We recently won a commission to design and build a portable oyster display for Neptuno Oysters - a new private event catering company in Toronto.  Our proposal pairs the latest in digital design and fabrication technology with material that dates back a few millennia.

We are working in collaboration with Kimiis to create a computerized ‘script’ that will inform the overall shape of the piece. Programming is useful because it allows us to account for a variety of performances that we wish to achieve. For example, we want to create a surface that is based on natural glaciation patterns,  but that also accounts for the exact number of units that the client intends to display. It will also allow us to determine the slope required for melted ice to drain without pooling on the surface.

Once the design phase is complete we will use a 3-axis CNC machine to mill a working prototype and then the final product for use. Over the next few weeks we will post updates with developments.

*The schematic diagrams below are representational

Contact us at info@stacklab.ca with questions or comments.

In October, we posted about our trip to the Ukiah Valley in northern California. We are currently working on a few projects that incorporate the 2500 – 4000 year old burls we salvaged from out west.  Please contact us at info@stacklab.ca if you are interested in our redwood inventory.

Last week we delivered and installed the custom elephant tusk stand that we posted about in mid October.  It was a special privilege for us to help bring our client’s cherished family heirloom to life after it had laid on its side in storage for so many years. The shape and integrity of the ivory posed a significant challenge for us and required that we step away from our computers and work with wood and string templates at 1:1 in order to get a system that worked. It was refreshingly complex and old-school and reinforced why we enjoy working at this scale. Thanks Sandy, for your patronage!

To finish the steel we replaced the tacks that were holding the temporary assembly together with fully dressed welds; broke the sharp edges and then had it plated in antique pewter. The limestone was CNC’d to spec and finished with a colour enhancer and sealant. The last step was to add fitted strips of industrial felt to the inner circumference of the steel pocket and arm that hold the tusk in place.

For more information about our custom work, please email us at info@stacklab.ca

Nick Sweetman is a visual artist based in Toronto who we’ve had the pleasure of working with on a few occasions.

Earlier in the year, before starting Stacklab, our principal consulted on the interior of Fishbar restaurant and commissioned Nick to create a piece for a feature wall in the space.  Nick came up with an intricate design, reminiscent of a collegiate crest,  that was custom printed on a 10′ x 13′ vinyl wall-covering.

Nick is a Masters of Art, Media & Design student at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) and has worked on numerous private and corporate commissions in Toronto.  In September he co-organized the fashion/art/rock event ‘Grunge & Glamour’ at the Gladstone Hotel in conjunction with Ottawa fashion designer Amber Watkins and Toronto-based rock ensemble The One-Look Donnybrook.  Earlier this year Nick was a featured artist in the ‘New Era’ event put on as part of Manifest TO, and most recently he was a featured artist in the Good Times for Better Days fundraiser.

To see more of Nick Sweetman’s work go to www.nicksweetman.ca

Last week the Textile Museum of Canada launched reDesign 2011, which involved 36 leading Toronto designers re-imagining and redesigning Louis XVI style armchairs.   The chairs were sold at silent auction at the Gladstone Hotel last Thursday, with the proceeds going to support the exhibitions, collections, and public programs put on by the Textile Museum.  Here are a few of our favourites, including Stacklab’s very own Abe Galway, who created ‘Ravioli’.

First row, left to right: ‘Ravioli’ by Abe Galway, ‘Sweater Chair’ by Jeremy Laing, David Chang

Second row, left to right: Bookhou, ’1000 feet | 18 hands’ by Superkul, ‘I Felt Dandy’ by Brothers Dressler

To see all the chairs go to reDesign 2011

Our  salvaged walnut table is now complete!  We planed, jointed and finished this locally salvaged slab entirely by hand in our downtown shop.  It measures  9′ – 4″ x 3′ – 3″ and is finished with a VOC free hardwax oil.  This is the first time we’ve used our colorful steel legs, so please come by to have a look while they are on display in the Stacklab studio.

For more information on customization and pricing please email us at info@stacklab.ca

We created this 7′ x 4′ maple dining table for a client and friend.  The maple came from a tree we salvaged last year from a nearby landfill. When we slabbed it, we discovered that it had a beautiful black coloration (known as spalting) that is caused by fungi in dying or dead trees.  The maple face is jointed  in two locations with teak bow-ties to help control splitting and it is finished with a VOC free hardwax oil. The configuration of the steel base was intended to maximize seating room and to work with the natural form of the wood.  Using cold-rolled material allowed us to achieve seamless weld connections while maintaining a raw steel finish.

Photos by Glen Reichwein 

Kimiis has just joined us in our studio, and we’re looking forward to collaborating with them on a few new concepts in the coming months.

Their most recent project, Embedded History, is currently being installed at Prince Arthur’s Landing in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The artwork is a vertically mounted, CNC-derived concrete surface that is representative of the Métis nation, and incorporates three themes – history and culture, materiality, and discovery.  The process began with digital imagery of calm and turbulent waters overlaid onto each other. Then the pattern was superimposed onto pine and cedar wood panels, which were milled and used to cast a series of rubber moulds. The moulds were then used to cast concrete panels, resulting in concrete that appears to flow like water, while having the texture of wood grain. The pine and cedar surfaces represent the historical blending of the cultures, those of aboriginal peoples and French voyageurs. Historically, the site was a gateway for traders, voyageurs, and settlers, who shared a dependence on the area’s natural resources and network of waterways.

Shown below are small sections of the final concrete surface, the CNC-milled pine and cedar wood panels, and the rubber moulds.

For more on Kimiis and their work go to www.kimiis.ca