When they founded BassamFellows in 2003, Australian architect Craig Bassam and U.S. creative director Scott Fellows took a clear stance on the value of American design. They wanted to merge modernism and authentic craftsmanship in a philosophy they call Craftsman Modern. Their goal was to create a holistic brand using the best construction techniques and finest materials for products ranging from
minimalist furniture to fashion accessories. The brand made its debut at the 2003 Milan Furniture Fair with the iconic
BassamFellows Tractor Stool in solid walnut, combining architectural rigour with a handcrafted vibe. Since then, in addition to its own products, BassamFellows has collaborated with other brands like Herman Miller, Geiger Textiles, Bally, involving some of the world's best artisans. The company also undertakes residential, hospitality and commercial architecture projects that investigate the potential of integration and the relationships between interiors and exteriors.
BassamFellows furniture inspired by the great masters
After working together at the Swiss fashion house Bally, Craig Bassam and Scott Fellows founded their company to bring the crafts tradition back to its essence. They wanted to create a new concept in American luxury, moving away from the do-it-yourself world towards a new way of collaborating with industrial production. Theirs is an elegant and contemporary design, durable in its materials and taste, characterised by manual artisanship that never falls into a rustic trope. Agricultural machinery inspired the tractor stool, presented at the Salone del Mobile in Milan in 2003. Over the years, the company has added small and large pieces of furniture to its collection, including desks, sun loungers, trays and chests of drawers, all made from natural, high-quality materials like wood, oxidised brass and leather.
Architecture is a constant source of inspiration for BassamFellows, starting with Philip Johnson's Schlumberger Administration Building, transformed into its headquarters after extensive renovation. A visit to Louis Kahn's Exeter Library led to the
Spindle chair's reinterpretation in the Shaker style. The spindles and legs' minimal thicknesses are accentuated by replacing wood supports with metal ones, making the solid wood backrest and seat seem like two floating surfaces.
Another master, Charles Eames, inspired the
Petal 3D plywood chair. His experiments with curved wood led the creatives to work with a 3D wood printing technique to obtain an innovative and ecological chair available at a democratic price. The
Geometric collection celebrates the formal purity of the Wiener Werkstätte and the Bauhaus. This family of chairs, tables, lounge chairs, sofas and daybeds transforms cold-rolled tubular steel into shapes that sustain the horizontal planes of a seat or table, achieving a poetic appearance marked by extreme lightness and suspension.
Modernism and crafts: Craftsman Modern by BassamFellows
Nature is an essential source of inspiration for BassamFellows. The shape of a small pebble encountered on a walk around Cape Cod gave rise to the idea for the
Pebble seating collection of chairs, stools and a wooden armchair with an organic and sculptural appearance that can adapt to any context. Despite its simple appearance, Pebble is the fruit of a complex design process. The
Asymmetric sofa is undoubtedly among the most significant BassamFellows pieces. Conceived by Craig Bassam for his personal study, it is suitable for work and moments of reflection and relaxation. The Asymmetric collection consists of sofas in three sizes, a corner sofa, a chaise longue and a pouffe. The compositions of the back and armrests create different effects in relation to surrounding space, although the dominant dimension is always horizontal. Designed to fit into corners, between the sofa modules or as free-standing elements, three solid walnut tables from the
Asymmetric Table series complete the collection.
BassamFellows for sale on the Archiproducts shop
Buy the tables, chairs, stools, armchairs and sofas from the American brand
BassamFellows on the Archiproducts shop
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