There was plenty to catch the eye at this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York, which celebrated its 24th year “on the frontier of design”. One ICFF Editor’s Award in the garden table and chairs category went to Oakland-based designer Eric Pfeiffer working in collaboration with Frisco-based brand, Council, for their Plank collection. The series of lounges, tables and stacking chairs are beautifully simple and unusual because they’re made from Perrenial Wood, which is a new material made in the USA. Pfeiffer mentioned in an interview with Dwell that the line was inspired by classic Adirondack architecture, combined with strains of mid-century design; although its minimalism is distinctly contemporary as well. The trademarked Perrennial Wood is treated Southern pine that Council started experimenting with when Eastman Chemical Company approached them about collaborating on an outdoor collection. The wood is used for products that are required to endure and, according to Eastman, it has been “modified to resist changes from moisture, such as shrinking, swelling and movement”. As for the Plank collection, it includes tables, armchairs and colourful summer stacking high-backs made with powder-coated, steel-rod bases. Constructed from what Pfeiffer calls “beautiful, humble material”, the collection is quite a change from other hardwoods and teaks on display. Not available for the outdoor market at the moment, the pieces are handmade, unique and hark back to a time when furniture was made to last. The fact that the material is a renewable resource and treated with organic compounds is in keeping with a trend that came up again and again during this year’s ICFF. Filled with displays of hand-crafted goods, the fair seemed to celebrate a move away from mass-produced furniture, and the Plank Collection joined the brains behind Studio Dunn and Bernhardt Design to celebrate the beauty of craft - long may it last!