Signed & Sealed: Agenda 21 and the Role of the Furniture
Designer-Maker in Developing a Sustainable Practice
A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
By
Philip John Koomen, FCSD, FRSA
Faculty of Design, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College,
Brunel University
September 2006
This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is
understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author under the terms of the
United Kingdom Copyright Acts. No quotation from the thesis and no information derived
from it may be published without proper acknowledgement.
2
Abstract
The aim of this thesis has been to develop and document a research
project that takes the form of a strategic response by a furniture designer-
maker (Philip Koomen Furniture) to the challenging ecological issues
raised by the Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro, 1992) and detailed in the
document Agenda 21: Sustainable Development for the 21
st
Century. A
Literature Review contextualises this research project in relation to issues
around global resources and sustainable practices and considers various
models of sustainable design in relation to the commercial mainstream
but more particularly with regard to the role of the furniture designer-
maker in contemporary society. The thesis explores the rationale for what
became termed the “Signed & Sealed” project and describes the
development of an associated body of designs through the negotiation of
the degraded state of the U.K.’s native woodlands and the location of
three critical strands which together came to define the “Signed & Sealed”
brand – strands identified by the terms semi-bespoke, local cycle and
unique signature. These terms are illuminated in turn by discussion of
the commissioning processes favoured by designer-makers and by
consideration of the economic and aesthetic problems to be found in
connection with the sourcing, development and use of local, non-
commercial timbers. The thesis also describes the project’s formal
presentation in the exhibition “Out of the Woods” (River & Rowing
Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 17 September 2004 to 7 January 2005)
and the two conferences “Our Woods in Your Hands” (River & Rowing
Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 25 September 2004) and “Out of the
Woods: Design for Sustainability” (River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-
Thames, 20 October 2004) and considers the peer reviews and
responses which followed these events. Finally, the thesis offers a critical
evaluation of the PhD research process which framed the project together
with some discussion of further potential avenues of research and
development.
3
The greatest challenge facing the world community as it mobilizes to
implement Agenda 21 is to release the enormous financial, technical,
human and moral resources required for sustainable development.
These resources will be freed up only as the peoples of the world develop
a profound sense of responsibility for the fate of the planet and for the
well-being of the entire human family.
The Bahá'í International Community
All things are ready, if our minds be so
William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act 4, Scene III
4
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to my mentors and supervisors Dr Reg Winfield and Dr
Chris Cattle, at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, whose
invaluable encouragement and guidance made the completion of this
thesis possible and to Philip Hussey who planted the idea of doing a
research degree.
The workshop team, past and present members, at Philip Koomen
Furniture also deserve special thanks for their support, especially for
producing the furniture:
Steve Salt
Nic Smith
Chris Harris
Mike Bishop
Gordon Kent
Richard Bissson
Garvan de Bruir
Various organisations have been associated with this project and I am
especially grateful to the following individuals who collaborated:
David Rees, Oxfordshire Woodland Project
John Morris, Chilterns Woodland Project
Mike Furness, Transnational Wood Industries Group
Simon Fineman, Timbmet Group Ltd
Michael Buckley, former Director American Hardwood Export Council
Adam Dawson, Hardwick Estate
Ditte Hviid, River & Rowing Museum
Jane Bowen, River & Rowing Museum
Finally I want to mention my children, Jonneke and Jody, whose good
humour and teasing often put things into perspective and kept me sane
and my wife, Esmyr, who has given me unfaltering moral and technical
support for the duration of the project. Without her understanding I would
not have reached this point.
5
Prologue: Philip Koomen Furniture
Let your vision be world embracing rather than confined to your own self
Bahá’u’lláh
Philip Koomen Furniture was established in 1975 to design and make fine
furniture in beautiful woods.
1
It was inspired by the ideal of creating a
model craft business using furniture as a medium to develop a concept of
work based on the Bahá'í ideal of ‘Love and Service’. In a very real way,
Philip Koomen Furniture begins and ends as a testament to Faith.
However, as with any designer-maker business, the formative years
required the development of the necessary design, making and business
competencies. The workshop became a laboratory in which skills were
refined through commissions and experimental projects, learning to work
within the constraints of a market and with the ethos of design and make:
all progress was hard won.
The move to the current workshop (Fig 1) in Checkendon in 1984
marked a new stage in which the main goal was to establish the viability
and financial independence of the business without compromising the
original ideals. The challenge of reconciling the pursuit of craft
excellence, employing a team of craftsmen and making a living were the
main preoccupations for successive years. Ten years later the business
had become debt-laden and its future precarious. The introduction of an
egalitarian bonus system of payments and profit sharing negotiated with
my fellow craftsmen transformed the finances and the scheme galvanised
the Philip Koomen Furniture team. The subsequent profitability of the
business has shown that a model craft business is viable and not just the
naïve aspirations of an idealist.
The refinement of this business model was, however, only a means
and not an end in itself. The focus was always on the design and making
of fine furniture as an expression of social and spiritual values. Various
1
For further details on Philip Koomen Furniture see: K. Taylor, ‘Pondlife and Beyond’,
Furniture and Cabinetmaking, Guild of Master Craftsman Publications Ltd, Lewes, no.
69, October 2002, pp. 16-20
6
strategies were developed to facilitate this including the concept of semi-
bespoke furniture which has become embodied in the ‘Signed & Sealed’
project and will be described later.
Philip Koomen Furniture then has its genesis in the teachings of
Bahá'u'lláh, the nineteenth century Persian Prophet-Founder of the Bahá'í
Faith. Bahá'u'lláh’s vision of an emerging global civilisation is based on
the recognition of mankind’s essential unity which, once recognised, can
effect the necessary transformation at all levels of society, from the
individual to national and international political institutions. This is
embodied in the ethic of ‘World Citizenship’.
2
Since becoming a Bahá'í in
1973, I have tried to translate the concept of ‘World Citizenship’ in my
work as a designer-maker. When the Earth Summit in 1992 awakened
the world to a pending environmental crisis, I re-evaluated the material
base of my practice. This led directly to the sustainable forestry debate in
particular in North America and the U.K. from which most of my timber is
sourced. I also became active in the Oxfordshire Agenda 21 initiative.
3
A significant moment was marked when I began work with the
American Hardwood Export Council who were receptive to my ideas
about the relationship between design and sustainable forestry and
commissioned the “Koomen Project” (1998). This assessed the aesthetic
value and yield of low grade tulipwood and red oak, both lesser known
species (Fig 2). A follow-up project, the “Koomen Trio” (2001), (Fig 3a/b),
described as ‘ground breaking’
4
explored the aesthetic and physical
characteristics of soft maple, another lesser known species through
‘innovation and design’
5
(Appendix III). This project received international
media coverage in the timber industry and led to a further collaborative
research project with an American timber exporter and a UK timber
importer and merchant.
6
The “Soft Maple Koomen Kitchen” project
2
The Baha’í International Community, World Citizenship: a global ethic for sustainable
development, Bahá'í International Community, New York, 1993
3
Agenda 21 was conceived at the Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro in 1992 to promote
sustainable development at a local and regional level
4
J. Collins, ‘The Koomen Trio’, Furniture Manufacturer, Polygon Media Ltd, Sevenoaks,
June 2002, p. 16
5
J. Collins, ‘Comment’, Furniture Manufacturer, Polygon Media Ltd, Sevenoaks, June
2002, p.5
6
The project was commissioned by Rossi, USA and Timbmet Group Ltd, Oxford
7
(2002) investigated the benefits of using soft over hard maple through a
commission for kitchen furniture (Appendix IV). These three research
projects provided me with insight into the international dimensions of
sustainable forestry.
On a more regional basis I also became involved with a joint
research project commissioned by TWIG
7
: “Techniques to Add Value to
Beech to Improve Its Marketability as a Raw Material, and in Finished
Product Design” (2002), (Appendix II). This project was partnered with
Adam Dawson, an agro-forestry scientist and project manager at the
Hardwick Estate, Oxfordshire, an FSC-managed beech woodland.
8
The
project introduced a literature review of published research of techniques
for adding value to beech, developed experimental techniques using
Polyethylene Glycol to stabilise end grain slabs of spalted beech, and
devised a series of prototype furniture designs to demonstrate the
aesthetic qualities of beech. This project also brought into sharp focus
the structural problems inherent in local and regional sustainable forestry
and confirmed that the problems identified in North American forestry
were common to the Chilterns; although the situation here has regressed
to a chronic condition in which the future seems less certain than that in
North America.
In a similar fashion, the “Pondlife” bench design (1998) (Fig 4) which
explored the relationship between furniture and sculpture also became a
significant turning point in the development of my design philosophy. It
was through this one-off experiment, which has subsequently enjoyed
much success that I began to consider how my furniture designs could
embody a spiritual need for reflection/meditation, in this case by offering
an appropriate space for private contemplation. “Pondlife” has since
become an iconic signature piece for Philip Koomen Furniture, and has
been described by Channel Four and The Independent as: ‘organic and
7
Transnational Wood Industries Group, a European Community funded project aiming
to revitalise local woodland economies
8
The Hardwick Estate is included in the section on Local Sourcing
8
wildly eccentric … an example of new design meeting the buyers’ need
for something special’
9
and ‘absolutely beautiful’
10
.
