Tanya is a furniture designer/maker looking to start a brand new artist collaborative, Artists Helping Artisans (AHA), which focuses on helping artisans in marginalized communities whose craft traditions or livelihoods are at risk. With the current economic crisis, and tourism dwindling, many of these craft communities are in dire need of help.

A large scale exhibition of Tanya’s work is scheduled for Sept 2010 at MACLA, Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latinoamericana, in San Jose during the Zero1 Biennial.  MACLA has created an opportunity to use the exhibition to showcase (and kickstart) collaborative works with artisans—and for the first time in Tanya’s art career, allowed her to become a catalyst for social change through the creation of craft.

Tanya is looking to raise $7,000 to begin the project which will help cover the costs of:

·        Plane tickets for Tanya and a documentarian/assistant

·        Shared hotel accommodations for 1 month

·        Stipend for artisans involved in workshops

·        Per diem for myself and a documentarian/assistant

·        Materials for creation of collaborative pieces

·        Car rental for 1 month

·        Shipping of works from Mexico to US

To read more about this project and to offer your support, follow this LINK.

Greg Bergere heads up Go BUILD STUDIO, a contemporary furniture company founded in 1998 and based in San Francisco. The eclectic collection celebrates simple and useful design with the varied influences of plain Shakers, mid-century moderns, and high-low cosmopolitans.

Greg’s headed down to Los Angeles to debut the new Wavelength Series and the newly redesigned Zebra Series on March 6 at the FORD&CHING showroom. The Wavelength Series is a seating group inspired by the motion of waves and the movement of shorebird legs. The basic form is designed to cradle the derriere on a simple repeatable shape. Each piece features tightly upholstered seating with thin padding, and may be ordered in Walnut, Oak, Maple, Espresso, and with or without Ebonized legs and trim.

The Zebra Series of casegoods features highly graphic Zebrawood (a sustainable veneer product made of plantation-raised Poplar) framed by dark Oak, and sophisticated touches like bronzed pulls, and dovetailed drawers.

These pieces are available for purchase and viewing at the Kim Sing Theatre in Los Angeles.

“Rub the belly…” were some of the first words spoken to me by Andy Riiska when we first met.  I obediently rubbed the underside of his belly table and what a delight.  The sensation took me back to Junior High.  It was like corduroy, but it was wood.  The underside of the belly table, which resembles the ceiling of a cathedral, is carved by a CNC, while the legs are carved and mortised through the top by hand.  The CNC creates grooves as it carves out the shape which give it a unique tactile quality.

Belly Table

Andrew Riiska – Who is that masked man?  When you uncover the mask, you find a good-humored, multi-faceted man.  By day — he’s debonair while coffee drinking and cream puff eating.  By afternoon, he might be found at Sci-Arc’s wood-shop teaching kids how to keep their fingers out of the chop-saw.

The many faces of Andrew Riiska

If anything can be said about Andrew’s designs, it’s that they’re evocative and that they have to be seen (and often touched) to fully appreciate them.  He craftily blends old world woodworking techniques with modern to create his responsibly produced designs.  He uses only re-purposed materials and takes great care in creating beautiful objects out of what some would call trash.  The Dragon Table plays with scale and texture.  It’s two separate 7′ tables with a continuous bubble pattern underneath and his signature crosses on the top.  It’s a stunning 14′ piece of sculpture.

Crosses used to reinforce stressed areas of wood

Marshmallow boxes were a hit giveaway at the 2009 Dwell on Design event in Los Angeles last June.  Each box carved out of scrap Douglas Fir to create a toasty home for your marshmallow.

Marshmallow box bottoms

Marshmallow box lids

Ford&Ching laser branded marshmallows

While function isn’t necessarily a prerequisite with his designs, Andrew also makes some extremely useful pieces as well.

Fold Chair

Chair

Four legs wasn’t enough, so Andy pushed the limits and literally pushed sixty-nine maple legs through the Douglas Fir top.  The leg pattern inspired by the visual you get as you drive by a field of corn.

69 Leg Table

Andrew’s working on new pieces to be launched shortly, so stay tuned.

posted by Andrea on February 19th, 2010 in Designer Profile

William Rollins and Brendan Sowersby started 100XBETTER knowing they could do better (maybe even one-hundred times) than what was available at big box stores like IKEA. That Ready-to-Assemble (RTA) had to be cheap and disposable did not wash with them, so in 1999, they launched a design-build company with roots in fine art and cabinetmaking. Their core idea was to take RTA to its most elegant iteration with improved materials, workmanship, and basic design. The partners consider the name their mission statement.

The Talent

FORD&CHING launched 100XBETTER at our Holiday Party and the crowds warmed to the seating.

Three on a Two Seater

Mario from Kartell (Diva) and Vanessa (formerly from Twentieth) test drive the merchandise

New designer Charlie Ferrer (right) of MEIER/FERRER on the full size couch enjoying the limited edition red herrigbone fabric

After toiling with IKEA products (sometimes completely destroying it during the assembly process and discreetly hiding it in the trash…you know what I’m talking about) for the better part of ten years, I was concerned 100XBETTER would fall short of my expectations. However, once it was unpacked and easily assembled, I was relieved and impressed to see a level of workmanship and durability not available from the Swedish powerhouse. Not even close. The DB_CHAIR pictured above (with leather) and below (with red upholstery) was the first item tested. It arrived flat packed and assembles into a low-profile contemporary classic that’s equally at home in a mod house or a hotel lobby. Perfect for those on the run, it comes in six wood finishes (made of Europly), five fabric options, and leather. It was very easy to put together (see related story about the chair elsewhere) and will retain its functionality no matter how many times you pull it apart and put it back together. And it’s very affordable.

