Furniture Studio: Materials, Craft, and Architecture

by Jeffrey Karl Ochsner

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295991559
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	03/30/2012
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 9.60(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

1. Introduction: The Reality of Making

2. Origins: Building a Program

3. One Quarter: Winter 2009

4. Interpreting a Pedagogy: Furniture and Architecture

5. Examples of Excellence: Selected Projects, 1989–2009

6. Beyond the University: Continuing Influence

7. The Future: Furniture Studio after 2009

Appendix A. Furniture Fest, 2009

Appendix B. Award-Winning Projects, 1990–2010

Notes

General Background Reading

Index

What People are Saying About This

Edward Cooke

"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."

From the Publisher

"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

Editorial Reviews

"Ochsner's book on just one of the studios is enough to give interested future architects the gist. But it's also written for today's architects, maybe nostalgic for architecture school, and for academics, maybe looking to start up a furniture studio at their own school."

Architect Magazine - Lindsey M. Roberts

"[R]efreshing. . . . Ochsner’s engrossing and lavishly illustrated book. . . reminds us of the importance of craft in architecture. . . .[A]n important monograph. . . . Ochsner’s book is certainly well crafted."

Pacific Northwest Quarterly - Jeremy White

"With 190 color photographs of student works, this charming book is a treat for the eyes. A fascinating peek into modern furniture design."—Library Journal, September 2012

"Ochsner's book on just one of the studios is enough to give interested future architects the gist. But it's also written for today's architects, maybe nostalgic for architecture school, and for academics, maybe looking to start up a furniture studio at their own school."—Lindsey M. Roberts, Architect Magazine, August 2012

From the Publisher

Ochsner (architecture, Univ. of Washington; Lionel H. Pries, Architect, Artist, Educator: From Arts and Crafts to Modern Architecture) presents a detailed account of the history and development of the furniture studio, one of the design studios offered to students of the University of Washington's department of architecture. The studio is a shop-based class that immerses architecture students in the form, function, design, and creation of furniture. The students complete their projects themselves in the studio's furniture shop. Readers follow students' work from conception to scale model to finished product. Ochsner then relates the paths of four graduates of the program as the experiences they gained in the furniture studio are integrated into their careers as architects and designers. VERDICT With 190 color photographs of student works, this charming book is a treat for the eyes. A fascinating peek into modern furniture design.—Sandy Knowles, South Carolina State Lib., Columbia

Library Journal