2018
Bench Design
Winky-Wonky
What does the wood talk to us? Where does it come from and what does it look like before it is shaped into our life?
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WINKY-WONKY is a chair utilizes the carpentry technique of splitting wood, which keeps entire fibers compared to cutting. The log split into half for people to sit on. Since the oak does not grow totally straight, the surface twists following the fibers, which gives the chair an organic form esthetically and functionally. When sitting on the chair, people can feel the special texture from the preserved wood fiber, that is rarely seen in a mass-produced furniture.
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This is a project not only about making, but learning about nature with respect.
Carpentry technique:
Splitting
The carpenter said that splitting is a better way to get a smaller piece of wood compared to cutting, since you keep the entire fiber which remains a strong structure.
He hammered the metal pins into the log, splitting the oak along the fiber.
We went into the heart of the oak, reading its story by seeing and touching.
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In the center, there is a darker line, which shows how a young tree grew windingly to adjust to the environment. Then it goes more straight and strong. Unlike reading a growth ring, It is a different view point.
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A twisting surface
I wasn't expecting the twisting, which bothered me in the beginning.
After some discussions and adjustments, the twist is kept and creates new experience of sitting and interactions.
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Wood and Design Workshop
This project is developed in the workshop: WOOD & DESIGN in Estonian Academy of Arts' summer academy.
This 6-day workshop Wood and Design in the lush woodlands of Viljandi, Estonia, focuses on the design aesthetics, ecology, and sustainability of wood. Exploring the material properties of wood through its use in design, the workshop invites participants to build a set of functional wooden objects for outdoor living with the simplest of means. Participants will utilise wood, as a naturally-occurring renewable material, in two forms: solid slab and left-over scraps from local lumber mills. The workshop is therefore not only community-inspired, with materials sourced or found locally, but also meets the ever-growing need to reclaime and recycle waste wood. The workshop is conducted by designers Simo Heikkilä (FIN) and Jüri Kermik (EST).