In short, both the AHEC and TWIG projects developed what might
be called the material base of my practice by extending my knowledge of
the inherent possibilities of timber within the constraints of the prevailing
industrial economy. Equally significantly, both projects point to my
willingness to engage in mutual partnership with a range of agencies and
individuals in order to extend the range of Philip Koomen Furniture
practice. “Pondlife” is also significant in this regard. It began as an
experiment to push the boundaries with regard to form. As will be seen,
the translation of “Pondlife” from one-off to its incorporation with the
“Signed & Sealed” project (Appendix I) was to provide it with an
archetypal emblem which embodied all that the project aspires to
achieve.
What Philip Koomen Furniture represents then is twenty-five years
of professional studio-based practice. Professional status has been
confirmed in the three interdependent areas of practice through
appropriate professional bodies. Firstly, in furniture making, through the
award of Licentiate City and Guilds (1988); secondly, science and
technology through the award of Associate Institute of Wood Science
(1978) and thirdly, design through the award of Chartered Designer
(1992). Wider acknowledgement in the field of furniture design and
making includes the award Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts
(1988).
11
Peer group recognition has come from inclusion in numerous
exhibitions, publications and peer review which has described Philip
Koomen Furniture’s craftsmanship as: ‘without question … a force to be
reckoned with in the 21
st
century’.
12
9
Dominic Lutyens, ‘21
st
Century Schizoid Man’, The Independent, 8 January 2000
10
Ann-Marie Powell, ‘Chelsea Flower Show 2000’, Channel Four, 26 May 2000
11
The RSA, Royal Society of Arts for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures &
Commerce, is one of the oldest venerable learned institutions in the UK
12
B. Norbury, Furniture for the 21
st
Century, Stobart Davies, Hertford, 1999, p.6
9
Fig 1. Wheelers Barn, Checkendon, South Oxfordshire. The
workshop and studio for Philip Koomen Furniture since 1984
10
Fig 2. The Koomen Project: a study of how low grade, lesser known
North American hardwoods are perceived by the public and the
furniture trade. Exhibited at BBC Homes, NEC (1998) and
Association of Suppliers to the Furniture Industry, NEC (1998)
11
Fig 3a.
Fig 3b.
Fig 3a/b. The American Hardwood Export Council exhibition stand
(Carrefour, Nantes, France 2002) showing the “Trio” range
12
Fig 4. Original “Pondlife” bench (1998). Purchased by the late
George Harrison
13
List of Contents
Title page 1
Abstract 2
Preface 3
Acknowledgments 4
Prologue: Philip Koomen Furniture 5
List of Contents 13
Introduction 16
The aims, objectives and submission contents of the thesis 16
Methodologies: Turning making into writing 18
i) Research and the crafts 18
ii) The writing problem 20
iii) Research sources 21
Overview: A guide to the organisation of the text 27
Literature Review 33
i) The issue of sustainability 33
ii) The concept of sustainable design 75
iii) The furniture designer-maker 98
Part One: “Signed & Sealed” - Project Rationale 111
1.0 Introduction 111
1.1 Agenda 21, economics and ecology 112
1.2 Ecology, design and the commercial mainstream 120
1.3 Ecology, design and the furniture designer-maker 131
1.4 Sustainable forestry management, the local cycle and
timber selection 148
1.5 The “Signed & Sealed” project 162
Part Two: “Signed & Sealed” – Developing a Sustainable
Practice 164
2.0 Introduction 164
2.1 The semi-bespoke 165
14
List of Contents continued
2.2 The local cycle 198
2.3 Unique signature 222
2.4 Conclusion: Promoting sustainability with the
“Signed & Sealed” brand 256
Conclusion: Reviews, Responses and Reflections 262
3.1 The “Out of the Woods” exhibition 262
3.2 The “Out of the Woods” catalogue and related
conferences 264
3.3 Final reflections 270
Illustrations 288
Account of Sources 372
Appendices 392
Appendix I, Case Study of the “Pondlife” Bench 393
Appendix II, Techniques to Add Aesthetic Value to Beech 425
Appendix III, The “Koomen Trio” Project 459
Appendix IV, The “Soft Maple Koomen Kitchen” Project 2002 466
Appendix V, “Pondlife” Sculptural Seating at the Ashmolean 485
Appendix VI, Local Sourcing 486
• Local woodlands 486
• Participants “Better Marketing of our Broadleaved Timber” 489
• Round timber specifications 490
Appendix VII, Main Characteristics of Crop Timbers Used
in the Semi-Bespoke Process 491
Appendix VIII, Networks 492
• Network of organisations 492
• Participants “Our Woods In Your Hands” 494
Appendix IX, The “Signed & Sealed” Collection 496
Appendix X, “Out of the Woods” Exhibition Panels 501
Appendix XI, “Out of the Woods” Exhibition Objects 511
15
List of Contents continued
Appendix XII, “Out of the Woods” Catalogue … Inside Back Cover
Appendix XIII, Antiques for the Future (CD) … Inside Back Cover
Please contact Philip Koomen Furniture for further archival
materials including:
• Case studies of “Signed & Sealed” commissions
• Meridian TV interview for the “Out of the Woods” exhibition (video)
• Transcript of interviews conducted by Philip Koomen
16
Introduction
The aims, objectives and submission contents of the thesis
Over the last 150 years local woodlands have declined as a source of
timber. This has been a consequence of the development of
industrialised manufacturing which became progressively dependent on
imported timbers. This phenomenon has also resulted in the steady fall
in the number of woodland craftsmen who managed the woodlands and
met the needs of the community by providing a wide range of products,
from firewood to timber for fine furniture making. Today most privately
owned woodlands remain in a poor state and with limited sources of
income, they are likely to remain so.
In 1992 the Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro. Its mission, to
develop a local strategy for the twenty-first century (Agenda 21), has had
an influence at all levels of the international community. The Earth
Summit raised the awareness that the earth’s resources have to be
managed in a sustainable and equitable manner - a process that needs to
include not only governments, but the local community and individuals.
Local U.K. Government authorities responded by initiating projects in their
communities. Since the early 1990s, a number of these have
encouraged and advised woodland owners how to manage their
woodlands in a sustainable fashion. Locally, the Oxfordshire Woodland
Project and Chilterns Woodland Project were established to give impartial
advice.
Philip Koomen Furniture has been one of a growing number of
designer-maker workshops to become established since the mid-1970s in
the Oxfordshire/Chilterns region. Few of these workshops, however,
make use of local timbers in their designs because of the historical
circumstances referred to earlier and the absence of any useful
infrastructure to facilitate the sourcing and processing of appropriate
timber. With the availability of relatively cheap high quality imported
timber through the timber trade there has been little incentive for
17
designer-makers to source their own timber unlike the traditional
craftsmen of the area in the past. However, it is clear that furniture
designer-makers are well placed to utilise the rich diversity of locally
grown timber in their designs if such an infrastructure could be re-
established and a market developed. It is precisely here that this thesis
first began to take shape.
It constitutes a thesis based in practice and it comprises a project
developed in response to the issues raised by the Earth Summit (Rio de
Janeiro, 1992) and detailed in the document Agenda 21 (see Part One).
In short, this thesis represents the efforts of one furniture designer-maker
(Philip Koomen Furniture) to reflect upon twenty-five years of making and
move towards a more ideologically coherent practice. More specifically,
the aim of the thesis has been to address the concerns that came out of
the Earth Summit in 1992 and Agenda 21, by developing a sustainable
practice for the furniture designer-maker which invests in (and is in turn
sustained by) the local cycle.
During the course of developing the PhD, the project took on the title
Signed & Sealed, a kind of shorthand adopted from a term first
specifically applied to the series of designs that emerged as a result of
the research undertaken for the PhD and which allowed the work to be
identified as a separate but integral strand of the Philip Koomen Furniture
practice.
In order to achieve the aims of the PhD, three principal objectives
were developed which were intended to develop the following:
• A body of furniture design which responded to the issues
identified by Agenda 21 and which became identified with the
term “Signed & Sealed”
• An exhibition together with an accompanying catalogue and
conferences intended to present the PhD project and the “Signed
& Sealed” brand to the public and relevant peer groups and
thereby provide a forum for critical discussion and appraisal –
this exhibition was to be called “Out of the Woods”
18
• An associated text describing the research journey,
contextualising the PhD, providing a critical commentary of the
project and offering a platform for further dialogue and peer
review
These three objectives also define the submission contents of the PhD
and it is these three strands (the “Signed & Sealed” designs, the
“Out of the Woods” exhibition and this associated text) which
together constitute the thesis proper and are put forward for
consideration for the award of PhD in concert with the terms deployed by
the UK Council for Graduate Education in which ‘the concept of thesis
should cover the totality of the submission’.
