Matthias Pliessnig is an acclaimed furniture designer based in Philadelphia whose work uses steam bent wood. His style is "kinetically contemporary" and he uses "computer-aided curves with laborious craftsmanship" to handcraft chairs and benches.
Pliessnig is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Wisconsin (Madison). His interest in woodworking developed after he decided to build a boat and was inspired to apply those techniques, particularly steam bending of wood strips around a mold, to furniture making. The New York Times reported that his studio "looks more akin to a boat-builder’s garage than an icy SoHo loft, which makes sense when you consider the lunular shapes of Pliessnig’s chairs."-Wikipedia
Matthias uses only steam bent wood to achieve the unique forms of furniture he creates. He uses 3D modeling programs as a form of sketching, to get most of the contour lines and the looks of the finished product. All of his work are joined and cut by hand, using lots of clamps to form the shape, and various powered saws to cut the material. The furniture is then finished and sanded by hand, then shipped through handmade boxes that are sturdy and can withstand overseas transportation.
I find it amusing that he encourages us to design and make through traditional processes. He likes the tools of digital modeling, but embraces the skill that goes behind handmade products, which are skills that cannot be replaced by machines.
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