Consumer Reports called it “one of the most inventive uses of laminate you might ever see.”
They were referring to UO product design student Katie Lee’s café chair. Judges for the "Wilsonart Challenges..." agreed, naming it the winner in the 2013 contest.
Lee and six other University of Oregon design students who were finalists in the student design competition had their chair designs displayed May 18 to 21 at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, North America’s showcase for contemporary design, at the Javitz Center in New York, New York, in Wilsonart’s booth.
Wilsonart, a longtime manufacturer of decorative surfaces, seeks to foster the careers of emerging designers. The competition asks students to create a unique chair using Wilsonart Laminate to answer a specific design challenge.
The students’ designs are the results of a product design studio, led by assistant professor John Arndt, to produce a Northwest café-inspired chair for the competition.
Lee’s chair, "6 Shades of Grey," is an eclectic mashup of new materials and classic chair elements, creating a unique interpretation of the typical café chair found in coffee houses and tea salons.
" By combining laminate tiles with canvas, Lee developed a completely new material combination that she then used to upholster the arms and back of her chair," said Alison Pulver DeMartino, Wilsonart director of marketing communications.
Wilsonart chose the UO Product Design Program last fall to host the 2013 Challenge. The program was established in 2008 with a focus on sustainable product design and is part of the University of Oregon's Green Product Design Network, a collaborative partnership with green chemistry, product design, business, and journalism and communication.
“UO was selected because of Kiersten Muenchinger,” said Grace Jeffers, design historian and materials specialist who manages the competition for Wilsonart. Muenchinger, the UO Product Design Program director, came to UO from the California College of the Arts (CCA) to start the UO program in 2008.
The competition unfolds as a one-term studio course each year. Arndt’s class offered opportunities to examine, experiment with and utilize laminate, a material known predominately for its use in countertops. The students were taught about laminate, its history, technical capabilities, current market trends and sustainability issues, as well as the history of chairs as decorative art forms.
This year's café theme was chosen because of the popularity of coffee houses and tea salons in the Pacific Northwest and the rich design history found in these shops.
“Wilsonart and I worked very closely to develop the design brief,” Arndt said. “We tried to come up with a theme that was relevant to design and culture in Oregon, the café culture, and also something that was relevant to contemporary design issues — a material-based design process with a focus on lightweight and innovative construction and design.”
Oregon’s chilly winter environment — and its subsequent cozy café culture — inspired her design, Lee said. "Imagine running into a warm cafe in Eugene or Portland on a gray rainy day. You are seeking comfort from the hot coffee in your hands, from the chair you sit on and from the environment you sit in. A local artist's painting hangs on the wall, the furniture may be choice vintage pieces or mismatched thrift store finds, and yet the space is curated to have a feeling of newness. I wanted to create a chair that reflected the essence of these cafés.”
Along with Lee’s chair, six other colorful café chairs produced in the studio will be shown in New York. The other students who showed their chairs at ICFF are Tyler Baum, Adam Horbinski, Justin Mellott, Justin Merrill, Jordan Millar, and Simon Ratti.
- Story by Marti Gerdes, Architecture and Allied Arts