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When One Wood woodworking company's owner Patrick Murphy saw a 130-year-old red oak tree slowly dying in front of his parent's property in Ontario, he knew it couldn't go to waste. So, he partnered with Canadian design studio Odami to create several stunning pieces of furniture.
The unique collection, called Case Study 01: On Mass, includes an armchair, lamp, and table all made from the single tree with designs meant to explore the concept of mass. "As simple compositions of heavy masses, each piece is an expression of this strength and power," Odami told Dezeen. "With timeless simplicity, each piece is a humble celebration of material richness and craft, and a study of the coziness of mass."
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A limb from the tree had already fallen off and rotted, but Murphy and Odami were able to save the trunk to create the pieces. They cut down the salvageable parts, dried the wood, and cut them into new shapes. The entire process took eight months to create the finished products. They include a rectangular lamp that looks like a prism with the light shining through an opening, an armchair with rounded arms, and a curved seat, as well as a low table with large legs and a hidden center compartment. All the pieces embrace the visual remnants of the stretching and cracking process.
"These pieces don't simply make use of its material," added the studio. "But attempt to harness this vitality, and embody the stability and weight of its lost presence."
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The Toronto-based studio, founded by Canadian designer Michael Norman Fohring and Spanish architect Aránzazu González Bernardo in 2017, is known for tackling several design initiatives from architectural builds and interior design to furniture design—they're the masterminds behind the curving plaster walls at Toronto's Sara restaurant.
