Design Methodology.

In my mind, RECEPTIVE DESIGN is principally about designing intuitively; pure and simple.  It’s an essential part of my design technique which helps to define potential order or direction within the context of my work.  RECEPTIVE design, to me, is specifically about using my feelings cooperatively with analytical thought, design + investigation; without the act of blind acceptance + subsequent blind response.  My goal is to apply receptive design to all of my furniture and woodworking projects.

RECEPTIVE DESIGN, through another lens, is also about being openly willing to consider, test, and apply new ideas, beliefs, concepts and interpretations; all while adapting these things to a constantly evolving design ideology.

Most of my projects typically begin with some kind of initial thought, concept, or idea; something that initiates the drive to a solution.  This idea could be something site specific; either related to a specific person or place, or maybe even a group of people or places.  It could be a specific structural condition or system, the merger of multiple systems or functions, or it could simply be a specific design process or methodology of its own, which I wish to explore and experiment with.

This initial idea, fused with the interest + needs of the client, is the driving force which informs not only the design and development of the project, but the design process itself.  Certain projects may require very specific design strategies, while others may require a more expansive approach.  I try to look at each project through a variety of lenses, at various scales, in order to develop an initial scope of potential possibilities.

Throughout the design process, a variety of design techniques + methods are used.  I place a heavy emphasis on the initial translation of thoughts into physical reality, through drawing.  This is executed cooperatively with diagramming, physical and digital modeling, photography, measuring + scaling techniques related to aesthetics, structural analysis, and finally, full scale construction drawings and documents.  Careful observation, investigation, and interpretation all contribute to the final product.  Much of this information is shared with the client throughout the process for a thorough, cooperative understanding of the final product.

In terms of construction and woodworking techniques, all of my work is handcrafted with real wood joinery.  I spend much time designing my work and the joinery that holds it together; both on paper and digitally, in CAD.  I will always provide you with a product which you will never need to replace.  I only build with this traditional type of joinery, hand crafted, yet executed with modern procedures + techniques to maintain efficiency.

Materials

As a craftsman, I am not only willing, but eager to work with a constantly growing set of materials.  I see materials as a potential kit of parts, all with the individual potential to aid in the articulation of the final composition.  Primarily, however, I tend to work with wood.  Wood is the principle building material of man, and it is an excellent substrate for making.  It’s diverse in species, abundant, regenerative, extremely strong + lightweight, as well as resistant to decay .  It’s also relatively easy to work; and of course, it’s beautiful.

Wood also stands apart from most other materials, for it has a multitude of positive values that are not as easily quantifiable in scientific terms.  We relate to wood on a primal, fundamental level, through the experience of the senses. This creates a unique bond between humans and trees.  Not only do we routinely engage wood through every standard sense, whether it be sight, sound, touch, smell, or taste, these relationships are interestingly, and oddly, very closely connected to us + our well being.  The richness with which wood resonates with us creates a beautiful, emotional relationship with the material.

Each individual piece of wood tells a story.  Containing a wealth of information, each and every board is a diagram of the life of the particular tree from which it was taken.  My task as a designer and a craftsman is to incorporate each piece of material exactly where it wants to be, and to justify its existence.  Building with once living tissue, however, provides a unique array of challenges which adds an interesting new layer to the design process.  Wood, along with everything else, is constantly in motion + always reacting to the environment.  Even the most dimensionally stable species can move quite a bit, and all of this movement needs to be accounted for in order to retain the visual and structural integrity of the material.  This is one prominent place from which I draw my inspiration; especially pertaining to the investigation of structural and formal design solutions.

I’ve had a desire to design the world around me my entire life.  I can’t pinpoint exactly where it came from, but it’s probably my only thread of interest + desire that has remained consistently taut year after year.  Japanese architecture and joinery, however, was my original source of inspiration with respect to serious woodworking + construction.  It’s what drove me to begin woodworking, and helped me to understand the complex possibilities that wood as a material presents.

The “fluid” nature of wood as a material is another prominent place from which I draw my inspiration.  Wood movement consistently becomes a major challenge, and the investigation of potential solutions becomes even more interesting, as there is an infinite amount of ways to build the “same” thing.  I enjoy dealing with the difficulties of working with solid wood, and I express this in my work through the inclusion of these techniques + design solutions.  Each and every piece or part of a project is there for a reason.

The architecture of the universe around us and within us is ultimately the core of all of my interests.  The natural world and it’s systems, structures, processes, and physics is my source of endless inspiration.  My goal is to attempt to express even a fraction of this through my work.