mv.objects | Michiel Vlaemynck | Furniture & Product Designer

Kern.

A study in material coherence.

2025

Can nature be composed?

Olive ash is known for its expressive and unpredictable grain. Rather than treating this as a decorative feature, this project explores how the material itself can become the starting point of the design.

The stool is composed of two mirrored halves, separated by a narrow opening that acts as the central axis of the composition. From this line, the grain appears at its most expressive before gradually calming towards the outer edges. The geometry doesn't attempt to control the wood, but organises its natural character into a balanced whole.

Final object

Made entirely from solid wood, kern balances material expression with structural precision.

The transition between the seat and the legs is carefully resolved so the wood grain flows seamlessly from the horizontal surface into the vertical supports, allowing the stool to read as one continuous volume rather than a collection of separate parts.

Chamfered side profiles reduce the visual weight of the object while making it more comfortable to grip and move. The central opening reinforces the mirrored composition, allows the stool to be carried effortlessly with one hand, and enables up to three stools to be stacked without compromising the simplicity of the silhouette.

Made entirely from solid wood, kern balances material expression with structural precision.

Kern explores the relationship between natural unpredictability and human precision.

Olive ash already possesses a strong visual identity. Instead of competing with that character, the project investigates how proportion, mirrored composition and carefully resolved joinery can organise the material into one coherent object.

Rather than designing around the wood, the design allows the wood itself to become its primary expression.