13
In terms of the viva, it was intended that it be held at the Philip Koomen
Workshop. This was an arrangement intended to assist the PhD
examiners by offering:
• A partial exhumation of the “Out of the Woods” exhibition, originally
staged at the River & Rowing Museum, Henley – by making use of
original signage and artefacts etc.
• An opportunity to examine the workshop and its environs – the
focus of the making itself
• An opportunity to view at first hand the research-through-making
process and ask appropriate questions accordingly
Methodologies: Turning making into writing
i) Research and the crafts
The last fifteen years or so have seen a great resurgence in the crafts
and with it, a good deal in the way of reflection on the problematic nature
of research in this field - much of which has been driven by its key
institution the Crafts Council. This has led to a special literature of its
13
See Research Training in the Creative & Performing Arts, UK Council for Graduate
Education, 2001
19
own which has attempted to illuminate this relationship and negotiate the
complexities of translating aesthetic and exigent impulses into a
transparent text, i.e. Turning making into writing. The Crafts Council’s
conference “Making It” (1995) for example, was the final conference in a
five year cycle intended to ‘take stock’ of the vexed relationship between
research and the crafts. It agreed (amongst others) three ‘common
principles in relation to crafts research’ - namely that such research:
• Should be seen as a wide ranging matrix concerned with
the interrelationship between the object, its place, the
process, the individual and external forces
• Should target audiences such as students/learners, peers,
the public, other makers, clients, consumers, funders,
worthy bodies and other researchers
• Produces forms of dissemination for research included
exhibitions, catalogues, articles, refereed journals,
conferences, papers and permanent crafts collections
The research seminar held by the Crafts Council in 1998 also led
to an interesting series of papers published under the title Ideas in the
Making: Practice in Theory. In her introduction to the document Pamela
Johnson affirmed an observation regarding the historic reluctance of the
crafts ‘to talk about practice’: ‘historically craft knowledge was not written
down, but guarded and protected in guilds and handed on through the
apprentice system’. However Johnson goes on to make an important
point with regard to the contemporary dimension of the crafts, arguing:
… in today’s fast-moving culture, and with a craft community now
dependent to some extent on public funding, it seems impertinent
to expect others to talk intelligently about the crafts if those within
the field are not prepared to do so … It is important that the field of
contemporary craft practice becomes more widely understood. The
crafts are a diverse and sometimes contradictory set of practices,
fundamentally about materials, processes and their related
traditions, but it is possible to adopt different positions in relation to
them. In asserting a contemporary role for crafts it is important to
articulate that the field is not simply about preserving things
because we valued them in the past. We need to argue vigorously
20
the importance of exploring craft materials, processes and
traditions for their contemporary significance.
14
These are issues Johnson subsequently takes up in a paper entitled Can
Theory Damage Your Practice? in which she notes:
If we consider how any object, including the craft object, comes into
being, we will not find a single cause. Instead, there will be an
interplay of determinants which might include individual expressive
need, cultural politics, institutional boundaries, technological
developments, funding opportunities and media attention. In order to
fully engage in discussion of, or write about, objects and practices
we need to draw on a number of critical perspectives.
15
ii) The writing problem
The text that accompanies this thesis is entirely consistent with the views
expressed above and comprises a response on the part of one maker to
develop and articulate his practice in such a way as to give it currency or
what Johnson terms ‘contemporary significance’.
16
However, there are
many problems inherent in seeking to articulate craft practices, not least
of which is what might be called “the writing problem”, a problem which
has been the subject of some scrutiny. In a thought provoking article,
Davey has observed for example:
… the process of writing can serve as an ontological enablement ….
[which] draws, tightens and slackens the line between the material
and the intellectual. It prizes open the enigma of the silent
materiality of the art object and allows it to breathe by connecting it
to the ideational horizons beyond the context of its own production
… it is an activity which opens up a reflective space between a
works sensuous immediacy and its concept.
17
Davey goes on to suggest that the ‘reflective space’ occupied by text
offers less in the way of an adjunct to the creative process but more in the
way of an enablement to ‘the realisation of the art object’. In short then,
14
P. Johnson, Introduction to Ideas in the Making: Practice in Theory, Crafts Council,
London, 1998, pp. 10, 11
15
Ibid., p. 17. See also J. Meuli – ‘We currently need theory not just as theory but also to
give value to the art and craft products that have come – somewhat arbitrarily – to
serve as symbolically valuable within our society’ (p. 25)
16
Ibid., p. 11
17
N. Davey, ‘Writing and the In-Between’, Point: Art and Design Research Journal,
Issue 7, Spring/Summer 1999, pp. 14-16
21
what Davey is arguing (and by extension what this thesis is arguing) is
that while writing cannot be regarded as a substitute for making, it can
open up the making process in such a way as to allow greater access to
the complex continuum of capabilities and considerations which inform
that process. As Davey argues ‘writing does not and cannot translate
verbatim the complexity of lived experience and therefore should not be
criticised for what it cannot do’.
18
Therefore in terms of the relationship of this textual element of the
PhD to the making process, it must be considered contingent - by its very
nature instructive but incomplete. What the text is intended to provide
should be seen (primarily) as an attempt to document and contextualise
the research journey in such a way as to offer insights and evidence with
regard to a ‘systematic investigation within a specific context in order to
solve an identified problem in that context’. Such a text is clearly also
intended to offer the possibility of contributing to scholarship in the field
through what the AHRC refer to as ‘systematic dissemination of the
results’.
19
It is of course, in terms of this latter connection that the thesis
ultimately rests its claim on originality – in opening up and systematically
articulating the research process - not on the strategies developed in the
course of the research nor the body of work (the “Signed & Sealed”
brand), developed by way of design outcomes.
iii) Research sources
The research journey undertaken for this thesis was a complex one,
drawing upon fields as diverse as Agenda 21 and the global economy,
ecology and forestry, as well as the history of design and the discourse of
design and make. In terms of the broader literature the project drew upon
18
Ibid.
19
B. Brown, et al., ‘Types of Research in the Creative Arts and Design’, Discussion
paper prepared for the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRC), March
2004, p. 5
22
a wide range of authors and texts. For example, in connection with
Agenda 21 and the global economy, Dresner, (The Principles of
Sustainability), Connelly and Smith (Politics and the Environment: From
Theory to Practice); Dodds (Earth Summit 2002) and the Bahá'í Writings
(Prosperity of Mankind) provided a valuable background. Ecological
insight was found in Lovelock (Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth) with
Dahl (The Eco Principle) and Schumacher (Small is Beautiful) providing
an understanding of the relationship between ecology and economics.
Design theory and practice was drawn from the writings of Papanek
(The Green Imperative), Whiteley (Design in Society), Dormer (The Art of
the Maker), Pye (The Nature and Art of Workmanship) and Jones (Design
Methods: Seeds of Human Futures), Manzini (The Garden of Objects),
Branzi (Domestic Animals: The Neoprimitive Style), Wackernagel and
Rees (Our Ecological Footprint) and Van der Ryn and Cowan (Ecological
Design).
The field of design and make limited its scope to furniture designer-
makers running their own independent workshops and drew upon the
following publications: Myerson (Makepeace: A Spirit of Adventure in
Craft and Design), Peters (Cabinetmaking, The Professional Approach),
Nakashima (The Soul of a Tree), Maloof (Sam Maloof Woodwork),
Sutherland (Explorations in Wood, The Furniture and Sculpture of Tim
Stead), Norbury (Furniture for the 21
st
Century). Further reading of this
field was drawn from Dormer (The New Furniture and The Meanings of
Modern Design) and Redhead (Industry of One: Designer-Makers in
Britain 1981 - 2001) to name but a few.
A complete bibliography is to be found to the rear of this text and a
substantial and discrete literature review follows this immediate section.
Throughout the project a number of organisations have been party
to its broader aims and have helped frame the project as it evolved.
These include the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), Timbmet
Group Ltd and the Transnational Wood Industries Group (TWIG); all of
whom commissioned research projects. The Oxfordshire Woodland
Project (OWP) and Chilterns Woodland Project (CWP) were the main
23
institutions consulted with regard to woodland and forestry management.
The relationship with these organisations, the active role they play in
promoting sustainable forestry and the professional expertise of their
representatives, were instrumental in developing the methodology for this
project.
The subject of forestry was approached tangentially as this was a
subject beyond the competence of the author. Professional experts and
academics were engaged in discourse to illuminate this subject. David
Rees (OWP), John Morris (CWP), Dr Peter Savill (University of Oxford),
Dr Gabriel Hemery (Northmoor Trust) and Dr Mike Packer (Timbmet
Group Ltd) were amongst the experts consulted. U.K. Forestry Policy
was gleaned through various Forestry Commission publications.
In order to develop a local cycle for sourcing timber, a series of
dialogues was set up with professional foresters, forestry contractors and
woodland owners. Thirteen woodland owners were approached in
connection with this project of whom a significant proportion collaborated
in the development of the “Signed & Sealed” local cycle. Appendix VI,
Local Sourcing - Local woodlands, identifies the woodlands that were
involved in establishing a local cycle for what came to be called the
“Signed & Sealed” brand and defining the geographical remit of the PhD
project.
