MADE IN Precious Wood Workshops 2024 in Schneeberg, Germany

Twisting Shapes and Colours with Marlen Tröger and Roman Krohs

The Faculty of Applied Arts in Schneeberg, Germany, organised the Precious Wood Workshop gathering for designers and design students via the MADE IN platform. In total, 6 wood workshops based on different wood processing techniques were held over 2 weeks, with a main theme - making the stool.

I participated in a woodturning workshop with mentors Marlen Tröger and Roman Krohs, who taught us to embrace the “old ladies” machines and a quite traditional technique in only 2.5 days with controlled conditions and safety (without previous experience). Woodturning is well known in almost every household in this Saxony area, which is also the home of the original “Nutcracker” and small wooden animal figurine toys. I very much appreciate the field trips to Denkstadt's old Workshops, where we could see the demonstrations of these old techniques.

My BIG love for the Nutcracker toy and story could not be ignored, so I had to use my excitement as an inspiration for my stool. I decided to make a reduced version of the Nutcracker where only the turned shapes and colours will suggest that it is a reinterpretation of this icon.

After the idea was accepted, we soon concluded that it is perfect for giving another hommage to the traditional “melkschenel”, the one-legged stool, often used in German stables for milking the cows. The traditional wooden “melkschenel” with belt allows the farmer to be in a low static position while milking, but also to be dynamic in moving from cow to cow.

I truly enjoyed the whole process, which was finalised by picking the well-known red, blue, and black colours of the Nutcracker. Colours were mixed with water to give a feeling of transparency, showing off the beautiful wood texture. Textile belts that were sewn with the help of the Textile Design Department, but unfortunately, were not fixed to the seat due to the time limit.