The Wafer furniture collection combines light and dark-colored wood in stripes. The effect of the walnut and maple is both graphic and fun, like the familiar confectionery wafers you couldn’t stop eating as a kid. But it is also technically challenging to combine two types of wood. And, not least, to seamlessly morph round-section legs that meet flat planes. The stripe pattern has a different scale for each piece of the collection, fitting the size and geometry best. The collection showcases the fantastic manufacturing capabilities of Matsuso T, based in Fuchu, Japan, where handicraft and high-tech 3-D milling techniques go hand in hand.
The Wafer chair has the broadest spaced stripes of the three items. Although the outer edges of the seat appear thin, the main section, or core, of the chair is thicker. The seat is purposefully curved more generously than anything that can be achieved with normal wood veneer lamination and the striped effect accentuates this.
The Wafer shelf has a more tightly striped pattern than the chair. The shelves proportionally reduce in size as they rise towards the top. The shelf has been designed in an intentionally smaller scale. It still works as a space-divider but rather as in ’low wall’ format as opposed to a higher, room dividing element.
The Wafer side table has the most densely striped pattern of the collection. Small in proportion, it can easily be picked up and moved to where it’s needed. Working equally well next to a sofa as it would beside a bed.