110077032计算机家具设计.pdf

Designing Computer Furniture Considering components and user comfort by Sander Nagyszalanczy hether we like them or not, computers have become integral parts of our lives, and theyre here to stay. Com- puters handle our finances, connect our phone calls and teach our children. And while we cant ignore computers, few peo- ple seem concerned about furniture for them. Some folks think any object can be transformed into a piece of computer furniture just by setting a computer on it. Ive seen one digitally possessed person pecking away on a keyboard set on an old orange crate, watching a monitor propped up on the floor by a carton of cigarettes—Neanderthal furnishings for high-tech tools. Fortunately, more suitable furnishings for computers do exist. There are many commercially available workstations made from metals and plastics. However, the warmth of wood provides a pleasant contrast to the high-tech austerity of computer compo- nents, and many people are wiling to pay for well-designed, cus- tom-built units to harmonize with other furniture pieces in their homes and offices. In researching this article, I visited with more than a dozen cabinetmakers and furnituremakers who built pieces to house personal computer systems. While the work pictured here and other pieces I saw generally were attractive and well built, I was surprised at the small amount of wooden computer furni- ture being built, considering the proliferation of computers. Part of the reason may be complexity: Though not nearly as complex as microchips and computer software, designing a good piece of computer furniture can be as demanding as developing the most sophisticated desk or cabinet. A well-designed computer workstation—the modern equivalent of a desk—needs to fulfill an impressive set of requirements. The equipment itself has specific needs: Components must be accessible to a seated worker, and they must be well ventilated and easily wired together. In addition, the workstation must accommodate a