Upcycled Lounger

One of the projects we were given in our second year at the Cleveland Institute of Art and Design was to create a chair for ourselves, one that would fit us perfectly.  I had a vision quite quickly of what I wanted to achieve: when looked in profile, two elegant curves intersecting in two points.  I also knew that I wanted to make it in wood, more precisely the recycled wood which we had at the school.  The concept of recycling/upcycling has always appealed to me: why waste when you can transcend?  I chose two contrasting pallet woods: mahogany and aspen.

That said, I had never learned how to make wood curve, and my first tries with steam bending were dismal because the wood was too dry and simply snapped.  The fact that I do not know how to do something has never stopped me.  If anything, it fuels me: I will learn, I will figure it out.  Sometimes I learn from my research or from craftsmen, sometimes I come up with the solution myself, but I always find a solution, and I always learn and grow from the process.

This project was a further challenge in that, if we did well, we would earn the right to go to the woodshop after hours. Doing well meant to design well, measure accurately, and construct with precision, taking into account the properties of the different types of wood, such as shrinkage.  It was clear that for this type of wood, steam bending was not an option, and I researched other methods.  I discovered the concept of cold laminating, which involved cutting the wood in thin strips and gluing them together, and I decided to try and use that method.

The result was exactly what I had pictured in my mind, and I found through the years that it had the sturdiness I was hoping for.  Over time, I discovered that while I had made this particular lounger for myself, it has fit everyone who has ever tried it.