Lukasz Korol, Display Cabinet of European Oak (FURNITURE 2025)

Photos:

Lukasz Korol

Country

Poland

In the beginning, there was an oak tree. It was cut down 30 years ago in a family-owned forest in northeast Poland and gifted with the intention of being used for building a new house. Last year, I had the opportunity to acquire this wood, planning to transform it into a small furniture collection dedicated to locally grown European oak. One of the pieces is this display cabinet. Its construction is based on the idea of expanding a traditional table design into a cabinet. You can envision the table apron growing and evolving into the entire glass case. This concept likely would not have come to mind had I not been inspired by two quite different sources. One is traditional Japanese display cabinets with all sides made of glass. The other is the long-legged pieces created by James Krenov. The result is a minimalistic display cabinet on long legs. The entire structure is based on traditional, hand-cut 26 mortise and tenon joints. The wood is treated with hard-wax oil to achieve a natural-looking, matte finish.

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