This PhD specifically addresses the contemporary furniture
designer-maker, a province which not only sits (arguably) at a remove
from the commercial mainstream (see Part One) but interestingly enough
occupies a distinct place within craft practice too. Andrew Jackson, a
furniture designer and design historian, for example, has observed:
Rather than the pursuit of autonomy that tends to characterise craft
aspiring to fine art, for most designer-makers there is a close
relationship between their practice and the marketplace. They are
almost wholly dependent on their clients to survive. Possibilities for
them to become a self-governing creative force are almost non-
existent, except for the minority who subsidise their practice through
teaching, or through the attention of grant-giving bodies … [and] for
many furniture makers it is precisely the relationship between client
24
and maker that provides both the spark necessary for designing and
the personal fulfilment of providing real objects for real people.
20
Interestingly enough, a series of commissions (as will be shown) proved
vital to the research process and were instrumental in the development of
strategies to address environmental issues relevant to the project. In this
connection, Jackson also suggests how:
We should think of designer-makers as cultural intermediaries. On
behalf of their clients they curate culture; from available possibilities
they make choices and take decisions based upon their own
accumulation of cultural capital. For the consumer, the designer-
maker not only has the advantage of an intrinsic limited availability,
but also can represent a romantic version of artistic production,
which can connote a more authentic version of culture than what is
processed and distributed by the mass media.
21
Jackson’s view of the present state of design and make is an interesting
one and this PhD has sought to contribute to this debate through an
extended discussion with a broad range of designer-makers with figures
like Matthew Burt, Alan Peters and Richard Williams. A further source of
designer-makers’ professional practice was made available through
author and exhibition curator Betty Norbury, whose thirty-six taped
interviews with U.K. furniture designer-makers was undertaken as
background research for Furniture for the 21
st
Century, although it should
be observed that use of this archive was strictly proscribed.
22
A
comparative study of practice by German furniture designer-makers in the
Trier region was organised through TWIG.
23
The workshop of PP Møbler
in Denmark,
24
which produces Hans Wegner designs, was also visited to
develop an understanding of the relationship between craft and industry.
20
A. Jackson, ‘Furniture Makers and the World of Goods: the Role of Material Culture
Studies in the Theorisation of Designer-Maker Practice’, Ideas in the Making:
Practice in Theory, Crafts Council, London, 1998, p. 94
21
Ibid., p. 97
22
B. Norbury, Furniture for the 21
st
Century, Stobart Davies, Hertford, 1999. The 36
untranscribed taped interviews were developed around 20 broad questions
relating to the role of the furniture designer-maker approaching the new
millennium. The questions did not relate specifically to the concerns of this thesis
but offered some useful contextual evidence, although use of the tapes was
proscribed on the grounds of confidentiality and permission granted for selective
reference only.
23
Transnational Wood Industries Group
24
PP Møbler, Toftevej 30, DK 3450 Allerød, Denmark.
25
The research journey has also seen the PhD project in its various
evolutionary stages and manifestations carried far afield in the form of
exhibitions and conferences, which has done much in turn to inform and
shape the thesis. “Signed & Sealed” designs were exhibited between
2001 and January 2005 in twenty-one exhibitions culminating in a major
exhibition “Out of the Woods” at the River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-
Thames (16 September 2004 – 7 January 2005), which showcased the
project to the public and peer groups. This cycle of exhibitions and
conferences was instrumental in:
• Shaping and defining the nature of the research
• Educating the public and peer groups about the issues raised
• Encouraging dialogue and feedback
• Demonstrating aspects of the processes out of which the ‘Signed
& Sealed’ designs were formed
• Presenting ‘Signed & Sealed’ designs to the public
• Providing opportunities for visitors to purchase or commission a
“Signed & Sealed” design
Exhibitions were at four levels, as follows:
• Workshop: - Philip Koomen Furniture (2001/2/3/4)
• Regional: - Ashmolean Museum/Oxfordshire Artweeks (2003)
- Fresh Air, Gloucestershire (2003)
- Crafts in Gardens, Broughton Castle, Warwickshire,
(2003)
- The Centre For Contemporary Furniture,
Cheltenham, (2003/4)
25
• National: - Art in Action, Oxford (2002/3)
- Celebration of Craftsmanship (2001/2/3/4)
- Art of Furniture, Birmingham (2004)
• International: - Carrefour du Bois, Nantes, France (2003)
25
The Centre For Contemporary Furniture is an independent gallery in Cheltenham
which represents contemporary furniture designer-makers
26
- Classic IX, Belgium (2003)
-Chairs 2004, UK (2004)
Conferences and seminars also provided valuable forums to present
different stages and aspects of the research project and to engage in
peer group dialogue. These included the following presentations:
• Regional: - Philip Koomen Furniture: A Study in Sustainable
Furniture Design, TWIG seminar, High Wycombe, 17
May 2001
- German Furniture Makers, TWIG seminar,
Hazelmere, 7 February 2002
- Techniques to Add Value to Beech as a Raw
Material in Product Design, Beech Seminar, River &
Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames 19 February
2004
- Towards a Sustainable Approach to Furniture
Design: - Where is Forestry in the Chilterns Going?
Conference, High Wycombe 16 October 2004
• International: - Towards a Sustainable Approach to Furniture
Design,
- Furniture Design Forum, Singapore, 2 March 2004
- Provenance of Wood in Furniture Design, Chairs
2004, Westonbirt, Gloucs, UK, 1-3 May 2004,
Belgium (2003)
All of the above have defined the trajectory of the research and with it the
orbit of the thesis which has (throughout) aspired to realise the aims of
applied research in the creative arts as defined by AHRB
26
, i.e.:
[Applied research] aims to create new or improved systems (of
thought or production), artefacts, products, processes, materials,
devices, or services for long-term economic, social and/or cultural
benefit. It is informed by the intellectual infrastructure of Scholarly
Research in the field; it applies and/or transfers enhanced
26
AHRB, THE Arts and Humanities Research Board, which has since 1 April 2005 been
replaced by the Arts and Humanities Research Council
27
knowledge, methods, tools and resources from Pure and
Developmental research; it also contributes to scholarship in the
field through systematic dissemination of the results.
27
Overview: A guide to the organisation of the text
In terms of the text that follows this introduction it is organised into four
further discrete sections as follows: firstly a Literature Review examining
a range of literatures relating to the thesis; secondly, a consideration of
the rationale relating to the research project embraced by the thesis (Part
One); thirdly, a critical account of the development by the project and its
key terms of reference (Part Two); and finally in the Conclusion, a critical
appraisal of the project in terms of addressing the issues identified by the
thesis, in terms of peer review and in terms of (potential) further
development.
The Literature Review begins by focussing on ‘The issue of
sustainability’. The inadequacy of the present form of global economic
management is discussed in relation to the global warnings highlighted by
leading scientific and philosophical authors. This is contrasted with some
of the most significant of developments in ecology and economics and
related inter-disciplinary studies that support an ecologically and ethically
aligned approach to development. This is followed by a commentary on
the global discourse on sustainable development particularly in relation to
issues around local and global governance and their relationship to the
Earth Summit in 1992 and the unfolding of Agenda 21. This is finally
followed by an overview of some of the most significant critiques of global
capitalism and governance. The conclusion considers a philosopher’s
analysis of the role and relationship of citizenship and collective
responsibility. (Stiglitz, Holton, Giedion, Batchelor, Houghton, Illich,
Diamond, Dahl, Schumacher, Seabright, Dresner, Connolly and Smith,
Veblen, De Botton, Baudrillard, Hobbis and Lazlo)
27
Brown et al., Types of Research, p. 5
28
The Literature Review then turns to ‘The concept of sustainable
design’ and reviews some the most influential critiques on the role of
design in society. This is followed by a review of a range of theoretical
and conceptual sustainable design models that have helped shape
designers’ thinking in the direction of an ecologically and ethically based
approach to design. (Whiteley, Papanek, Dormer, Pye, Petroski, Jones,
Manzini, Branzi, Wackernagel and Rees, Van der Ryn and Cowan, Von
Weizsäcker et al.)
The concluding part of the Literature Review examines the figure of
the contemporary furniture designer-maker in relation to recent and
emerging practices. (Norbury, Harrod, Conway, Dormer, Pye, Krenov,
Farrelly, Levi, Broun, Lutyens, Van der Post, Taylor, Gilhooley, Collins)
Part One: “Signed & Sealed” – Project Rationale, sets out the
arguments around the “Signed & Sealed” project. It begins with a
discussion on a broad range of conceptualisations around sustainable
practices from a number of perspectives including product design,
industry and craft. This is followed by a discussion of the emergence of
the furniture designer-maker as a discrete figure in relationship to both
craft institutions and commercial industry. The case is made that
furniture designer-makers are well positioned to develop an eco business
which can overcome the limitations of one-off design and which can also
facilitate sustainable development at a local level through collaboration
with local woodland owners to source timber.
