Ordinary Project

 

The 'Ordinary Project' makes stunningly clean well designed hardwood furniture, it is small in production as they are concentrating on perfection. 

Matt Elton

Matt Elton's no glue no screws interlocking A frame collection has clean design, easy fabrication. It is a stylish range of furniture, perfect for someone who moves a lot made in white oak for Heals. Matt established his company in 2002 and it is based in Hackney, London.

Well Proven Chair by Marjan Van Aubel and Jamie Shaw

Material/ Product designer Marjan Van Aubel and furniture maker Jamie Shaw have been playing baking combining their knowledge experimenting and having fun creating a new material from which to make products. They took sawdust of different sizes and woods, created from different tooling methods in the workshop, and then mixed this with a bio resin and some water and pigment. This mixture causes the original mix to double or triple in volume.
A lot of investigations into the strength and density of different combinations of ingredients followed but finally they were able to apply the mixtures to molds to create a unique form of furniture.

Richard Keal

Richard Keal's furniture tries to capture the joy of nature and it's imperfections and quirks. In seeking to grasp these qualities he tries to secure the beauty in the wood not all finishing it to uniformity but fixing the imperfection the texture and making this part of the design for his unique individual pieces.

"To me making is a conversation between material and myself. I am open to the use of any material that seems appropriate to the situation; the material is not my starting point. However I am in the process of a long relationship with wood and one that at this moment in time seems to be of endless possibility. Sometimes my starting point is simply to make a chair - a piece of furniture that is in itself profound; a resting place for thought." Richard Keal

 Richard and his wife Barbara were featured by Anthropologie in their own gallery space at the Rockerfeller Center. Richards work is constructed mainly from salvaged wood from his home county of Sussex.

Christian Astugueveille

Christian Astugueveille is a French designer and artist who's work revolves around an imagined civilisation his rope bound wooden furniture has a visual texture that surprises the viewer. An amazing man he is also a perfumer for Comme de Garcon.

David Gates I

A reading/ meeting table designed for the Bilston Craft Gallery by David Gates featuring inlaid enamel work by Helen Carnac. The cantilevered table end makes wheelchair access easier. The legs and framing are made from English oak and the surfaces are birch ply.

Christorpher Kurtz

 

Christopher Kurtz is a sculptor turned furniture maker, turned sculptor, his working practise swings between the the frivolous impracticality of sculpture balanced by the functionality of furniture.
Through both genre's of work you can see a love of fluid line, like calligraphy in the air.

"I am interested in moments where the handmade is replaced by production and when the pendulum swings back to the handmade due to needs that production can not meet." Christopher Kurtz

Charles Taylor Trip

 

 

 

Today we had a fantastic trip to Charles Taylor's incredibly beautiful workshop in Dalkeith. Charles showed us a stunning portfolio of works including many architectural works undertaken for the National Trust and other valued clients. Charles Taylor's workshop is in an old church and currently he employs seven staff, skilled carpenters and craftsmen. It was an awe inspiring workshop, but the students were happy to see machinery that they were familiar with and techniques being used that they knew. Thank you Charles we had a great day.

Wouter Scheublin

The fantastic walking table by Wouter Scheublin "The walking table is a carefully crafted piece of furniture that shows the beauty of mechanics. When pushed, the table comes to life and mimics a natural walking motion, perplexing our perception of the ordinary static piece of furniture." You can see it in action here. (Thank you)

Brian Goggin

'Free running' furniture in Brian Goggin's installation in a dilapidated building in San Francisco Defenestration 1997. "I work to create artwork that poetically morphs expected notions of how we perceive and interact with our everyday environment." (Merci)

Sebastian Brajkovic

Sebastian Brajkovic's works look like he has painted a picture of a chair and then taken a pallet knife through the wet paint and stretched and distended the creation. Sebastian's furniture drips in a surrealist vision of reality.

Maarten Baas

I didn't realise that I had not blogged about Maarten Baas here at 'Furniture' as I have previously at 'theartroom'. Maarten Baas is somewhere between an artist and designer, his work is experimental, crazy, fun and has questions as well as answers. Maarten Baas's work often messes with your mind as well as messing with the traditions and consequences of design.

In 'Hey Chair' Baas creates assemblages of household furniture which redefines the function of each component. "A chair became a bookshelf: a lampshade became a vase, a violin a coat rack"

John Makepeace

Above: Phoenix, Below: Flow

John Makepeace has had a long and distinguished career as a furniture maker, his work yields to the quality of the wood whilst embracing contemporary design. John has seven imperative values and ethics

Honesty of design and construction.

Respect for materials/ use of indigenous timbers.

Espousing science and technology to develop new possibilities.

Application of material science to enable the properties of each to compliment the others.

Making objects of your own time for current and future generations.

Doing simple things well as a basis for continuous learning and growth.

Giving craftspeople the opportunity to excel, so building competence and confidence.

"It has become increasingly apparent, from seeing the work of thousands of design graduates, that the quality of their ideas is hampered by an inadequate understanding of materials and processes. Practical, hands-on experience of materials can stimulate the more abstract ability to generate exciting concepts. the two are mutually beneficial." John Makepeace.

Kia Linke I

Sandblasting wood creates amazing effects and has incredible potential, these works are by the innovative designer Kai Linke's 'Blasted Familii' series.

Wouter Nieuwendijk

Stunning simplicity of design from Wouter Nieuwenddijk.

Angus Ross I

Angus Ross is a Scottish furniture designer based in Aberfeldy, Perthshire. He has a wonderful portfolio, containing works with a great simplicity of line and form that uses many difficult technical processes to create.