i really dig modern furniture. i mentioned chairs in an earlier post, but i'm wild about it all. i don't mean in some kind of intellectual high-brow snobbish way. good furniture like all good design starts as a philosophical, not a styling exercise. the designer sets out to solve a problem. they consider a need. they evaluate materials and ultimately create something that didn't exist before. and when what they have created reaches out to others in a playful and meaningful way as if to dance, the process is completed.
i was thinking about a stool. i like stools because they're humble, utilitarian. they don't get all the glamour chairs and sofas do, but i've had some of the best conversations on one. anyway, i was thinking about a stool. i thought it would be nice to have one made of bent plywood and a handle on the sides. something to perch on when bodies fill up our tiny apartment. maybe it could even double as a minimalist coffee table or footstool. i hadn't remembered seeing one anywhere, but i was thinking of something along the lines of this. (the platform, not the slide)
it's from ikea, so i thought they would certainly have something like my stool there. but on my last trip to småland i found i was out of luck. undaunted i kept searching. nothing. and then recently i discovered john green's embrace and i think it's absolutely brilliant. the more time i spend looking at it the more i think of it as art. two simple pieces of bent ply with a cutout that allows them to be joined together like puzzle pieces. it's a stool, a table and even a small bookcase. and it even has the handles. brilliant.
john green lives and works in england, and try as i did i couldn't locate anyone who sells his work stateside. and as much as i would love to support this young designer, the shipping quote i got is nearly as much as the piece itself. so for now i'll just have to bookmark this one and hope his rising star brings him to america some day. either that or i may just have to learn how to properly bend plywood.
and if you'd like to see more of mr. green's design work check it out here.
Hi Matt,
ReplyDeleteGreat read. I've just been looking through my referals to my website and your name has been popping up. I've just read the blog and trust me, the lack of embrace in the US frustrates me just as much as it does you. I cannot for the life in me find any company willing to ship for a good price. And your not the only one, I have a folder in my inbox that is 92 deep with serious US enquiries for embrace.
I'm currently concidering doing ICFF,(Trade show in New York)This May, so if all my plans go well I will be exhibiting embrace there and some brilliant US distributor will take on embrace so that you can finally own one.
Learning how to bend ply is great! It's a way of life!
Cheers & Thank you for the kind words.
John