The case for local sourcing is discussed in relation to the UK’s
position as an economy dependent on timber imports with one of the
lowest forestry covers in the Western world. The UK government’s
forestry policy is also debated in relation to the global market in
connection with the historic under-management of regional forestry
resources and the consequent fragmentation of the timber industry.
Environmental threats caused by climate change are also identified and
29
discussed in terms of their predicted impact upon the Oxfordshire
Chilterns woodland.
Efforts by the global forestry and timber trade to develop sustainable
and managed forests are also discussed and the difficulties of small
woodland owners highlighted. Finally, the case for local sourcing is
considered as a direct response to the threats of an increasingly
competitive global market economy depleting scarce resources and the
need to add value to a declining local resource to promote sustainable
woodlands.
The conclusion to the above section defines the three strands that
emerge from the research and which provide a strategic brand to
enhance value and provide a sustainable practice in direct response to
the issues raised in the Earth Summit – namely, the semi-bespoke, the
local cycle and unique signature. (Connelly and Smith, Dresner, Moffatt,
Dodds, Whiteley, Lovelock, Dahl, Fiell and Fiell, Manzini, Dehn, Jackson,
Graedel and Allenby, Becker, Myerson, Redhead, Papanek, Zuboff and
Maxmin, Cohn, McNicoll, Potter, Norbury, Dormer, Pye, Massingham,
Ihatsu, Diamond, Buckley, Von Weizsäcker et al.)
Part Two: “Signed & Sealed” – Developing a Sustainable Practice
discusses and documents the development of the three strands identified
in Part One of the thesis. Firstly, in the section entitled ‘The semi-
bespoke’ questions are raised around the commissioning practice
favoured by furniture designer-makers, particularly as found in the
Oxfordshire/Chilterns area in which the Philip Koomen Furniture
workshop is located. The thesis then describes how the concept of semi-
bespoke was first formulated by Philip Koomen Furniture in the early
1980s before its adoption as a fundamental part of the “Signed & Sealed”
project where it became translated into a complex and dynamic process
in which the diverse characteristics of locally sourced timber are explored
through an extended and enhanced dialogue with clients.
30
In the following section, entitled The Local Cycle, the reasons for the
preference of designer-makers in the Oxfordshire/Chilterns area for
commercial crop timbers are debated and the problematic use of locally
sourced timbers is considered. This regional practice is then contrasted
with that of the designer-makers of the Trier region of Germany, which
has comparable woodland resources. This discussion concludes with
other examples of successful local sourcing initiatives in the UK and
considers the challenge of establishing a micro cycle and the feasibility of
sourcing local timber.
An examination of the characteristics of locally sourced timber is
next described in the following section devoted to the concept of unique
signature. This concept is provisionally defined and then explored in
relation to the work of a number of designer-makers who have
demonstrated an interest in the idea of unique signature as embodied in
the “Signed & Sealed” project. Unique signature, as developed in the
“Signed & Sealed” project, is then described and design elements such
as knots, cracks, unusual grain patterns and colour variations discussed
through a range of “Signed & Sealed” designs. In conclusion the value of
foregrounding the concept of unique signature as a device to promote
sustainability and enhance craft practice is considered.
The final section of Part Two, entitled Conclusion: Promoting
sustainability with the “Signed & Sealed” brand, considers the economic
and environmental benefits to the local economy. The low environmental
impact of the local cycle is considered, the definition of waste in relation
to unique signature is reflected upon, and the economic contribution to
the local economy is highlighted. (Pye, McClair, Peters, Myerson,
Spence-Harper, Meyers, Sutherland, Nakashima)
In the final section of the thesis, entitled Conclusion: Reviews,
Responses and Reflections, the role of the “Out of the Woods” exhibition
and the two post-exhibition conferences – “Our Wood in Your Hands and
Out of the Woods: a Sustainable Approach to Furniture Design” are all
31
discussed, together with an evaluation of the reviews of the “Out of the
Woods” exhibition and responses to the two conferences.
The conclusion continues with a summary of the arguments outlined
in Part One: “Signed & Sealed” – Project Rationale before considering
how the “Signed & Sealed” project has responded to the sustainable
design models discussed in the Literature Review.
This is followed by a review of the role of the Philip Koomen
Furniture workshop as a laboratory for the “Signed & Sealed” project, and
in turn the success of the project in developing the workshop practice and
its values in relation to Dahl’s concept of the eco is also considered as a
model for a craft based practice.
The role of the designer-maker as a designer-facilitator is also
discussed in relation to the “Signed & Sealed” project, particularly with
reference to the ethical responsibilities as regards client relationships and
other individuals involved in the local cycle. The usefulness of a peer
group network to facilitate discussion is also discussed, as well as some
of the peer response to the “Signed & Sealed” project and the potential
part to be played by the designer-maker in a free market economy in
facilitating strategies for sustainable development at a local level.
Finally, the contribution of the “Signed & Sealed” project is
considered in relation to wider issues such as the purpose of work, the
global environmental crisis and the obligations associated with the idea of
world citizenship. The value of the PhD process is assessed and
potential post-doctoral work is outlined together with some final thoughts
regarding the future of Philip Koomen Furniture.
Except for those illustrations accompanying the Prologue, all other
illustrations are placed at the end of the main text. Appendices I, II, IV
and X contain their own illustrations.
32
It is perhaps worth noting that in the Appendices that follow the main
text, a variety of useful and related materials is to be found, referenced at
various points in the thesis and offering further archival evidence of the
research process.
33
Literature Review
The literature that relates to the questions pursued by this thesis is a vast
one and this review can do no more than offer a guide to the key authors
and texts that have been employed, together with an indication of where
and how the ideas related by the literature come to figure in the evolution
of the research project and its eventual outcomes.
In order to assist the reader, the Literature Review has been formed
around three related arenas – the issue of sustainability, the concept of
sustainable design and the role of the furniture designer-maker.
i) The issue of sustainability
This section begins with reference to the literature relating to the
ideological basis of Western liberal democracy, particularly with regard to
a critique of some of the inequities created by the capitalist system that
supports liberal democracy. I examine a range of global warnings
developed by leading scientific and philosophic authors. This is followed
by a survey of some of the most significant recent developments in
ecology and economics and other related interdisciplinary studies of
economic and social history. The key developments in the global
discourse on sustainable development are surveyed; issues around local
and global governance are discussed with particular reference to texts
relating to the Earth Summit in 1992 and the unfolding of Agenda 21
followed in turn by an overview of some of the most significant critiques of
global capitalism and governance. In the concluding section I consider
the philosopher Ervin Laszlo’s analysis of citizenship and collective
responsibility: the two interdependent ethical systems which, I believe are
absolutely necessary to any understanding of the process of sustainable
development – a point of reference which contributed in a very direct way
to the development of this thesis.
Capitalism and technology
34
It could be argued that capitalism and technology represent two
dependencies in pursuit of new markets with the promise to the consumer
of a higher quality of life. While capitalism pursued the creation and
expansion of markets, the development of technology has been the
engine of economic growth that appears to have made this possible. In
his seminal Mechanization Takes Command (1948), S. Giedion
documents the historical transition from a society founded on craft
activities to the developments of mechanisation and the emergence of an
industrial society with all the consequent effects on the lifestyle of the
individual. The role of the industrial designer, Giedion argues, is central
in the industrial process: ‘For them only one consideration counts: the
merchandizer, dictator of taste in the United States’. With this pre-
eminent role comes a warning: ‘This is a source of danger and bondage’
and ‘Now, in the time of full mechanization, the reform takes place under
the dictatorship of the market. All other considerations are secondary’.
28
According to Giedion then, the problem is that industry becomes the
master and not the servant and the challenge is that ‘to control
mechanization demands an unprecedented superiority over the
instruments of production. It requires that everything be subordinated to
human needs’.
29
Giedion’s historic thesis has long provided valuable insights into the
fundamental shortcomings of the influential design philosophy embraced
by the Modern Movement, which sought to improve both the material and
moral well-being of society and resolve social tensions through well-
designed mass produced goods.
It is interesting to note that Giedion’s is a theme that has been
picked up by a number of subsequent authors. Ray Batchelor, for
example, in Henry Ford: Mass Production, Modernism and Design (1994)
agrees mass production was considered an antidote to a potential
communist revolution:
In the West, mass production held out the prospect of resolving
material, social, political and spiritual ills in a liberal, capitalist
28
S. Giedion, Mechanization Takes Command, Oxford University Press, New York,
1948, p. 610
29
Ibid., p. 174
35
context of alleviating the alienation of the proletariat without the
inconvenience of full blown Bolshevism.
30
Batchelor astutely observed that while modernism gave birth to the
market place, ‘High Modernism sought, eventually, to transform the world,
while modernism provided an immediate, fantastic escape from it’.
