The Dominican furniture is a tool for social inclusion
SANTO DOMINGO.- More than an object to set spaces, a piece of furniture can serve as a tool for social inclusion, since it allows the most vulnerable social sectors to have equal access to the industry and its benefits.
The thesis is one of the main approaches of the book "The Dominican wood furniture: References, analysis and perspectives", presented last Friday 28 by the designer Angélica M. Rodríguez Bencosme in the Julio Ravelo room of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC).
The author, who works as a professor of Industrial Design at INTEC and other institutions, suggests that an adequate promotion of the local furniture industry would allow the country to compete with the large foreign supply that dominates the market, and relaunch the furniture Dominican as an element of the Country Brand that stands out at a global level.
In that sense, he suggests that the main strategy should be to analyze the furniture rather than as a piece of decoration as a cultural element, which reflects the aesthetic preferences and values of the society that creates it.
"This text is not intended to be an exhaustive guide on the development of furniture as a product. Its main objective is to provide a practical tool for designers, entrepreneurs and furniture industries, from their training stage until they reach their professional development, whether as micro, small or medium-sized companies, "says Rodríguez Bencosme.
The work states that the manufacture of furniture does not require an investment or the use of cutting-edge technology, so it can be created with local materials with a design adapted to the environmental conditions of the country, and that the designer participates in the process.
Quote that the Original Designs they are 90% profitable and that, according to a study among 14 local companies of the sector, those that have designers among their staff have a productivity ratio of 2 to 1, above the rest, which makes them more competitive.
Others factors that position the furniture industry as an industry for inclusion are the fact that cabinetmaking is a trade that is easily learned and disseminated, and that courses on furniture production have a high popularity.
In this pioneer text in the theme of furniture design in the Dominican Republic, an area that until now has been taught in universities and technical institutes since the 1980s without any bibliographic support material on the local situation.
The work is sponsored by the INTEC Editorial Fund of the Emilio Rodríguez Demorizi Library and its content addresses the cultural, political and economic context in which the national furniture industry developed, going through the production chain, technical training and institutions that support the sector. Also, it explains the techniques used for the development of the furniture in the local context, from the legal framework for its manufacture and commercialization.
Angélica M. Rodríguez Bencosme She is a furniture designer and teacher of the INTEC Industrial Design career, the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) and the Institute of Technical Professional Training (INFOTEP). He has made several investigations about the Dominican furniture that have been published in national and international media. All the information about the book, as well as about design in general, is available on the page www.muebledominicano.com.