Monday, April 27, 2009

Plantain Sofa



I designed this sofa and had it fabricated using traditional mimbre, or twisted plantain leaf, techniques. The sofa took a team of about 5 men two weeks to make, from wooden frame to twisting leaves into ropes to weaving it all together. My design was a departure from the norm, with its Dr. Seussian curves and deep seat. Since we had no soft furniture in the house, I wanted 1 piece that could serve as a sofa, day-bed lounger and guest bed.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Nicology Furniture



My partner and I decided not to buy furniture. We ate on the floor, sat on the floor, worked on the floor....luckily he already had a bed before we made this decision. Bit by bit we collected pieces of junk and assembled what you see here.

The coffee table is supported by decorative concrete blocks that are often used in place of glass windows. I had three triangles cut from one piece of glass. Aluminum cans (dog food) support the glass in this photo, but on other occasions I used glass bottles, each with a plastic dinosaur or soldier inside. I also tried yellow and red Imperial beer cans from Costa Rica. This table is also fun because the user can reconfigure the structure entirely by re-arranging the blocks, glass, and supports. Heck, you can even replace the concrete blocks with something else you fancy, like paint cans or plant pots or wooden hippos.



The Lamina Lamp is made from a long piece of metal lamina, used in construction, a car wheel, and a small glass lampshade.


We had seen large cable spool tables before, but I found the smaller ones more useful, especially once we added wheels.

That's my bag





Handbags made from vinyl movie posters. I tried a clutch, a small handbag, a mini-messenger, and a shoulder bag. While people really liked them I did not move forward with production because these posters and billboard banners were already being reused as shades over bike-taxis, tarps over loads on trucks, and, yes, shelter.

The four bags are hanging on a headboard I made from an old supermarket sign.