Sun Lee


Some designers use a plane to hone their furniture. Jólan van der Wiel, a 27-year-old from Amsterdam, uses magnetic force fields. The gnarly result is this three-legged, 30cm-high stool.

To make his Gravity Stool, van der Wiel wedges a bowl of iron/plastic mix between two sets of magnets. Using a weighted-pulley system, he lets the force of gravity ease the upper magnets away from the bowl, which causes three shoots to be dragged upwards. Once the plastic sets, the shoots become the legs, and what's left in the bowl is the seat. And if his own involvement seems limited, that's the point. "My role as a designer," says van der Wiel, "should only be to determine the conditions under which the object takes shape."

The 10kg stools are fully functional. "They look fragile, but they're tough," says van der Wiel. "You can't break the points off."

Making the Gravity Stool
-- The force of gravity helps to form the stool's legs
-- Thirty minutes later, the magnetic mixture has set
-- The finished Gravity Stoool can bear up to 200kg 


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