View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Pongo Coatrack

We feel strongly that great designs appear to be effortless. Objects of desire that function, while maintaining a state of comfort. Our design methodology translates proven and established classics into contemporary methods of making. This translation serves to invent a new identity for a familiar strategy.

For this project, we tackled the twisted-stick coat rack as a typology. Our first inclination was to melt and weld these sticks together. Though impractical, it would have been possible to purchase a tree and carve this object out as a solid. Instead we looked to five-axis milling as an operation to ensure three individual sticks could be carved efficiently, shipped efficiently, and still align precisely with mechanical fasteners. Clever spiraling fastener placement allows the single component to attach to itself, instead of requiring variation between the sticks. In doing so, we were faced with the challenge of producing the moment in the design we are most fond of—the belly buttons. These internalized nubs rhetorically call for the bolts. The three sticks wrap around each other in such a way that the bolts align with the neighboring parts, making the assembly a simple task that requires no instruction manual.

Further Information on

Pongo

can be found in our publication '

Range

'.

Pongo

is also available for purchase from our

online store

.

Credits

year

: 2012

size

: 21" X 21" X 64"

mate­r­ial

: Baltic Birch Plywood or Solid Ash

sustainability

: in addition to sourcing our plywood from managed forests, we source our solid woods locally.

fabrication

: 5-axis cnc milling

prin­ci­pal

: Brandon Clifford + Wes McGee