Quilted Madrone, Caro and Black Walnut, Cherry

In August 1953, the Ulm School of Design opened its doors in post-WWII Germany.  Lacking an adequate budget, and even furniture, students and staff were required to build their seating, which was often carried to lectures, seminars, meals, and back to living quarters.  The standardized stool put everybody, including faculty, on the same level - a radical idea at that time.  Max Bill, the school’s first rector and primary designer of the Ulm stool believed in the maxim that design should produce “maximum agency with a minimum of material.”  The Ulm stool did just that — three pieces of wood and a dowel that became an iconic design (today a replica costs $300-400 and an original can go for thousands, if you can find one).