Log Type E in Solid Red Oak, Bark on by Tucker Viemeister for Wooda

All designers feel challenged to create a great chair. My contribution is the convergence of cutting edge rapid prototyping technology and the oldest raw material to create the perfect blend of high tech and low tech in the tradition of Droog, Starck, and Hella Jongerius.

My goal is to celebrate the ubiquitous Eames molded plastic Mid-Century chair design. The form is so engraved in our cultural memory, that the slightest violation of line or curve stands out like fingernails on a chalkboard. Wooda’s technicians carve the profile of the design icon directly into the stump of a tree producing another contribution to design discourse. This material shift reintroduces the beauty of Eames’ design and adds a new page to the history books.

About the Designer: Tucker Viemeister creates traditional and new media solutions. He is most famous for OXO Good Grips kitchen tools designed with Smart Design, the company he helped found in 1979. He opened frogdesign’s New York office, Razorfish’s physical design capability group, and Springtime-USA. Tucker was also founder and Lab Chief at Rockwell Group and Director of Special Projects with Ralph Appelbaum Associates. He has created fun and profitable things, places, and experiences for Apple, Coca-Cola, Cuisinart, Viking, J&J, Timex, Levi’s, Phat Farm, Joe Boxer, Nestlé, Unilever, Motorola, Toshiba, Sharp, Seibu, Toyota, NIKE, Knoll, Steelcase, Kate Spade, JetBlue, Cosmopolitan Casino, Yotel, Venice Biennale, and the NYC Board of Education. He is now working on products for aging, teaching at Parsons, and designing interpretive environments.