I SAW I SAW EARTH
Founded by Drew Seskunas as both an architecture studio and building workshop on the idea that working with materials directly leads to more inventive design. To that end Drew directs student design/build workshops for community spaces around NYC while also designing architecture, furniture and kinetics for clients like Design Within Reach, the MoMA Store, NYC Parks and Ford Motors.
Tectonics Collection (2024) is an indoor/outdoor furniture line that explores the relationships between materials, people and indoors/outdoors. Download the line sheet HERE, contact sales@saw.earth for more info. Images by Alyona Kuzmina
Bohio (2023) in East Harlem, was inspired by the traditional timber and thatch shade structure of the Taino, the indigenous people of Puerto Rico. A cedar and stainless steel structure holds a lightweight recycled aluminum roof that is a graphic translation of the Puerto Rican flag; a symbol of identity which was outlawed by the United States from 1898 until 1952. The flag was designed by the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Committee in New York City in the 1890’s and has since become an enduring emblem of national pride which is frequently seen throughout East Harlem. Images by Christian Larsen
The Oca (2022) on Roosevelt Island, is an outdoor reading room for the Child's School, an elementary school for children with special needs, constructed with students from the New York Institute of Technology School of Architecture. Located in the middle of the East River in New York City, the project sits in the courtyard of the Westview Coop building designed by Jose Luis Sert. The design was inspired by the Oca, a traditional Brazilian indigenous one room multi-use structure. By using highly textured materials like Corten, Cedar and Bamboo our goal was to create an architecture that favored the sense of touch over the visual. Images by Sean Davidson
The Kinetic Restaurant (2019) Rangoon Restaurant was designed in collaboration with Outpost Architecture. Located in Prospect Heights, the space is formed from 2 veils between the facade and the kitchen - each defining the main cuisine influences: traditional Burmese and Victorian motifs. The visual overlap defines the dining space, and actuators control the apertures allowing for more or less visual privacy. The Wavy Temple (2020) was designed as a sidewalk dining structure inspired by the ancient city of Bagan, land of 2000 temples.
The Control Point Curve Lounge (2022) is a kinetic chair inspired by the fluid form of the NOMIA Binx Boot. Created using a series of actuator motors connected to adjustable control points, the chair was part of the "Wear Your Chair" exhibition by Pink Essay.
The Moving Ceiling (2019) for ELSEWHERE in Bushwick, NY is a kinetic sculpture for the Elsewhere Loft Space inspired by our society's evolving concepts of time that conflict with an outdated notion of a universal "present". A warping gold-mirrored surface expands and contracts to reflect the individual realities we each concurrently experience.
The Prism Chiminea (2020) was designed for Prism Outdoors as an outdoor fireplace that’s lightweight and portable, so you can place it anywhere in your backyard you need extra warmth. Purchase HERE
The Community Pavilion (2020) was created as part of student workshop at the NYIT Graduate School of Architecture and Design. Located in the Scholes Street Children's Garden, a public community garden administered by the New York Restoration Project (NYRP), the pavilion is solar-powered and designed with 4 wing-like louvers that open and close depending on the season or desire for sun or shade.
The Sex Blanket Store (2018) for THINX on Mercer Street in Soho, NY was conceived as a series of waveforms or frequencies vibrating through the space that would define zones of influence and activity. Curving screens carved up the space into pathways that would contract and expand - the tighter zones pushing strangers together into moments of intimacy and then releasing to a series of beds where visitors could play with the sex blanket.
The Public Sculpture (2018) for NYC Parks and The Bronx River Arts Center was designed in collaboration with Gabriela Salazar and installed in Starlight Park, The Bronx. A folded corten steel structure forms an infinity loop that references the former roller coaster that occupied the site in the 1920’s, framing views to the surrounding landscape and creating zones of private and communal congregation.
The Green Wall Structure (2018) for Saturdays NYC in SoHo, New York, is a modular prism planter system in which consumers can easily create unique structures and adaptive plant formations. This execution is an arching wall that bisects the rear garden space creating new zones of interaction and framing views across.
