TORONTO INTERIOR DESIGN SHOW - SIBLING REVELRY
YEAR OF DESIGN 2011
For our Sibling Revelry exhibit at the 2011 Interior Design Show we created a 600 sqft structure out of salvaged windows and reclaimed 2x4’s to house our custom furniture, cabinetry and lighting. We also had an exhibit in the Studio North area to display our Cut Ups, which are small objects – jewellery, toys, lighting, shelves built from leftover scraps of wood and other waste material. This space was awarded to us the previous year when we won Best Collection of Studio North for our School Chairs. Read on for descriptions of the work included in the show.
Turn of the century wooden shoe lasts, rescued from a Northern Ontario fishing camp where they were dumped with a sign reading “firewood for cottagers”, combined with reclaimed roasted Douglas fir create this fun, whimsical bench. These lasts have been transformed to create a limited series of objects that pay tribute to the extinct artistry of the cobbler.
The hoop light is a recent addition to the Cut Ups collection. It is created with the off-cuts from the making of the chaise longue, standard bed and shelving systems, combined with obsolete bicycle rims gathered from local bike kitchens, cycle shops and trash bins. The spokes hold the fixture, which is outfitted with a dimmable compact fluorescent bulb. The soft glow of the light bouncing off the warm wood subtly brightens any space.
BACK TO THE DRAFTING BOARD CHAISE LONGUE
Inspired by the classic chaise longue designed by Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand, this is a machine designed for relaxation and comfort. The bent laminated curves provide structure, comfort and organic elegance. The rotating adjustment hardware was salvaged from an old drafting board and allows the chaise to pivot for a personalized position. Offered on a made-to-order basis, the chaise longue is available in select fabrics with recycled content and can be customized by size and configuration. This walnut version is covered with 100% wool.
Walnut legs are mechanically affixed to these odd ball cast away stumps salvaged off an abandoned lot during the city services strike of 2009 when the tree dump was closed, others are from the tree dump or were found up north. The stumps gain new life with their legs and butterfly joints keeping their splits in check.
STANDARD BED with BUCK HEADBOARD
Recently added to our collection, the Standard bed is finely crafted from locally sourced solid wood with exposed hardware. The Buck Headboard, an assemblage of off cut buck ends from their woodworking studio, is another recent addition to our Cut-Ups collection.
A thirty foot installation of the Slab Cube shelving floated across one side of the space. A combination of reclaimed and locally sourced solid woods made up both the shelves and cubes, along with a number of drawer and cabinet units to add some closed storage capability.
The onedge series explores using plywood on its edge to create form, structure, and comfort. The onedge rocker allows for relaxation and swaying movement for times of repose. The cantilevered design offers slight flex and movement for relaxing with a book or rocking a babe to sleep. It is available with or without arms. In an effort to minimize the waste generated in the creation of the onedge series, excess material is transformed into cutlets and bracelets.
Growing from the discarded extras from local mills the branches lighting system follows the pattern of growth found throughout nature and mathematics. Branching between nodes connected with salvaged hardware it reaches out from a central stem. Illuminated with low voltage halogen lamps. Custom versions of this chandelier can be seen at Canoe and Boehmer Restaurant in Toronto.
The mesh system is one answer to the bounty of scrap solid wood left over from the custom jobs that move through the Brothers Dressler woodworking co-op. Composed of walnut, maple, pine, poplar, cherry, mahogany, cedar and elm, a variety of shapes and forms can be created by linking these individual elements together including lamps, screens and mats.
Two beautiful slabs of locally sourced black walnut top this ten foot long live edge table. With the base composed of an adjacent slab held together with exposed hardware. The pieces cut away from between the boards created shelving that sat across from the table.
SCHOOL CHAIR
Chairs salvaged from a defunct felt factory, among other places, have been augmented and reinforced to create chairs that will begin again and avoid a premature end. We have reinforced the frame with the application of solid wood braces as new legs. Some of the chairs have been instilled with a new vibrancy with powder coating. The School Chair won Best Collection of Studio North Limited Edition at the 2010 Interior Design Show and appears in the May 2010 issue of Azure Magazine.
A shelving system anatomically inspired from the structural stability of the spinal cord and ribs. Rotatable shelves cantilevered out from a central stem allow for adaptability in a variety of configurations. This version is pressure fit in place with the use of structural ceiling jacks.
Naked and exposed, the bare sofa shows its inner beauty with exposed tenon joinery and hardware. The skeleton has been externalized to unveil the structure, tactile fabric made from 100% wool invites the contact of skin. Offered on a made-to-order basis, this modular sofa system is available in different sizes and configurations from a single chair to full L-shaped sectionals with matching ottomans and coffee tables. Built to last, it is constructed so that at the end of its lifecycle it can be disassembled into its components for re-use or recycle.
Facing up to support a glass top and show off the intricacies of the joinery and live edge bark. This custom table can also be built with smooth wood.
Cut Ups are about reuse, infusing cast-off materials with new life. Combining elements often considered waste and creating simple and unique objects. Ranging from furniture, lighting and household objects to toys and jewellery, Cut Ups are diverse but share a common origin; the off-cuts from the Brothers Dressler Toronto studio. Sometimes just wood, other times transformed using found objects and hardware, this waste material has new beauty and purpose.
