Photography by Scott Norsworthy
“Woodman, spare that tree! Touch not a single bough! In youth it sheltered me, and I’ll protect it now.” PurParket’s booth for this year’s IDS exemplified a back-to-nature trend, demonstrated by George Pope Morris’s famous poem, which pervaded the show. The booth stimulated the tactile and visual senses with its contrast of rough versus smooth materials, pitting—from a wood-joinery standpoint—fois gras against offal. The rift-cut oak veneer cladding of the wood-flooring manufacturer’s booth makes one ponder how they made those seamlessly smooth radiused edges at the corners of the capsule-shaped floor plate (is their secret sauce a bladder press?). Upon entry from the two access points, guests are greeted by the contrasting textures of a display wall of raw wood logs, and integrated product offerings seemingly pried right out of the tree. In turn, these parallel inner log walls act as stockade fences wrapping an inner sanctum. In this quiet contemplation zone, visitors can sit on tree-stump stools arrayed around a faux campfire. Bring out the s’mores.