Via Design Milk: Stew Design’s furniture is an exploration of wood, with a focus on its myriad textures and inherent biological origins. Of note are their chairs which are unabashedly organic: the designers seem to take every opportunity to introduce curves that conform to our bodies’ own natural contours. Above: The Petal Chair can be arranged in radial pattern to form a floral seating arrangement, while the bulbous Strata Chair is inspired by the iconic river- and wind-carved geology of the American Southwest.

Stew Design’s pieces regularly explore the concept of negative space; none of the pieces featured on their website are completely solid. Above: the Floyd Side Table looks fairly plain from above, but its exposed sides reveal interesting complementary patterns within its hollow frame.

Most of their pieces are composed of bent plywood strips that are then laminated together, maximizing strength. Above: the sinuous Oenda chair has small, random notches in the wood - according to their website, the cutouts are “an attempt to incorporate pattern within the surface of the chair.” Stew Design is a winner of the Artgate Competition in 2005 and featured in Young Designers Americas. For more information, visit their website at stewdesignworkshop.com.

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