In collaboration with local bicycle manufacturer Mariposa, Fig40 has created a three-legged stool that perfectly captures their own design philosophy

By Gregory Furgala for Design Lines Magazine
Photography by Walter Lai
A conversation with Klaus Nienkämper Sr. helped Lee Fletcher, an industrial designer and co-founder of Fig40, to clarify his approach to design. The long-time furniture manufacturer told Fletcher that he didn’t like the Aeron chair, a lauded classic. Its hard edges knocked against tables – occasionally those from Nienkämper’s own collection – causing dents and damage.
Fletcher’s takeaway from this conversation with the manufacturing great: design needs to be neighbourly; things must interact well with other things. Add to that approachability and elementality (or “engagingness” and material composition) and you’ve got Fig40’s philosophy – three pillars, like a simple stool. Terence Woodside, Fletcher’s partner in Fig40, agrees, but articulates it with an engineer’s brevity: “Everything can be better.”
Dede Barry

Dede Barry is a Silver medallist from the 2004 Athens Olympics and multiple medallist of World, National and Pan-American Championships. She is now an owner of Mariposa Bicycles and continues to ride her bike daily in and around Toronto and guides cycling tours internationally.