New From Acronym Designs: Slack and Fundament
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 05.22.07
We first encountered Acronym Designs' work last year, and were impressed with their commitment to using wood from sustainable sources, and their ability to combine the softer, organic feel of wood with more static materials (like steel and glass) to create sleek, modern furniture. They've been hard at work since then, adding two new lines to their collection and further upgrading their materials. Slack (chaise pictured above) is crafted from durable reclaimed Locust wood and is designed for stylish relaxation, indoors or out, and is offered in a variety of configurations for flexible seating arrangements.
The Fundament collection (pics after the jump) uses oak recovered from the manufacturing of industrial products. The edge grain construction and pegged mortise and tenon joinery results in long-lasting quality and a level of detail that doesn't come with your standard patio table. The simple structural form and the traditional joinery combine, making these pieces both pastoral and modern. Hit the jump for more details on their new finishes, as well as pics of their new furniture. ::Acronym Designs
As for the material upgrade, Acronym has switched over to a completely non-toxic and low-VOC finishes for all of their products. The finish uses 100% tung oil, which is a citrus-based solvent that replaces mineral spirits, turpentine, and other harsh solvents. Tung oil has been traditionally used for finishing boats, so has properties suitable for outdoor furniture.
Andrew from Acronym also notes, "Our next sustainable challenge is packaging, which we would like to achieve ZERO waste, with all packing being reusable many time and is shipped back to us. This will result in reduction of wood and other packaging materials used for crating, reduced shipping weight (were using composites), improved protection for furniture, and no waste for customer to dispose of!" Good luck, guys!
Acronym also has a MySpace page, which has more info on the latest goings on and a blog about design, sustainabiity, and eco-Capitalism, among other things. ::Acronym Designs
Fundament seating
Fundament set
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Structural engineers will laugh at how naive the chase lounge designer is. Two sit on the middle and its done for.
I must concur that i don't find the design sustainable since it looks rather fragile. Good design should be built to last.
I'm also highly suspect of design firms that have only rednered images and no photographs on their websites. It suggests that they haven't actually produced anything.