Brooklyn design house Bellboy New York recently turned reclaimed wood from a historic water tower into a beautifully sculpted chair for the 12 x 12 Project, and we're loving the result. The project challenged 12 designers to create new works from some of New York’s most historic structures. Bellboy’s task was to transform wood from a torn-down Park Avenue water tower into an innovative piece of modern furniture, and by the looks of their sexy new wooden chair, we'd say they succeeded.
Water towers have a storied history in New York, and have unintentionally become iconic symbols of the city. Originally constructed during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th Century, the towers adorned buildings over six stories, and were used to create water pressure to be used for the buildings’ plumbing.
With this deep connection to New York in mind, Bellboy designed a timeless chair that would last from one generation to the next, much like the water towers that still sit atop NYC’s buildings. The tower’s rich old growth redwood has been chopped into small pieces to expose the wood grain and texture, which harmonizes with the pattern created on the chair’s surface by adjoining all of the pieces.
The high-backed, low lounge chair has been smoothly sanded to create sleek contours which reflect the ultimate in lazy comfort, allowing the sitter to sprawl their legs out. The reclaimed wood was then stained, creating a myriad of colors where the wood grain, aging flaws and stain combined.
The Watertower chair has proven to be such a hit that Bellboy is looking into going beyond just building the one for 12 x 12, investigating other water tower wood sources in order to produce a small, limited batch.
+ Bellboy New York
+ 12 x 12 Project
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