Earlier this year, we saw Tyson Atwell's work in Milan, as one of the nine RISD Furniture Design students in "Transformations" at Ventura Lambrate. At a total of 75 lbs—the steel skeleton surrounded by 190 teacup-sized flower pots—the "Terra Lamp" might not be a particularly practical lighting fixture, but that wasn't the point: the designer elegantly responded to the brief to reimagine the banal.
Upon earning his MFA in May, Atwell set up shop in Los Angeles, which might explain why his latest work reflects a laid back, distinctly West Coast vibe. Constrained only by technology, the "Ocean's Edge" table is a striking combination of form and materials: the undulating center of the tapered sugar maple tabletop contrasts nicely with the hard lines of the black maple legs.
The 'Ocean's Edge' dining table is part of an ongoing body of work utilizing a CNC router to digitally sculpt oceanic waveforms moving across planar wood surfaces. The undulating surface that rises out of and dips into the center of the table was developed in CAD by 'lofting' a sequence of tide curves sourced from the entrance of the San Francisco Bay.
As with Brooke Davis's "Tablescape No. 1," the "Ocean's Edge" table is an uncannily organic application of the digitally-enhanced fabrication process.
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