Bringing an outsider’s perspective into the furniture industry, Richie Duncan began his career as a civil and structural engineer before taking the leap into furniture design.

After several years of owning his own engineering company, Richie moved from the United States to South America where he became interested in natural building methods and alternative materials. Working with organic resources, such as clay and straw, he fell in love with the possibilities that came from organic structures and shapes. Taking inspiration from natural curves and forms, he found himself gravitating toward the tranquility of organic design. In particular, he was fascinated by zomes—geodesic structures with forms taken straight from nature.

Using his structural engineering background, Richie set to work recreating these architectural marvels. In the earliest iterations, his zomes utilized a concrete foundation and, while traditional zomes incorporate the use of a foundation, he sought something more creative. After several early prototypes, he came to the solution: remove the base altogether and hang the structure instead.

From here his first hanging zome was born. Inspired by his love of nature, his first suspended design focused on crafting a decorative tomato trellis. Driven by his love of engineering and form, he took his first design and scaled it up. It wasn’t long before he found himself climbing inside his first six foot hanging zome with his cup of morning coffee. To his delight, his drink did not spill! A testament to the calming motion of our hanging pendulums.

Richie currently lives in Portland, OR with his wife and daughter.