Looks a Lot Like Spring: Little Distortion Candlesticks by Paul Loebach

Looks a Lot Like Spring: Little Distortion Candlesticks by Paul Loebach

Distortion Candlestick, 10", from $24

Paul Loebach is on a roll. The New York-based RISD grad designed a series of candlesticks (above, shown in a new color version) a year or so ago and they were a hit. We sold out. Again and again.

Candlesticks?

Normally candlesticks are the ho-hum of the design world. Why? Because their function doesn’t change. They’re boring. The majority of candles on the market have a standard gauge, and the candlestick must naturally stand perpendicular to the surface of the support (table, etc) or else wax gets all over the place. That’s gravity, folks. Therefore the majority of change in the design of candlesticks after generations of people making this product is material and appearance. And, generally, one can discern a candlestick form from 1,000 yards.

Paul Loebach is a different sort of designer. He comes from a family of woodworkers. Woodworking gives you a different view on the design process. You have a material (wood) upon which you use toolworking to fashion a product from. The limitations on the process generally lay within the technology and the material itself.

Loebach’s general design process appears to be determining what functional form can be resolved based upon the available technology. In other words, what is the coolest thing I can make using what I have?

Check out the Watson table:

Watson Table by Paul Loebach

The photo is a deliberate one. Loebach has used technique to ‘remove’ what we generally view as a necessary structure- solid legs. Sure, there is decor involved, and the piece is beautiful. But the legs are missing and what is there is wrapped like a helix (that’s why its called Watson- Watson and Crick, DNA). And now someone is sitting on the damn thing, and we’re scared.

Here’s the secret, which Loebach shares on his site, paulloebach.com:

wood laminate molding process for watson chair

And, yeah, Loebach mentions some mumbo jumbo about barley twists in English furniture- those are those cool spiral legs on antique furniture (basically), but these twists have no interior.

So where does this get us with candlesticks?

Little Distortion Candlesticks, set of 3, $48

Loebach is fascinated also by form, as shown in the legs of the Watson table above. In the aptly named Distortion candlesticks, Loebach takes a traditional form of a candlestick and ‘melts’ it, using ye olde computer. Rapid prototyping (basically a fancy term for making stuff from design stage to 3-D form, fast) is followed by molding and casting the final product in a durable resin/marble mix. The result is Dali-esque, while maintaining the constraints of dealing with that pesky dripping wax. The material makes the product very affordable, starting at $18 for the Little Distortions, arriving in the Spring.

So arriving in Spring, 2012…and certain to sell out immediately…..

New 10″ Distortion Candlesticks available in bronze and chromed finish.

And the more modestly sized 4″ Little Distortion candlesticks (3 different versions) available in black and white finishes. From $18.

Unicahome is accepting advance orders on the new designs and currently have plenty of the white and black 10″ distortion candlesticks available for immediate shipment. HERE

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