Kodo - 15

Furniture Design

There is so much about crafting a piece of furniture which is lost in the finished piece. One of the unique parts of woodworking is the scent of freshly cut timber. From personal experience, I knew aroma is strongly related to memory and emotions. I became curious, was it possible to create a piece whose scent could form and trigger a memory?

This became the design brief. I chose a table for its significance with shared experiences and Huon pine for its distinctly sweet scent. The Huon pine was used to create sacrificial timber slats on the table surface, encouraging the user to place hot cookware directly on the slats. The heat permeates the timber, thus further accentuating the scent. A custom hand plane was also made to remove charred layers and renew the smell. The name ‘Kodo’ is a Japanese word which means - the experience of aroma.

Overall, the table was built around this experience. The subtle details were designed to be invisible - the internal curves, dyed timber, black stainless steel sleeves, through dovetails and custom made brass connectors. With functionality hidden, the user is free to immerse themselves in Kodo

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