Search result for: the-last-thing-you-aquired-
| # | Post Title | Result Info | Date | User | Forum |
| something to chew on | 1 Relevance | 21 years ago | NULL NULL | General discussion | |
| I am sure you have probably seen something similar, or even thought of it yourself - I am not implying that is a bad thing - I just don't want it to seem as though I am implying that I have created something new by sharing photos of it. Over my spring break I did some sketches and built this all by myself. It was a lot of fun from start to finish, I learned a ton, and I think it worked out for what I intended. Some relevant background, I am an undergraduate student majoring in accounting, so I am neither artistic nor handy nor design/creatively gifted. The photos of it can be viewed here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyallen/ and here is my attempt at an explanation: Plan: The intent was to design something affordable, easy to make, transport & set up for one person and overall a durable structure. I wanted to see how inexpensive it could be, and all said and done it was about 60 dollars, not that bad, but I think it can still be made for less (esp. with recycled or ?harvested? lumber). Because I wanted something that was DIY and low cost, I wanted to be honest to that aim and did not bother to cover up bar codes or lumber markings, or paint over the wood or dress it up in any way, although I did sand it. I think it looks very nice this way, and doesn?t come off as cheap, especially when you see it in person and move it around and can appreciate the weight and stability of the design. Results: Considering this was my first project ever, I was very lucky that it came out pretty close to what I envisioned. As I built the panels, and there are four of them, two large for the bed platform and two acting as end tables (the separate panels are for ease of transport) as I built each panel I refined and improved the construction of them, learning as I went along. Having a good workspace and the right tools are crucial to getting a good build. I could improve upon the design by selecting a nicer wood for the two bed panels (the one I picked was the cheapest, but to have a nicer plywood would only cost about 4 dollars more, and the difference noticed makes it worth it). I would also put 2x6 runners underneath for further support, they can be added easily, and I plan to do that soon. http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyallen/ | |||||
| You could conceivably replace | 1 Relevance | 9 years ago | Spanky | Repair | |
| You could conceivably replace just the front-to-back cords (the warp strands) but I think it would be very hard to work them in between the side-to-side strands (the weft) because it's not rigid stuff. Plus the new cord won't match and it'll be obvious. This is a beautiful chair and it deserves a beautiful seat. Sources: HHPerkins.com Caning.com CaneAndBasket.com BasketMakersCatalog.com FrankSupply.com and probably a few others The first four are all about the same for a 2 lb coil, but shipping may vary a lot depending on your location. Frank's is cheaper but I know for certain that their quality went downhill a few years ago. I had a long conversation with Mr. Frank and he said at that time that he was looking into another supplier; I don't know what came of that because I switched to HHPerkins in the meantime. Their cord is excellent and because i buy in volume and because I live much closer to them than to Frank's in CA, shipping is way less and way quicker. If you want to try Franks, get a sample first (the 1/8" cord) and unfurl each of the three strands of cord. You can actually measure the width of each paper strip of paper and compare it to one of the other brands (I can tell you Perkins' specs). Theirs also had a lighter weight paper last time I checked--but again, that was a few years ago. I don't know what they're selling now. Don't be tempted to get "Fiber rush". Yes, it looks just like paper cord in the photos and yes it's lots cheaper, but it's not the same thing and doesn't work for the Danish style weave. It's too stiff. It's just one ply, not three. Here's a nice photo essay on how to weave, by one of the regulars here: http://www.thomaspenrose.com/diy_cord01.htm I don't recommend the tools he uses for loosening the L nails because it's too easy to break the tops off the nails. I just use diagonal pliers--grip the shaft of the nail, ease up a bit using the chair frame as a fulcrum. But other than that, yeah, all the rest of it. Read those three threads I linked to above, though. They cover pretty much everything, though you need to read them all because some sources and methods changed over time. | |||||
| Pair of Selig Z Chairs 🙂 | 1 Relevance | 12 years ago | chairaholic | General discussion | |
