Project Brief:
For this project I was given the task of making a bent wood coffee table. I wanted to make a unique design but also create a functional coffee table. The requirements for this project were to incorporate panel bending and wood lamination.
Research:
The history of steam bending is based on the furniture maker, Michael Thonet. It is a traditional process that dates back before World War I. Steam bending is the process of using moisture and heat to reform the wood fibers to a shape that is desired.
Ideation+Process:
My goal was to design a table using the bentwood process. The woods chosen were bending-ply, mahogany veneer, and cherry due to the softness of the chosen woods.
I began the process by ideating the initial ideas. When I began the process my initial designs had bends that were too complex to work for this design which would cause the bends to break.
Then
I refined my sketches to produce a more practical bend.
Final Product:
The table I designed was a success because it achieved a continual design flow and was aesthetically pleasing. The sketches helped me envision the final design and to create the bends necessary to achieve the final outcome.