Gitta Gschwendtner

Off-Cut Trunk + Off-Cut Seat

Gitta Gschwendtner

The process of turning a tree into workable timber generates plenty of off-cuts which are usually either to small to use or impossible to machine. Many factories burn this waste to generate heat in the winter months. Despite this being very good practice, some of the solid timber found in the waste piles is simply too beautiful to end its life in the furnace.

For this year’s TEN XYZ I have decided to utilize such timber waste to create two stools. The timber off-cuts are either planed or sawn to create a uniform thickness and glued up into random stacks. The stacks are quite loose – structurally there is no need to create a solid block and, visually, the negative spaces enhance the stools’ appearance.

The random stacks are then milled by a 5-axis CNC machine to create the stools. The minimal Off-Cut Seat shows off the random structure of the timber through its simple shape while the Off-Cut Trunk hints back to the timber’s origin.

Many thanks to Benchmark Furniture for providing the timber off-cuts from their factory.