Living both sustainably and enjoyably is not a contradiction and where better to explore this nexus than in the room where so much of our lives happen – the kitchen. Celebrating kitchen living through a thoughtful interplay of natural, reclaimed and sustainable materials is the shared vision of AyA Kitchens and Toronto based designer and architect Scott Eunson.
AyA’s booth at IIDEX 2009 displays AyA’s fresh new door finishes and patterns. Part of AyA’s FSC certified (cert no. SW-COC-003188) and no-added urea formaldehyde EVO line of cabinetry, the eco-friendly SoMa door is presented in a bold new way. Scott Eunson’s strong vertical patterned cuts are accented with a hand applied chocolate glaze and are set against the background of honey coloured rift-cut Oak slab doors. The result is a dramatic blend of modern sophistication and rustic charm quite unlike anything previously seen in the cabinet industry. Anchoring the space, the base cabinets again feature the SoMa door style, but in a more simple, modern form with AyA’s new Pitch Black paint finish. Jagged slate backsplash paired with leathered greystone countertops complete this naturally inspired rustic modern space.
The patterns are derived from the natural formations of radial cells that give oak its familiar grain patterns. A tangential section was used to make a thin, vertical pattern of forms. This natural pattern was then enlarged 50 times and developed to cut on rift-cut Oak veneer kitchen cabinets. The conceptual approach was to increase the physical experience of plain slab doors by using a pattern of the material itself to cut through the surface, giving a new sense of depth and texture. New patterns with different species are under development, and custom cuts are also possible.
The Two Barns Table is a result of a collaboration between three people: Steve Denning, Scott Eunson and Lubo Brezina. Steve supplied the wood, while Scott and Lubo designed and made the table. The material was salvaged from two barns that were recently demolished to make way for subdivision development. The table top is made of Elm floor joists from a barn in Brampton, and the legs are made of Maple structural beams from a barn in Markham.
“Our process is always material driven,” says Scott Eunson, “and the outcome is determined by the qualities of the individual pieces of wood used.” The qualities of Elm lie in its lively grain pattern and in its hardness, and the table top displays them well. The ‘sag’ that these Elm joists developed over the years of supporting bales of hay has been preserved and carefully scribed, board against board.
Maple is a hard and strong wood suitable for table legs. Two points of interest on these legs are the holes and tunnels made by insects, and the three chiseled marks left in one leg by the carpenter who originally built the barn.
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[...] a lot—perhaps too much—to say about Aya Kitchens and Designer Scott Eunson’s space at #IIDEX09, so I’ll take one deep breath and do my best to be concise: an innovative [...]
Great mix of modern and rustic, good balance! Rustic doesn’t have to be so country.
Not my comment, but I think it hits the nail on the head:
“an innovative branch of Aya’s “Rustic” line, the marvel of sustainable/re-claimed materials, FSC-certified raw goods, and formaldehyde-free EVO cabinetry, the kitchen is an intriguing synthesis of the old (maple, elm, oak, and slate) and the new (Eunson’s unique hand-crafting that reveals a magnified rendition of the cellular imprints of oak)…This fusion is a nifty trick, and perhaps the best explanation for the kitchen’s immensely appealing if inscrutable aesthetic.