sawadee design, Berlin, Germany

Sawadee Design Biography

Christian Friedrich founded Sawadee Design and has been joined by Jorn Harald Neubauer, a sculptor, during the last two years.

Christian Friedrich is a self-taught designer who started working with heavy floorboards and unusual timber in 1987 while he was living in Amsterdam. When he returned to Berlin he started creating timeless furniture out of Berlin city trees. Sawadee designs work the objects out of the massive logs instead of constructing them from separate pieces of wood. They use large trees that have either been damaged in storms or felled to make space for development. They call their trees, ?city timber?.

The trees are unique because they have urban features and are more interesting than the evenly cut planks from a saw mill. Every object is fine sanded and has an extremely plain surface. They want to show that old timber can be put to good use and that it is not always necessary to fall healthy trees. They manufacture individual products for private customers, restaurants, galleries and public spaces.