ZAKOSY: a story about remarkable form

With their novel technique and unique aesthetic, ZAKOSY stirred interest in Japan. The family of openwork benches created by Dr. Karola Murlak designer and lecturer at School of Form, is the result of his search for the hidden features of natural materials.

#wood structure #design #wooden form #innovation #Institute of Design #School of Form

What we created and where we showed it:

ZAKOSY is a family of wooden benches with an openwork structure. While the material has physical properties and firmness similar to a wooden slab or glued wooden board, it is created with less raw timber and, consequently, is lighter. The technique involves numerical controlled cutting of solid wood into a curvilinear shape, which is then shifted and laminated, maintaining gaps in-between. The innovative design was appreciated by the audiences in Japan and exhibited in the Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design.

How we did it:

Leaving gaps between slats reduces the amount of wood used for each board and lowers the weight of the bench by more than 20%. The structure is made entirely of wood and retains all its natural features.

What is the main idea:

Dr. Karol Murlak is constantly exploring the design possibilities of natural materials in pursuit of new forms of objects and things. He blends art, craft, and technology to create projects ranging in scale and complexity—from hand-held, intergenerational wooden toys to musical installations displayed in the most frequented places in the world.