Milan 2014: delicate patterns on this furniture and accessories collection have been created by sandblasting away the soft rings of timber lengths from a single fir tree (+ slideshow).
Dutch designer Lex Pott and online platform and design label New Window have collaborated to produce the wooden Diptych series. To create the patterns on each piece, the team removed the lighter softer rings created while the tree grows during summer by sandblasting and blowing away the material to leave thin gaps.
"In this way this project represents the DNA of a tree," New Window founder Woes van Haaften told Dezeen. "You can read the climate in the tree because if the gap is big, it was a rich summer because the tree could grow. If it is small then it was a rough winter because it needed all the energy to stay alive."
The designers used a particular Douglas Fir tree planted in the Dutch Veluwe forest around 1960 and cut down in 2013. Rubber stickers were added to the wood to act as guides during the sandblasting process.
The collection includes a room divider and totem, which both feature vertical patterns.
Cabinets feature a mix of vertical and horizontal patterns in either circular or rectangular shapes on the front of sliding panels. Diptych also includes smaller objects including a set of combs and matches.
"The title Diptych refers to the juxtaposition within each object of geometric and organic shapes, open and closed parts, control and freedom," said New Window.
To accentuate the grain, the objects are finished using a combination of oil and wax.
Woes van Haaften started New Window in 2013 as an online blog that aims to give an insight into the specialist knowledge of various designers by inviting them to document the process of their work online for public consumption.
The collection was presented in the Ventura Lambrate district at Milan last week and has been collected in a book published by Frame Publishers.
Here is some more information from the designers:
Diptych - New Window × Lex Pott
Every object from the Diptych series comes from the same Douglas fir, therefore carrying the "1", branded on each product.
This particular tree was planted on the Dutch grounds of the Veluwe around 1960 and cut down in 2013. All the processing of the material took place in the Netherlands, making this a project deserving of the title Made in the Netherlands.
The title Diptych refers to the juxtaposition within each object of geometric and organic shapes, open and closed parts, control and freedom. The patterns are created by covering parts of the objects with rubber stickers during the sandblasting process.
You can see the life of the tree in the wood: good summers give a wide annual ring, harsh winters a thin one. By sandblasting you blow away the soft rings of summer, leaving a wide gap.
Within the wood there are different colours: heartwood has a reddish hue, sap-wood is more yellow. To accentuate the wood markings, the objects are finished with a combination of oil and wax.