Furniture Studio explores the origins, methods, results, and influence of the unique and highly successful furniture design and fabrication studios offered by the University of Washington Department of Architecture. The furniture program, initiated by Andris Vanags, is an immersion into the role of materials, design, and making in architectural education. Students directly engage the physical properties of materials, and the knowledge gained through this engagement enriches the design and fabrication process. The experiences of its graduates reveal that the studio fosters creative thinking that truly integrates design and making. Ochsner presents historical background to shop-based courses, including furniture studio; traces the careers of four representative graduates of the program; and suggests implications from this program for architectural education and individual achievement beyond the University of Washington. Eleven students and the projects they created in the winter 2009 studio are profiled, and the book contains a fully illustrated catalogue of exemplary student projects from 1989 to the present. Illustrations and descriptions throughout the book showcase the heirloom-quality projects created by the students, many of which won awards in competitions. "Jeffrey Ochsner has written a book that will be invaluable to furniture historians, furniture makers, architects, and design educators. The book's great strength is its telling of a local, personal story within a broader context of architectural pedagogy and philosophy." -Edward Cooke, author of Making Furniture in Pre-Industrial America Jeffrey Karl Ochsner is professor of architecture and associate dean for academic affairs, College of Built Environments, University of Washington. He is the author of Lionel H. Pries, Architect, Artist, Educator and coauthor of Distant Corner: Seattle Architects and the Legacy of H. H. Richardson.

Artwork by Edward Cooke Jr.

Kem Weber (1889--1960), a well-known mid-century architect, was part of the distinctive West Coast modernism movement that helped shaped the relaxed California lifestyle. He influenced California style during the mid-twentieth century with buildings architecture, interior designs and furniture, including his famed Air Line chair, which is part of many museum furniture collections. As chief designer for the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank in 1939, Kem Weber also designed the specialized animation furniture that went into the then new studio complex. The Disney animation furniture, which has been lauded in recent years, was designed for specific animation disciplines with input from the artists that would be using it. It was all part of Walt Disney's desire to create an efficient utopian campus for animated film production. This book is a comprehensive overview of the Kem Weber designed Disney animation furniture that takes the reader on a journey from concept sketches and photos to interviews with legendary artists. David A. Bossert celebrates and details the form and function of this unique mid-century furniture and the impact it had on the Disney animation process over the decades.

Exquisitely photographed and beautifully designed, this complementary catalog of America's finest studio furniture highlights 84 pieces from the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery. Inside, the pages reveal the importance of wooden furniture in the modern American craft arena, and how first- and second-generation artists shaped the studio furniture movement. Artist statements accompany gorgeous photography of the Renwick collection and provide insight into the makers' training and professional experience, theories on art, artistic techniques, and even personal inspirations. Such artists include the patriarch of studio furniture, Wharton Esherick, and Wendle Castle, the maker of the most popular piece among gallery visitors-the infamous Ghost Clock. The treasures of the Renwick collection-Judy's McKee's Monkey Settee, Sam Maloof's Rocking Chair, John Cederquist's Ghost Boy, and George Nakashima's Conoid Bench-are also included among the many pieces from makers whose work is functional, artistic, and of the finest craftsmanship. About the Authors Dr. Oscar Fitzgerald earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Georgetown University and served as director of the Navy Museum in Washington, D.C., until he decided to pursue full time his passion as a furniture historian and decorative arts consultant. He is currently on the faculty of the Smithsonian Institution/Corcoran School Master's Program in the Decorative Arts where he developed and teaches a core course on the studio furniture movement. His book, Four Centuries of American Furniture, which includes coverage of the studio furniture movement, is the standard reference work in the field. In 2004, he was awarded a prestigious James Renwick Research Fellowship, which funded research for an essay published in the 2005 issue of Furniture Studio. Paul Greenhalgh is a world-renowned scholar of the decorative arts and a leading figure in the international museum and academic world. He is currently director and president of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Corcoran College of Art and design, in Washington, D.C. His previous posts have included the presidency of NSCAL University, one of the leading Canadian institutions of art and design (2001-2006); head of research at the Victoria & Albert Museum (1992-94); deputy keeper of ceramics and glass at the V&A (1990-1992). Over the past two decades he has also written and edited a number of defining texts in the field of the crafts, decorative arts, and cultural history, including Ephemeral Vistas (1988), Modernism in Design (1990), Art Nouveau, 1890-1914 (2000) The Persistence of Craft (200), and The Modern Ideal (2005). He also curated the seminal exhibition Art Nouveau, 1890-1914 at the V&A in 2000.

