Douglas Fanning

Douglas Fanning is an architect and designer based in Red Hook, Brooklyn, whose practice bridges architecture and collectible furniture through a rigorous exploration of structure, material, and proportion. Trained at Columbia University and shaped by decades of experience in fabrication and prototyping, Fanning approaches furniture-making through architectural principles, with steel and bronze as his primary media. Drawn to the expressive potential of bare materials, his work challenges gravity and expectation, transforming weight into visual lightness through cantilevered forms and refined construction. Often described as “tough beauty,” his pieces balance strict minimalism with subtle organic movement, revealing both technical mastery and emotional resonance. By pushing the boundaries of material and physics, Fanning creates works that feel powerful, precise, and quietly poetic.