| Hi! This is my first post here, and I just wanted to share pics of the pair of Selig Z Chairs I picked up this morning. When I was researching what I wanted to offer for these, I found lots of great info here on this forum. I feel like I got a pretty amazing deal at $400 for the set.They need some TLC, but in general they seem to be in great condition. Except for the front corner on one, which looks like a dog chewed it (yikes...not sure how I'm going to fix that!) I'm just going to clean them up for now and probably work on refinishing them in the summer. Supposedly they came from a Boy Scout camp, and I think they got a little too close to the campfire at least once. There is some odd looking damage on the backs, and it almost looks like they had caught on fire here and there!The cushions are shot, plus the color is not my thing. There are two online furniture companies producing reproductions of these chairs, and one offers replacement cushions for $200/set that match the dimensions of the original cushions. The price seems fair to me and they offer a huge array of upholstery choices. I live in a small town and I don't even know if we have any upholstery places, so finding an online source seemed kind of exciting.Anyway, I just wanted to share my chairs! I love them! http://d1t1u890k7d3ys.cloudfront.net/cdn/farfuture/tTEOM8BLrHMklziTaeCcyPiU1cE_KiBh05YcNk0vbTM/mtime:1487900154/sites/default/files/forum/DSCN2094.JP G" /> | |||||
| C'mon vivienne.... | 1 Relevance | 20 years ago | Modern Love | General discussion | |
| C'mon vivienne.... I'm not taking sides here, but in all fairness, the very first post by LRF is just as bitter, if not more so, than nevereatpork's post. To quote: "really sorry interior design stores", then "I am all for these clowns getting a million for any thing they can ( the American way )", "I would love to know the suckers that actually buy from these people and hope they realize that they are getting ripped off, by a bunch of greedy store owners who are just waiting to kill a fat hog". Vivienne, you were the first to respond and you did not question LRF's obviously negative tone/attitude, nor the use of the word "suckers" and "fat hog" instead of, as you suggest: "clients". Let's be fair here. And if nevereatpork is a shop owner, he/she probably does not appreciate being called "really sorry" nor "greedy". The bitterness comes from his livelyhood and personality being attacked by anonymous voices on this forum. In my opinion, these clients are wealthy because they probably have better and way more profitable ways of spending their time than trawling auction sites, estate sales, and thrift shops like the rest of us. People who spend their day negotiating and closing multimillion dollar deals, probably don't have the time to do an "eames era" eBay search, watch auctions, plan their bids, and then arrange shipping afterwards. I'm guessing after a long day at work, they probably want to spend their free time with family and friends than sit in front of computer searching eBay. And they probably don't buy "project pieces", as in the chair that was a great deal but needs reuphostery, cleaning, refinishing, etc. (or anything that requires even more time). 1st dibs is a convenient one-stop site where you can find the best design pieces in the best condition, immediately. It is this convenience that you are paying for, but if you can afford it, why not? If you have better things to do with your time, then there's nothing wrong with paying someone to do all the leg work for you, to find that perfect chair, or table, or lamp, or whatever. Fair? | |||||
| As for the fabric---I see | 1 Relevance | 10 years ago | Spanky | General discussion | |
| As for the fabric---I see that this type was used on a lot of Karpen upholstery. I've always liked the look and in fact I was on a fervent search for this same type of fabric for myself a few years ago---finally gave up and went in another direction. But now there is more of it on the market, it seems. I'm not sure if it even has a specific name---crosshatch texture is one. It's not really a tweed though it can have a tweedy look if there are bits of other colors in it, I guess. http://www.designtex.com/products/upholstery.html#/page/1 - they have a few Maharam has a few but some are vinyl Knoll has a nice looking one (photo below) that comes in a mustard yellow and a reddish orange, but it's all synthetic so you should definitely get a swatch first. Synthetics can be nice but they can also look very office-y. They will send up to 5 free swatches, i think. I happened to find one that is a very close match to an original Karpen fabric that I remembered seeing online--that never happens! I dunno how it looks in person and I do not know a thing about Fabric Farms, the seller. The fabric is called "Regal Edward" . (I am not affiliated in any way with any fabric manufacturer or vendor, i'm just kind of obsessive about fabrics---in case you haven't figured it out!) http://www.fabricfarms.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SRCH I'm sure there are others, but that's a start. Your upholsterer will have sample books from different mills that you can look through, too. | |||||
| Material & Design = FEEL | 1 Relevance | 17 years ago | NULL NULL | General discussion | |
