In my sophomore year at MIT, I took a furniture-making workshop with Chris Dewart, developing a furniture design, exploring the behavior of wood as a construction medium, and practicing woodworking with analog tools.
design elements
CHALLENGE: This ottoman in my parents' home has a cushioned surface, making it ideal for sitting, but not for supporting the cups and bowls that are often placed on it.
SOLUTION: A removable tray table to carry all kinds of objects and match the aesthetic of its environment. It can stand alone on a flat surface, be securely affixed to the ottoman, or be transported comfortably.
A CNC-milled cherry wood base provides a slight lip to protect carried items while highlighting the wood grain. An ash wood handrail rises above the plane of the tray base for a smooth, comfortable grip. It dips below this plane to fit securely atop the ottoman it was designed for. Robust hand-cut miter joints unite two identical sets of straight and steam-bent sinusoidal rails.
fabrication
ANALOG TOOLS: chisel, planer, cabinet scraper, spokeshave, sandpaper, wood file, clamp, mallet
ELECTRONIC TOOLS: steam chamber, planer machine, manual router, CNC router, drill
Steamed ash wood laminations clamped to set around custom sinusoidal LDF formwork
Glued sinusoidal form
Assembling miter joints
CNC routing a curved lip on the tray base
Coupling the handrail & tray base
design in context
