Y-Lamp
Date
2022
Type
Client: Floyd
Description
Y-Lamp is a floor lamp made from a tubular steel frame and a paper reflector. The lamp’s post is composed of three steel tubes which diverge on either end. On one end they form a base, and on the other end they support a spotlight and reflector. The paper, which is made from a combination of bamboo and mulberry fibre, is both reflective and transmissive, allowing the Y-lamp to produce both direct and ambient light with a single light source.
Materials and Dimensions
Paper, Steel
assembled 58 x 50 x 165 cm
packed 17 x 56 x 150 cm
Balloon Lamp
Date
2021
Type
Client: Matter Made
Description
Born from a series of intuitive experiments with balloons and wire, The Balloon Lamp collection revolves around the relationship between a blown glass globe and steel frame.
Materials and Dimensions
steel, glass
table 33 x 27 x 51 cm
floor 33 x 27 x 137 cm
sconce 30 x 27 x 25 cm
Flash Set
Date
2022
Type
exhibition: Matter
Description
This body of work started with an observation. I noticed a boulder which had lichen growing on it, but only where the sun could not reach. The result was a frozen shadow, a fixed image which would always imply the direction from which the sun originally hit the rock, even after the sun went down.
The pieces that comprise Flash Set use the same principle to translate a form into an image. We carved gypsum cement using one of a few basic tools, and spray painted it from a hard angle. The resulting objects are more similar to still life photos than sculptures, using the impression of light to transform a composition of marks into a picture.
We created three standard typologies (a wall-mounted piece, a large vessel, and a small vessel) to use as a framework for our research. Each piece represents a different experiment, elaborating on the one before by slightly altering the tool, process, or sequence of steps used to make it. The result is a grid of interconnected ideas, documenting the evolution of an improvised craft.
Materials and Dimensions
gypsum cement, spray paint
various dimensions
Caterpillar Tables
Date
2022
Type
exhibition: Slanted/Enchanted
Description
In early 2022, we curated Slanted/Enchanted, an exhibition which celebrated improvised production techniques. Twenty international artists and designers each contributed an object which was made without outsourcing or digital fabrication. The exhibition took place at ESP in Toronto.
Our contribution was the Caterpillar Tables, a series of coffee tables made using a mechanical substitute for the industrial process of bent lamination. Standard hardware sandwiches the tables’ perforated legs and plywood rails, creating a composite structure. Varying the distance between perforations in the rails controls the curvature of each table base. The form of each base speaks to its respective top, a tempered-glass tractor windshield. Caterpillar Tables possess an idiosyncratic kind of rationality, reflecting the small workshop and basic tools with which they were made.
Exhibition participants include Adrianus Kundert, Calen Knauf, Castor, Chris Kabel, dach&zephir, Earth Landing Project, Evey Kwong, Jamie Wolfond, Joyce Lin, Julian Gregory, Keillor MacLeod, Klemens Schillinger, Marco Campardo, Maria Hupfield & Kathryn Walker, Rebecca Sun Collins, Shigeki Fujishiro, Sina Sohrab, Studio Satël, Théo Leclercq & Camille Viallet and Tom Chung.
photos: Sean Davidson
Materials and Dimensions
birch aircraft plywood, pine, tractor windshields, hardware
small 70 x 72 x 42 cm
medium 109 x 85 x 42 cm
large 150 x 91 x 42 cm
Type Vases
Date
2021
Type
client: Gilda Editions
Description
The Type Vases are a series of five characters made by cutting and welding together sections of stock brass tubing. The result is neither entirely handmade nor industrial, speaking a unique language that exists in between.
Materials and Dimensions
brass
various dimensions
Kapla Shelving System
Date
2020
Type
prototype
Description
Named after the open-ended Dutch building toy, the Kapla Shelving System is a modular shelving unit defined by a solid wood frame and aluminum shelves. Five simple components can be combined in various configurations to form shelving units of two heights and infinite lengths. The Kapla Shelving system is an adaptable and strikingly clean solution for homes and offices alike.
photos: Mike Tjioe
Materials and Dimensions
aluminum, douglas fir
shelf height 35 cm
module width 116 cm
shelf depth 24 cm
Tool Basket
Date
2021
Type
exhibition: Basketclub @ Karimoku
Description
Co-organized with Adrianus Kundert in the spring of 2020, Basketclub is a digital environment where designers and craftspeople exchange ideas about basketry.
In late 2020, Japanese furniture manufacturer, Karimoku invited Basketclub to take part in the inaugural exhibition at its Tokyo Showroom. Twelve members of Basketclub created pieces which respond to the uses behind traditional Japanese woven baskets such as carrying, drying, storing, cooking and cleaning.
Our contribution was the Tool Basket. Constructed using Kagome, a traditional Japanese triaxial weaving technique, the Basket features the unexpected intersection of a traditional basket and a toolbox-like handle. The result a unique container which is both useful and evocative.
