DYLAN MCKINNON FURNITURE DESIGN
portfolio / catalogue 2010
001 SIDEBOARD (2009) eastern white pine, brass knife hinges, water-based urethane finish w.150 cm, d.46 cm, h.76 cm Born of a desire to contribute to ongoing explorations of “Canadian-ness� in contemporary design, this sideboard is the distilled result of research into Canadian furniture history. The use of eastern white pine, an abundant yet largely stigmatized material, is the most overtly expressed manifestation of this purpose. Although historical and ecological contexts exist for the use of this beautiful softwood, it is often presumptuously disregarded. This sideboard represents an attempt to accord this under-valued material the distinction it deserves.
002 SIDE TABLE (2009) white oak, polyurethane finish w.33 cm, l.45 cm, h.51 cm A small cantilevered side table in white oak employing box joint construction. The box joint’s origins are strictly utilitarian; it was initially used by farmers bringing their wares to market in boxes built to withstand abuse. As a design detail it radiates both modesty and strength.
003 PENDANT LAMP (2009) corrugated cardboard ø25 cm, h.19 cm Cardboard boxes, salvaged from the curbside, are stacked and laminated to create this lampshade. The exposed corrugated edges create a varied surface that filters light in a warm and unfashioned manner.
004 STACKING CHAIR (2009) hard maple, maple-veneered birch ply, water-based urethane finish w.50 cm, l.50 cm, h.75 cm This stackable chair addresses two separate problems in contemporary spaces: the first being the visual saturation and congestion inherent in many of these spaces; the second being the ability to occupy less physical space when not in use. By adhering to a reduced and straightforward aesthetic, the chair engages with its environment in a quiet and unimposing manner. The chair’s archetypal form lends an immediate familiarity to it, facilitating the dialogue between object and environment. Visual lightness is conveyed through minimal design and construction. Traditional mortise and tenon joinery is used in conjunction with bent laminating techniques to achieve an elegance in form as well as a structural rigidity suitable for everyday use.
005 RGB BENCHES (2010) hard maple, latex paint, water-based urethane finish w.91 cm, l.27 cm, h.45 cm This bench is a redesign of a simple wooden bench found in my backyard. The original bench is made of construction grade spruce and joined together by nails. It is a commonly encountered outdoor bench design, notable for its anonymity as well as its ability to be constructed by just about anyone with a saw and hammer. The redesign of this bench represents an attempt to maintain the straightforward nature by which the original is manufactured, albeit in a more considered manner. Like Gio Ponti’s Superleggera chair, this bench lightens the folk piece from which it is derived, both physically and visually. This lightness in form is achieved by a trapezoidal crosssection that thins to Ÿ� at its outer edge. In keeping with the original bench, gussets are employed to strengthen and stabilize a minimally constructed form.
006 EXTENDABLE TABLE (2010) baltic birch plywood, hard maple, latex paint, water-based urethane finish w.81 cm, l.152 cm, h.73 cm (extends to l. 254cm) This table addresses the demand for flexibility and multi-functionality placed upon furnishings occupying limited spaces. A six inch overhang in the front view of the table references traditional post and lintel construction, thereby iterating the inevitability or obviousness of such a table. It is akin to how a child might draw a table; two vertical lines topped with a longer horizontal line. The exposed ply edges of the legs and top, uniform in visual weight, lend a clearly graphic quality to the table, drawing further upon the post and lintel reference. Self-storing extension leaves, critical in small spaces, are achieved by means of a decidedly low-tech, yet highly efficient extension mechanism. This is in keeping with the overall design of the table, whereby the lines between contemporary and traditional gesture are blurred. The table, in its initial form, can accommodate up to six people. Extending both leaves permits seating for ten.
007 EDMOND PLACE TABLE (2010) reclaimed soft maple, water-based urethane finish w.81 cm, l.152 cm, h.73 cm (extends to l. 254cm) Edmond Place is an initiative of the City of Toronto and the Parkdale Activity - Recreation Centre (PARC) to provide accessible housing for some of the city’s less fortunate. Local designers / community builders Public Displays of Affection (PDA) have reached out to the design community to help furnish the amenity spaces of Edmond Place. In considering my contribution to Edmond Place, I decided to think about the idea of home and what it means. More than a shelter from the elements, home is the environment that people connect with most profoundly; our homes reflect us, and we are homes. Reflecting not only who we currently are, a home reflects who we’ve been and, most importantly, who we can be. With this in mind, I’ve aimed to create a coffee table that endorses and promotes hope and optimism; an attempt to create something that lightens the atmosphere in a room and maybe even elicit a laugh; something gentle and cheery.
DYLAN MCKINNON FURNITURE DESIGN 103 Macdonell Ave. Toronto, ON M6R 2A4 (416) 534 1232 dylanmckinnon@gmail.com ABOUT My interest in furniture design is based on a desire to interact with the physical world in an engaged and thoughtful way. Material objects, and furniture in particular, shape the spaces we occupy and these spaces, in turn, shape us. As a furniture designer, my intention is to create objects that participate in this dialogue in a positive and helpful way. Works are designed to speak quietly and to the point. I am interested in small gestures; gesture that communicate as much as possible with as little fuss as possible. To this end, my work is about reduction and trying to evoke what is essential in an object. Through what can only be described as a very laborious design process, I attempt to communicate effortlessness.