I used to belong to a yoga studio that had the most uncomfortable looking stools I have ever seen. They were a simple design: a metal drum with an open top filled with closely packed wood dowels. To my surprise, the dowels molded under pressure due to a flexible under layer, which acted like memory foam or a bean bag chair instead of a block of wood. This little anecdote opens for the Finial Bench, by &made studio, which is a similarly hazardous looking seating arrangement.

The Finial Bench. Designed by &made studio.

A finial is an architectural device used to give a finished look to the top of a building or furniture piece. Finials were believed to prevent witches from landing on their broomsticks on your roof. Perhaps as a sly witch hunt, &made creatively reuses finials as “a bed of nails, offering a comfortable seating area.” As a public seating piece, the Finial Bench is both durable and full of old-style character, a difficult combination to achieve. Like tightly packed soldiers in lines, the finials individual interest is heightened by their sheer numbers. The Finial Bench was designed for the London Architectural Biennale 2004.

&made was launched in 2006 by David Cameron and Toby Hadden, both graduates of Goldsmiths’ BA design program. Their work has been commissioned and selected by the Design Museum, MoMA, Paul Smith and Sir Terrence Conran. Collections such as “Lost and Found”, and “Climatised Objects” strive to address the issues of climate change, waste and excess in our culture. &made explores materials and manufacturing processes to create “ethically conscious design.”