With many thanks to Ben Israel at
Anderson Plywood for including Weed Furniture in their clients gallery.

Honored.

Click here to access
Anderson Plywood Clients Gallery

2022/1/11:

With many thanks to Ben Israel at
Anderson Plywood for including Weed Furniture in their clients gallery.

Honored.

Click here to access
Anderson Plywood Clients Gallery

Number 1 at its new home in
Oaxaca/Mexico.

2021/2/27:

Number 1 at its new home in
Oaxaca/Mexico.

As is typeset in the Philosophy section
of this website, ‘The furniture is numbered
and not named in the same manner
Japanese cooking knife handles do not have
finger grooves to influence interaction’.

How many positions and names are possible
for the number 1? End table? Bookrack?

2020/7/20:

As is typeset in the Philosophy section
of this website, ‘The furniture is numbered
and not named in the same manner
Japanese cooking knife handles do not have
finger grooves to influence interaction’.

How many positions and names are possible
for the number 1? End table? Bookrack?

This is the southwest room of the
quartered elocution/recital hall. It was
built in the 1930s like so many
good things that exist today such as
Aalto furniture. After remodeling in 2001,
it is the Weed Furniture studio.

From left to right: the tail of Doodles
the cat who lives here next to a number 28.
Then a number 2, number 1,
number 3, and three number 1s all around
a Donald Judd Desk number 75 copy.

On the right edge are two Jieldé task
lamps with the paint removed. The joints of
these lamps are genius. Instead
of wires there are touching brass rings
inside each joint that conduct electricity. This
enables each joint to rotate 360°
like the door in the center of the photograph.
Just don’t tell Underwriter Laboratories.

2020/7/15:

This is the southwest room of the
quartered elocution/recital hall. It was
built in the 1930s like so many
good things that exist today such as
Aalto furniture. After remodeling in 2001,
it is the Weed Furniture studio.

From left to right: the tail of Doodles
the cat who lives here next to a number 28.
Then a number 2, number 1,
number 3, and three number 1s all around
a Donald Judd Desk number 75 copy.

On the right edge are two Jieldé task
lamps with the paint removed. The joints of
these lamps are genius. Instead
of wires there are touching brass rings
inside each joint that conduct electricity. This
enables each joint to rotate 360°
like the door in the center of the photograph.
Just don’t tell Underwriter Laboratories.

Tap here for video
2.00 meters
90.00 kilograms

2020/7/5:

Tap here for video
2.00 meters
90.00 kilograms

Number 1 with Birch plies from the region
of Karelia, on the border of southern Finland and Russia.

2020/5/11:

Number 1 with Birch plies from the region
of Karelia, on the border of southern Finland and Russia.

Ten Number 1 prototypes were drawn.
Eight of those drawings were produced. Four
of those eight were tested to the
Business and Institutional Furniture Man-
ufacturers Association’s rigorous dur-
ability and stability standards, and three of
them complied. Seven exist today.

Shown here from left to right:

Prototype 1: depth: 38 cm, height: 76 cm,
thickness: 18 mm, weight: 26.6 kg. width: 38
cm, produced: 23 March 2012.

Prototype 2: depth: 38 cm, height: 76 cm,
thickness: 18 mm, weight: 10.34 kg, width: 38
cm, produced: 5 August 2013.

Prototype 3: depth: 38 cm, height: 76 cm,
thickness: 18 mm, weight: 10.34 kg, width: 38
cm, produced: 28 December 2013.

Prototype 5: depth: 38 cm, height: 76 cm,
thickness: 24 mm, weight: 12.7 kg,
width: 38 cm, produced: 5 July 2015, BIFMA
compliance: 12 August 2015.

Prototype 7: depth: 38 cm, height: 76 cm,
thickness: 18 mm, weight: 10.3 kg, width: 38
cm, produced: 10 November 2017.

Prototype 8: depth: 38 cm, height: 76 cm,
thickness: 18mm, weight: 12 kg, width:
38 cm, produced: 5 December 2017, BIFMA
compliance: 9 January 2018.

