In a discussion that closely aligns with the ongoing discussion of craft in our region’s architecture, UW faculty member Jeffrey Ochsner discussed his new book Furniture Studio: Material, Craft, and Architecture tonight in Architecture Hall. This book told the wonderful history of the school of architectures’ lauded furniture studio taught until very recently by the renown Andy Vanags.

The studio’s origins were traced to the acquosotiom of a faculty member in the 60′s who came from a naval architecture background and brought many of his technical interests to the program along with some new shop tools that would form the DNA of the furniture studio. Throughout the last three decades, many local architects passed through these shop-focused studios. Pertinent to our discussion, the fifth chapter of the book highlights the effects of this shop and hand experienced design process on architectural design. An interesting set of theoretical articles compose the entire fourth chapter.

It is interesting to take note of the primarily wood and steel pieces catalogued and the relationship to the architecture our community is most noticed for in the global context. This was one of the first and is still one of few programs in the country to embrace such studios within its architecture curriculum and no doubt it is in the genetic code of many recent modernist buildings around.

With the transition of the studio in 2009 to the leadership of Kimo Griggs, the studio enters into the FUTURECRAFT discussion with the addition of new tools like CNC mills, and other computationally controlled tools.  We have seen a lot of this topic in the last year so I will end it at that.

I look forward to hearing Professor Ochsner later in the year in our Millenium Talks’ series for 2012.

- Daniel Toole, Associate AIA

link to the book-