Pie Safe Birch, Aluminum, Red Stain 1070 x 585 x 782 mm Jeff Hohner, 2001 This piece is an anachronism. Not because it echos the style of Shaker furniture, but because few people bake their own pies today. Designing a pie safe was really just an excuse of mine to use round aluminum soffit vents in a piece of furniture. I found the vents at the hardware store and liked their clean, sophisticated geometry. Simple, functional, refined: the vents made me think of Shaker furniture. Being the practical and technological folk they were, I like to think that the Shakers might have put these vents to use in a similar way, had they been available in their day. For today's kitchen, this piece can function as a work surface against a wall or as an island. I designed it to similar dimensions as an enamel-topped table that I use as an island in my own kitchen.

designs & images © Jeff Hohner