Intent  The Trio Stacking Stool Collection was designed with the assumption that beauty derives from concentrated substance: namely function and use. An object is made beautiful when it is designed in response to the lives of those that it will occupy. 

Design  Trio is produced from a flat sheet of plywood CNC machined into interlocking pieces. It is friction fit, eliminating nails and adhesives, and can integrate into many settings as an extra chair, end table, laptop stand, etc. When not in use, the set of three lightweight stools can stack to be put away. One 4ft. X 8ft. plywood sheet yields 6 stools (2 full Trio collections).

Process  Throughout the design process I made three different scaled models to explore issues of form, structure, and jointery. After creating a preliminary cardboard model , it became apparant that the structure would need to be bulkier, particularly the horizontal support under the seat. I also wanted to soften the “shoulders”, making the transition from legs to seat more gradual. While the next prototype was more structurally stable, it did not stack flat, as the interior curves of the legs got in the way. The shoulder curve, and the end curve also needed to match visually. Finally, I created both a full-scale joint out of MDF and a more accurate full scale prototype.