is not only alliterative, it's also alluring, enlightened, and enigmatic. The piece celebrates simplicity while demonstrating a certain complexity of form; it embraces the purity of the most basic of structural engineering principles, while manifesting a certain intricacy of conception, a surprising synthesis of two disparate materials.

Steel Stool. Designed and Manufactured by Noon Studio.

Noon Studio's Steel Stool is Versatile and Vivacious

The two materials in question are wood and metal (steel and oak, to be precise) and the surprising yet inspired method of their joining is as a simple three-sided metal sheet wrapped around a plain T-shaped wooden frame.

The construction gives the Steel Stool a sharp and seamless aspect that it wears rather well-whether the piece is viewed facing front and center, in dramatic profile, or from above. I mention the different vantages because the steel stool seems to take on a different character depending on which direction it faces.

Seen from the side, the piece resembles construction scaffolding or the behind-the-scenes girders of a towering skyscraper. Glimpsed from the front, however, the Steel Stool takes on a slightly bookish aspect, as its inviting oak seems the perfect material for a quick perch and a casual read.

Other features of the Stainless Stool emphasize this latter aspect. The piece has an inset handle for quick and easy transport; the T-shaped structure creates an ideal shelf for books; and the easy stack ability enables conversion of many small stools into one decently-sized bookshelf.