CITYist

Tim Byrne looks in the mud for inspiration. Out of the mud behind shuttered factories, he’ll pull his material: discarded machinery. Cast iron gear cranks and supports will be married to wood or glass to create tables and benches. In the ultimate act of post-industrial repurposing, Byrne creates contemporary furniture from yesterday’s debris.

The metal pieces are mainly found in Pennsylvania mills and New England textile factories. Byrne searches for the right industrial element to transform into a functional piece of furniture, a process that generally takes a month of work in the shop. Every nut and bolt is taken out of the cast iron piece and cleaned, causing centuries of smog and factory filth to disappear.

Next comes the surface: rare African rosewood finished so smoothly it radiates a nearly holographic sheen, or a thick sheet of glass. Many of the tables contain fully functioning gears and are adjustable in height. With his innovative methods, the Irish born and bred Byrne feels he’s crafting the American dream. We’d have to agree.