Māori-inspired AI Furniture and AI Tool Design (New Zealand). Including an Overview of Traditional Māori Furniture and Māori Tools.

By William Van Zyl

This eBook or article aims to give a short overview of traditional Māori Furniture and tools. Garden tools - the hoe or paddle - are one of the focuses—Māori-inspired shapes, forms and patterns for hardwood chairs and side tables. I also include ideas for a mild steel side or coffee table—concepts at the end.

 

Towards the end - just for fun and inspiration - I include AI-generated images (Midjourney) to inspire readers, artists, carpenters, furniture makers, carvers, and designers. The focus is on aesthetics - Māori art, Māori carvings, and more. Shape and form embedded in furniture and garden tools (hoe/spade or paddle).

 

Additionally, the resource could be used for the new Technology Curriculum NCEA Level 1 (New Zealand), which will be implemented in 2024. Secondary school students and teachers could find this resource valuable for research and design inspiration. It includes a summary of the history of Māori furniture and Māori gardening tools, with a strong focus on embedding Mātauranga Māori (Māori Knowledge). 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Five House Publishing
• Release date: Dec 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223677369

William Van Zyl

The author had an interesting and unique childhood. Not travelling abroad - as you would expect - but venturing into the fields, bushes, tools sheds and mysterious underground tunnels around his neighbourhood. His happy place was - and still is - tinkering with ideas, science, and new possibilities. Many times while cycling he will get new ideas; he brings the unexpected, the unique, the creative in a flurry on a page or in a sketch. To this day he dreams of vicious wars and sophisticated weaponry in an innocent child's scout cave. He loves diagrams, timelines, cross sections, sketches, and details of sinister and hidden concepts and ideas; always looking for a new mystery to decode and to encode. He investigates and explores extravagant thoughts which he includes in children's books, stories and articles; he loves to include philosopher’s perspectives, articles,  intriguing stories, and poetry in his writing. Academic and research work are also his forte. He always offers a simple but practical explanation within an engaging context. Not your ordinary thinker! A lifelong scholar and teacher. 

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