• Review of I Saloni 2007
• Review of The Design Annual 2007, Inside: Private Identity, Part 1 – Design & Identity

Wood is a Very Modern Material

We featured Stefan Diez’s 404 range chairs for Thonet in our review of I Salone. Here below we present an interview with the superstar designer about the obligations and opportunities of tradition, the use of wood in the 404 series, and how design reflects cultural development

You're well-known for exploring new technologies and materials. And then you design a chair out of wood — why? Were you free to choose your own materials, or was it part of the brief?

When I approach something new, I tend to begin with the materials and the processing methods. For me, it just makes sense to consider the “what, from and how” of a project from the very beginning. In Thonet's case, you have a huge selection of highly successful and elegant chairs and furniture, all made using one of two techniques. The first is based on bent cane; the other, much older technique uses bent wood. Together, they form a common thread that runs through Thonet's entire product line. So I found it natural to explore one of these two methods. By the way, I think wood is a very modern material in many respects.

What attracts you to wood as a material, und where do you think innovation is still possible?

Most of wood's potential lies in new processing methods. You can grind it to dust and compress it into new shapes, or shave it off in strips and glue it together. It's a renewable resource, so it will continue to play a big role in the years to come. These days, however, most wood is still being processed into boards and slats, and then assembled into furniture that any mediocre cabinet-maker can produce. That's not terribly interesting.

What would you describe as the central idea for your chair series for Thonet, where did it all start?

I wanted to design a wooden chair that would hark back to bentwood chairs from the early 20th century, but where the wood would no longer be bent manually.

Did you have to solve any special problems during the development process?

I spent a long time picking out the colors. It's not like plastic, where you simply provide a color number. With wood, you have several things coming together at once: hues, grains, and the aging process.

How do you work and come up with your ideas for products, especially for furniture?

Usually, I find a topic that interests me and connects to the client. That gives rise to ideas, which are tried out and give rise to new ideas. This goes on until you're finally satisfied.

As you know, the interior design market is saturated. Where do you see room for innovation, for new challenges, and for new ideas?

If you put it that way, the markets are always saturated. And there's no real difference between the furniture market and any other sector, except perhaps groceries. So why we are still designing furniture and other things? Simple: We continue to place newer or different demands on our things. What was new yesterday is the status quo for today and the yardstick for tomorrow. That's part and parcel of our society's cultural development. However, there is a new factor in the market that I find fascinating. For various reasons, manufacturers have spun off their production and development departments over the past several years. Some of these organizations are simply amazing — and are now available for everyone to use. That should create some interesting network effects.

Adapted from the press release by Thonet, with kind permission.