Ramiro Diaz- Granados introduces Zoe Coombes and David Boira of Commonwealth. He argues that their work is well known and well published, but their name, their work is very different from the slicker names of other young firms. Their work suggests a critique of designers that apply the same formal desires at every scale. They combine classical ideas of organization with baroque effects.

Coombes and Boira describe being fascinated by SCI-Arc since being students at Columbia University. They discuss their work as a struggle between the pursuit of perfection and the pursuit of excess and dirtiness. When starting their firm they chose to combine their studio with a gallery space as well as a space for a large mill, allowing them to continue to work experimentally and physically. “Tropism,” a project done in collaboration with artist Joshua Davis, came out of their desire go outside of the digital realm to work with materials that have a longer historical lineage.

Coombes and Boira cite Naoto Fukasawa and Jasper Morrison’s exhibition “Super Normal,” as exemplifying the kind of mastery of simple objects they seek. Describing a line of simple lamp designs, they relate how quickly projects became complicated when trying to resolve the details. Their Lard furniture also strives for balance between control and excess by using simple containers filled with lard-like surfaces. A flooring project called “Fleshless” simulates the sensation of a thin skin, and exploits the tension between digital form and the natural dynamics of plywood.

Coombes and Boira discuss their Headspace project for MOMA, New York, in which they worked with scent designers to analyze and emulate the scent profile of a 100-year old piece of wood, working with a translated data set that rated the wood’s aroma in such categories as 99% masculine and 98% therapeutic. Their Morfinas project is a set of bronze door handles which they explore voluptuousness.