| Material & Design = FEEL hmmm.... Haven't posted much recently, but to those who know me, I don't buy retail or wholesale. This, of course, invites risk. There are some good points in this thread. The reality is that you have to be smarter than the person you are buying from. They call it asymmetric information. But that is just fancy talk for knowing more than the other person. That said, the difference between fake and authentic usually comes down to two things, Material and design. Material: When Arne designed a chair, he did not skimp on material. The solid aluminum base (will not rust, is not chrome so will not peel). The fact that you can "spin" in an egg chair at least 10 times without touching the ground. If there is wood, what type is it? Pine = crap in most instances. redwood? Cherry? walnut? Now we are talking. FABRIC: An original will have the touch. All wool? good! All polyester? good luck. That said, some materials chosen 50 years ago ended up not holding up to the test of time. Specifically with modern furniture and filling. Basically, if you find a chair that has a crusty, crispy filling, it "feels" cheap. It can also be an indicator of authenticity. Design: I laughed at the Ikea knock off of the LCW. That is ridiculous! Not even close. Do you feel comfortable in it? Is the seat height right? Don't forget, designers were focused on conforming the chair to human form, not conforming the human to the chair. A big give away. Patina/age: Last but not least. An older wood will have a patina. Even the bent plywood. The fabric will show wear. Last but not least....READ....the internet is crap. Everyone borrows from everyone else. There is this thing called a library. There are also pamphlets/literature. I will now step off the box...sorry for the rant. I will now step down....sorry for the rant. | |||||
| James, that's it in a nutshell Pt.2 | 1 Relevance | 20 years ago | dcwilson | General discussion | |
| James, that's it in a nutshell Pt.2 Each design is part of a msssive tapestry complex beyond what any of us can understand in tightly controllable details and ways. But we know from information theory and the study of artificial intelligence that there really is such a thing as bottom up organization of intelligence. And we know that if we honestly and openly ask lots of persons to change their morals (or more often simply to live by the ones they profess) and preferences of persons that the zillions of choices they make slowly, inexorably cause the tapestry to change. And we know that once this change becomes recognizable, that the command and control bureaucracy in public and private sectors jumps on this and begins to rewrite regulation and subsidy and ownership interests in order to rationalize it across a broader scale. This really is how it works. Things really can be changed. The bad guys do it all the time, because they have their hands on the levers so much of the time and they spend so much of the publics money on trying to condition the public into artificially narrow paths of change. But because the bad guys are successful in pursuing their ends, we know the broader community can be just as successful in changing the system. Why do you think so much money is spent on propaganda and military power and security infrastructure and de-regulation of progressive reform? It is because the system is SOOOOOO mutable and much of that change is SOOOOOO lasting once it is committed. The hard part of all of this is that change does not occur when I, or you want it to, and it does not occur the way I, or you want it to. It is devastating to get to a time of life when your knowledge reveals just how much could be done, AND how little is being done. It is devastating to realize that I, or you, really probably won't live to see what we hope to see. And the bad guys fan this realization and bank on its paralysing, or cynicalizing effects on the parts of many, many people, especially on the engineer/designers in so many fields. If you become cynical and design only what they want for their money, what could be better for them? | |||||
| Eames Chair Identification | 1 Relevance | 12 years ago | TheOrangeCat | Identification | |
| Hi, all. I have a question about regulatory labeling on a possible Eames Aluminum Group chair. A neighbor was giving away a chair (pictures attached) and told me that it was an authentic Eames chair. I know very little about design and also thought this was BS but on inspection found an Eames stamp on the chair's frame on the bottom. A crash course in MCM followed (with much assistance from designaddict!) and the chair appeared to actually have a lot of the same characteristics as a Side Chair from the Aluminum Group, probably on the older side since it has the four-point base. The biggest thing that makes me doubt it is authentic, however, is the "UNDER PENALTY OF LAW NOT TO BE REMOVED EXCEPT BY CONSUMER." The label itself looks pretty "vintage-y," (I'm basing this on the font, mostly) but I thought I remembered hearing somewhere that "except by consumer" language wasn't added to those "DO NOT REMOVE" mattress tags until sometime in the late 90s. I'm having trouble verifying this online, so--does anyone have any experience or knowledge of whether tags with "except by consumer" clauses were used as early as the 60s or 70s? I don't think I'm really interested in trying to sell the chair or anything, but it'd be good to know if I should make more effort to keep my cat off of it... | |||||
