David Krynauw’s Living Pods

WORDS Michaela Stehr

Award-winning Joburg-based furniture maker David Krynauw has designed a series of Living Pods – small, moveable and low-impact habitable spaces.

A space doesn’t have to be big to be beautiful, says David Krynauw. “Carefully considered and well-crafted design can add value to a small space. This permeates into the mind of the occupant which, in turn, creates a sense of wellbeing,” he explains.

Sitting lightly on the earth was top of mind when David set about designing his Living Pods. The task involved careful planning and conceptualising to create something eco-conscious, mobile and aesthetically pleasing. “Coming from a product design background, I’d like to think of the pods as large-scale furniture pieces,” he says.

“Each ‘piece’ is made for a specific application to suit its environment/space and specific requirements. It considers and interacts with its environment.”

David’s life-long experience with wood and its potential to be sustainable made it an obvious material choice. “To my mind it’s the best building material in the world,” he says. “I’m interested in the encapsulation of the entire value chain, so we take the timber from seedling to end product. The idea is to use the entire tree and the waste associated to keep it as close as possible to the original material.

“The Europeans have perfected this and it’s not really being done to full potential in South Africa. My aim is to change that. In theory, one could create a self-sustaining cycle with very limited external input in terms of materials and energy.”

Completely modular, collapsible and lightweight, each Living Pod is easy to assemble – making it the perfect option for remote and secluded locations out in nature, or on rooftops. “It can take anything from a few hours on a small structure to two weeks on a bigger building. This process is also enjoyable as seeing the structure pop up in a short amount of time is very rewarding.”

For more information, email david@davidkrynauw.com.