{"id":228103,"date":"2017-07-19T16:17:12","date_gmt":"2017-07-19T20:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/blogs\/the-study\/?p=228103"},"modified":"2021-12-15T07:58:24","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T12:58:24","slug":"teak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/blogs\/the-study\/teak\/","title":{"rendered":"How Teak Worked Its Way into Modern Design"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dining space in a Montana residence by Madeline Stuart<\/a>. Photo by Janice Barta<\/p><\/div>\n

The <\/span>recent revival of Castle Kashan<\/span><\/a>, a towering Malibu mansion once owned by New York socialite Lilly Lawrence, got us thinking about teak. It had nothing to do with its oceanfront views or even its eye-popping price tag \u2014 $80 million, a Malibu record for the highest ever \u2014 it was the great room\u2019s 12-foot teak dining table, set parallel to the 75-foot infinity pool. How beautiful could a slab of wood possibly be? One word: Very.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know this might sound strange, but when you look at the warmth of teak, it immediately connects you to back to the historical luxury of ocean liners and Riva yachts of the 1930s,\u201d says <\/span>Tim Gosling<\/span><\/a>, a British furniture designer in London. \u201cTeak has a very strong character association as a material.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Contemporary living room in a Long Island compound by Groves & Co.<\/a> Photo by Anastassios Mentis<\/p><\/div>\n

With its enduring classic appeal, you\u2019d think we would see teak more often. However, designers like Gosling, who chose teak for all aspects of his contemporary Gosling Marine collection, are becoming more of a rarity, due to supply constraints and the extinction of old-growth teak, says Jenny Cashin, owner of the shop <\/span>Mid-Century Modern Home<\/span><\/a>, in New Westminster, British Columbia.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSpecifically, it\u2019s because of an absence of wood,\u201d she says. \u201cYou can\u2019t use old-growth teak anymore.\u201d So the wood is harvested too soon, and what\u2019s left is, well, different.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Dining area in the Harold English House by Kay Kollar<\/a>. Photo by Richard Powers<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cTeak is incredibly slow-growing, so much of what is still harvested is young, and from a sustainability standpoint, this is far from ideal,\u201d says Brian Volk-Zimmerman of Volk Furniture<\/a> in Brooklyn. When he does use it, he only goes for reclaimed teak, as many species of the tree have been over-forested.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t always this way. In the previous century, according to Cashin, Danish designers, and <\/span>Scandinavians in general<\/span><\/a>, harvested teak as much as they liked. This enhanced their pieces\u2019 handcrafted look and came to define the timeless simple shapes of <\/span>mid-century modern design<\/span><\/a>. \u201cWe still see current teak deck furniture that\u2019s very porous and light,\u201d says Cashin, who specializes in Danish modern and mid-century modern furniture made between 1940 and 1970. However, she notes, \u201cit\u2019s not the same caliber.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Study in a West Village duplex by MR Architecture + Decor<\/a>. Photo by Eric Laignel<\/p><\/div>\n

Old-growth teak, aged 150 to 500 years old, is far denser, with a pronounced telltale grain, Cashin says. Though she can\u2019t speak to why Danish designers like Jens Risom<\/a> relied on it, she believes their choice came down to aesthetics. Ben Erickson,<\/a> a furniture maker in Brooklyn whose leather lounge chair<\/a> is made of teak, believes it may have been the material\u2019s workability. \u201cEven though it\u2019s not the best on blades because it has a high mineral content, it is really beautiful to turn and shape by hand,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can get an amazing luster by hand sanding and oiling it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTeak is a beautiful, simple wood that works well outside without a tremendous amount of maintenance,\u201d says Los Angeles designer Kay Kollar<\/a>, who used the wood throughout the Harwell Hamilton Harris residence<\/a>. Though it needs to be oiled on a regular basis to maintain its original color, it\u2019s still a \u201cbeautiful, organic-feeling material.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dining area in a Sea Ranch, California, house by Kay Kollar<\/a>. Photo by Richard Powers<\/p><\/div>\n

In its heyday, Danish teak furniture was so popular most of the larger cities in Canada imported and sold it. \u201cIt\u2019s really amazing that such a small area produced pieces that found their way around the world,\u201d says Cashin, who grew up with a Danish dining suite. She adds, \u201cI do more shopping [for Danish design] in Canada than I do in Denmark because there\u2019s so much here.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

While America embraced mass-produced design by the likes of Herman Miller<\/a> and Charles and Ray Eames<\/a>, Scandinavian manufacturers held fast to their handmade traditions, as seen in pieces from the 1950s and \u201960s. \u201cThey didn\u2019t want to give up beauty for design,\u201d Cashin says, referencing the guild of Danish craftsmen who determined a standard for anything exported out of the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Living room of a Montana residence by Madeline Stuart<\/a>. Photo by Janice Barta<\/p><\/div>\n

Not only did teak provide larger pieces to work with, the use of hand sculpting lent the pieces an airy sinuous quality, which went hand-in-hand with the low-slung profile of mid-century modern design.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI really like to combine iconic mid-century pieces with modern pieces and even antique pieces,\u201d says Kollar, who chose teak for a group of outdoor furniture she designed for a client.<\/p>\n

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Living room of an Olmos Park, San Antonio, Texas, home by M Interiors<\/a>. Photo by Mark Menjivar<\/p><\/div>\n

By the 1990s, teak furniture<\/a> was on the decline, says Cashin. Fast forward 15 years, and it got popular again, though a dearth of supply due to the over-harvesting of old-growth teak ensured the only countries that could export it were in Southeast Asia. \u201cYou can still get teak, but it\u2019s just not the same quality,\u201d says Cashin. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t have the tight grain because it\u2019s younger, it\u2019s a different variety. It tends to be rustic and more ornate.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Put another way, it\u2019s not yet a classic.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Browse Teak Furniture on 1stdibs<\/h2>\n

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