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Quite An Odyssey

Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 1/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

After dropping out of law school in Los Angeles, Thomas Bina went to Indonesia to find himself. Instead, he found his craft: making furniture by hand. He then returned to L.A. and established Eclexion Design, later renamed Environment Furniture. His deconstructivist frames exuded a just-sawn immediacy. Literally cutting-edge— where reclaimed Brazilian hardwoods were concerned—his work was sustainable before it was chic.

Ever the entrepreneur, Bina has moved on again, this time to a collaboration with his old friend Brett Hatton, a Brit who'd founded the furnishings importer and manufacturer Four Hands after his own coming-of-age trip to South Asia. The company now has an independent brand, called simply Bina, launched with 85 pieces.

Walnut and white oak mix with eight South American hardwoods, all reclaimed and in the raw. "There are so many applications for reclaimed wood," Bina says. Screws and nails are supplanted by dovetail, tongue-and-groove, and mortise-and-tenon joints. Artful frames snub symmetry in the Page cocktail table, made from telephone-pole wood; the Oscar table and Greta console, both in louro preto and canafistula; and the Adrian dresser, an amalgamation of four exotic species. Repurposed canvas, which once served as tarps for Brazilian trucking, upholsters the seating. Available in eight colorways. 866-654-9433; fourhands.com. circle 407