decking. This material is typically made from wood-plastic composite or Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP). Such materials do not warp, crack, or split and are as versatile as traditional pressure treated wood. Composite decking is made through several different processes, and there are a multitude of sizes, shapes, and strengths available. Depending on the type of composite selected the decking materials can be used for a number of other construction projects including fences and sheds.

Composite Steel Deck
 In a composite steel deck, the dissimilar materials in question are steel and concrete. A composite steel deck combines the tensile strength of steel with the compressive strength of concrete to improve design efficiency and reduce the material necessary to cover a given area. Additionally, composite steel decks supported by composite steel joists can span greater distances between supporting elements and have reduced live load deflection in comparison to previous construction methods 

Structural analysis is the determination of the effects of loads on physical structures and their components.

Structures subject to this type of analysis include all that must withstand loads, such as buildings, bridges, vehicles, machinery, furniture, attire, soil strata, prostheses and biological tissue. Structural analysis incorporates the fields of applied mechanics, materials science and applied mathematics to compute a structure's deformations, internal forces, stresses, support reactions, accelerations, and stability. The results of the analysis are used to verify a structure's fitness for use, often saving physical tests. Structural analysis is thus a key part of the engineering design of structures.

- Wikipedia.

COMPOSITE LUMBER

Composite lumber is a material that is a mixture of wood fiber, plastic, and some type of binding agent. These ingredients are put together to form a material that is denser, stronger, and heavier than wood alone, a wood-plastic composite.

Working with composite lumber is similar to working with wood. However, composite lumber has the added benefit of being less likely to split or denominate. Some composite lumber is also engineered to be lighter weight for easier handling. Composite lumber is also more stain, scratch, and mold resistant, and is therefore supposed to have a longer life than wood lumber.

Composite lumber comes from the manufacturer as a finished product. There is no need to stain, sand, or paint the material. Composite materials usually cost more than lumber, but their long life and low-maintenance requirements could make them more economical in the long run. Many composites are often made partially out of recycled plastics and waste wood, such as Trex Decking, which makes them an environmentally friendly, efficient use of resources.

The growth of wood-alternative products continues to fuel a debate about their environmental value when compared to wood, treated wood, metal and other alternatives. Many suggest that wood decking is made from a more sustainable ingredient and that it carries a smaller manufacturing carbon footprint.

Others have claimed that the sawing of wood-alternative products during construction creates dust that will not biodegrade and that the wood-alternative deck boards, when they have outlived their useful lives, will not biodegrade in landfills.

- Wikipedia 

COMPOUNDING AND EXTRUSION OF WOOD PLASTIC COMPOSITES

This promising and evolving technology is marked by a variety of approaches to compounding and end product extrusion. In these diagrams, the term "wood" is used to identify any of the many forms of organic material used in these processes.

1. Pre-dried wood along with resin/regrinds and additives all enter at the throat of a twin screw pelletizing extruder.	2. Pre-dried wood enters at twin screw pelletizing extruder throat with resin/regrind and additives introduced along the barrel.
3. Continuous mixer discharges dry wood at twin screw extruder throat with resin/regrind and additives introduced along barrel to produce end product profile.	4. A high-speed compounding extruder supplies multiple single or twin screw profiling extruders. Alternatively, compounding extruder feeds a gear pump to produce the profile.
5. Wood enters twin screw extruder throat and is dried within the extruder. www.ktron.com	6. Multi-extrusion application with wood and resin, regrind, and additives on main twin screw extruder with single screw extruders discharging to die head.

WOOD PLASTIC COMPOSITE

Wood-plastic composites may be one of the most dynamic sectors of today's plastic industry. Although the technology is not new, there is growing interest in the new design possibilities this marriage of materials offers.

The production of Wood-Plastic Composites typically uses a fine wood waste (cellulose based fiber fillers such as hardwood, softwood, plywood, peanut hulls, bamboo, straw, etc.) mixed with various plastics (PP, PE, PVC). The powder is extruded to a dough like consistency and then extruded to the desired shape. Additives such as colorants, coupling agents, stabilizers, blowing agents, reinforcing agents, foaming agents, and lubricants help tailor the plastic end product to the target area of application. With up to 70 percent cellulose content, wood-plastic composites behave like wood using conventional woodworking tools. At the same time, they are extremely moisture-resistant. There is little or no water present, thus increasing resistance to rot. Wood-plastic composites are already widespread in outdoor use for decking, cladding, park benches, etc. There is also a growing market for potential indoor uses such as door frames, trim and furniture.

Products include: Lumber, decking and railing, window profiles, wall studs, door frames, furniture, pallets, fencing, docks, siding, architectural profiles, louvers, automotive components.

Characteristics

• Fastest growing sector of plastics industry
• Volume processors must produce faster, better, cheaper
• Weather ability and life cycle costs are major factors
• Formulation variations that increase wood content offer expansion into other uses
• Environmentally safe and efficient

Key Blending Considerations in Wood-Plastic Composites

Compared to many other processes, on-line compounding and extrusion exhibit short performance timescales, consistent with the mixing time of the extruder. For high formulation quality the feeding system must achieve and maintain its required blending accuracy within this brief time.

