o-d-a is designer duo Jutamas Buranajade and Piti Amraranga both graduated from ‘The Faculty of Decorative Arts’, Silpakorn University. On the Rush Chair they revisited a traditional design with contemporary mindset and methods. Framing it as 'innovation' exploring sustainable woodworking and local indigo dyeing in the region of Isaan, Thailand.
The Rush Chair Project revives the art of this traditional design while bringing sustainability to the front of the user, or makers, consciousness. In this project the designers and makers attempted to make a chair out of branches that were either from dead tree, trimmed down or from juvenile trees, leaving the tree able to continue to grow and prosper while simultaneously providing affordable building material.
The projects catch phrase, “stuff we get to use, trees still get to grow,” illustrates the intention of offsetting the destructive element of woodwork through sourcing sustainable materials. Creating without destroying.
With fellow designer Phisanu Numsiriyothin, they began this project to demonstrate an ideal future makers should continue to work toward; sustainability in all things. Furthermore, each element of the chair provides an opportunity to reconnect with local communities around Thailand, teaching them a sustainable craft. It is the artists' hope that the income additional income locals will make from selling the materials needed for this project, or through the making and selling of the chairs, which will supplement their livelihoods currently made from subsistence farming.