Materials and Dimensions
reed, analine dye
35 x 35 x 41 cm
Owl Lamp
Date
2018-2020
Type
prototype
Description
The Owl Lamp applies a rudimentary physical principle to create a sophisticated type of motion. As a person turns the stem, a flexible hose transmits rotary force to the shade which enables it to infinitely orbit a stationary light source. The rotation of the shade continuously transforms the direction and character of the lamp.
The Owl Lamp was born from an extensive iterative process, originating from a curiosity for drinking straws and flexible driveshafts.
photos: Mike Tjioe
Materials and Dimensions
aluminum, vinyl, nylon, hardware
163 x 102 x 51 cm
2×2 Organizer
Date
2020
Type
client: Ferm Living
Description
Each unit that comprises the 2×2 Organizer series is made by folding two sheets of metal two times and welding them together. The result is a simple set of office storage modules with the inherent ability to register when stacked.
Materials and Dimensions
steel
23 x 13 x 28 cm
Stamp Lamp
Date
2019
Type
prototype
Description
The Stamp Lamp is comprised of four identical pressed steel components and a simple off-the-shelf cord-set. The result is a uniquely simple table lamp defined by the intersection of two contrasting forms. Made from steel
photos: Jeroen van der Wielen
Materials and Dimensions
aluminum
17 x 17 x 33 cm
Thread Lamp
Date
2020
Type
exhibition: Aluminum Group
Description
Aluminum Group was a design exhibition which took place at Toronto’s ESP gallery during design week. Co-organized with MSDS Studio, the show saw 15 Canadian designers come together to create a collection of machined aluminum objects. Including both practical prototypes and pieces of sculpture, the show covers diverse range of themes unified by a single medium.
Our contribution was the Thread lamp. An upward-facing light source bounces off a milled aluminum shade to emit a bright but indirect glow. Threads on the lamp body make it easy to adjust the shade height, changing the angle and intensity of the bounced light.
photos: Mike Tjioe
Materials and Dimensions
aluminum
38 x 38 x 33 – 43 cm
Frog Vase
Date
2019
Type
prototype
Description
The Frog Vase combines the traditional Japanese Kenzan (or flower frog) and the vessel it resides in to yield a succinct tool for arranging flowers.
photos: Mike Tjioe
Materials and Dimensions
aluminum
18 x 15 x 2 cm
Diametric Jug
Date
2019
Type
prototype
Description
Two seemingly opposing schools of thought come together to form the Diametric Jug. While the relationship between the handle and the body of the jug refers to ancient pottery, the geometric treatment and tubular nature of the jug’s form bears resemblance to those of the Bauhaus movement.
photos: Jeroen van der Wielen
Materials and Dimensions
stoneware
29 x 14 x 22 cm
401 Table
Arid Umbrella Stand
Date
2017
Type
client: Good Thing
Description
The Arid Umbrella Stand takes advantage of the inherent properties of terracotta. The material is naturally absorbent, wicking away moisture from wet umbrellas inside the container, allowing them to dry rapidly.
Materials and Dimensions
terracotta and cork
13 x 20 x 33 cm
Split Bench
Date
2017
Type
exhibition: Norway x New York
Description
A heavyweight indoor / outdoor steel structure highlights the inherent beauty of galvanization, a finishing method found on highway guardrails and lampposts. Its patchy iridescent pattern adds a bit of variety to an otherwise strictly geometric object. Collaboration with Sigve Knutson.
Materials and Dimensions
steel
43 x 131 x 32 cm
Balance Pipe
Date
2015
Type
client: Tetra
Description
The Balance Pipe is a dry herb smoking pipe designed to create a contemporary answer to the heavily stigmatized archetype traditionally hidden in the backs of bodegas and delis. The Pipe’s chamber is pierced by a stem which encompasses both its mouthpiece and its carb, a hole used to clear the chamber once filled.
Materials and Dimensions
borosilicate glass
11 x 4 x 3 cm
About
Everything designed at Jamie Wolfond Studio starts with an observation about the material world. It could be a car’s differential mechanism, a bendy straw, or a patch of lichen that grows only on the shady side of a rock.
We follow our curiosity by conducting hands-on experiments with materials in the studio. We often find ourselves somewhere completely different from where we started, and we see that as a good thing. We hit dead ends and leave ideas on the shelf until one of our experiments asks to be developed into a useful object.
We collaborate with skilled tradespeople to resolve each design. By allowing the strengths of our producers to influence our work, the Studio designs objects that are inherently suited to production — things that want to be made.
The results of this process are at once exceptional and familiar, both reflecting and transforming common elements of material culture.
Photos: Aaron Wynia
Contact
- hello@jamiewolfond.com
- +1 (416) 702 1133
- 38 Hugo Ave, Toronto, ON M6P 3T4, Canada
Clients
- Tetra
- EQ3
- Ferm Living
- Sight Unseen
- Soul Cycle
- Coming Soon
- West Elm
- PRTY
- Good Thing
- Viva
- Wework
- Sight Unseen
- Converse
- Via Maris
- Standard Hotels