Prototype 10: depth: 38 cm, height: 76 cm,
thickness: 18 mm, weight: 9.9 kg,
width: 38 cm, produced: 6 June 2018, BIFMA
compliance: 2 July 2018.

Without the many failures, hard work, and
obsession there would be no success.

2019/5/13:

Ten Number 1 prototypes were drawn.
Eight of those drawings were produced. Four
of those eight were tested to the
Business and Institutional Furniture Man-
ufacturers Association’s rigorous dur-
ability and stability standards, and three of
them complied. Seven exist today.

Shown here from left to right:

Prototype 1: depth: 38 cm, height: 76 cm,
thickness: 18 mm, weight: 26.6 kg. width: 38
cm, produced: 23 March 2012.

Prototype 2: depth: 38 cm, height: 76 cm,
thickness: 18 mm, weight: 10.34 kg, width: 38
cm, produced: 5 August 2013.

Prototype 3: depth: 38 cm, height: 76 cm,
thickness: 18 mm, weight: 10.34 kg, width: 38
cm, produced: 28 December 2013.

Prototype 5: depth: 38 cm, height: 76 cm,
thickness: 24 mm, weight: 12.7 kg,
width: 38 cm, produced: 5 July 2015, BIFMA
compliance: 12 August 2015.

Prototype 7: depth: 38 cm, height: 76 cm,
thickness: 18 mm, weight: 10.3 kg, width: 38
cm, produced: 10 November 2017.

Prototype 8: depth: 38 cm, height: 76 cm,
thickness: 18mm, weight: 12 kg, width:
38 cm, produced: 5 December 2017, BIFMA
compliance: 9 January 2018.

Prototype 10: depth: 38 cm, height: 76 cm,
thickness: 18 mm, weight: 9.9 kg,
width: 38 cm, produced: 6 June 2018, BIFMA
compliance: 2 July 2018.

Without the many failures, hard work, and
obsession there would be no success.

As I wrote in a previous entry, I constantly
question what I make. The most recent
entry regarding color, which I have deleted, is
an example.

During the past few years I have been
experimenting with adding color to the fur-
niture. I first discovered a line of
plywood that has a dyed surface along
with a sheet of heat-set clear plastic
over the top for protection. Due to the small
amount of Weed Furniture pro-
duced, not to mention the slicky plastic
surface, this was dismissed. Then I began
experimenting with dyes and tints.

Ever since 2001 when I began remodel-
ing the elocution/recital hall shown above,
I have become fascinated with
the inherent color of materials. I devel-

oped an aversion to paint and sand-
blasted many layers from the wooden eaves
and windows along with the con-
crete stem wall. This lead to a white Aalto
armchair, black Jieldé lamps, and a black
Raleigh bicycle. Yes, I even remove the noisy
labels from canned chickpeas and
chipotles before placing them on the shelf
so that I can enjoy the plain material.

My first thought when dying the furniture
was ‘why not’ because the grain
remained visible and so it seemed somehow
honest. Today, while sitting in the front
yard looking at the facade I thought, ‘what’s
wrong with the color of plywood?’

Therefore I will continue to experiment
with and produce the furniture only in plain
material such as Birch plywood.

2019/5/7:

As I wrote in a previous entry, I constantly
question what I make. The most recent
entry regarding color, which I have deleted, is
an example.

During the past few years I have been
experimenting with adding color to the fur-
niture. I first discovered a line of
plywood that has a dyed surface along
with a sheet of heat-set clear plastic
over the top for protection. Due to the small
amount of Weed Furniture pro-
duced, not to mention the slicky plastic

surface, this was dismissed. Then
I began experimenting with dyes and tints.

