반려동물을 키우는 1인 가구를 위한 다기능 가구 디자인 개발

Development of Multi- Functional Furniture Design for Single-person Households with Companion Animals

The type of households in Korea in the recent past has been fluctuating dramatically due to social phenomena such as the rapid increase in the aging population, delayed marriage, increase of unmarried households, and low birth rates. Principally, the unmarried single-person consisted households are soaring in number, and the number of single-person consisted households in 2020 was 6.643 million people, accounting for 31.7% of the total households according to the “2020 Population and Housing Census.” Households that raise pets are also increasing every year as the single-person consisted households are increasing. One out of five single-person consisted households were found to raise pets according to a survey conducted by Seoul City Government. As the number of single-person consisted households are increasing and the pet industry is expanding, the development of pet furniture that optimizes the users’ needs is essential. The purpose of this study is to develop furniture that pets and the owners to well harmonize considering the rapid increase of residential environment of single-person consisted households that raise pets, which is the result of the change in social structure. This study aims to identify the definition of single-person consisted households, the living environment and characteristics of the households, and the overall trend of the pet industry with prior research surveys disclosed data surveys of related institutions, online and offline literature data surveys, etc. Also, this study induces significant insights by investigating cases of pet households from all over the world, and by comparing and analyzing those cases. The scope of this study is limited to developing final prototype modeling by the design process of sketches, 2D drawings, 3D modeling, and rendering, based on surveys and in-depth interviews. Through the development of multi-functional furniture which both owners and pets can optimize, considering the living environment and lifestyle of single-person consisted households in their 20s and 30s that raise pets, in depth-contemplation of the changes of types of households due to social phenomena, the characteristics, and the needs of the owners were studied. The results of this study are expected to give a positive insight into the single-person pet raising household furniture market which efficiently utilizes residential spaces and the works that follow.