Furniture design is an abstract art form. I don’t approach it
in a “non-objective” way, though. I mean, I don’t try to assemble “elements” of
lines, shapes, colors, textures, etc., to make a pleasing composition without
any reference to the real world. I think
all of my designs have had some visual reference, things such as human and
animal forms, streams, farms, wind-blown leaves, floating leaves, spring time,
and architecture. So, there is usually a “story” behind my designs. I’ll take
architecture as an example.
My inspiration for the “Seattle” line of tables was from the
historical buildings my wife and I visited in China and Japanese architecture
I’ve read about. I was really fascinated with the roofs of some of the
buildings in China. We saw that they were often decorated with interesting carved
figures having symbolic meanings, and I found the repeating rooflines of the pagodas
to be very intriguing. In some of the historical buildings, huge logs functioned
as pillars. These buildings reminded me more of tables than of our western
style buildings.
Playing around with the idea of repeating rooflines, I
finally came up with the idea pictured here. The stretchers overlap the legs
using a shallow cross-lap joint so that the stretcher is much proud of the leg
surface. Judging from the responses I’ve gotten, I think it very effectively
evokes the idea of multiple roof lines, but I also find it an interesting
detail even without that visual reference.
Other elements that refer to the Asian architecture are the
reverse tapered legs (from the log pillars) and the wide overhang of the top
(like some Japanese buildings). However,
the negative space around the stretchers and the straight lines work to keep
the piece looking very light and Western, and I kept the dimensions of the
components modest to enhance this effect and keep the piece looking
contemporary. It really is a fusion of my Western tastes and elements of
eastern architecture, so that is why I’ve decided to call it the Seattle style.