A Wall Street Journal Top 10 Crucial Home & Design Book for Beginners A Library Journal Best Book of the Year An Amazon Best Book of the Month Christophe Pourny learned the art of furniture restoration in his father’s atelier in the South of France. In this, his first book, he teaches readers everything they need to know about the provenance and history of furniture, as well as how to restore, update, and care for their furniture—from antiques to midcentury pieces, family heirlooms or funky flea-market finds. The heart of the book is an overview of Pourny’s favorite techniques—ceruse, vernis anglais,and water gilding, among many others—with full-color step-by-step photographs to ensure that readers can easily replicate each refinishing technique at home. Pourny brings these techniques to life with a chapter devoted to real-world refinishing projects, from a veneered table to an ebonized desk, a gilt frame to a painted northern European hutch. Rounding out this comprehensive guide is care and maintenance information, including how to properly clean leather, polish hardware, fix a broken leg, and replace felt pads, as well as recipes to make your own wax, shellac, varnish, stain, and more.

Today's American, hand-crafted furniture is bristling with originality. Blending art and functionality, David Ebner creates unique benches, tables, and chairs. This designer-craftsman's work subtly surpasses the limits of the furniture world and often crosses over into the realm of sculpture. Fine woods with interesting patterns are featured in his practical designs, which reflect natural elements of the places where he has worked in New York state. He fuses traditional and modern techniques and is well known for his scallion coat rack, Renwick benches, and Bellport chairs. See more than 340 color photos and sketches of Ebner's designs for diverse forms created with "twisted sticks," tubular metal, iron sections, and bamboo laminates. In his lifetime, he's made more than 1,400 pieces. Especially interesting are projects he continues to design today in his ever-evolving style.

Beautiful contemporary furniture, designed and made by 72 US woodworkers who are members of The Furniture Society, headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina. Seating, case furniture, and accessories demonstrate the healthy state of handmade furniture in which creativity abounds in thoughtful designs. Exotic and classic woods and other materials are used for original designs, as created by these women and men woodworkers. Inspirations for interior designers showcase useful and artistic forms. Also, the work of 13 juried students is included to encourage new talent, and they are fine works indeed.

In the current world of twentieth-century design collecting, the trend has shifted away from accessible, mass-manufactured modernist furniture and toward designs that were custom-made or produced in very limited editions, with emphasis on American studio design of the 1940s to the 1990s. In contrast to the mass-produced mid-century furniture by Knoll and Herman Miller, American studio designs of the same period focused on novel forms and exquisite craftsmanship. Ranging from the organic shapes of George Nakashima and Vladimir Kagan to metalworks by Paul Evans, these limited production designs were highly sought after in their days by original tastemakers and movie stars. In the last decade, a revival for these rare designs began with connoisseurs such as Tom Ford.Modern Americanais the first full survey of the designs of this prolific but forgotten period, bringing to life again the works of Samuel Marx, Billy Haines, Wendell Castle, T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Karl Springer, James Mont, and many others -- including J.B. Blunk, Michael Coffey, Wharton Esherick, Arthur Espenet Carpenter, Sam Maloof, Jack Rogers Hopkins, Paul Evans & Philip Lloyd Powell, Vladimir Kagan, George Nakashima, Silas Seandel, Charles Hollis Jones, Philip & Kevin LaVerne, Tommi Parzinger, Harvey Probber, Edward Wormley, John Dickinson, Arthur Elrod, and Paul Laszlo.

A comprehensive retrospective of furniture design in the past 150 years. 900 illustrations

Take a tour of the Renwick Gallery, the craft division of the Smithsonian, and enjoy an in-depth look at the artists and the work of this unparalleled collection of handmade contemporary furniture. This absorbing volume features profiles and interviews of 64 artists and reveals their artistic influences and interpretations along with 112 stunning photos of iconic work.