Earlier today we posted on architect-designed flatware; the next step up: architect-designed dining tables, specifically, the minimalist designs of British architect John Pawson. In the US, the tables are available by commission from Matin in LA (presided over by Robert Odegard and his wife, Christina) and are stamped by number. “These are bespoke tables sought after by people looking for something unique and rare,” Odegard says.
The tables are painstakingly created by master craftsman Jeff Jamieson, a sculptor who is based in the Californian central coast town of San Luis Obispo. Jamieson honed his craft working with Donald Judd for 14 years and still produces custom pieces for the Judd Foundation, the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, and for John Pawson. “My job is to disappear and let the design emerge,” he says. “My craftsmanship should not be noticed.”
Each piece is made to order and can take up to 12 weeks to produce; available in a variety of hardwood selections including Walnut, ebony stained Walnut, Douglas Fir, limed Douglas Fir, White Oak, limed White Oak, Alaskan Yellow Cedar and Teak. For more information, visit Matin.
Above: A teak Pawson-designed table with benches; Pawson spent his pre-architectural years observing designer Shiro Kuramata at work in his Tokyo studio, where he learned “the value of discipline and poetry.”
Above: A straight-on view of the minimalist Teak Table and Bench.
Above: A custom cantilevered Pawson Walnut Table and Benches.
Above: A side view of the cantilevered table.
Above: The table is joined with a sleek metal bar.
Above: One of Pawson’s Teak Round Tables.
Above: The round table is available in Alaskan Yellow Cedar, Oak, Teak and Walnut with limed or ebony finishes and hand rubbed oil.
Above: Pawson specifies that each of his tables must be 28 inches high. “He prefers the scale and intimacy of a lower table,” Jamieson says. Shown here is the Walnut Hardwood Table with an ebony finish.
N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran on March 9, 2011.
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