Pia and Sam Aren't Screwin' Around

Pia Narula and Sam Devenport, the co-founders of 57th St. Design, have always had a passion for furniture. Their goal has been to deliver extremely functional pieces whose form is also purposeful. Since their start in 2016, their repertoire has grown to over 30 products with the Linnea Shelving System on the way. All of their furniture is made in Chicago with the exception of the Linnea Bookshelf which is currently produced through Opendesk, a local manufacturing platform. The large shelving unit is available on Opendesk and they are implementing changes to the design for their store edition.

The creators backgrounds have strongly attributed to their work. Pia lived in England, London, and Bahrain while culturing her philosophy on design. She developed the belief that her furniture should be sustainable and represent strong social principles. She pursued her passion at the University of Chicago where she met Sam. Sam was introduced to woodworking by his father who owns 57th Street Bookcase, the hardwood company that brings to life his and Pia’s designs. Sam’s designs are similar to his father’s style - contemporary and clean. Surrounded by furniture his whole life, Sam realized that companies were trading quality for cost, leaving no barriers to entry for a small quality furniture shop. He and Pia were part of the Polsky Exchange at the University of Chicago, a platform for innovative students to receive outsider resources and knowledge. This platform and the opening in the market is what allowed them to pursue their creative endeavors.

The process for creating Linnea was actually not considered very creative by Pia. I spoke briefly with her on the phone and she said “I had no idea of what the product would look like”, only that she wanted to be able to construct it without screws and tools. Pia did not consider herself creative, but instead said that she and Sam just applied traditional concepts to a modern design. I beg to differ, for they used several creative processes without realizing it. With implicit cognition, Pia used the aid of conceptual combination, as discussed in the Smith and Ward article, to create something new out of old processes for the contemporary lifestyle. Additionally, since Pia and Sam design together they are constantly involved in collaborative cognition. Most of their creative processes are deliberate and analytical, rather than insightful, but they are nonetheless creative.

All of their designs are modern but the Linnea Shelving System is different in its construction. It’s not IKEA’s version of “easy assembly” which consists of directions without words, easy-to-lose tools, and broken parts. It's traditional joinery cuts enable construction with just two hands and easy transport when disassembled. Pia said that “if we could use traditional joinery, the resulting design would be that much more elegant, and would better reflect our brand, which draws heavily from the craft tradition.” Linnea reflects their desire for durable products that can conform to their customers specifications and dynamic lifestyles.