The Dwell 24: Offcut

Jason Lewis was grinding away as a day trader in the late ’90s when he realized he needed an exit strategy. "I was sitting at home, staring at a screen all day," Lewis says. "I just needed to break away and do something different." He had built a pinewood derby car as a kid and dabbled in woodworking in high school, so he signed up for a furniture-making apprenticeship with local woodworking legend Berthold Schwaiger in 2001 and went on to found his eponymous Chicago design studio.

"I remember getting such satisfaction at first out of the most mind-numbing menial labor," he says. "Sanding a giant tabletop by hand, drilling 200 precise holes in a row...It got a hold of me."

—Jason Lewis

A working woodshop yields piles and piles of scraps—so in 2020 Lewis launched Offcut with co-designer Lesley Jackson to turn waste into weekly product drops of stools, shelves, and more. Now, they’re firing up their local community with workshops for budding and adept craftspeople. "There are woodworking geeks, and there are people who just wanna do something fun," Lewis says. "It’s been a cool thing to experiment with."

"You don’t want to throw it away because it’s too beautiful—it’s hard to just put in a dumpster."

—Jason Lewis

Read the full Q&A with Jason Lewis below.

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Describe what you make in 140 characters... Thoughtful, well made, contemporary wood furniture and objects.

What’s the last thing you designed? A stool for Offcut, made from leftover Douglas Fir plywood.

Do you have a daily creative ritual? I wish! Most days it’s hard to find time, but I do sometimes get a window at the end of the work day, when things are quiet in the shop, to devote time to thinking or playing with new ideas.

How do you procrastinate? Go to Home Depot.

What everyday object would you like to redesign? Why? I think most everyday objects are not too bad, or at least they don’t really need my input.

Who are your heroes (in design, in life, in both)? Nurses, teachers, caregivers, friendly Target employees—anyone doing their part to help other people and keep the world pointed in the right direction.

What skill would you most like to learn? Welding, surfing, how to make small talk at a gathering of strangers.

What is your most treasured possession? Anything with with a personal connection or memory attached to it—maybe the older the connection the more ‘treasured’ the object is. Objects that keep history and family alive and a part of our home.

What’s your earliest memory of an encounter with design? The first object I can remember really connecting to and loving was an Eames bent plywood chair that was in my grandparents house. It was also the first time I’d ever heard the name of the designer attached to an item and grasped the idea that person was behind the decisions of how a piece of furniture looked and worked.

What contemporary design trend do you despise? I don’t really despise anything I think.

Finish this statement: All design should... Be grounded in the nature of the material and the techniques and processes through which the object will be made.

What’s in your dream house? A second bathroom would be nice. But I guess if we’re talking dream house, I’ll go with ocean views.

How can the design world be more inclusive? This is obviously a tough and multilayered question. But so much does come down to small scale change, individual actions—making an effort to hire, work with, write about, or make connections with a broader spectrum of people.

What do you wish non-designers understood about the design industry? Maybe just that there are a million different facets and small subsets of the ‘design industry’—independent designers and firms all over that are doing unique and incredible work. People who love design, or helping small businesses survive, should look for and support these folks in their city.

You can learn more about Offcut on Instagram.

View the 2023 Dwell 24!

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