Happy 1st May! I’ll be publishing my normal start-of-the-month round-up of design news later this week, but first I want to share details of an exciting launch that merits a post of its very own: a collection of timeless, minimalist furniture from Danish flooring and wood specialist Dinesen and renowned British architect John Pawson.
The collection is a celebration of more than 30 years of collaboration, with Pawson first working with Dinesen in 1992 on a dining table, bench and stool for his London home, Pawson House. Spurred on by his belief that flooring is a crucial yet often-overlooked aspect of interior design, he took inspiration from the dimensions of Dinesen’s planks to create pieces that almost looked as if they were lifted from the floor beneath.
The new collection includes the original three designs, along with a lounge chair, a lounge table, a sofa and a daybed. All are made from solid Douglas fir and showcase Pawson’s signature pared-back aesthetic, which draws on influences from Japan and the work of architect Shiro Kuramata. They also reflect the spirit of the Danish word umage, which refers to the dialogue between designer, material and maker and the marks this leaves on an object along the way.
The dining table has been modified slightly to suit today’s sensibilities, with the beautiful shadow gap between the two planks of its top now subtly highlighted by an oak insert. The same detail is repeated on the coffee table and daybed, while the stool and bench are each made from a single plank with a solid central spine. The sofa and lounge chair, meanwhile, pair Douglas fir sides with cushions that look as if they’re layered to resemble stacked planks of wood. They’re available in an array of upholstery fabrics from Danish textile company Kvadrat, with the pieces shown in these images featuring ‘Maple’ three-tone yarn in a soft grey-beige.
Pawson says: “It was interesting to see how you could transform Douglas fir into furniture where you can still see the beautiful grain and the width of the planks – to somehow use it in a way that took it as its simplest form, the plank.
“When I look at the collection, I see the essence of the thinking that has shaped my work since the beginning. Everything about these pieces is pared back to the logic and poetry of the wood. The dimensions of the timber determine the proportions of the forms, and then it’s all about the inherent sensory character of the material.”
The pieces in Dinesen’s Pawson Collection are made to order in Denmark and can be shipped worldwide. Find out more and make an enquiry here.
Photography by Claus Troelsgaard, courtesy of Dinesen
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