**Interviews have been slightly edited for flow and brevity**
- Tell us your name, and what you do?
My name is Paul Kruger and I make high end, sustainable, custom furniture from fallen trees and reclaimed wood.
- What corner of NYC is most conducive to your creativity? Why?
Brooklyn Army Terminal. It’s the location of my shop and also the NYC ferry stop that takes me to the shop. I get some of my best thinking done on that boat.
- Your most interesting recent PRODUCT design project?
Currently I’m working on an oxidized gray elm liquid glass table. The glass runs down the center of the live edge slabs and gets inlaid flush. I love how the oxidization process can bring out things in the wood that you couldn’t see before. It literally changes the fibers of the wood, unlike stain that just covers up the grain.
- In this moment — climate, pandemic, other factors — one key way you see sustainability shaping your field?
When people order a furniture piece from me, they are making a statement in their homes or businesses — that sustainable design is important and beautiful. People more and more understand that this is the only path to the future.
- In your practice, one concrete change you’ve made to further sustainability?
It’s not so much a change as the founding principle. “Reuse before we destroy.” This is not only our company mantra, but how we make design decisions and select material. We always look for ways to turn so-called imperfections into ways to feature a furniture piece’s inherent character.
- From what/who are you finding inspiration at this time?
Honestly, Instagram. We can’t really travel or explore design shows and galleries as much so having the world of design right at home or anywhere works well at this time.
- NYC has spent some time on pause, but we never stopped celebrating it as a vibrant breeding ground for creativity and innovation. Who is an emerging talent in PRODUCT design in NYC that we should be watching?
Eun-Jin Kim: An amazing woodworker and friend. Her work and what she does with wood always inspires me.
- Tell us something funny.
If a tree falls in the woods… you can bet there’s a hipster who has heard of it before no one else did.
Learn more at the Design Days event by Fallen Industry HERE.
Lighting Interviews produced in partnership with mebl | Transforming Furniture
