Furniture Inspired by Pi circa 1978

[John]

I apologize in advance for these images, they are literally rotting away--sad really.

One great source of structural ideas is the alphabet--each letter is after all a mini-structure.

I think the mathematical symbol for pi is gorgeous. Combined with my influence from Sam Maloof in the 1970's, I made the following Gallery Benches around 1978.

These are a labor of love--and are not for those in a furry hurry.





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So the next time you think you are out of ideas, seek forms in any alphabet --symbols too. Don't forget different fonts either.

--John Economaki

[PFranks]

Wow! Gorgeous! Again - how did you remove all that material? It must have taken forever.

Speaking of pi, I saw a beautiful lambda chair made by a woodworker in Berkeley.

[User306274]

It is an interesting idea to draw from alphabets and other symbols for design ideas. I wonder if there was a temptation in this piece to incorporate more references to pi. Such as making the benches' lengths 3.14 meters long? If it was me, I would certainly have been tempted to do more in reference to the symbol that inspired the design.

[John]

Generally speaking, every piece has a predominate view. What makes the alphabet such a rich source of ideas is that there is only one view and one can derive inspiration from that view.

Regarding further exploration of pi in the pieces, that certainly is an avenue of exploration. For me, the grace of the character was sufficient to spin off several ideas--I have a podium that I built that was also based on the grace of pi--but the slide is now rotted--if I can find another image I will post it.

--John

[barbara.tomm84@gmail.com]

Hi, I am really impressed from Cafe lighting furniture here in Australia!