The Both/And Box is a piece of furniture that functions more as a question than an answer by balancing oppositional forces in relation to use, orientation, geometric order and material finish. Inset doors are located in both the ‘front’ and ‘back,’ creating a double-sided condition that liberates the cabinet from standard applications. There is no one logical orientation in a room, but rather a multiplicity of possibilities. This situation is further exacerbated by a circular aperture that both divides and extends the interior spatial logic. It can frame views. It can highlight objects of art. It can store things, or not. This functional fluidity celebrates concepts of contradiction and ambiguity embraced in the design practices of Gio Ponti and Venturi Scott Brown.

Woodworking techniques such as inlay, splining, and mortise and tenon joinery are aestheticized through the integration of white oak and walnut wood species. The placement of these details question geometric order and the dichotomy between symmetry and asymmetry by employing both organizational systems across multiple planes and axes. The project also seeks to question established hierarchies within architecture and it’s construction through oppositional material finishes. The cabinet top, composed entirely of hardwood, showcases fine detailing and a polished finish, while the steel base, which literally supports the cabinet top is left “unfinished,” with CNC waterjet rust dust, welding hot spots and ground-down edges left exposed.