31
It
was perhaps not surprising then that the intelligentsia were apprehensive
about the choices made by the masses. As Batchelor indicates:
Newly enfranchised and unaccustomed to the exercise of power
over the material dimensions of their imaginations – might choose
products and ideas with which they were out of sympathy, which
might, indeed, threaten their habitual prerogatives. […] In this
capacity, the aristocrats (i.e. intelligentsia of Modernism) doubled as
priests, duty bound to pontificate.
32
Modernism ultimately failed to bring about transformation in society.
According to Batchelor, its creed sought two forms of nostalgia: firstly,
one without alienation and secondly, a perfect future reducing it to an
illusion and an escape from the very things it condemned.
33
As Giedion
predicted, ‘the promises of a better life have not been kept’.
34
Perhaps one thing is clear - capitalism is looking increasingly
suspect in the new millennium as it continues to leave a trail of social
inequalities and environmental problems in its wake. This at least, has
become one of the basic propositions that have exercised this thesis.
Prohibitions and polemics
Many of the environmental issues identified by a number of
twentieth century authors have produced powerful warnings about
pending crises brought about by unrestrained industrialisation. One of
the earliest of these warnings focussed on the problem of industrial
pollution and came from Rachel Carson, whose revelatory book Silent
Spring (1962)
35
has been highly influential in developing a heightened
30
R. Batchelor, Henry Ford: Mass Production, Modernism and Design, Manchester
University Press, Manchester, 1994, p. 98
31
Ibid., p. 110
32
Ibid., p. 111
33
Ibid., p. 116
34
Giedion, Mechanization Takes Command, p. 715
35
R. Carson, Silent Spring, Penguin Books Ltd, Harmondsworth, 1962
36
environmental awareness. Carson was an ecologist at the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service. At the forefront of biological research, she was
instrumental in identifying the catastrophic impact of pesticides and
insecticides on wildlife. Silent Spring was more than an exposé of the
failings of technology, according to H. Patricia Hynes, it ‘crystallized an
“ethic of the environment” … inspired grassroots environmentalism, the
“deep ecology” movement and the creation of the [U.S.A.] Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)’ as well as inspire the eco-feminist movement.
36
Silent Spring described the devastating impact of chemical pollution on
the environment and the insidious affects on man in such a way as to not
only impact upon this author but inspire a whole generation:
The most alarming of all man’s assaults upon the environment is the
contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even
lethal materials. This pollution is for the most part irrecoverable; the
chain of evil it initiates not only in the world that must support life but
in living tissues is for the most part irreversible. In this now
universal contamination of the environment, chemicals are the
sinister and little-recognized partners of radiation in changing the
very nature of the world – the very nature of its life.
37
A similarly powerful message on a related theme came from Vance
Packard in his now legendary text The Waste Makers (1967) in which he
highlighted the avarice that maintained and fuelled the American
economy. Packard’s text identified a number of strategies that enabled
manufacturers and marketers to stimulate and maintain consumer
demand beyond basic need through a strategy of ‘planned
obsolescence’. Packard reveals in memorable fashion how the
orchestration by marketers of a hedonistic culture through the deliberate
engineering of a culture of consumerism the American economy achieved
unprecedented growth:
Our enormously productive economy … demands that we make
consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of
goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfactions, our ego
36
H. P. Hynes cited by P. B. Corcoran, ‘Rachel Carson 1907-64’, in J. A. Palmer (Ed.),
Fifty Key Thinkers on the Environment, Routledge, London, 2001, p. 198
37
Carson, Silent Spring, p. 23
37
satisfactions, in consumption … We need things consumed, burned
up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing rate.
38
Industrialisation in the post-war period produced considerable
environmental problems as Carson and Packard reveal but the new world
order was facing another problem that was going to challenge the
management of increasingly scarce resources on a global level if the
underlying social problem was not addressed. The publication by Paul
Ehrlich of The Population Bomb (1998)
39
gained attention because for the
first time an eminent biologist proposed that population must be subject to
control as this new (Malthusian) theory indicated there was a vital and
direct link between population growth, resource use and environmental
impact. According to Ehrlich, it was not the size of population that
determined ecological stability but rather its relation to its resource base.
Although Ehrlich’s ideas have been contested, some of his predictions
have proved startlingly accurate.
40
To Ehrlich it was clear that science
itself could not provide the guidance for optimum human living and his
bottom line (not one popular with democratic governments, large
corporations or dictatorships) was that ‘technology cannot make
biophysical carrying capacity infinite’.
41
It seems that Ehrlich’s fundamental principle continues to go
unheeded by policy makers. However, although the question of the
earth’s carrying capacity in relation to population has not become a major
issue in the global agenda one of its manifestations, global warning, has
become a significant issue, at least in Europe. Industrialisation has
largely developed through the burning of fossil fuels. The side effect on
the earth’s atmosphere has seen the release of vast quantities of carbon
dioxide to the atmosphere. In global terms, the quantities appear very
small amounting to about 0.03 per cent but the increase since 1850
38
V. Lebow, Journal of Retailing, Spring 1955, p. 1, Cited by V. Packard, The Waste
Makers, Penguin Books Ltd, Harmondsworth, 1967, p. 33
39
P. Ehrlich, The Population Bomb, Sierra Club/Ballantine Books, New York, 1998
40
P. R. Ehrlich cited by I. G. Simmons, ‘Paul Ehrlich, 1932-’, in J. A. Palmer (Ed.), Fifty
Key Thinkers on the Environment, Routledge, London, 2001, p. 254 See for
example p. 254 where he claimed that in the 1970s ‘the world will undergo
famines – hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death …’
41
I. G. Simmons, ‘Paul Ehrlich, 1932-’, in J. A. Palmer (Ed.), Fifty Key Thinkers on the
Environment, Routledge, London, 2001, p. 255
38
(when industrialisation began to have an environmental impact) has risen
alarmingly from 265 parts per million to an estimated 340 parts per million
and is predicted to rise to 600 parts per million by the year 2050.
42
As
John Houghton explains in his influential Global Warning (1997):
The basic principle of global warning can be understood by
considering the radiation energy from the sun which warms the
Earth’s surface and the thermal radiation from the Earth and the
atmosphere which radiated out to space. On average these two
radiation streams must balance. If the balance is disturbed (for
instance by an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide) it can be
restored by an increase in the Earth’s surface temperature.
43
According to Houghton the earliest warning of the potential risks of
increased greenhouse gases were first expressed by Roger Revelle and
Hans Suess of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, California, as early
as 1957.
44
The capacity of the atmosphere to absorb emissions is
limited:
Every year these emissions currently add to the carbon already
present in atmospheric carbon dioxide a further seven thousand
million tonnes, much of which is likely to remain there for a period of
a hundred years or more.
45
The unprecedented increase in carbon dioxide is likely to have
unpredictable outcomes with potentially devastating effects for future
generations. The recent floods in the UK are generally considered
attributable to the changing patterns of climate initiated by the current
increase in global warming. However as Houghton points out, concerns
for environmental damage caused by industrialisation go right back to the
Victorian period when, for example, London and other cities offered smog
as a result of factory emissions.
Houghton’s text then, offers another key polemic in identifying the
need for change, if we are to begin to negotiate the environmental
challenges set in motion by capitalism. The catalogue of environmental
challenges brought about by industrialisation is (of course) largely the
42
N. Meyers (Ed.), Gaia: an Atlas of Planet Management, Doubleday, New York, 1984,
p. 116
43
J. Houghton, Global Warming: The Complete Briefing, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1997, p. 10
44
Ibid., p. 12
45
Ibid., pp. 7-8
39
responsibility of the small section of the population who occupy the liberal
democracies in the West. Sadly, Russia and Asia are now expanding
their economies based on the Western capitalist model. One of the
challenges I believe that has not been addressed, particularly in the light
of the demise of communism, is the relationship between technology and
capitalism on the one hand and the nature and purpose of democracy on
the other. Working within the current economic paradigm, scarce
resources are only regulated through the price mechanism that operated
in a free market moderated by the intervention from government. While a
scarce resource such as oil will lead to price increases, this mechanism is
clearly inadequate to meet current and future needs. Such material
resources are now political priorities and political strategies have been
engineered in order to safeguard the continuity of energy supplies.
In this connection, Ivan Illich, has produced a controversial theory
on the energy crisis and its relationship to democratic principles that is
worth consideration. In Energy and Equity (1974) he argues that there is
no real energy crisis, that the idea is no more than a political ruse which
‘masks the contradiction implicit in the joint pursuit of equity and industrial
growth. It safeguards the illusion that machine power can indefinitely
take the place of manpower’.
46
Illich argues there is a direct relationship
between industrialisation and socio-economic inequities. The inequities
are not resolved by increasing the level of energy but by initiating a
community-wide democratic process that ‘identify the thresholds beyond
which power corrupts’. According to Illich, poor countries who embrace
high energy technologies become enslaved to high productivity. By
accepting dependency on energy the poor unwittingly reject alternative
technology and participatory politics and become subject to ‘maximum
feasible social control’.
