Inhabitat » SIXIXIS BENT WOOD FURNITURE: London Design Week Preview

September 10, 2007

SIXIXIS BENT WOOD FURNITURE: London Design Week Preview

by Kate Andrews

SIXIXIS CHAISE LONGUE NO.4, Sixixis, london design week 2007, green wooden furniture, wood furniture, british design, london design, london sustainable design

SIXIXIS is a group of English designers exploring the creative possibilities of bent wood in playful products ranging from chairs to coat-hangers. Exhibiting at the upcoming TENT London event this month, as part of the London Design Festival 2007, these three recent graduates with a passion for sustainable product design use locally-sourced, raw bent wood to create compelling pieces which challenge viewers preconceptions.

SIXIXIS products main, Sixixis, london design week 2007, green wooden furniture, wood furniture, british design, london design, london sustainable design

SIXIXIS is composed of Tom Raffield, Chris Jarratt and Charlie Whinney, who previously studied 3D Design for Sustainability together at Falmouth College of Arts, UK. Working in a studio in Cornwall, UK they are actively transforming locally available unseasoned wood into newly formed objects; from chairs to lampshades. We’re still a little curious as to how sustainable these designs really are, and we’ll be sure to investigate at the upcoming Tent event. As for price, well, you be the judge:

1. SPRINGSHADE. Designed to be used safely with low energy light bulbs: £48.00 from SIXIXIS.
2. CITYSCAPE COAT HANGER: £50.00 from SIXIXIS.
3. LOUNGE DADDY chair: £1450.00 from SIXIXIS.
4. CHAISE LONGUE NO.4: £2800.00 from SIXIXIS.

+ SIXIXIS
+ Vogue Press Release
+ TENT London

6 Responses to “SIXIXIS BENT WOOD FURNITURE: London Design Week Preview”

William Says:

September 10th, 2007 at 5:56 pm

this seems to be part of the “greenwashing” problem. i doubt these things are cheap, no? consumerism is one of the many problems behind environmental destruction. consumerism applies to the very wealthy as well. they don’t buy from wal-mart or mcdonald’s but they buy virtually useless items at ridiculous prices. money is a type of energy in this world and what it could fuel, especially in these critical hours (what spawned this website?), efforts to help alot of people and or environmental problems - saving the rainforest, environmental education, saving the whales, feeding starving children, just about any problem around. not that creativity shouldn’t be explored and these things aren’t beautiful or even in and of themselves completely “green” they just divert attention and monetary energy away from what is truly important. and when i look at a (green) city-scape coat hanger i don’t see art (a would-be socialist expense worth paying) i see an over-priced indulgence and one that is not even that meaningful. you’re gonna put clothes on it for christ’s sake! what does the city-scape on a hanger mean? why do that? these are the “cheap” things that divert our attention from what is really wrong and make us feel good about it.

Abigail Says:

September 11th, 2007 at 9:18 am

For me this is piece is not really a “greenwashing” issue nor a “diverting, consumerism danger”. It is my belief that problem solving also comes from having the ability and the freedom to dream and think ‘outside the box’. Designs like this allow me to consider what might be possible on a multitude of fronts, be they related to energy consumption, global economics, environmental destruction, or seemingly insignificant design yearnings.

(To think of all the unnecessary things that people spend money on, frankly this is not the critical issue at hand.)

I would still like to believe that we are sincerely attempting to collectively address how to make good, eco-conscious decisions as a global mass that is exposed to both “high and low’ designs , and can in turn, move back and forth between these two camps without looking over our shoulders all of the time. Greenwashing is someone who constantly watches one’s shadow and pats oneself on the back for every do-gooderism or ’sacrifice’ they make rather than embracing the notion that we are rapidly moving forward in ways that do not allow for this sort of reflection or ranking system.

One lone “cityscape hanger” on the wall would be a welcome reminder to me that design can influence the choices that I make from getting dressed in the morning to living responsibly all day long. It’s a choice that I would still want to have mixed in with recycled cardboard hangers and other random hooks on the wall.

ratrat Says:

September 11th, 2007 at 4:45 pm

i agree that it sucks many green products are not affordable except to middle class folk up. i find inspiration in many of these ideas, but i find that purchasing recycled or eco-friendly building materials themselves are not that affordable either. so, to be fair, manufacturers of green products also have to pay more for building materials. but they don’t have to hike the price by 300%.

i make do with things i find at salvage yards and thrift stores, but most of these materials still contain harmful chemicals of the old-school.

poverty also means the inability of buying healthy foods, a problem i ran into when my paycheck bounced. no organic produce for the poor!

changing gears here: i have been thinking about making an object out of curved plywood but don’t know how to bend it. does it have to be wet? i’m much obliged for help.