Materiality and connection

To architect and sculptor Jonathan Muecke, material is elemental, repetition is clarity, and logic is freedom. In his first commercial collaboration with Knoll, Muecke applies the principles of his art practice to create an all-wood dining collection with the familiarity of a kitchen table and chairs.

Wood grain as material

Material comes first for every Jonathan Muecke project, and his first furniture collection for Knoll is no exception. He finds wood appealing because it has grain, which he thinks of as material. Most furniture is constructed to favor face and edge grain, with the end grain hidden, but by rounding solid wood into cylindrical dowels, Muecke erases distinctions between face and edge grain and puts end grain on view.

Clarity of repetition

Muecke developed the collection’s distinct joinery in an extensive
series of hand-built prototypes. To keep end grain exposed, the rounded wood pieces pass each other on nearby planes connected where they meet by a floating tenon. The method is repeated across the collection.

Animating space

Trained as an architect, Jonathan Muecke thinks more about spatial relationships than any individual object. Whether he’s creating furniture or sculpture, Muecke seeks to identify and express the internal logic of his materials.