It’s been a fantastic first year of the blog and we have been lucky to speak with some of you, the designers and makers working with plywood and other sheet goods. Sheet Good has had the pleasure of featuring a range of designs that push boundaries while being functional for the average buyer. Here is our round-up of five chairs and stools which have enjoyed over the last 12 months. Please note, these are in no particular order and there is no score – these are just some of the stand-out chairs that we wish to highlight from the past year.

Starting our list we have the ‘Grass Armchair’ from @acit.studio. Made from a sheet of bamboo plywood. This chair is bold. The team at Acit surely was inspired by Brutalist architecture which is shown through the strong square and rectangle shapes in the chair body. This “harder” design is juxtaposed with the curved edges on the bottoms of the chair legs, which bring a delightful delicateness to the piece – almost like the chair is kissing the floor.

The ‘Sedia Tonda’ chair from @edoardoliettidesign will be appreciated by any plywood geek as it can take the basic concepts behind good plywood furniture design and make everything feel fresh. From the simple joinery techniques, the rudimentary forms, and the homage to the plywood sheet itself – this chair is simple in its design yet dynamic in its form and on point in regards to style.

Next up we have the ‘Achter Stool’ from @mowo_movewithwood. More focus is being put on how much time we spend sitting hunched over our desks at work, and a stool that promotes active movement has attracted significant attention from all corners of the design world. The designer of this piece – Lisa Stulz – launched her furniture brand with Kickstarter (read more in our write-up from last year) in an attempt to encourage a healthier relationship between people and their workspaces. Lisa’s design successfully molds plywood to create a curved and flexible design that provides the stool with great strength. The rocking motion of the stool allows for core and hip mobility while working which rejects the idea of needing to stay sedentary while on the clock.

@stuidospion’s ‘The Minimalist Chair’ looks like it came right off the set of a Denis Villeneuve sci-fi film. The design strikes you immediately with its use of only three legs, which seems to throw you off balance. The plywood sheets meet at obtuse angles which give the design a Blade Runner-esque sleekness. It really feels like you are living in an imagined sci-fi future when you look at this chair – and we definitely enjoy looking at it.

To round out our list, we have the ‘F4 Desk Rocker’ from @fnfurn. Similar to the ‘Achter Stool’, this chair promotes movement while sitting at a desk or table. This is a chair that is designed for those who are working from home or who want to relax while reading a book. The studio is highly committed to reducing waste and employs production techniques that maximize the use of a single sheet of plywood – with four rockers being made from one sheet. The ‘F4 Desk Rocker’ has a dynamic stance, but the style feels balanced. The idea came from Ken Landauer’s daily yoga practice which promotes strength through balance.
We cut off the list at five or else we would still be writing this article in 2024. Needless to say – 2022 was an impressive year for plywood furniture design and we at Sheet Good are excited to see what 2023 brings us.