Thank you,
bj. There are perhaps two kinds of "natural" -- forms imitating something else, and forms arising from the material being used. Of the two, if I had to choose -- and we don't have to choose, we can enjoy both -- my preference would not be to imitate nature but to create in an intrinsic, natural way.
That is perhaps the basis for my love of Constructivism -- of the methods and materials of construction having more of a say in the design of furniture or architecture (both, still, the province primarily of wood ?) than anything except function.
I don't think the future has as much to do with Art Nouveau as it does with the ever-unfolding essence of modernism: truth to material, and form as embodiment of idea. Blobitecture holds less interest for me than orthogonal structure -- for instance. And I believe the search for expression within those constraints is a worthy and engaging pursuit.
I am also a great admirer of Wegner and many others; you're absolutely right that these men have found ways to employ their material in both a natural and a logical way -- and the resulting forms have at least as good a chance of providing comfort and pleasure to their users, as do the chairs of Wright or Rietveld.
Perhaps that's why I'm happier designing tables than chairs !
Nougat ?
I should add that my favorite dining chair of all time has to be the DCW -- which is perfectly suited to its medium, laminated wood veneer. And its use in two or more of Wright's ultra-rectilinear Usonian houses (not by his choice, but perhaps with his approval) perfectly represents the duality I so much enjoy, between the wildness of natural form and the discipline of man's interventions -- as further exemplified by, for instance, the Glass House and the Farnsworth house, set in and contrasting with their natural surroundings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nougat
I keep coming back to the second photo
of the veneered wood shell wondering what it is that bothers me so much about it.
It's got to be the even satin sheen and the diffuse flat lighting combining to give it an almost CGI quality. Something about the grain patterning is not helping either. I had an early '80's Sony Trinitron with better looking printed fake wood grain.
A professional photographer would make it look much more appealing, as in the first pic, I'm sure.
Huh. The
last time a manufacturer used real wood to make fake wood, it was Abet Laminati and their Legni range.
Professional photography could make that chair look better by focusing on the seductive side view rather than the revealing frontal shot ? Hmm. If it walks like a duck . . .
Ugly is ugly. I'm still wondering how -- or if -- they used real veneer to make that shell.
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=abet+laminati+legni&...
Huh.
Well, that makes it (semi) official -- for the moment ?
I can't blame them for trying -- in these trying times. Variety is the spice of life . . .
The way to make that form in wood is to gang a bunch of solid wood staves together into the approximate form of the chair -- with staggered joints where the seat turns into the back, I guess -- and then carve the whole thing into a shell on a CNC machine. The shell might be as little as 3/4" thick -- in the middle -- tapering to 3/8" at the edges ?
It's coming in 2013
Our rep left us the new catalog and all that is mentioned about the chair is a note that says coming in 2013. There is no pricing either. The rep did say that it's a veneer that is scored on the back side to mold to the shape, but couldn't give any other information.
Well . . .
First we'll shop for some wood-grain fabric . . .
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=wood+grain+fabric+pr...
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