Design & Architecture (tables)

TreeHugger has talked a lot about biomimicry, hugging a variety of nature-inspired products, like this paint, and ideas, like more efficient solar panels, thanks to sea sponges, but haven't seen quite as much furniture that takes a direct cue from Mother Nature. Enter the work of Peter Loh, a Bellevue, Washington (just east of Seattle) designer who has been inspired by spiders, beetles and other elements of the natural world to create a line of furniture that combines the best of nature's designs with his own sense of beauty, function and structure. We like the Clutch table (and similar miniClutch), inspired by the clutches of ladybug eggs that cling to the undersides of leaves. The egg forms that comprise the base of the table are turned from reclaimed Douglas Fir and are joined together in clusters; because of the uniqueness of their source, no two Clutch tables are alike and they can be customized for your living space or size needs. Says the designer, "Every project is like a puzzle to be solved. It involves the challenge of creating an object that has to satisfy the needs of function, form, and concept. While the end goal is to have a well crafted object when the project is completed, the paths taken to realize it are just as important, if not more so, than the final product." We hope Loh continues down this sustainable path to create more and more beautiful furniture. ::Peter Loh spied at ICFF by ::design*sponge