Snelson
AHEC 2012
Snelson takes its namesake, as well as inspiration, from Kenneth Snelson’s sculptural works that are built around the principle of tensegrity, a name later coined by American polymath Buckminster Fuller. A stable structure stands in equilibrium, balancing opposing rigid components in compression and flexible components in tension. The project was run in collaboration with the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), Benchmark and the Royal College of Art Design Products department.
Snelson was exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum during London Design Festival 2011 along with a collection of 11 other hardwood chairs as part of AHEC’s ‘Out of the Woods’.
Photography by Petr Krejci / Imme van der Haak / Sam Weller
Cinematography by AHEC
Making of Snelson
Together with the 11 other projects selected to participate as part of AHEC Out of the Woods, a week was spent at Benchmark Furniture in Berkshire UK.
The final wood species selection was made and chairs that were to be exhibited as part of the final presentation at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum were manufactured at Benchmark’s workshop facility.
AHEC Collaboration
Out of the Woods - the adventures of 12 hardwood chairs - had begun as a conversation around a wood working brief to a select group of students, to design a chair.
Culminating in a 6 month long collaboration, exploring a variety of wood species, the environmental impact of our objects together with AHEC, a truly hands-on making experience at Benchmark as well as an exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum during London Design Festival.