This is the first in a series of posts showcasing the amazing wooden furniture that Canada’s design studios are pumping out. Wood just seems to evoke something fundamental about being Canadian, even if you’ve never set foot in a forest and are allergic to pine. After all, we’ve got the largest intact forest on the planet right in our backyard – why not use it to make some beautiful and functional furniture (in a sustainable way, of course)?
Mycologic
Photos from Enlighter Magazine
This one’s not supposed to resemble the branches of a tree. Think back to your Grade 10 Greek class…think hard…you guessed it! It’s all about mushrooms. The designers at Vancouver’s Propellor were so intrigued by the mushroom that they used the lowly fungus’s network form as inspiration.
Those little lights look perfectly at home on the tendrils of the light. Made from local walnut and studded with energy-efficient LED lights, this is the kind of growth that you want on your ceiling.
Hypnotizm
Look into the straight lines. Feel yourself descending into a deep sleep…
This bench makes no bones about what it is: a bench, no more, no less. The flatness and rich brown hues bring to mind the prairie that Hypnotizm’s designers IZM Studios call home. I could see it (and probably have seen it) fit in very well at my local community centre, but it would be marvelous in any room emphasizing rectilinear shapes. That all of these babies are coated in VOC-free oil (oil without volatile organic compounds) makes them that much safer.
Slope
Another one inspired by an iconic Canadian landscape. This time, it’s Whistler. The blog of Slope designer Kilowatt Studios writes that the walnut and white-lacquered MDF (medium-density fibreboard) piece “takes a new angle on the traditional bookshelf.” (http://www.kilowattstudio.com/joomla/blog). This piece could have just as easily been inspired by my bookshelf in graduate school, which, like Whistler, was breathtakingly massive and heavily tilted. Looking at it head on, it can serve as either a repository for your books or the coolest tic-tac-toe board ever. The bookends make the base a real part of the piece rather than just support for the lead singer.
Seen any Canadian wood furniture that blows your mind? Let us know!
