Mike Farruggia is kind of a Renaissance man. He drives a taxi in San Francisco. He's ridden a motorcycle through the Himalayas. He's studied journalism and design. He's an artist and a sculptor. And he designs furniture, some funky, and some just beautiful, like his Allegra Chairs, shown here.

Farruggia was written up in the Chron a couple of years ago. The article quoted Ruth Braunstein, owner of SF's Braunstein/Quay Gallery: "I loved the color of the (Allegra) chairs, their simplicity and directness...They have a cheerful quality about them." She bought four.

In 2005 Farruggia was a resident artist at the SF Recycling & Disposal's Artist in Residence Program, which we wrote about here.

Farruggia at the Artist in Residence show. More of the furniture and art he produced during his residency is shown here

The Plywood Rocker is made from a single sheet of 1/2-inch marine ply

A stainless steel medallion on top of the Light Table is the "switch" for a 3-way light dimmer inside

Farruggia works on a commission basis. You can contact him here.