Foreign Objects:
Furniture Collection. MFA- Thesis. 2024.
Brass Side Tables:
Furniture design. Site Practice. 2021.
Hop Coat Rack
Furniture design. MFA-Studio. 2023.
Cull Accent Chair:
Furniture Design. Competition Entry. 2023 .
Foreign Objects: Furniture Collection.
MFA- Thesis. 2024.
The goal of this thesis was to broaden the vocabulary of contemporary furniture design by analyzing the objects and spaces used by street vendors in Mumbai, India, through the lens of deconstruction theory.
From the Industrial Revolution, to Ford’s assembly line, to the late-stages of capitalism we find ourselves in, design and production have been increasingly restricted by convention and more increasingly, by the limitations of the processes of production.
Homogeneity— the idea that goods of the same type are interchangeable and they have the same value and characteristics— dictates how manufacturers and consumers interact with mass-produced goods.
Through Jacques Derrida’s process of deconstruction, the objects are given form based on their own terms and provide an outlook on what furniture could look like if not constrained by the limits of mainstreamproduction.
In order to analyze the language of these objects and spaces, the idea of Différance— a key aspect of deconstruction theory— was adopted. Différance, meaning both a difference and an act of deferring, says one should analyze the binaries inherent to the language-system.
In the seeming chaos of this “un-system”, through the analysis of a broad cross section of the innumerable typologies and configurations a common “language” begins to surface. Three of the several binaries of this language were identified as:
Intended Use Assigned Use
The collection explores a coalescence of these seemingly binary principles and their relationships. Although the pieces appear disparate and quirky, they share a subtle dialogue through materiality, processes and ideas
Mobility Staticity
Lightweightness
Massiveness
The first object explores the binary of intended and appropriated use.
The piece was envisioned as a single form that can serve dual functions, each aiding the other.
When oriented vertically, each individual profile dictates how that particular shelf is used, drawing from the specific ways in which street vendors store and display individual items.
The form can be re-oriented when required to serve as a bench, with a floating panel to hold objects.
This object explored the binary of mobile and stationary objects, interpreted as the most rudimentary form of seating, the stool.
In the upright orientation the five casters hitting the ground work against each other and the volume sits extremely stable, and functions as a stool.
On tugging the chain, the stool tips over and is made mobile as only three of the fifteen wheels make contact with the ground.
The handle is housed in a cedar wood volume that ties the mobile object to the space it occupies and questions further the idea of mobility and staticity.
The third object explores the binary of massive and lightweight elements.
A vinyl mesh, a surface that through its translucency only alludes to material, was held in tension by a massive cedar wood volume.
The lightweight and massive elements each depend on each other in the relationship between suspension and tension, playing with the manner in which this relationship exists within the objects and spaces of the vendors.
The volume holding the whole structure down in tension is the same as the one that has been hollowed out from the central shelf, playing with the idea of mass and voids.
Several other pieces at different scales explore more loosely, the facets of the language we are trying to understand.
An articulating floor lamp, a hanging rack and a small jewelry holder, each speak to different aspects of the language they come from.
Site Practice. 2021. Concept Development, R&D, Production.
Produced for a wealthy Mumbai business-family, the furniture collection took on a design that shouted simplicity and refinement yet showcased the raw and contrasting characteristics of the material.
The set consists of 3 pieces: two side tables in cast brass and one in oakwood.
Working closely with the craftsmen that work with cast brass, we developed a unique method from the making of the form-work for the sand to the ultimately contrasting finishes that the table top and legs have.
The design utilizes a single, elegant fixing detail between the cast top and the legs.
1:5 Scale model.
The process saw a rigorous and extensive exploration in materiality and finishes that permitted us to fine tune and perfect the final outcome with a great deal of accuracy.
1. In order to achieve the irregular form and textured surface for the coffee and side tables, a plywood and wax form-work was made that would be used to create a mold during sand-casting.
3. The casts were then shot blasted to eliminate the inconsistencies in the surface and obtain a more even texture with coarser grain.
2. The form-work was then used to create multiple molds for sandcasting and parts that were to be duplicated.
4. The tops were then machined and leveled in order to obtain the narrow tapering edge and then buffed and scrubbed with an oxidizing agent to obtain the pattinated finish.
The final products were sealed with a matte lacquer giving the surface a subtle shine.
The brief for our metalworking class required us to build a coat rack with dimensions no more than 2’ X 2’ X 6’.
The initial sketches led me to explore a arched form in round bar that lent the design a sense of dynamism and a whimsical character.
A tray to place small objects on protrudes out and adds horizontality to the form
Competition Entry. 2023.
The Bienenstock Furniture Library holds an annual furniture design competition where the brief is to design a chair of original design embodying the philosophies of the designer.
My interest of the form-function relationship led to explorations in championing the structure as the form of the chair.
Powder Coated Rivet
Powder Coated Metal Hook (Threaded)
Stretched Leather with canvas backing
Veneer as per specification
Bent Plywood