After

I spoke with Will and Brendan and reluctantly asked them to describe their design philosophy. Okay, I set a trap. I usually drift off right after I ask these sorts of questions. I go to my happy place. What’s for dinner or how much beer and beef jerky it will take before I feel part of the human race…Not because design is boring, but because designers are boring.  They go on an on about incomprehensible ideas that intertwine this and that and it all comes out crazy to a layman like myself. And I’m talking about the smart, articulate, and talented designers! I was very relieved when Will and Brendan proved down-to-earth and easy to understand. Their basic philosophy is to reduce the amount of time devoted to fabrication while still making things that are beautiful and high quality. Their “design-first” mentality eliminates much of the finish work that requires endless hours in the shop, freeing them to design better products at affordable prices. These results are surprising given neither went to design school. Will is a family man who went to Cooper Union in New York and finished with a BFA degree. Likewise, Brendan received a BA in fine art at UMASS, Dartmouth and a MFA from CalArts. Go figure.

Before

So how could two art students possibly consider design and manufacturing before aesthetics? It seems backward. They don’t really see it that way, instead believing their art background has led them to creative solutions overlooked by the traditional design-build world.

100XBETTER produces other household items, inlcuding lighting and screens/room dividers. The lighting below is made from a single piece of Corian that is milled, thermo-formed in an oven, and fitted with high-grade electronics. Like the furniture, the end result is affordable and beautiful.

Affordable Luxury

The room dividers below illustrate 100XBETTER‘s fine attention to detail.

Elegant solutions from 100XBETTER

Custom designs can be specified and length and width can be modified to suit your needs.

Choices

Finish work and hardware are top grade.

Devil is in the details

100XBETTER is available to see at FORD&CHING during our public hours on Wednesday (11am-6pm) and Saturday (11am-4pm) as well as by appointment. Don’t be scared when you hear Bear bark. Just hit the bell and soak it in.

Off!

There’s more than meets the eye when you’re talking about Jacob Marks.  Last month during my visit to North Carolina I got to spend time with Jacob and his girlfriend Kate.

Actually the story starts with a visit to Skram Furniture’s shop in Hillsborough. It’s really more of a production facility.

It was a Friday, so Jacob lets the staff cut our early (nice).  After my tour we headed for a beer at the local Wooden Nickel Pub.  We thought we’d stop there for a quick one before heading back to his house where Kate was waiting.  Jacob wisely thought to revise the plan to have Kate meet us there since we didn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea.  They had a good selection of beers on tap and bottled.  I think I had a Stone IPA.

We then drove to the house that Jacob designed and built which was an architectural testament to the clean lines and thoughtful use of materials exemplified in his furniture.  It was straightforward, and it was beautiful.  Everything from the kitchen which opened up into the dining and living area, to the fantastic organic vegetable garden, to the fire-pit that looked like it could double as a grave (maybe for less gracious guests?)

Here’s Jacob with his dog.  Examples of his Neutral Bench and Lineground Armchair with some less finished pieces for counter stools.

While we were outside, I got to see another “pet,” their resident weaver spider or Argiope aurantia. Have you ever seen one of these?  Apparently it had been there for a few months already and didn’t look like it was leaving any time soon.

It turns out that Jacob’s also quite skilled in the kitchen.  He prepared peppery pork chops which were quite tasty, AND some home baked bread.  Apparently bread baking is a fairly regular if not daily occurrence there.  The bread was really good.  It had a nice firm, crispy crust and soft center.  I bugged Jacob for his recipe and apparently it’s based off of a baguette recipe from epicurious.com.  He did offer the following suggestions:

“…it’s both the best and the easiest baguette recipe we’ve done to date.  I’ve tried several others and this one beats them all.  A few things: try to use a little flour as possible–if you can keep it at or under 4 cups total, including what you use to knead, it’ll be better.  Also, the longer you let it rise, the better.  If you can put it together the night before, that would be best.  Make sure you get the water temp just right for proofing the yeast.  if you can, spray the bread with a little water right before you bake it and then 1-2 minutes after you put it in the oven.  and spray the walls of the oven too.”

So while you’re contemplating your next Skram piece you might want to try the recipe and chew on some great bread.

Sam Moyer’s the best dressed furniture maker I know, but don’t let it fool you.  He’s comfortable and down-to-earth in his designer denims, while making easy work of sawing, chiseling, shaving and sanding his one-of-a kind pieces.  Lots of folks work with live-edges, but not everyone does it as craftily.  Pick up one of his stools or look at the backside of a casegood.  The attention to detail is almost over-done, but Sam pulls it off — just like the jeans.

Chambers Bed

Seems like a shame to cover this one with a mattress.

Three-legged family

There’s something for everyone.

Top of the Evening Sideboard

A great example of cabinetry and live-edge material combined.