Liana by Robbie Patrick

"The Liana Barstool is founded on the principle of counter bow suppers on a cantilevered frame. The design uses the innate potential energy in each vine bend to counter the bends of its counterpart. The result is an activation of the negative volume beneath the seat plane, a stable yet responsive sitting object and very low material use. The result is elegantly minimal." -- Designer, Robbie Patrick (collaboration with Roy)

The lucky group of graduate students constructed their projects in the Liana Cane factory, an ethical working environment using only renewable, non-timber rainforest materials. Liane Cane’s owner, Jocelyn Dow, did her best to make students feel welcome in the foreign environment and encouraged them all to form personal relationships with the employees at the factory to heighten their experience. Over the course of their adventure, watching and engaging in works firsthand, students began to understand the intense labor commitment required in manufacturing products. Awe-inspired by the process, they have all since vowed to continue to design with a greater consciousness, underscoring that designing and manufacturing really do go hand in hand.

+ The Guyana Project