In order to highlight a Japanese veneer technique known as Bunaco, Czech design student Anna Stepankova created the Tamashii Chair, which uses a round form to illustrate the detailed woodworking technique that relies on layering thin strips of wood.

Dramatic Chair Layers Wood Veneer

Part of the appeal of Tamashii Chair lies in its contradictions: “My aim was to design a chair which would be connecting use of a traditional technique in a modern design.” The rounded back of Tamashii is supple and geometric, and the chair’s legs almost resemble Japanese obi sashes. Even the bottom of Stepankova’s piece is a work of art with its visible striations and joints. And the square hole in the middle of Tamashii’s seat is the chair’s crown jewel, a spectacular cabochon of negative space.

Designer Stepankova also sought to create an embodiment of her ecological manifesto—“Buy a chair, get a tree.” If the Tamashii Chair inspires people to respect the material of its construction—in this case, wood—then Stepankova may be able to create change one design at a time.

Via Contemporist.

About the Designer: Anna Stepankova is a design student from the Czech Republic. Her work stresses environmental responsibility in its conception and materials.