The Aesthetics of Combining Traditional and Modern Materials in Contemporary Egyptian Furniture

Applied art and handicrafts are the expression of society spirit, starting from its geographical nature and local raw materials, to its traditional costumes and others... With the trend of the general taste in society to acquire contemporary pieces of furniture with modern and attractive materials such as stainless steel, traditional and handicrafts began to disappear with the stability of their traditional forms of output. The uses of these pieces have receded into specific and classic forms of limited use and limited audience as well.
The research aims to develop crafts inspired from the heritage of Egypt, and presents an overview of the most important traditional Egyptian crafts in the south. As such an overview is presented of the most important features of traditional Egyptian furniture, the most important traditional Egyptian crafts, and the materials incorporated into the manufacture of furniture and its accessories through the ages. The shadow casts on a type of folk art that can be incorporated into the furniture design concept, which is the (Shadow Imagination) style as a type of Egyptian expressive folk art, where folk art is considered a source of sustainability for the Egyptian heritage. By presenting models for integrating non-wood materials into the furniture industry through the ages with traditional wooden furniture, a historical overview of the Egyptian methods of integrating wood and other materials is formed. The research moved to present an attempt to sustain heritage by merging some folk crafts with their traditional materials and folk arts associated with them with contemporary furniture and modern materials to present a model for trying to revive these crafts and materials and to integrate them recently.
In the end, the research presents some examples of contemporary pieces of furniture spread in the Egyptian market in addition to modern and heritage materials. Which it is proposed to integrate into contemporary Egyptian furniture designs to keep pace with the general taste in the Egyptian market. With the aim of presenting samples of contemporary furniture designs proposed by the researcher inspired by the Egyptian character by merging traditional materials and techniques with modern materials. In addition to presenting design models as applications of integrating modern technology in manufacturing with the heritage style in furniture design.