FRAME is part of WOOD, a studio based around wooden benches conserved during the demolishing of the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Throughout the entire project, the question that kept popping up was: why the benches? The above is a sample 3+ meter-long plank that we could work with. Why not the iconic plastic VIP seating or ceiling clocks? Was it out of convenience? Because it was the easiest and most abundant left-behind?

I took a closer look at the wood: now disintegrating, rotting, cobwebbed and dusty.

I saw that, with some cleaning, the wood exhibited a magnificent grain, a result of many years of servitude.I felt that the grain was beautiful, and the grain was true to the wood.

Yet, the wood was not pleasing to sight or touch. It crumbled, it dirtied, and no matter how much you clean it, it kept disintegrating. 

And so, I sought to find a FRAME; something that removes the physicality of the disintegrating wood so that it invites you to stare hungrily at the beautiful grain, to run your fingers as close to the plank as it is, as close as can be, yet without the distracting physicality of the wood.

And this was achieved by embedding a plank in polyester resin.

We are reminded of amber fossils; a million-year process that enables us to hold insects and creatures in our hand we would otherwise be unlikely to touch.

Thus, I present FRAME. Staying true to material, history, and function, FRAME literally frames the wooden plank in a way that allows you to sit on the plank and behold its raw beauty.