Shelves

Found on Pinterest

Justin Hallway

Fig. 1

We spotted this (fig. 1) in an antiques etc. shop in Sidcup priced at £125.

I happened to be replacing a warped back door at the time and so I have reinforced

Fig. 2

and (vaguely) resquared that (fig. 2).


Then, while working on the door, on bin day a neighbour cast off a wooden table top which I acquired (fig. 3).

Fig. 3

Bowie Auction

A preview of the Bowie Auction at Sotheby's brings two items related to previous posts:

Ettore Sottsass, 'Casablanca' Sideboard, 1981. Estimate £4,000–6,000. 
Breaking with the minimalist aesthetic that characterised furniture design in the 1970s, Ettore Sottsass and the Milan-based Memphis group revolutionised cutting-edge design, introducing fun, humour and strikingly bold colour combinations into functional pieces. The 'Casablanca' Sideboard, from the first Memphis collection in 1981, is considered a defining work of postmodern design, with examples held in numerous major museum collections around the world including the V&A in London, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Museo dei Mobile e delle Sculture Lignee, Milan.

I would prefer the bookcase here

Square Forms II (Tihagrtm #3)

Front Room with Green Ted

Hepworth Museum, St. Ives with Green Ted

Folding wooden Christmas tree

There was a spate of these last year which seemed to turn it from a novelty to a commonplace. As so often, I didn't get round to making one, but there is a fresh chance every year.
There seem to be three broad options:

• plywood
• solid wood (this was how it started)
• 'driftwood': the rustic look, though this would go against one major advantage of the scheme - the ability to store flat.

If you opt for rustic, the materials more-or-less dictate the construction method. 

Otherwise there are two main design decisions: 1. single or multiple branches; 2. separation.

Image sources:
plywood - inhabitat /  onetwotree
solid wood - monoqi
driftwood - pinterest

solid, single branched, dowelling separators

Plywood,
double branched,
plywood separators

driftwood / twigs (small)

Things I have actually got around to making #2

Rietveld's Red and Blue Chair

 Probably the finest three-dimensional manifestation of Mondrian there has been. I have seen real ones at Tate Modern and at the Mondrian show in Rome, 2012.

I made one with the help of a Greenwich Leisure woodworking course, completing it in April 2012. In detail, the joints have an elegance which are a joy to work with; as a whole, it is breathtaking. I cannot recommend diy construction highly enough: it will be one of the highlights of your life.

Left is an original, the three images below are of mine in various states of completion, including its occupation by Big Ted.

As with the light, the instructions came from the book How to Construct Rietveld Furniture. There are some errors in the book, as noted here, "there are a couple of holes missing in the back rail and it should be made clear that the holes joining up with those which are drilled through should be drilled only after initial assembly (this will probably only make sense if you have a try)."

It is more comfortable than one might expect.

Bath, Wieki Somers

Saturday Times Magazine, 26th March 2016
A piece on the Pais home of Didier and Clémence Krzentowski, who run the Galerie Kreo with a branch in London.
Amongst the many fine pieces shown in the article was a bath by Wieki Somers. I cannot make one, but this another entry of homage.

I think there was a similar work at a V&A show a few years ago and I thought I had a snap but is unfound at the time of writing.

Image source.