| Pt. 3 | 1 Relevance | 20 years ago | dcwilson | General discussion | |
| Pt. 3 What it means is that it is probably not an empirically verifiable hypothesis. How exactly could you set up a valid, reliable time series statistical analysis to test his hypothesis? The best you could probably do was consider correlations, but again you'd be finding what you're looking for with the window dressing of quantitative analysis, because the statistic wouldn't really be randomized, and the underlying complexity vaguely symbolized by each parameter and variable formulated in any more rigorous parametric attempt of analysis would likely violate the assumptions of statistical inference (is the population really normally distributed, is the mean really zero, is the error factor really free of multicollinearity, etc.?). So analysis would necessarily default to some more arcane and limited statistical analysis, or to game theories and algorithms which themselves fail to produce empirically verified findings. They just produce deductive inferences with some statistical analsysis of drivers. As an aside, society largely abandoned inductive empirical science in the age of the computer. There were so many interesting questions inductive empiricism could not even be applied to. So: we jumped headlong into algorithms,often resulting in the new quantitive voodoo of the algorithm predicts itself with high probability and so that is good enough for me, if it gets me a grant. No, I have no idea if its true. But aren't the computer plots and scatters impressive? And isn't using pseudo science to inquire into interesting problems better than not looking at all? But, wait, I digress... Still, you see, there is something intriguing about Worringer's rule of thumb. And if you're a producer, or a designer, for that matter, wouldn't it be interesting to know that when you were trying to provide products to a society that both you, the producers and the consumers of that society may be moving toward more abstraction because of fear and uneasiness, or moving away from it because of confidence and satisfaction and comfort? My observation on all of this sort of thing is this: history often repeats itself in entirely unpredictable ways. 🙂 | |||||
| Why top of the morning, my | 1 Relevance | 10 years ago | Mark | General discussion | |
| Why top of the morning, my dear. Sweet Jesus, that article was posted in the qctimes (one of the papers that I read daily..a hometown thing, I guess)just last Sunday! News travels quick. The writer is a friend of my sister, I shall politely point out her lack of Nelson knowledge. And I have known the handsome Judge perched upon the slat bench for many years. A perfect gentleman. Upon viewing the current snappy's of the interior after last being inside nearly 50 years ago, It seemed odd (and slightly unsanitary) to see so much patina on the copper trim. However, I'll bet it is better looking than it photographs. I recall as a child noting that the ceiling resembling my fathers boat, and I asked (at a young tender age) how they washed the windows? I recall Mr. Tyler's one word response...... "gingerly". Everyone laughed but me. I recall being quite impressed with the bath tub shower (and their connecting glass block wall), and I still think of that exterior mosaic tile trim around the windows. I did not understand the recessed florescent lightbulbs. Now I do. I wish that I had appreciated landscape architecture at a young age, as the setting of this jewel is priceless, and the enhancements even more. They did have an early dark green/tan 280sl parked in the drive. I was told that the lagoon was millions of feet deep, and full of snakes, so no swimming....and the lime content from the surrounding quarry would partially melt children skin. This house single handedly changed me into an aficionado of MCM architecture. Yes it did. Some day I will own this house. I will. I like it as well than any Wright that I've seen. Best, Your Aunt Mark ps I am pretty sure that they played Andy Williams "Moon River" on the built in turntable. I remember details like that. I do. It was marvelous. | |||||
| There was a good reason | 1 Relevance | 22 years ago | koen | General discussion | |
