Modern Bamboo had an unlikely beginning with skateboards.
Modern Bamboo founder Anthony Marschak started working with
bamboo while looking for a new flexible material for skateboard decks.
By bending and gluing bamboo ply under pressure,
Marschak was able to create decks that easily weathered all the abuse
top skateboarders could dish out.
A Bay Area native with a degree in furniture design from California
College of the Arts, the now 26-year-old Marschak quickly
saw a crossover from skateboards to furniture. For five years he
experimented with harnessing the natural flexibility and strength
of bamboo while trying to minimize material waste in the production
process. While still in his research phase, Marschak met
Dan Smith of Smith & Fong Plyboo, one of the first companies to
market and manufacture bamboo for flooring in the
United States, starting in the early '90s.
"Anthony's furniture designs are significant," says Smith. "They are
beautiful, innovative and challenging. He is the only person
who has approached bamboo from its most significant characteristic
tensile strength. "
Because bamboo is technically a grass, not a wood, it grows very
quickly and is more sustainable than timber. Marschak traveled
to China with Smith to meet bamboo farmers and tour their "farms,"
plots set into steep hillsides. The best of these bamboo
crops is exported by Smith & Fong as Plyboo flooring and now, Modern
Bamboo furniture.
Marschak launched his company in 2006 with three designs he had
spent years developing Becca, Game Table, and Spring Chair.
"A chair is the hardest thing to design correctly," says Marschak, who
went through 11 prototypes as he revised his flagship piece
to contour and be comfortable to a variety of body types.
"Each piece in the range embodies functionality, detail and
craftsmanship," Marschak says. "My motivation has always been to
do it right. "
This commitment to high quality is a trademark of the Modern Bamboo
line. Marschak understands that the choices designers
make today will reverberate for decades. This mindfulness pervades
Modern Bamboo's design philosophy:
"Support sustainability without compromising comfort, luxury and
elegance. "
