Plywood tends to be associated with unfinished building construction, so it’s easy to forget that several modernist designers, from the 1920s onward, were obsessed with it as a furniture medium. See, for example, Alvar Aalto’s Paimio chair (1939) and Charles and Ray Eames’ classic LCW or Lounge Chair Wood (1945). Now the versatile, inexpensive material — comprised of thin sheets of wood veneer (with grains layered in alternating directions for added strength) — has become a mainstay in contemporary, eco-friendly interiors, seen in everything from wall panels to bookcases to bed frames.
Several furniture makers are taking plywood to new places, but Los Angeles–based designer Shin Okuda, whose furniture line is called Waka Waka, has a particularly ingenious approach. His geometric, spare, utilitarian pieces — desks, chairs, benches, shelves and so on, much of it made on commission — reference Bauhaus, Japanese and modern California design but have a personality and presence all their own.
One of the best examples is the cylinder chaise lounge composed of sturdy Baltic Birch plywood. It’s a piece of furniture historically associated with luxury — we think of upholstered Rococo Revival versions from the early 19th century — that has been given a sculptural, minimal feel. It’s comfortable, too!
For more info, see www.lookatwakawaka.com and www.ikoikospace.com
Pearson is a freelance writer.
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