| There was a good reason for me not to participate in this discussion, but let me try to complement SDR questioning of the ethical/moral aspect. Before doing that I just want to point out that my statement: use your own judgement is the same position as b's "...if you see the difference between the one in the MOMA or in Eames's home" and... Back to the moral question. In my view there is a moment where even original works of art and design should return to the public domain and be owned by everyone of us. It is based on the understanding that nobody creates out of nothing. Every designer has been educated by others, (within our outside the educational system) every designer uses technology that was developed to a large extend by others and the products are a result of the use of that technology. Maybe the thread on origins of modernism would be the better place to give examples, but one can trace most products, even the most innovative ones to their antecedents. The same thing can be said about personal contacts and influences. One example: the link between William Morris and Charles Eames is only two people: Alfred W. Finch, (often credited for convincing Henri Van De Velde to re-direct his talents to the applied arts)met with William Morris, became one of Maija Grotell's teachers in Finland. Later on Maija Grotell became one of the longest lasting teachers at Cranbrook where both Charles and Ray Eames, Harry Bertoia, Florence Knoll, Eero Saarinen studied (I could not resist choising an example that would contradict part of Reyner Banham's introduction to "Theory and design in the First Machine Age"...sorry for that)In my understanding we should respect the individual creative contribution of each and everyone, but we should also recognize that we are a product of society and of our times and that in due course the results (as with inventions)should return to society (without having to pay for it). This being said, I do not objectin any way to the use of all the legal means (some are smarter than others) to protect intellectual property, but not in a absolute sense or for an unlimited time. | |||||
| Form and Function in a Sustainable World | 1 Relevance | 19 years ago | Olive | General discussion | |
| As per usual, dcwilson has made me think. His comment about 'failed ideologies' and the cureent status of our world has made me think about the DA blog that I never seem to find the time to do. One of the big questions I've been pondering since I made the career shift into renewable energy is the role of good design aesthetics in developping sustainable technologies. It's a sore spot in what had been out there before , say the mid-1990's. Lately however, makers of renewable energy and sustainability products have become more aware of 'making things look as good as they perform'. As and example, solar electric panels are now capable of being mounted flush into roof, following the lines of a structure in ways that they couldn't do earlier. It's much easier now to integrate solar electricity or solar thermal technologies into a design and not sacrifice the design's over all appearance. I can only see this trend away from a make-shift crunchy granola home-steader mindset as a good thing. Renewable/sustainable products are becoming pallatable to the mainstream consumer. BUT...and here's my question for you all... Many of the existing manufacturers are the kind of guys that wear birkenstocks with hemp socks. The only aesthetic they seem to grasp is traditional. Modernist homes are a bit beyond them. There are definitely exceptions (see link) but for the most part products are being designed to integrate into a more 'conventional ' home than we'd like to live in. So... Would you still consider integrating renewable energy/sustainable products if you had to sacrifice a bit on the look of your home or would that be a deal-breaker for you? How interested is the Design-Addict type of person in changing their consumer-driven ways? Are we at all a force to contend with? Should the fast-growing, rejuvenated market for reneable/sustainable products be listening to us? http://www.powerhouse-enterprises.com/ | |||||
| Hi Gustaf,Thanks so much... | 1 Relevance | 17 years ago | ite (BE) | General discussion | |
| Hi Gustaf,Thanks so much... Hi Gustaf, Thanks so much for your reply ! Yes, your sofa looks as wonderful as I'd remembered :o) And it still looks pretty new after two years, so it seems to wear well too. Personally, I like your sofa way better than the Finn Juhl model, but that's a subjective thing. That it's a firm kind of sofa is a bonus, rather than a vice in my book (I hate those mushy sofas where you sink deep into the cushions, I'd rather have some support when I am sitting). Actually, I did not know the company LK Hjelle you mentioned (have been looking them up and they seem to have other sofa models that look great too, so it's quite a good discovery). They are still a bit of a dark horse, are they not ? I think they are probably better known in Scandinavia than in Europe. Unfortunately, according to their website they do not have many dealers outside of Scandinavia yet. So far, none in Belgium. Closest for us seems to be the UK (twentytwentyone in London) - but I can not find the Hjelle sofas on their website. Sounds a bit ominous, but I'll email them. I am in London sometimes, so if they have one in their showroom I can go and try it out 🙂 I really want to be able to sit in a sofa before I make a choice. I think it's really important to feel comfortable in your own sofa. What I am most worried about these days, is seating depth. Most sofas I have tried so far are way too deep. Bc the sofa is too deep, my knees are lying flat on the sofa - I can therefore not flex them. As a result, when I am sitting