Danish wood manufacturer Dinesen has announced a bespoke furniture collection with British architectural designer John Pawson. The fruit of a partnership of three decades, the Pawson Furniture Collection continues an enduring collaboration that has shaped the implementation of joinery and its place in contemporary design. As Thomas Dinesen puts it: 'John Pawson has in many ways changed our relationship with the “plank”, from a restoration material for historic buildings to a design element in modern architecture.'
John Pawson and Dinesen present the Pawson Furniture Collection
Starting their relationship in 1992, Dinesen and Pawson first collaborated on a flooring project for the designer’s private home in Notting Hill, leading to a furniture collection for the eponymous Pawson House. Sparked from Pawson’s insight into flooring as a crucial and yet often overlooked part of interior design, the bespoke collection was brought to life using planks of the same dimensions as the floorboards themselves; providing the appearance that they had been lifted directly out of the floor. Drawing on Dinesen’s historic woodworking expertise, and Pawson’s own minimalist influences from Japanese architect and designer Shiro Kuramata, the work became a foundation on which to build their longstanding partnership.
Featuring designs from this period, alongside contemporary additions, the new collection of furniture includes ‘The Dining Series’, which encompasses a dining table, a bench, and a stool, each originally drawn in 1992, and adjusted to modern sensibilities with an added shadow gap detail in the dining table. Combining Douglas fir planks with a slender insert of Dinesen Oak, this subtle update completes the piece with a sleek and refined finish.
Alongside its established work, ‘The Lounge Collection’ acts as a complementary addition to the original series. A multi-layered collaboration that brought in skilled Danish cabinet makers with upholstery materials from local textile company Kvadrat, it includes a lounge chair, a lounge table, a sofa, and a daybed, each made from Solid Douglas wood. Every piece in the series is made to order, allowing some participation from the customer in choosing their desired textile from Kvadrat’s library.
However, whilst the Pawson Furniture Collection certainly marks an achievement in the prosperous relationship between the acclaimed designer and timber manufacturer, the work on display is also indicative of Pawson’s own distinct sensibility.
The latest in a celebrated catalogue of work, the collection is a chance to become personally acquainted with Pawson’s ideas and design principles. He explains: 'When I look at this new furniture collection for Dinesen, I see the essence of the thinking that has shaped my work since the beginning. Everything about these pieces is pared back to the logic and poetry of the wood. The dimensions of the timber determine the proportions of the forms and then it’s all about the inherent sensory character of the material.'
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