47
Illich uses the example of modern traffic to illustrate his hypothesis
of ‘socially optimal energy use’. He believes there is a direct correlation
between a participatory democracy and the requirement for low energy
technology. For example, in Energy and Equity he argues that in order to
46
I. Illich, Energy and Equity, Calder & Boyars, London, 1974, p. 15
47
Ibid., p.22
40
preserve democracy and social relations he proposes we adopt a political
system which initiates industrial transportation where people must travel
at no more than the speed of a bicycle.
48
This idea may set fears of totalitarianism in motion but it must be
conceded that modern economies have assumed that the social and
economic benefits of new transport technology serve basic freedoms and
rights. However, Illich argues we have become enslaved by speed and
defined journey routes and a ‘time scarcity of unprecedented severity’.
Alarmingly, an increase of energy into the system accelerates movement
yet further enslaving the masses as they devote an increasing proportion
of their time to car journeys. Illich suggests the ratio between man hours
and journey miles still looks comparable to foot power, yet the social and
political costs, let alone the environmental ones, are conveniently ignored
in the name of technological progress. This enslavement is caused,
according to Illich, by the disenfranchisement of communities in the
process of democratic decision making.
49
This is a principle that is
central to Agenda 21 and the sustainable development discourse;
subjects that will be discusses in this Literature Review and which are
central to this thesis.
New models and prescriptions
The literature described above all shares a polemic quality and has
helped alert us to the pending dangers faced by humanity. On a more
optimistic note, however, science is now also providing other intellectual
models of the physical and human realm which are transforming our
perception of the world and our relation to it. These new models enable
us to view the world differently from our ancestors whose understanding
of the world and their relationship to it were conditioned by different
assumptions frequently based on the religious concepts and scientific
theories of the day. Newtonian physics, for example, provided a
mechanistic model of the world in the past in which man was a separate
entity. By the nineteenth century the dominance of archaic religious
48
Ibid., p. 24
49
Ibid., p. 28
41
doctrine perpetuated by a controlling clergy was challenged by new
scientific thinking that questioned fundamental Christian tenants. Charles
Darwin’s theory of biological evolution, for example, provide an
explanation of the process of biodiversity and the development of life from
simple to complex forms over millions of years. During his research on
the Galapagos Islands he observed the adaptability of animals to adapt
their faculties to meet their needs for survival producing physical features
uncharacteristic of anywhere else he had observed. According to Janet
Browne, Darwin was ‘alert to the subtle balances and relationships
between organisms, and between organisms and their environment,
seeking an alternative explanation for what was seen by others as
“perfect adaptation”’.
50
Darwin’s theory on mutual selection was
subsequently shaped by ideas from Malthus’s An Essay on the Principle
of Population (1798)
51
which provided him with a ‘naturalistic mechanism
for change and adaptation that did not involve any form of divine action’.
52
Darwin’s biological theories have of course had huge influence and
have even impacted upon economics. Simplistic interpretation of his
theory, for example, has been used historically by those who advocate
the domination of one race over others, as well as exponents of
unfettered market economics. To give Darwin his due, his evolutionary
theory has also provided an indispensable model that has influenced
ecologists and economists. The developments in DNA research for
example, have further enhanced general awareness that there is indeed
an evolutionary development between generations.
However, in more recent times, one of the most significant
contributions to scientific interdisciplinary research into man’s social
evolution has been Jared Diamond’s seminal work Guns, Germs and
Steel (1998). In this fascinating text Diamond examines the differences
and inequalities in the development between different peoples over the
last 13,000 years are analysed. Interestingly, he shows how social
inequalities are not so much due to inherent factors rather but to the
50
J. Browne, ‘Charles Darwin, 1809-1882’, in J. A. Palmer (Ed.), Fifty Key Thinkers on
the Environment, Routledge, London, 2001, p. 101
51
T. Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population, J. Johnson, London, 1798
52
Browne, ‘Charles Darwin’, p. 101
42
differences in the material environments of each group. He bases his
arguments on an inter-disciplinary approach which draws on a range of
disciplines varying from genetics, molecular biology and behavioural
ecology through to linguistics, archaeological studies and histories of
technology. Central to his thesis is an understanding of the development
and spread of food production. He argues that only societies that had
sufficient natural resources to domesticate plants and animals were able
to support dense human populations:
The resulting food surpluses and (in some areas) the animal-based
means of transporting those surpluses, were a prerequisite for the
development of settled, politically centralized, socially stratified,
economically complex, technologically innovative societies.
53
According to Diamond, while some societies were able to develop food
production independently others remained hunter-gatherers until modern
times.
54
Global development has historically also been shaped by the
differing rates the centres of food production spread. The ascent of Euro-
Asian civilisations, compared to native America and sub-Saharan Africa,
argues Diamond, has been brought about by an ‘intense exchanges of
crops, livestock and technologies related to food production [and so] were
more likely to become involved in other exchanges as well’.
55
According to Diamond, the development of food production systems
that produced surpluses enabled communities to develop hierarchical
social and political structures that were quite distinct from the egalitarian
communities of hunter-gatherers. The increase in resources enabled the
farmer to acquire greater power than the hunter-gatherer. The farmer
could support denser populations which enabled communities to develop
social and political hierarchical structures that were quite distinct and
more powerful that the equalitarian communities of hunter gatherers.
Progress was not always benign:
Farmers tend to breathe out nastier germs, to own better weapons
and armor, to own more-powerful technology in general, and to live
53
J. Diamond, Guns, Germs and Steel, Vintage, London, 1998, p. 92
54
Ibid., p. 29
55
Ibid., pp. 190-191
43
under centralized governments with literate elites better able to
wage wars of conquest.
56
Diamond’s thesis offers a profound insight into the reasons for the
historical inequalities between the North and South and is another text
which has been instrumental in challenging the moral justification for the
perpetuation of the current global inequities.
If the world is one, a global ethic would imply we all have collective
responsibility to ensure everyone is treated fairly rather than enjoy
privileges through an accident of birth. To understand the delicate
ecological balance that determines the continuation of life on earth there
has (perhaps) been no more influential idea than the Gaia hypothesis,
developed by James Lovelock in 1979, which emerged as a response to
the contemplation of the nature of biological life. In asking himself the
question ‘What is life, and how should it be recognized?’ he challenged
himself to find an adequate scientific explanation that could be tested.
57
By studying the atmosphere of the Earth, Mars and Venus it became
evident that the earth’s atmosphere is in disequilibrium compared to the
other planets. Carbon dioxide, known as the greenhouse gas, has been
stabilised by living organisms which regulate the global climate. His
findings led to the development of his Gaia hypothesis which he defined
as:
A complex entity involving the Earth’s biosphere, atmosphere,
oceans, and soil; the totality constituting a feedback or cybernetic
system which seeks an optimal physical and chemical environment
for life on this planet.
58
Gaia provides a unifying concept that can lead to a more integrated
approach to environmental problem solving in which man is an
interdependent part – a concept which this thesis has come to embrace.
The environmental challenges are a serious threat to our social evolution.
Lovelock’s ecological model of an interdependent world in which
56
Ibid., p. 195
57
J. Lovelock, Gaia: A New Look At Life On Earth, Oxford University Press, Oxford,
1995, p. 2
58
Ibid., p. 10
44
humankind is an integral part is also the basis of other significant models
developed by authors like Arthur Dahl.
In his timely Unless and Until (1990), Dahl views with concern both
the escalation of environmental problems and the political inertia that
besets society. Dahl interprets environmental degradation as an organic
stage in the ‘larger context of human social evolution’. These
environmental imbalances he sees as symptomatic of:
Forces of transition which are breaking down the old structures of a
fragmented world of sovereign nations so they can be replaced by
new types of social organization adapted to a unified world.
59
Dahl speculated that a politically and economically unified world is
consistent with the values of an ecological paradigm in which the
differences that characterise the smallest entities contribute to a unified
whole rather than the current tendency amongst humankind for the
strongest to dominate. Ecological interdependence provides a model for
a spiritual paradigm in which the individual engages with the world
conscious of their influence on society through spiritual or human values
such as love, justice and compassion. Dahl argues ‘it is these qualities
which make possible the higher levels of human interaction required to
build an organic world society’. Dahl advocates a world in which the
material requirements are given equal weighting with spiritual values. He
proposes a principle of unity in diversity which rests on a new level of
human understanding that no longer sees man as a mere product of
biological determination or an arbitrary historical process but instead as
the next stage in an evolutionary development in which global unity
defines the next stage in our social organisation and ‘evolution is
potentially under our own conscious control’.
60
In a subsequent text, The Eco Principle: Ecology and Economics in
Symbiosis (1996), Dahl has developed a concept of economics based on
the principle and recognition of biological interdependence. Dahl argues
that although economic theory and practice have produced real benefits:
59
A. L. Dahl, Unless and Until: A Baha'í Focus on the Environment, Baha'í Publishing
Trust, London, 1990, p. 56
60
Ibid., p. 61
45
The repeated cycles of boom and recession, the instabilities in
international economic relations, and the resulting crises that have
shaken nations and whole regions, show our imperfect
understanding and management of economic systems.