Ever since 2001 when I began remodel-
ing the elocution/recital hall shown above,
I have become fascinated with
the inherent color of materials. I devel-
oped an aversion to paint and sand-
blasted many layers from the wooden eaves
and windows along with the con-
crete stem wall. This lead to a white Aalto
armchair, black Jieldé lamps, and a black
Raleigh bicycle. Yes, I even remove the noisy

labels from canned chickpeas and
chipotles before placing them on the shelf
so that I can enjoy the plain material.
My first thought when dying the furniture
was ‘why not’ because the grain
remained visible and so it seemed somehow
honest. Today, while sitting in the front
yard looking at the facade I thought, ‘what’s
wrong with the color of plywood?’

Therefore I will continue to experiment
with and produce the furniture only in plain
material such as Birch plywood.

Mitla, an archeological site from
around 100 years before the common era
and located in the upper end
of the Tlacolula valley, is a Spanish
derivative of the Nahuatl name
Mictlán which describes a place for the dead
or underworld. The site is
most widely known for the mosaic
stonework without mortar that
covers many of the walls. However what
excites me about Mitla is
that it is probably the highest level
existing/rebuilt example of the
good/old idea of a square within a square on
the planet today. The idea is
visible both in elevation, when looking
through aligning portals, and in plan with
rooms surrounding open patios.

The crime that was committed in
1520 when Oaxacan Archbishop Albuquerque
ordered the destruction of
Mitla in order to build the church of Saint
Pablo, a building not worth mentioning,
from the remaining material directly on the
site is unthinkable. However, it

reminds me of the destruction of
the Sonoran Desert by developers in order to
build with no reference to the land today.

I have visited Oaxaca, 44 km
away, ten times in my life. Each time
I wouldn’t think of missing a stroll
through the remains of the wonderful, earthy
buildings. They have inspired
me at a higher level than any other. I
find I reference them in my work
constantly from remodeling the existing
1930s building where I live, to
organizing the entire first year core
studio curriculum in the Arizona
State University graphic design program, to
furniture design, and beyond.
.
Shown above is a 1:6 scale model
of a number 27 within a 27. It is, in essence,
a square within a square,
bent 90° at the front/top corner. Due
to the Weed Furniture joinery and
four dowels, this scale model supported
my entire body weight of 90 kg.
I long to build a full-scale version.

2019/4/23:

Mitla, an archeological site from
around 100 years before the common era
and located in the upper end
of the Tlacolula valley, is a Spanish
derivative of the Nahuatl name
Mictlán which describes a place for the dead
or underworld. The site is
most widely known for the mosaic
stonework without mortar that
covers many of the walls. However what
excites me about Mitla is
that it is probably the highest level
existing/rebuilt example of the
good/old idea of a square within a square on
the planet today. The idea is
visible both in elevation, when looking
through aligning portals, and in plan with
rooms surrounding open patios.

The crime that was committed in
1520 when Oaxacan Archbishop Albuquerque
ordered the destruction of
Mitla in order to build the church of Saint
Pablo, a building not worth mentioning,
from the remaining material directly on the
site is unthinkable. However, it
reminds me of the destruction of the
Sonoran Desert by developers in order to build
with no reference to the land today.

I have visited Oaxaca, 44 km
away, ten times in my life. Each time
I wouldn’t think of missing a stroll
through the remains of the wonderful, earthy
buildings. They have inspired
me at a higher level than any other. I
find I reference them in my work

constantly from remodeling the existing
1930s building where I live, to
organizing the entire first year core
studio curriculum in the Arizona
State University graphic design program, to
furniture design, and beyond.

Shown above is a 1:6 scale model
of a number 27 within a 27. It is, in essence,
a square within a square,
bent 90° at the front/top corner. Due
to the Weed Furniture joinery and
four dowels, this scale model supported
my entire body weight of 90 kg.
I long to build a full-scale version.

Weed Furniture is based on my
discovery to join and even cantilever 18 mm
plywood at a 90° angle with enough
strength to support a human being. The
structure could be compared to
bones where the strength is greater
towards the joint but without being literal
like Joris Laarman’s Bonechair.

