Five go creative with US species
20 April 2014The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) is supplying raw material for a London design project as part of its efforts to raise awareness of a wider range of US species in the UK.
Marking the fifth anniversary of the Clerkenwell Design Week, five teams of designers from London-based Okay Studio are being challenged to come up with products of their choosing using US tulipwood, ash, hard maple, red oak and cherry.
They have been trialling the materials at the workshops of Adam Kershaw, who previously worked with AHEC on the construction of a structure called the Octopus designed by architect Adam Khan in thermally modified and untreated tulipwood.
Mr Kershaw will later make the designers products, which go on show at London's SCIN Gallery from May 20-22.
During the session at Mr Kershaw's workshop AHEC European director David Venables gave the designer teams some background on the US hardwood sector.
"Having only worked with European hardwoods, I was uncertain about the sustainability of US species, both in terms of us being based in Europe and also forestry and processes," said designer Amy Hunting. "Learning about the expansive resource proved me wrong."
