RODA Teseo teak dining table and chair

Stitched teak dining

Wood sewn with cord

RODA calls the idea sewing wood. A polyester cord 3 mm thick, dyed in a shade called mole, passes through the teak slats and ties them into one surface. On the chair it runs without a break from slat to slat across the seat and back, while the sides are cut in facets that catch the light. Up close the piece looks tailored, and from a few steps away it reads as a clean wooden chair with a fine line drawn through it.

The table follows the same method. Its top is made of stitched slats and rests on turned legs with a soft, curving profile, a contrast between the flat sewn surface and the rounded wood below. It comes about 87 3/8 or 119 1/2 inches long and 43 1/4 inches deep. The legs sit close to the ends, leaving about 78 3/4 or 108 5/8 inches between them, so chairs can line the long sides freely.

The teak is FSC certified, from responsibly managed forests. Teak holds up to rain and sun without paint, and if it is not oiled it turns a soft silver gray over a few seasons, which suits the gray-brown cord. Polyester does not rot, so the stitching keeps its hold outdoors. The chair can take a seat cushion with hydro-draining padding that lets water drain out after a shower.

The designers wanted two things in one object: the care of a craftsman and the efficiency of a factory. Teseo places a craft idea, sewing, inside a piece meant to be produced in series. It is Italian outdoor furniture for a long garden table, a covered porch or a terrace where dinners run late.

Teak slats tied together with a 3 mm cord.

Designer

AMDL CIRCLE

AMDL CIRCLE is the multidisciplinary Milan studio founded by Michele De Lucchi in 2019, and its interest in materials and in harmony between people and nature shows in the way Teseo stitches wood.

More about AMDL CIRCLEMore about AMDL CIRCLE

Also listed under Outdoor chairs.