In 1999 my first experience in
carpentry was to copy the Donald Judd
Plywood Desk Number 75 as a case
study. Upon seeing his furniture for the first
time in Marfa, Texas, having
recently completed my studies in Basel/
Switzerland where simple was con-
sidered sacrosanct, I felt an
immediate connection. My only alteration
was to move the two shorter supports
closer together because I needed a table,
not a desk, and because the new
1:2:1 proportions of the lateral openings
seemed to be more generous to me.

(Donald Judd Plywood Desk 75 copy
with Weed Furniture Numbers 1, 2, and 3
shown above). The desk/table
is a Donald Judd copy and not part of Weed
Furniture. It can still be ordered here.

The work for Weed Furniture,
on the other hand, started in 2010 based
on a fascination with the profile of
the cantilevered Number 1. It was years later
that I discovered the legacy of
this form that has been documented
back to Mart Stam and his experi-
ments with threaded steel conduit. My con-
straints were that it be eco-
nomical in cost as well as form. There-
fore all material needed to be already
commercially available. The planes must be
straight with 90° and, unlike
Stam’s, sharp as possible angles
between them. This came from a personal
preference for simple straight lines
and generous proportions intensified
through my work in Switzerland.

In the beginning I considered extruding
the entire form from a solid piece of
aluminum but soon realized that the size of
the extrusion press needed to
push a billet through a profile that large
just wasn’t practical or even possible.

As I still had the Donald Judd 75
copy I thought, why not try it in plywood?
Shortly after I first made the Judd 75
copy an experienced carpenter warned me
that moving those supports
closer together and further from the edges
would cause the top to sag over time.
It is twenty-years later and as you can
see above the top is still flat.
At the time, this warning piqued my curiosity
about the possibilities of plywood.
Plywood is wonderful. It is exceptionally
durable and flexible. It is
earthy, honest, and warm, along with
being commercially available.

Unlike aluminum extruding though,
plywood required that each flat plane
be a separate piece and joined
together somehow. In the beginning I
considered Hans Gugelot’s box joints on the
Ulmer Hocker but soon realized he
had included a support dowel for good
reason. I found the acute angles of the dove-
tail joints on Gerrit Rietveld’s Zig Zag
chair too special and realized
they also wouldn’t be strong enough for 90°
angles. It wasn’t until seriously thinking
about the nature of plywood that I had the
idea for the simple butt joint. I’ve been
asked why I didn’t miter the joints. Hopefully
my earlier description of acute angles
helps clarify this. Shaker carpentry seems
to have understood this very well.

In 2018 after eight Weed Furniture Number
1 prototypes and eight years of testing
I finally had success with the joint complying
with the Business and Institutional
Furniture Manufacturers Association’s
rigorous durability and stability standards.

I constantly question what I do.
Recently, I started to wonder if maybe Weed
Furniture is too similar to
Judd Furniture. They share straight
lines, sharp 90° angles, generous proportions
based on human scale, and plywood.

While researching derivation
in furniture design, I discovered an interview
by Design Week with Jay Osgerby, a
partner in Barber and Osgerby, who have
designed furniture for Vitra.
.
“I don’t think people should be
frightened of producing work that has
references to other work,
that’s a natural part of what we do as creative
people. My advice would be to innovate
through advances in technology, which have
always enabled real newness.”
.
This excerpt, which has been
included with permission and may be read
in its entirety here, along with writing
this manifesto, has made this
clear to me: Due to the serious thought
into the nature of plywood, Weed
Furniture is able to explore the very essence
of furniture form without
having to rely on braces or supports.
Some pieces even allow great
amounts of flexibility in the plywood. With-
out the joint discovery the
furniture would collapse by direct and/
or shear stress from the weight of a human being and therefore not be furniture.

Therefore, even though I’ve everytime
been more interested in just making things
plain and simple, I would say
that Weed Furniture is on a new way.

(With many thanks to Miro Chun and
Uzyel Karp for their thoughtful editing and
suggestions.)

2019/4/11:

Weed Furniture is based on my
discovery to join and even cantilever 18 mm
plywood at a 90° angle with enough
strength to support a human being. The
structure could be compared to
bones where the strength is greater
towards the joint but without being literal
like Joris Laarman’s Bonechair.