against the backrest, my legs always end up sticking out awkwardly. Basically: most sofas make me feel like a toddler. Not exactly something that inspires me to purchase. As I am a girl over average height, I can't imagine I am the only one with this hiccup. A sales lady told me that deep sofas are better bc they exude luxury / relaxation. Huh ? Luxury = sitting in discomfort ? What a strange definition. Must be a fashion fad, surely. Certainly Mr Dieter Rams would not have approved. Anyway, at first sight, the dimension of the UGO sofa look very promising ! No overly deep faddish rifraf decisions in sight :o) And I love the wonderful wool upholstery. So for me this one is definitely a model to try out. Thank you so much for the information Gustaf, it's much appreciated ! PS: edited for typos http://www.hjelle.no/ | |||||
| following my post | 1 Relevance | 14 years ago | cadodream | General discussion | |
| following my post on the « last thing u made » thread, here's what I can add - cado dimensions are very straight. But we forgot something. We put our rails perfect parallels, but the wall were not straight! So we had to recut 2mm of a shelf between the sliding door cabinets so it would fit between. - Staining was a real nightmare. I first went with the staining idea because I was looking for a precise colour (teak with a 50yo patina) and my test with mixing oils was too far from my goal. Worked well with the oak floor, but not with black locust. After the staining shop made a perfect sample for me out of a vanity arm support, I realized a few weeks later, testing the stain on a spare part of black locust, that it completely lacked the reddish hue that was on the sample. So I returned to the store, and they recooked the mix, test it in front of me on an other piece of BL and it was fine. But 3 weeks later, 300 miles away from the shop and no place to buy pigments, when came the real time to stain, all the red was gone again. I'm no specialist, I don?t understand the chemical reactions of this wood, but they sure are weird. So I was stuck and compelled to stain the whole unit and the sofa with an amber walnut tone, far, very far, from the reddish teak I wanted. Back to the store next week, they gave me pigment to add to a second coat of shellac. It was a little better, but alas, it was still badly missing red. I was a little angry, considering how difficult it is for a beginner to apply these products (wood hardener and shellac just gum before you can coat them evenly). Before giving up, I had a last (chemically compatible) idea: coat the whole stuff with a mahogany tinted wax and it worked I must say final colour is about 90% close to what I wanted first, but phew... Next time (if there is one...), I?ll cook pigments with Danish oil, I guess... | |||||
| Allow me... | 1 Relevance | 20 years ago | koen | General discussion | |
| Allow me... to add some other considerations...I am looking at the Barcelona chair in the advertizing strip next to de designaddict logo and it reminds me of the fact that most heavy weights of the modern mouvement were educated during the previous period. The chair is not only an interpretation of the "X" shaped trones of the middle ages (the chairs were designed as seats for the Spanish Queen and King visiting the German pavilion in the Barcelona world fair) it is also extremely well proportioned and designed in such a way that it could be well made and age in good condition. Much of this is the result of an education that is not available anymore. To innovate, to re-think the basics of your profession, and to re-shape it with the certainty given by an education that allows you to fall back any time on solid ground is a very different position from the generation that was not given a similar background but is simply asked to "innovate" more or less at all cost. As you point out Martin, there are quite a lot of "good intentions" but as Mies Van der Rohe said: "God is in the details" and so I think that a lot of these "new" ideas would look a lot more interesting and "timeless" if they were better proportioned, better "developed" (going over and beyond the initial idea) I hate to put someone on the spot but Don Wilson mentioned his name and the picture is easely accessible in the index...so a good exemple is the "instant" chair of Alain Berteau. The start is a simple idea of cutting a seat out of a larger piece of plywood or MDF in such a way that the left-over serves as one leg. Do the same thing with the backrest and you have the other leg. Affordable and good thinking...but what makes the chair less interesting is the way it is done. The proportions are "off" and one gets the impression that this is the first prototype. I am sure that 20 prototypes later the chair would have found it's "natural" shape. It makes me wonder to what extend we have done a good job in passing on the skills and the knowledge accumulated over generations to the next one. Paul Kjaerholm could agonize over the place of the head of a screw for days...no wonder he finally choose the right one. | |||||
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