Biography
John
Dunnigan is a designer, maker and educator. His work has been shown in over 100 exhibitions, including ten
solo exhibitions, and included in several private and public collections such as
the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the National Museum of American Art at
the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Dunnigan’s furniture has been included in dozens of publications such as
the New York Times, Newsweek and The Boston Globe. His work has also been featured in books and
catalogues such as New American Furniture. He is a partner in DEZCO furniture design llc, a company dedicated to
sustainable practices in design for mass production. Dunnigan has been a member of the
faculty at RISD in the Departments of Industrial Design, Interior Architecture
and Furniture Design and previously served as Interim Dean of the
Division of Architecture and Design. He is currently the
Head of the Department of Furniture Design.
Academic Research/Areas of Interest
Practice
Based Research: Designing and making furniture through Dunnigan Studio. See exhibitions.
Design
Research: Designing furniture for mass-production that promotes environmentally
friendly sustainable manufacturing and responsible business practices through
partnership in Dezco furniture design llc. See Sage Collection.
Scholarship:
Researching and teaching the history of furniture design through lectures and
publication. See:
Entries on Lilly Reich and
Charlotte Perriand, Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History,
Oxford University Press, 2008.
Phaidon Design Classics,
Phaidon Press, 2007, Vols 1-3, entries 035,254,262,371,418,505,534,597,881.
“Undercover: On Upholstered
Furniture”, Gallery NAGA, Boston, MA 2005.
“Understanding Furniture”, Studio Furniture,
The Furniture Society 1999.
“A History of Bentwood”, RISD Museum of Art,
Providence, RI, 1984.