In 1999 my first experience in
carpentry was to copy the Donald Judd
Plywood Desk Number 75 as a case
study. Upon seeing his furniture for the first
time in Marfa, Texas, having
recently completed my studies in Basel/
Switzerland where simple was con-
sidered sacrosanct, I felt an
immediate connection. My only alteration
was to move the two shorter supports
closer together because I needed a table,
not a desk, and because the new
1:2:1 proportions of the lateral openings
seemed to be more generous to me.
(Donald Judd Plywood Desk 75 copy
with Weed Furniture Numbers 1, 2, and 3
shown above). The desk/table
is a Donald Judd copy and not part of Weed
Furniture. It can still be ordered here.

The work for Weed Furniture,
on the other hand, started in 2010 based
on a fascination with the profile of
the cantilevered Number 1. It was years later
that I discovered the legacy of
this form that has been documented
back to Mart Stam and his experi-
ments with threaded steel conduit. My con-
straints were that it be eco-
nomical in cost as well as form. There-
fore all material needed to be already
commercially available. The planes must be
straight with 90° and, unlike
Stam’s, sharp as possible angles
between them. This came from a personal
preference for simple straight lines
and generous proportions intensified
through my work in Switzerland.

In the beginning I considered extruding
the entire form from a solid piece of
aluminum but soon realized that the size of
the extrusion press needed to
push a billet through a profile that large
just wasn’t practical or even possible.

As I still had the Donald Judd 75
copy I thought, why not try it in plywood?
Shortly after I first made the Judd 75
copy an experienced carpenter warned me
that moving those supports
closer together and further from the edges
would cause the top to sag over time.
It is twenty-years later and as you can
see above the top is still flat.
At the time, this warning piqued my curiosity
about the possibilities of plywood.
Plywood is wonderful.
It is exceptionally durable and flexible.
It is earthy, honest, and warm, along
with being commercially available. Unlike
aluminum extruding though,
plywood required that each flat plane
be a separate piece and joined together some-
how. In the beginning I considered
Hans Gugelot’s box joints on the Ulmer
Hocker but soon realized he
had included a support dowel for good reason.
I found the acute angles of the dove-
tail joints on Gerrit Rietveld’s Zig Zag
chair too special and realized
they also wouldn’t be strong enough for 90°
angles. It wasn’t until seriously thinking
about the nature of plywood that I had the idea
for the simple butt joint. I’ve been
asked why I didn’t miter the joints. Hopefully
my earlier description of acute angles
helps clarify this. Shaker carpentry seems
to have understood this very well.

In 2018 after eight Weed Furniture Number
1 prototypes and eight years of testing
I finally had success with the joint complying
with the Business and Institutional
Furniture Manufacturers Association’s
rigorous durability and stability standards.

I constantly question what I do.
Recently, I started to wonder if maybe Weed
Furniture is too similar to
Judd Furniture. They share straight
lines, sharp 90° angles, generous proportions
based on human scale, and plywood.

While researching derivation
in furniture design, I discovered an interview
by Design Week with Jay Osgerby, a
partner in Barber and Osgerby, who have
designed furniture for Vitra.

“I don’t think people should be
frightened of producing work that has
references to other work,
that’s a natural part of what we do as creative
people. My advice would be to innovate
through advances in technology, which have
always enabled real newness.”

This excerpt, which has been
included with permission and may be read
in its entirety here, along with writing
this manifesto, has made this
clear to me: Due to the serious thought
into the nature of plywood, Weed
Furniture is able to explore the very essence
of furniture form without
having to rely on braces or supports.
Some pieces even allow great
amounts of flexibility in the plywood. With-
out the joint discovery the
furniture would collapse by direct and/
or shear stress from the weight of a
human being and therefore not be furniture.

Therefore, even though I’ve everytime
been more interested in just making things
plain and simple, I would say
that Weed Furniture is on a new way.

(With many thanks to Miro Chun and
Uzyel Karp for their thoughtful editing and
suggestions.)