As a self-proclaimed aspiring bench architect, I am drawn to creating yet another bench. You see, in my last semester of my Masters degree, I am taking a furniture class. The class is taught by the infamous Julee Herdt, I had always heard fantastic things about her classes in Boulder, (especially Green Tech) but was in such a pinch to finish my undergraduate degree I never had the chance to take a class with her. She is everything I aspire to be. She is beyond passionate, committed, talented, humble, and has the biggest heart. She is such a good architectural role model.
In the furniture class we are tasked to design and fabricate ONE piece of furniture. One? Just one? How to choose? I tried to reason with Julee to make two or three, but she assured me that the single piece will definitely fill the semester. So, now I am trying to narrow down my million thoughts to one STRONG piece. Harder than I thought.
Architecture, being such a perfectionist's paradise, I want to create something that contrasts this value, a piece that embraces the imperfection inherent in materials. Now, as an architecture student we are trained to look for precedents, so I browsed through pinterest, pinning to my heart's content for furniture that makes my heart flutter. Here are few of my favorite finds:
Bench cast in Aluminum | Hilla Shamia
Integrated Storage | Hiromatsu
Modular Furniture | a bench that becomes a table | Cezign
- I can not get the image of this beautifully scarred piece of wood out of my mind. I think I will always be searching for a slab as distinct as this one. some day-
zaide coffee table | ali sandifer studio
So from these precedents, I have moved my designs into one of two categories:
1. end-of-bed bench, with integrated storage underneath to store few things
2. coffee table, I love the proportions of the square low clearance piece above but finding a slab of wood thick enough and wide enough poses to be quite a challenge.
After revisiting these precedent studies, I realize that I have another option. The ideas inherent in the bench and coffee table could be combined to create a modular piece of furniture that can serve as both! hmm...
Last week I ventured to two different wood carriers (?) CS Woods in north Denver and TC Woods which is quite a drive up in Ft. Lupton. CS carries mostly imported exotic woods, mostly varieties I had never heard of Burled Maple, Dark walnuts and everything in between. All the wood had been finely cared for, and came with a corresponding price tag. Most of the slabs I liked were over $1000! Now, for my first piece of furniture I'm not too keen on such a large investment. Also--the wood was almost too pretty, I am looking for something a LOT more grungy that I can clean up and make into something desirable.
Cue TC Woods. Dan sources all the wood locally, so there are more Ashes, Willow, Olive and many others. The wood is raw, full of character, and more in my student pocketbook price range. I fell in love with a few different pieces, but couldn't find EXACTLY what I was looking for.
I plan on readjusting my expectations and designing for the wood that is available.Also-- tomorrow I am venturing to a few other suppliers, metal, to get an idea of the connection structure.
dededos
kianamaiart
andulkaphoto
tangentwithtanner
annaxmalina
stormborns
turnnoffyourmind
pixelskylines