I may not have been crazy about Architecture, but I sure got crazy about wooden furniture when I first opened my world arts and crafts shop in the big city in mid-1995.
Trained in Anthropometrics, from studying "Architectural Graphic Sandards", I became particular about comfort and measurement.
Of how we had to design everything, using human averages like height of counters, shelves, stair risers, landings, size of rooms, bathrooms, height and width of doorways -- everything that needed to serve man.
Of course, our thick textbook was published in the U.S., and here we are, designing for our tinier race, so we made the necessary adjustments, or at least, I did.
After Architecture, I got really precise with most everything I did, for it made sense.
But, unlike many other designers, I was particular about comfort.
If it wasn't comfortable, it had no place in my heart.
I only design for comfort.
You'll be stylish if you're comfortable.
So, I wasn't crazy about style.
Comfort always came first for me, for I'd always put myself in the shoes of my "client", in whatever I was tasked to do.
I was intrigued by one of the more humble elite from the big city in the late 90s.
This lovely lady married a Frenchman, who designed chairs.
I could see they liked alternative living, and was not taken up with all the wealth her father and family had.
It was also at this point that I was selling world arts and crafts, and had become familiar with such.
Then I began liking turn-of-the-century wooden furniture when I did have that shop in 1995.
I loved sitting on wooden chairs, without cushions, for the wood loves use.
Eventually, the wood takes on natural patina, which makes me like the furniture even better.
I bought wooden dressers, tables, huge cabinets, bowls -- but lightweight ones -- to re-sell at my shop.
I would wipe the furniture with mildly damp cloth, and finally a dry cloth, and the sheen would be marvelous.
I liked well-designed, comfortable chairs and tables.
The simpler, the better.
I was a practical designer and user.
My life must not be possessed by possessions.
If anything, things had to be utilitarian.
I'd review famous architects we were taught, look at their designs, and find them a bit stiff, and uncomfortable, even impractical.
But my classmates ooh'd and aah'd.
I always reminded myself that we design for people.
People come first.
Whether it's a car or a home, even a toy, people came first.
I was trained differently, from a book I learned to love.
And that will be for the next post.
(Image source from this blog.)
Updated 24 January 2022
