Allegorical Furnishings

Chicago designer Lee Weitzman says his Pandora’s Box, a cabinet on legs featuring a geometric configuration with two drawers and two doors, was intended to surprise and amuse. “People look at the piece but it’s not really apparent what it is at first,” he says, “After spending some time with it, though, everyone walks away with a smile.” He’d like to expand the ideas in the piece to other applications—dressers, credenzas, desks. The architectonic finesse and fine finishing of some luxury casegoods occasionally create the sense that the pieces aren’t trying to be utilitarian objects but works of art. And while you might be tempted to draw this conclusion about Pandora’s Box, Weitzman would caution you against doing so. “You really have to be careful to strike the right balance between art and utility,” he says. “Design is the main thing we’re interested in. Everything else is just an add-on.”