The ‘_2.0’ expands on STACKLAB’s original ‘Felt Collection’, a conceptual furniture system made using felted Merino wool that is sourced from regional manufacturers using a custom-developed algorithm.

STACKLAB’s installation for DesignTO will feature two second generation prototypes configured using a new proprietary digital application developed in collaboration with STACKLAB alum James Munroe, Toronto-based programmer William Harford and Devansh Shah, a mechanical engineering and computing technology student from the University of Ottawa. STACKLAB’s configurator enables users to create a wide range of furnishings from a database of felt remnants supplied by Toronto-based Interior Felt and New York-based Filzfelt. The felt is supported by an aluminum structural system developed in collaboration with Toronto-based COFO Design. Improving on the original ‘Felt Collection’s virgin steel structural system, the ‘_2.0’ uses recycled aluminum that is powder-coated using repurposed powder.

The ‘Felt Collection’ explores and expands upon the studio’s mandate to leverage existing technologies, infrastructures, and the people behind them to innovate. The collection was driven by applying a critical lens to the industry and explores a reversal of the commonplace practice of putting form before material. STACKLAB identified surplus off-cut and end-of-bolt felted wool that, when stored, occupied significant factory space and led to severe wastage. They identified regional manufacturers who had this waste in their processes and collaborated to figure out how to aggregate their material. In turn, they designed a system to categorize the surplus and developed an algorithm that matches the categorized pieces to their specifications and uses.

STACKLAB is a multidisciplinary art-and-design studio founded by Jeff Forrest in 2013. The studio pursues conceptual projects spanning a range of scales and disciplines by working with regional experts in material, craft, science, and technology.

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‘_2.0 by STACKLAB’ is one of the many exhibitions and window installations happening at Stackt Market as part of the 2021 DesignTO Festival. Stackt Market is open Tuesday to Sunday from 12-7pm.

• _2.0 by STACKLAB
• COFO Design
• Dream State
• Loom
• The Commons: Public Space, Public Art