Jennifer June

Loose Parts is a modular furniture system hand-crafted by Jennifer June. It was born out of the belief that humans are natural builders and inspired by adhoc furniture assemblies found on the streets of New York.

Loose Parts’ mission is to design sustainable and creative opportunities for people to engage with their interiors and the objects that fill their lives. With the goal of ultimately reducing furniture landfill waste, encouraging reuse, and inspiring individual acts of agency.

As a kid, what did you answer when asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Growing up I wanted to be an artist. But I didn’t really know what that looked like. All my favorite artists were painters, and I was more interested in sculpture and what I would now consider installation art. So as a teenager that manifested into wanting to own a café. I even applied to culinary school. I think I just wanted to create spaces for people.

Which designer and/or piece of work inspires you? Why?
Ilse Crawford inspires me. Her interior work as it relates to human health and well-being is so important, especially when you consider the amount of time we spend indoors. And I appreciate her insistence that design is not a noun but rather a verb. To me it means that design is alive, it isn’t dictatorial but rather serves the needs of people.

How would you describe your design philosophy?
Iterative. Design is about experimentation, exploration, and ongoing development of an idea. Again, it goes back to this belief that design is alive. That it exists within a dynamic environment and because of that its purpose is constantly changing. It’s exciting to continually revisit a material or a system or a process of production to see what new things can be learned. I think that’s the great privilege of being a designer.

Give us some context about where you live: How long you’ve been there and how does it influence your work?
I live 10 minutes outside of downtown Hudson in Upstate New York. My home, built in 1850, sits within a valley surrounded by biodynamic farms. It’s heavenly. I’m a two-hour train ride from New York City and yet I regularly watch deer wander through my yard.

I’ve been here full time for about 2 years, and I wouldn’t say that living upstate has influenced my work so much as NYC has. I’m so inspired by how New Yorkers inhabit public space. From street vendors and their ad hoc storefronts to the way people hold court on the sidewalk as if it’s their living room, using fire hydrants, building steps, tree guards as furniture. No one thing serves a single purpose, and I love that.

Was there a moment when you realized you wanted to be a designer? If so, what was it?
My background is in art. I studied printmaking at the Oregon College of Art and Craft (OCAC) in Portland, where I discovered the works of William Morris and Soetsu Yanagi, as well as the Mingei movement. It’s through that lens that I became interested in design. I saw design as a way to combine artistry with functionality, creating objects and experiences that are both beautiful and useful in people’s lives.

What are your favorite materials with which to work? Why?
It’s no surprise, but my favorite material to work with is wood. There is so much variation in one material. I imagine working with stone is similar. And since working with reclaimed timber I really appreciate the history it connects me to. I like thinking about the carpenter before me who might have hand hewn the beam I mill my rails from. It’s like I’m part of a lineage of makers, each finding inspiration in this one material.

What piece of advice do you wish someone had given you at the start of your career?
Find a mentor. It’s easy to get into your own head and foolish to think that the problems you face are unique. Having a mentor provides perspective. It also helps you imagine where your business can go. When you start out it’s easy to be near sighted, you’re dealing with the problems right in front of you. But if you have a mentor, and maybe one in the same industry and more accomplished, it helps you image a future for your business. You have a roadmap of what’s possible, and you can choose to take that same path or rule it out and explore another.

What is the most pressing issue in the interior design field today?
Construction and demo debris account for over 30% of global waste production. The fact that interiors are used to reflect changing trends and aesthetic shifts inherently makes them more ephemeral than buildings themselves. Thus, interiors have a shorter lifespan making the industry’s impact on waste production even more acute. We must change this. Interiors, architecture, furniture design, they all need to incorporate more circular practices such as use of reclaimed materials, design for disassembly, design for longevity and use of regenerative materials.

What’s now?
This month, three friends and I launched Cinema Verdant, a roaming outdoor movie theater. I designed and built the courtyard setup, transforming a neglected space behind the Loose Parts studio into a secret garden with stadium seating, bollard lighting, and a concession stand, all made from salvaged materials. An old parachute became our curtains, and a broken marble slab serves as the concession stand surface. Our design approach, inspired by “site as quarry,” used only second-hand materials found within a 15-minute drive of the studio. It’s an exciting project because it demonstrates the potential for temporary, community-focused interventions using reclaimed materials and volunteer effort.

What’s next?
I’m currently working on a kitchen cabinet system that I plan on launching later this year. It’s a big undertaking requiring me to scale up my production. But I’m excited to bring these ideas of design for disassembly and circularity to the kitchen design space.

What is your favorite movie? And your favorite band or/and song?
Favorite movie:  Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger than Paradise . Honestly, anything by Jarmusch I love. His characters are so good!
Favorite Band is a tough one. I’ll just tell you what album I’m listening to right now: Electrelane’s The Power Out.

More about Loose Parts, HERE