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"Thomas Pheasant's Furniture Collection for Baker\nFollowing the release of a remarkable new furniture collection for Baker, AD100 designer Thomas Pheasant shares his inspirations\n\"The Bevel Chair was edited three times from its original prototype to ensure that it would fit all kinds of shapes,\" Thomas Pheasant explained. \"People who are four feet eleven and people who are six feet five all love it.\" Part of his new collection for Baker Furniture, the chair is barrel-shaped, with a low back, and is available with a swivel.\n\nI can just picture myself in it, legs crossed, rotating slightly with the shift of my toe, arm extended, a Champagne glass dangling from my fingertips. Adding beautiful form to the function of this piece is an elegant mahogany frame which echoes the coffered ceiling of the National Gallery in Washington.\n\"For the Tic Tac Drink Table I wanted to create a piece that was like a moving sculpture,\" Pheasant said. \"I visited a series of small ateliers in Italy and developed a great relationship with this one studio just outside Florence. I said of the design, \u2018We can't weld this; it would be a sloppy mess\u2014all anyone would be able to see is the joints.' So the pieces are all individually screwed together like a puzzle. The craftsmanship truly elevated the idea.\"\n\nThis is the sort of timeless piece that will evoke no regrets. It would always find a spot, not just in my home, but, with any luck, in one of my children's.\n\"The metal castings for the Athens Chair were born in this little studio in Florence,\" Pheasant explained. \"It was tiny, like a closet, and so romantic, this jumbled workroom piled with antiquities. The craftsmen spoke no English and I only speak restaurant Italian, but there was so much excitement in our conversation.\"\n\nFor someone like me with a weakness for klismos-style chairs, whether they are wrapped with leather or layered in lacquer, this gleaming, textured detail is a delightful twist on an iconic design.\n\"The Amanda Light came to be on a side trip in Italy to visit an atelier that works in crystal,\" Pheasant said. \"I was captivated by some of the work and I did a sketch of the light in my notebook. \u2018It's an earring,' I said to the craftsman, but he didn't speak English, so someone translated for me. His face lit up. It happened in a moment; I was so connected to his work that it inspired me, and then he got was I was doing. It was like love at first sight.\"\n\nI told Pheasant that beyond the beauty of the faceted-crystal shade, I am enamored with the chain composed of handmade rectangular bronze links. He delights in the subtlety of this kind of detail. \"You may not notice it the first time you see it,\" he notes, \"but eventually you might look up, even hours later, and say, \u2018Wow.'\"\n\"Having big furniture, even in big rooms, doesn't really do anything\u2014it often just looks like blocks,\" Pheasant said. So he scales carefully, and creates details that add lightness. The bas-relief of the doors of the St. Honor\u00E9 chest were inspired by a polychrome glazed tile from an Art Deco building in Paris.\nA small detail on a striking work by Lorenzo Ghiberti inspired the Arcade Center Table (and its cousin, the Arcade Dining Table). \"I took this image of a panel on the bronze doors of the baptistery across from the Duomo in Florence,\" Pheasant noted. The grace of the frame's repeating arches creates a stunning silhouette; the ribbed-brass edge, its only ornamentation, is like a grosgrain ribbon run around the table's rim.\nPheasant, who has a Parisian pied-\u00E0-terre, was intrigued by the grace and strength of the columns of the Saint-Sulpice church that he captured in this image. He reimagined them for the base for the Column Dining Table; while the classical influence is evident, the bronze bands encircling the legs provide a modern edge.\n\"One of the things that I noticed about my photography,\" Pheasant said, \"is that most of the shots I take are looking up. My photos touch on the aspirational quality that architecture inspires, the mood the buildings were intended to give. They reflect how architecture creates an emotional response.\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/thomas-pheasant-baker-furniture-collection-inspiration-slideshow>