Latest Articles

How they make it

Drawing

Kyttänen’s designs travel straight from his imagination to the computer. “Hardly anything happens on paper anymore,” he says, “because most of the files are so complex that it’s practically...

01.01.09
How they make it

Slicing

The design files are sent to EOS GmbH, a Munich-based factory with six different types of laser-sintering machines. Before they begin, a slicing software divides the Trabecula into some 6,000 cross...

01.01.09
How they make it

Sintering

“Sintering” is not an everyday word for most people—it means using laser energy to melt and fuse particles. It’s traditionally applied to metal, but nowadays it works very well on certain varieties...

01.01.09
How they make it

Unpacking

When the bucket has cooled, it’s time to assemble the pieces. Ahmadou Kaloga, an EOS applications support technician, usually does the unpacking. “It’s like an archeological dig,” says Kyttänen. “A...

01.01.09
How they make it

01 Woodblocks

Woods’s prints begin as marker drawings on acetate. “We have a set of patterns that have been reduced from wood grain,” he says, “and we use them as a library, and change them around. So it really...

01.01.09
How they make it

02 Plywood

Wrong based his designs on DIY plywood-furniture patterns from postwar Britain. “It’s a very simple message of construction using plywood and turned timber legs,” he explains.“ They’re like...

01.01.09
How they make it

03 Prints

Before the furniture is assembled, each piece is painted jet-black and printed with the CNC-cut MDF woodblocks, which Wrong calls “crude but very effective.” Enamel paint in various shades is...

01.01.09
How they make it

04 Groove

Once the pieces are assembled, their stepped miter joints are glued together and clamped to dry. Wrong routs a three-millimeter perpendicular groove along every 90-degree corner of each piece. The...

01.01.09
Product Reviews

Birdhouses

Dear Dwell: We'd like to get a modern-looking birdhouse. Which ones will look best in our backyard? —Erik Edwards, St. Louis, Missouri

written by: Christopher Bright

photos by: Peter Belanger

01.01.09
How they make it

Structural Steel

The first workstation sits just outside the factory’s rear entrance, where deliveries of recycled steel are deposited.

01.01.09
How they make it

Rough Frame Construction

In the third stage of rough frame construction, after painting and prepping, structural insulated panels (SIPs) are dropped in from above and attached to grooves set within the basic frames in...

01.01.09
How they make it

Finish Construction

Finish surfacing comes next—windows, drywall, cabinetry, ornamental metalwork, tiling, appliances, and fixtures are put into place.

01.01.09
How they make it

Homesite Delivery

After completion at the factory, each home is shrink-wrapped and loaded onto a truck for direct site delivery.

01.01.09
Product Reviews

Beyond the Ficus

Q: I enjoy plants' form, color, and positive impact, but what frustrates me is the lack of interesting houseplants available today. Are houseplants old-fashioned and out of place in the modern home...

01.01.09
A Note on Our Expert

A Note on Our Expert: Josh Epple

Originally opened in 1889, Drewes Bros. is a San Francisco neighborhood butcher shop specializing in all-natural free-range products, run by brothers Josh and Isaac Epple.

01.01.09
A Note on Our Expert

A Note on Our Experts: Richard and Peter Schultz

After 20 years working for Knoll and collaborating with modern furniture titans like Harry Bertoia, Richard Schultz went into business for himself.

01.01.09
Design 101

Vampire Power

Probably the most evocative term among the otherwise technocratic energy vocabulary, vampire power is the continuous current that appliances and electronics draw from an outlet even when turned off.

written by: Sarah Rich

01.01.09
Design 101

On-Demand Hot Water

We don’t keep a kettle boiling on the stove all day for the one moment when we want tea, so why do we keep water heated around the clock when all we need it for is a shower or a load of laundry?

written by: Sarah Rich

01.01.09
Design 101

Energy Retrofit: The Now House Project

It may be simpler to build a zero-energy home from scratch than to retrofit an existing structure, but buildings constructed in the 20th century are generally the most in need of upgrades for...

written by: Sarah Rich

01.01.09
A Note on Our Expert

A Note on Our Expert: Susumu Ueda

Executive chef Susumu Ueda was born in the United States and raised in Japan and has lived everywhere from Belgrade to Athens.

01.01.09
A Note on Our Expert

A Note on Our Expert: Steve Reczkowski

Steve Reczkowski has been a fine-art photographer for 15 years and finds working in a photo lab a most convenient occupation for supporting himself and his art.

01.01.09
A Note on Our Expert

A Note on Our Expert: Tony Espinoza

Tony Espinoza is the man behind San Francisco Soundworks, a full-service multiroom recording studio that’s putting the city back on the map as one of the top places to hit the charts.

01.01.09
A Note on Our Expert

A Note on Our Expert: Arshad Chowdury

Arshad Chowdhury is the cofounder of MetroNaps, the first company to provide midday napping facilities in the form of handsome fiberglass pods (shown opposite).

01.01.09
A Note on Our Expert

A Note on Our Expert: Peter Stathis

Peter Stathis is the principal of a leading collaborative design venture, Virtual Studio, which specializes in consumer products, and has worked with Arstecnica, KnollStudio, Nambé, and OXO.

01.01.09
A Note on Our Expert

A Note on Our Expert: Daniel Patterson

Daniel Patterson is the owner and executive chef of Coi Restaurant in San Francisco. Coi, which means “tranquil” in archaic French, is just that: a quiet refuge amid the flamboyant flash of strip...

01.01.09