Key to a feeder's ability to attain high accuracy over short intervals is the resolution of its weighing device and response of its process controller.  As the illustration at right shows, lengthy performance timescales permit a given blending accuracy to be attained with a low performance weighing system. However, to achieve the same accuracy in the short interval characteristic of compounding and extrusion operations, a much higher weighing performance is required.  Additional important blending system considerations in wood/plastic composite processing include control and weigh system insensitivity to environmental disturbances, and the ability to reliably handle/control difficult organic components.

-www.ktron.com

WOOD PLASTIC COMPOSITE- COMPOSITE MATERIAL

Wood plastic composite

Wood-plastic composites (WPCs) are composite materials made of wood fiber / wood flour and thermoplastic(s) (includes PE, PP, PVC etc.).

Chemical additives seem practically "invisible" (except mineral fillers and pigments, if added) in the composite structure. They provide for integration of polymer and wood flour (powder) while facilitating optimal processing conditions.

In addition to wood fiber and plastic, WPCs can also contain other ligno-cellulosic and/or inorganic filler materials. WPCs are a subset of a larger category of materials called natural fiber plastic composites (NFPCs), which may contain no cellulose-based fiber fillers such as pulp fibers, peanut hulls, bamboo, straw, digestate, etc - Wikipedia 

Wood Plastic Composites (WPCs) are produced by thoroughly mixing ground wood particles and heated thermoplastic resin. The most common method of production is to extrude the material into the desired shape, though injection molding is also used. WPCs may be produced from either virgin or recycled thermoplastics including HDPE, LDPE, PVC, PP, ABS, PS, and PLA. 

Polyethylene based WPCs are by far the most common. Additives such as colorants, coupling agents, UV stabilizers, blowing agents, foaming agents, and lubricants help tailor the end product to the target area of application. Extruded WPCs are formed into both solid and hollow profiles. A large variety of injection molded parts are also produced, from automotive door panels to cell phone covers.

In some manufacturing facilities, the constituents are combined and processed in a pelletizing extruder, which produces pellets of the new material. The pellets are then re-melted and formed into the final shape. Other manufacturers complete the finished part in a single step of mixing and extrusion.

 - Wikipedia 

SENIBINA RUMAH MELAYU TRADISIONAL

Rumah  melayu tradisional merupakan suatu aset yang berharga untuk dipelihara senibinanya untuk generasi akan datang.Ini kerana rumah melayu tradisional mempunyai banyak keistimewaan yang belum tentu terdapat pada rumah moden masa kini. Masyarakat melayu yang terkenal dengan sifat kreatif, telah membina rumah melayu dengan mengaitkan rekabentuk senibina dengan faktor alam sekitar.

Halaman rumah dipenuhi dengan tanaman  seperti pokok kelapa, pokok serai, pokok kunyit serta beberapa jenis tanaman lain yang memberi sumber makanan kepada penghuni memberi suatu panorama yang menarik pada rumah melayu traditional.

Ruang dalaman rumah dipisahkan dengan beberapa bahagian mengikut keperluan dan kepengunaanya serta menitikberatkan agama dalam susunatur ruang tersebut seperti rumah ibu tempat melayan tetamu lelaki dan ruang tengah untuk tetamu perempuan.
Hiasan pada setiap rumah melayu tradisional pula banyak melambangkan identiti rumah itu sendiri. seni ukiran yang menarik yang di ilhamkan dari motif flora mengambarkan rumah melayu traditional ini tidak dapat dipisahkan dengan alam.

Keunikan dan keindahan ukiran kayu pada bahagian-bahagian tertentu rumah Melayu Tradisoinal menambah lagi nilai estetik senibinanya.  Kebanyakkan masyarakat Melayu dahulu kala sedikit sebanyak berkemahiran mengukir yang diwarisi turun temurun. Kelebihan itu digunakan dalam menghias senibina rumah melayu ini.

Tebar Layar dengan hiasan motif kosmos

Kekisi tingkas diukir dengan ukiran
tebuk tembus membantu
peredaran udara yang baik.

Bahagian anjung rumah di pasang dengan

ukiran larik.

Rumah kayu atau rumah kampung pada suatu masa dulu boleh dikatakan tidak asing bagi orang Melayu. Tapi dengan urbanisasi penduduk kini, ramai anak-anak Melayu yang tidak lagi mengenal apakah ciri bentuk sebenarnya rumah kayu tradisional maupun caranya dibangun tanpa paku.

Sebelum kedatangan pengaruh luar dan telunjuk moden, penduduk asal Melayu dan Orang Asli di Semenanjung Tanah Melayu dan Sumatera serta kaum Bumiputra/Pribumi lain di Borneo dan bahagian lain di alam Melayu telah mempunyai sistem perumahan yang canggih, cantik dan serasi dengan gaya hidup dan alam sekitar.

Manakala orang Melayu dan Orang Asli di Semenanjung, Sumatera dan pulau-pulau lain biasanya membina rumah sebuah (ala banglo) yang didiami oleh sekeluarga besar; sesetengah suku-kaum di Borneo lebih gemar kepada konsep ‘rumah panjang’ yang memuatkan seluruh kampung. Yakni setiap keluarga menghuni satu bahagian seperti rumah pangsa yang dideretkan sebelah-menyebelah, dengan anjung terbuka di hadapan (dipanggil ‘ruai’ di Sarawak) yang menyambungkan semua unit menjadi sebuah bangunan panjang.

                                                   Rumah Pisang sesikat