Shaker stuff

Hi-- Jahnavi did a post about Shaker furniture, and I thought I'd add a link to my trip two years ago to a Shaker village in Massachusetts.

Frank Lloyd Wright June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959

Frank Lloyd Wright was already well-know during his lifetime but it 1991 Wright was recognized as "the greatest American architect of all time" by the American Institute of Architects. During Wright's life he designed more than 1,000 projects in witch more then 500 were completed. Wright liked to use organic architecture witch is center around the idea that there should be a harmony between human habitation and the natural world through design. this can be seen in Wright's work Fallingwater. Fallingwater is listed among Smithsonian's Life List of 28 places "to visit before you die."

Although Frank Lloyd Wright was best known for his architecture Wright was also an accomplished interior designer. Wright would often design furniture for each one of his buildings. like his buildings Wright liked his furniture to be organic. By this i mean he felt that the furnishings should be integrated organically with the space it was designed for. Wright believed that "Every chair must be designed for the building it will be in,"
Below is a picture of one of his best known chair designs.








This chair was made for the Wingspread house, designed for Herbert Johnson. This particular chair is made of cherrywood. The seat is leather. As you can see the curvature of the building is replicated in the curves of the chair making them a perfect match. I find this idea of organic design interesting and will keep it in mind when I design my table.

Charles and Ray Eames

After checking out some of their chairs, I started reading about the husband and wife designer team, Charles and Ray Eames. I had seen chairs of theirs without knowing who designed them. Although the couple were active from the 30's through the 80's, the easiest way I can think of describing their chairs is retro or a 1960's mod design. Honestly, when I see chairs like theirs, the first things that come to mind are an apartment scene from the movie "A Clockwork Orange" and the furniture store Ikea. The movie was filmed in 1971 and was set in a late 1960's version of a futuristic London. This explains why I associated Eames' mod chairs with a movie they probably weren't even filmed in. Also, I was so sure I had seen their chairs at Ikea, that I googled it. Turns out there's a few articles about getting Eames knockoffs at Ikea. This one for instance: Knock It Off.

The influence of science and new technology were evident in their exhibition Mathematica: A World of Numbers...and Beyond at the California Museum of Science and Industry, their movie Powers of Ten, described on IMDB(Internet Movie Database) as a “scientific film essay”, their extensive work with IBM, and by the use of new building methods and materials in furniture. Ray's study of abstract art and the couple's interest in science also come across in the fascinating shapes of some of their chairs (especially those from the 50's and 60's). The chairs are very simple but have biomorphic shapes. Modern for their time, the chairs utilize molded plywood and plastics.

The Eames' believed they could improve the lives of people by making functional furniture/art that did not sacrifice expression and design. They even worked with the government to spread their art to the masses. Ultimately, the main attraction for me is this integration of function and design.

Because of all this research now I want these with a Ray Eames design pattern. :)

btw-please let me know if anything is inaccurate or doesn't make sense. thanks

Sam Maloof (1916 - 2009)

I did some research about Sam Maloof. The characteristics of his furniture look to be organic curves, classic elements and direct joins. Direct joining seems to be something he uses frequently and to great effect.

The main influences on his designs seem to be function and form, his designs evolved from classic furniture and his main goal is to create pieces that are pleasing to look at and use.

Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956)

From what I could find on Josef Hoffman, he seemed to be one of those Modernist architects and furniture makers who also worked in the realm of art as well. He was known for his architecture, as well as his heavy use of squares.

Hoffman did a lot of houses, and appears to be known for chairs. He also did domestic furniture, some of which are still in use today. For example, his design for an armchair, the Kubus Armchair is still reproduced today. That armchair is very modern, which straight lines, and follows his tradition of heavily using squares.

Interestingly, he seems to have started his career creating installation spaces for a group of artists to which he belonged to.

George Nakashima and Nature

George Nakashima was describes by Janet Purcell from the Area Guide as “He was a spiritual man who cared about the soul of a tree and believed that a woodworker owed a sacrificed tree a noble life as a useful, beautiful object. He believed that each plank cut from a tree had only one ideal use and it is the woodworker’s responsibility to find that use and shape the wood to realize its true potential.”

His woodworks reflect his strong spiritual believes as well as his work ethic of traditional Japanese - discipline and patience, striving for perfection in every stage of construction. His woodworking design was typically “his large-scale tables made of large wood slabs with smooth tops but unfinished natural edges, consisting of multiple slabs connected with butterfly joints." They are simple and aesthetically remarkable.

Shaker Simplicity

Hi all--

This is my attempt at research blog entry #1. Hopefully this is more or less how it ought to be done.....

I have to admit to not having been familiar with most of the names on the list we had to start out with, so my first step was to go online and look at whole bunch of images to help me figure out who and/or what I was drawn to. Much of the work was too fancy and frilly, or too modern looking, or too sculptural to appeal to me. I like my furniture and woodwork in general to be sturdy, functional, and simple. So naturally I gravitated toward the Shaker furniture.

The lovely bare-bones designs of Shaker style furniture were based in religious belief. I came across phrases such as "God is in the details", "beauty rests in utility", and "simplicity is the embodiment of purity and unity"-- tenants of the Shaker religion attributed to Mother Ann Lee that can be clearly seen reflected in Shaker craft. This write-up here gave a nice overview, as did this one from furniture styles.net. This piece from woodworkersinstitute.com got a bit more technical and led me to an intriguing look at oil finishes but what I really want to do now is to go get a few actual paper books to read on the subject. My interest is piqued....

I tried to upload the picture down here but I've no idea how to use this blog site and it put them at the top and I really don't know why or how to move them. But these are from an antique dealer's site, supposed to be the genuine, old article (some of the new stuff in the same general style is a bit prettier...). Note the dovetail joints, which are apparently a hallmark of Shaker construction.

Right. That's all. Thanks for reading,

Jahnavi