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May 10, 2004 Hauptman Products Inc. Officially Launches reSeat jonas@jonashauptman.com (215) 681-6747 www.jonashauptman.com For Immediate Release: Hauptman Products Inc. is pleased to announce that after a painstaking two-year process of design, R+D, and prototyping, we have finally begun full production of the reSeat Collection. We are pleased to debut a selection from the spring line of production pieces for the 2004 Collection at the ICFF Trade Show taking place in New York City from May 15 –18, 2004. The Prototypes were first exhibited in NYC at the Chelsea Hotel and at the B-side exhibitions last May 2003. Since then, the reSeat Lounge has been published and exhibited both nationally and internationally. The reSeat Line includes a full range of seating options for the contract and retail user including: Lounge and Ottoman, LoLounge, Café Chair, Barstool and Track Seating.
HPI’s Mission:
Hauptman Products Inc. was founded in 2000 with a mission to wholesale and retail our own socially responsible products. HPI focuses on the design, development and manufacture of products that support healthy lifestyles and places at affordable prices. With this initiative, Jonas Hauptman, CEO and Design Director, set out to make HPI's ideals a reality. From day one our goal has been to create all of our own products in house, from conception to inception, in the hopes that by engaging in a complete entrepreneurial process we are better able to optimize the potential for a growing green design and manufacturing consumer audience and marketplace.
Manufacturing Method & Design Inspiration:
In 2002, while researching and developing a recycled cardboard chair, we discovered a technology that we believed could grow into a product line fulfilling our mission for an economical green process. While closely observing the practices of the packaging industry, seeing them as a great source for what was ordinarily considered wasted raw materials, we discovered a reconstituted wood manufacturing process that is used to produce shipping pallets. The material used in the crate is a hybrid of characteristics with the structural integrity that surpasses similarly dimensioned plywood and formability comparable to plastics. We saw this material process as a great inspiration, and have subsequently put a similar sustainable manufacturing process to work in order to produce our product line.
Roots:
Although his formal company only took shape in the last two years, Hauptman has been object-making for over ten years. He received formal training at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he received a BFA in Sculpture in 1994, and advanced interdisciplinary training in Metal Smithing, Architecture and Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art, completing an MFA in 2000. Since 1994, Hauptman has spent much time designing and crafting a variety of projects ranging from furniture designs, to hand crafted iron works and multi-use low-income loft interiors. For the past two years he has also been pursuing an academic face to his career, teaching and lecturing at a variety of institutions including Southern California Institute of Architecture, Otis college of Art and Design (Environmental Design Dept.), and the University of Michigan, where he will be a Fellow in Architecture and Urban Planning beginning August 2004. Made in America:
In an interest to produce a product of the highest quality with a minimum of environmental impact and by fairly paid workers, we have chosen to keep all production of our furniture in United States. In fact, about 75% of the work is done within HPI’s own workshops, in support of our mission and business plan. Through self-manufacturing, another form of R+D evolves to inform future products. This is already evident in the development of reSeat MSP and Palmstrate, which are currently being exhibited at Sustainable Living in .
Green Manufacturing:
ReSeat is a wooden shell made from a composite of reconstituted North American Aspen Tree flakes and a formaldehyde free adhesive system. Aspen is a fast growing tree planted, harvested and replanted. By using American hard wood, we avoid deforestation of the rainforest. We use Aspen specifically because it is plentiful and grows from root suckers, meaning it is immediately self-regenerating. Because of the process we use for manufacturing, we get more structurally efficient parts. As a result, not only do we need less wood in the beginning of the process, but also in the end, less flaked wood is required. As opposed to producing dimensional lumber boards or veneer, which at best is able to recover about 70% of the tree as usable wood for manufacturing, we get nearly all of the log processed into our final product.
These practices are in keeping with the suggested protocol for responsible forest stewardship, as endorsed by the Rain Forest Relief and the National Resource Defense Council. Currently, we are working to advance one step further to become chain of custody certified by the forest stewardship council. We will do so as soon as we receive a large enough contract order to off set the enormous cost of certification.
R+D for Future Products:
ReSeat Municipal Seating Product - a transportation and waiting area solution geared for the NYC Parks and Transit Market, in hopes of replacing the use of Brazilian rainforest hardwood with our reSeat MSP, which we will begin prototyping at the University of Michigan this Fall.
Palmstrate - a composite of palm foliage made from 95% Southern California green waste and 5%, a soy-based adhesive. We will use it to produce reSeat MSP, hopefully to be put into production by early 2006.
Where to find us:
During ICFF May 15-18:
242 Wythe Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11211
The Importance of Being EarnestMay 15- June 15 Reception May 17, 7-10pm On the Web:
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