Impossible wood

A chair designed by Doshi Levien for Moroso.

We found a material known as "Liquid Wood" that has very different visual and tactile properties to any other industrial plastic. It is a thermoplastic composite made using 80% wood fibre and 20% polypropylene and it can be processed using conventional injection moulding machines. The pressure and heat from the mould releases moisture from the wood fibre which in turn burns on the surface of the aluminium tool, creating a random, leather-like tarnished effect.

Inspired by the characteristics of liquid wood, we decided to create a chair that references the genre of light, graceful, bent wood frame chairs but would be impossible to make in any other way than by injection moulding, hence the name "impossible wood".

Frontal view of the chair. Above: rear view of the chair

We were intrigued by the depth and texture of liquid wood that is the opposite of slick, homogenous, surface perfect plastic, currently used for most moulded chairs. Liquid wood has a used, worn, raw and earthy quality that is timeless and natural. It also smells of wood. We looked at the work of Martin Puryear, an African American sculptor who made a piece called Cedar Lodge in 1977. This installation is constructed using thin, over lapping parallel strips of timber, bound together with horizontal rings. This informed the way we made our first prototypes for "Impossible wood". We adopted an improvised and constructed language to escape the controlled and fluid process usually applied to generating plastic forms.

Moroso

Impossible wood

A chair designed by Doshi Levien for Moroso.

Latest on News

Latest on Domus