The bright side of failure: developing a set of lamps from an unsuccessful chair

A detailed account of how failure can lead to success. Through my attempts to design a chair, I developed a method of bending plywood using Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) routing. Ultimately, I considered my chair a failure. The method I had developed to wood was not suitable for my chair because it left the material too flexible. Determined to find another application for my wood bending method, I applied it to a new series of lamps. Bending thin plywood with a similar cut pattern on the CNC Laser cutter gave the perfect balance of flexibility and strength for lamp shades. Simple as the new lamps may be, they leave numerous possibilities for development in scale and shape.