Gateleg Table, Desk Pad and Containers by Studio Eric Degenhardt

Often in articles I reference goals that I’d like to achieve sometime in the near future. I’m sure many designers will relate to nature itself pushing your ideas and concepts in certain directions, let’s just say you end up flowing to the final destination instinctively. So it’s no wonder someone like myself, who’s constantly bombarded with fresh inspiration, has slowly manipulated and combined all these different ideas in to an amalgamation of possibilities. A collection of thoughts I’m constantly trying to make sense of. Hopefully this will never change and I’ll always have this stream of creativity in my veins.

One of the fields I’ve taken a particular shine to is furniture making and woodworking. At the moment I’m making a few prototypes for different seating solutions, and I’d certainly like to come up with ideas that make peoples lives both easier and less-stressful, stripping back to the essential and arriving at the inner-core of the object. Designer Eric Degenhardt has really impressed me with the progression of his own work, which can be clearly seen in his portfolio showcased on his studio website. His recent work for 2013 in particular has really set the standard for all of his upcoming projects, the furniture solutions are very impressive, and the containers seen above are such a simple concept but have been completed in a unique way. I can’t really fault them.

So the three items that I pulled across include the wall-mounted secretaire, with extractable leather pad and storage. An extendable table that goes from 160cm to 230cm, also the turned elm wood containers with lid that I discussed in the paragraph above. Each of these has been designed and made for interior and furniture company Böwer, who have a history that dates back to 1888, started in a small village carpentry shop in Neuenkirchen, Germany. Apart from producing equipment for farm use, the carpentry Haarmeyer also produced high-quality furniture at the time (and still do for that matter). Interestingly it’s only in the last ten years that the company has been specialising in contemporary interiors, mainly thanks to Anja and Stefan Böwer, 4th generation owners. Obviously Eric Degenhardt is not the only designer working on Böwer furniture, but it’s worth checking out both websites to see the different types of designs available. Maybe something will inspire your own work!

eric-degenhardt.com

boewer.com

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