-Aaron Betsky, Curator of Architecture and Design, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Within one year of Bravo 20's 1996 opening, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art acquired four of designer/owner Eric Pfeiffer's pieces for its permanent collection: Stacking Boxes, Wired Boxes, Pants File and Elliptical Table. Wired Boxes is on display in the museum's "Eames and Beyond" exhibition through July, 1997. Museum Director Jack Lane also selected Pfeiffer's Rail Table for his office. During the same year, Pfeiffer was tapped to design furnishings and fixtures for The Gap's flagship store in Japan and sold many pieces to private collectors and designers.

Now twenty-seven years old, Pfeiffer began designing furniture while an undergraduate in landscape architecture at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, and continued during graduate school at Rhode Island School of Design. Returning to San Francisco, he set up a small studio and continued designing furniture and refining his approach while working for various design firms. By the time he opened Bravo 20, his approach was more defined. "My work is about process and refinement. I use reduction to express the directness and purity of the materials I use."

Responding to the San Francisco vernacular of small flats and living quarters, Pfeiffer has created several suitable pieces. One of the most popular is Stacking Boxes, a set of four stacked, rotating boxes whose handsome punched-through holes are finger-sized for easy lifting. "I was always moving boxes of books from living space to living space," Pfeiffer explains. Similarly, his beautifully designed plywood and stainless steel 007 Sofa, which quickly converts into a truly comfortable bed, was a reaction to endless nights on futons in small urban spaces.

Pfeiffer's Chalkboard Table harkens back to his childhood in Los Gatos, CA. His mother, a working artist, made artistic activity central to the family's life and it wasn't uncommon for everyone to sit around the table drawing, making and talking. The table is designed to encourage this kind of interaction and also appeals to his desire to tweak taboos.

Humor and whimsicality abound in Pants Filing Cabinet and Tie Catalogue, both created for The Gap's Tokyo store, and in the eminently practical Bent Ply Stand, again designed for the urban dweller who desires flexibility and style.

While Pfeiffer's work is fresh and witty, it is also timeless and elegant. His choice of materials and unerring design sense result in simple, collectible pieces which will stand the tests of time and wear. Again quoting from Aaron Betsky,

Someone who can create something as engaging and funny as the Pants Filing Cabinet and who can create something as strange yet practical as the stacking boxes, has my vote.