Brooklyn-based furniture designer and sculptor Matthias Pliessnig creates sumptuous, twisting benches by steam-bending hardwood. He first developed the process in 2006 while studying wooden boat building techniques at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when he realized that by flipping his boat-inspired creations over, he could use the hollow form as a sturdy bench. Once he has designed his works using Rhinoceros 3-D software, Pliessnig places a strips of wood into a tube filled with hot steam. After ten minutes the wood is malleable enough to bend into his desired shape, but only for about 30 seconds.[…]

Source: Sinuously Curved Benches Made with Thin Strips of Steam-Bent Hardwood