61
According to the eco-principle, the shortcoming of the current political
system has produced a catalogue of national and international socio-
economic problems including ‘poverty, unemployment, the debt crisis and
the growing gap between the richest and poorest nations’ and has
resulted in a series of environmental problems including ‘pollution,
damage to the ozone layer, and the greenhouse effect which threatens to
cause global warming’.
62
In this connection, an interesting concept of environmental ethics
was pioneered at the beginning of the twentieth century by Aldo Leopold
(1887–1948), a career forester and a pioneer of conservation,
conservation ethics and a founder of ecosystem-management forestry.
His most significant contribution to environmental ethics, Land Ethic (Part
of A Sand County Almanac, 1949),
63
is regarded as (perhaps) the
seminal text in the field. Based on two scientific concepts, evolution and
ecology, his land ethic philosophy recognised the scientific observation of
interdependence between the smallest entity and the whole. It defines
right action as that which maintains the ‘integrity, stability, and beauty’ of
the ecological community which includes man.
64
Interestingly enough,
Leopold was also responsible for transforming the United States Forest
Service agronomic practice of forestry which regarded trees as a crop,
‘like cabbages’, to a management system based on ecological principles
in which the role of tree growing was subordinate to a land health
ecology, now known as ‘ecosystem health’.
65
His pioneering work clearly
provided a model for subsequent developments in economics based on
ecological principles.
61
A. L. Dahl, The Eco Principle: Ecology and Economics in Symbiosis, George Ronald,
Oxford, 1996, p. 1
62
Ibid., p. 1
63
A. Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, Oxford University Press, New York, 1949
64
J. Baird Callicott, ‘Aldo Leopold, 1887-1962’, in J. A. Palmer (Ed.), Fifty Key Thinkers
on the Environment, Routledge, London, 2001, pp. 178-179
65
Ibid., p. 176
46
Another rather more recent but nevertheless interesting model worth
mentioning has been developed by Michael Richards, a natural resource
economist at the Overseas Development Institute, London. He outlines a
model for sustainable development based on the spiritual and social
principles expounded in the Bahá’í teachings. He argues that the current
concept of economic development is based on consumerism and a
material concept of progress which is in itself unsustainable. In order to
achieve material prosperity the process of sustainable development
requires an integration of spiritual and material elements.
66
These
elements represent a fundamental shift in orientation of human values
and include an ethical framework that recognises that the wellbeing of the
individual is achieved through the wellbeing of the community with male
and female values in balance. Science and religion, once free of dogma,
can provide harmonised solutions to previously intractable problems.
New democratic structures are required that ‘seek the widest
participation, transparency and accountability in decision-making’,
67
combined with a new ethic based on global citizenship which reflects ‘the
scientific principle of the oneness of mankind … taught in schools and
proclaimed at every level’.
68
Redefining economics also became the preoccupation of the
economist E. F. Schumacher whose book Small is Beautiful (1973)
69
recognised that economic theory needs to be aligned to human needs
rather than industrial growth. Like Dahl and Richards he also saw man
as spiritual beings whose needs were not being met through a
materialistic economic model. Schumacher came to realise that
alternative economic models needed to be formulated to overcome the
excesses of what he called ‘giantism’, the belief that continuous economic
growth and increasing consumption were evidence of the advancement of
civilisation. In Small is Beautiful Schumacher discusses the effects of
66
M. Richards, Sustainable Development - A Baha'í Perspective. A discussion paper
prepared by Michael Richards for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'ís of
the UK, London, 1995, p. 3
67
Ibid., p. 4
68
Ibid., p. 5
69
E. F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered,
Blond & Briggs Ltd, London, 1973
47
economic development on the environment and the spiritual well-being of
man. His particular concern was that in the unfolding of mankind’s
scientific and technological powers, there had developed a system of
production that was destroying nature and creating a type of society that
was harmful man.
In 1995 Schumacher visited Burma as an official economic
development advisor to introduce the Western model of economic growth.
It was here that he observed an economic system based on Buddhism,
using indigenous technology that more than met everyone’s needs based
on a philosophy that saw ‘civilization not as a multiplication of wants but
in the participation of character’.
70
This was in contrast to the Western
model which reduced spirituality to a personal goal outside a secular
economics and depended on state of the art technology that relegated
more basic technologies (e.g. the use of hand tools) to obsolescence.
Schumacher’s views are highly persuasive and did much (again) to
influence this author amongst (no doubt) many others. Schumacher
believed that economics must benefit both people and planet. He argues
that an economic system can only function if it is controlled at a local level
rather than based on economies of scale. This would inevitably leads to
small scale operations which would provide society with its new
developments. In 1970 Schumacher was instrumental in founding the
influential Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) to further
his aim of exploring the issue of appropriate technology in a context
cultural diversity – a significant achievement.
The human dimensions of economics are also explored by
Professor Paul Seabright in an interesting text called (intriguingly) The
Company of Strangers (2005) in which Seabright provides an
evolutionary and sociological history of the emergence of economic
institutions that manage the global economy. Another seminal work, it
draws on biology, anthropology, history and psychology to argue that we
engage in cooperative tasks not
because of their value in making the modern division of labor
possible but because we are motivated by an innate capacity to
70
Ibid., p. 50
48
demonstrate trust between ‘honorary friends’ based on established
rules.
71
The faculty of trust is unique to Homo sapiens, according to Seabright.
All other animals are only capable of demonstrating trust amongst
biologically related types. Humans have the capability of trusting
strangers. This, Seabright believes, has been the basis of progress
combined with our evolved capacity for abstract thought. He argues that
there is nothing in our evolutionary history that justifies the remarkable
developments of civilisation over the last ten thousand years. It is
because developments have not been planned we should not be
surprised that the current global situation has produced inherent
problems alongside remarkable prosperity – an interesting and
enlightened view.
72
According to Seabright, if the global economy is an unplanned and
unprecedented complex entity which has reached its current state
following ten thousand years of development then ‘no one could have
predicted this experiment from observing the course of our previous
evolution’. This achievement has been through man’s ability to undertake
complex task-sharing ‘between genetically unrelated members of the
same species’ based on cooperation, a distinction only characteristic of
man.
73
Task-sharing or division of labour, he argues, has its explanation
in evolutionary biology that has enabled human beings to develop the
capacity of abstract, symbolic thought and communication. This in turn
has provided the ‘foundation for the accumulation of knowledge that
would provide humanity as a whole with a reservoir of shared skills vastly
greater than the skills available to any single person’ – a decidedly
optimistic position.
74
National governments with their powers to ‘constrain the operation
of citizens, firms and markets in historically unprecedented ways’ are also
susceptible to what Seabright calls the ‘tunnel vision’ of the market place.
71
P. Seabright, The Company of Strangers: a Natural History of Economic Life,
Princeton University Press, Woodstock (UK), 2005, p. 4
72
Ibid., p. 6
73
Ibid., p. 1
74
Ibid., pp. 3-4
49
The increased complexity of running a nation state requires a level of
organisation and division of labour that replicates the characteristics of
the market whose excesses it seeks to moderate. This specialisation
produces a level of decision making ‘in a world in which the long reach
and destructiveness of modern technology require panoramic vision as
never before’.
75
The survival of nation states will depend on their ability to
demonstrate their capacity to be more effective than alternative, more
coercive institutions.
76
He highlights the unprecedented influence of the
USA as the dominant global military power and its belief in its
unchallengeable authority in global matters which is barely challenged.
Yet, as Seabright argues, the future of the USA will depend on its ability
to achieve ‘the full and enthusiastic cooperation of other countries if its
prosperity and liberties are to be preserved’. Likewise, he argues,
emerging super powers such as China also need ‘to cooperate in solving
problems where externalities matter on a world scale, notably in the
protection of the environment’.
77
Seabright, like Diamond before him, provides a historical context
spanning ten thousand years in which the social economic and political
developments of the last one hundred years can be viewed in a more
objective way. The social evolution of man over the last ten thousand
years is short in terms of his biological evolution. The ability to cooperate
with strangers on a daily basis has only occurred in the last two hundred
years according to Seabright. The challenges associated with
establishing principles and systems of governance that facilitate trust and
cooperation require unprecedented levels of thought and action and
require us ‘to deploy a different skill bequeathed to us by evolution for
quite different purposes, the capacity for abstract symbolic thought’.
78
It is clear from Seabright’s text that in seeking to understand the
requirements for sustainable development a new conceptualisation of the
75
Ibid., pp. 213-214
76
Ibid., p. 249
77
Ibid., p. 254
78
Ibid., p. 257
50
world and our relationship to it is required, one which integrates
progressive scientific thinking with a collective sense of responsibility.
Sustainable development
Today there is an increasing awareness of the issues surrounding
what has come to be called ‘sustainable development’. This concept has
been elevated in global environmental and economic discourse through a
series of United Nations conferences and related non-partisan initiatives
which are discussed in this section. This, in my view, is one of the most
significant developments since the establishment of the United Nations in
1948. In the context of humankinds social evolution the emergence of a
network of international institutions and forums to debate global issues
since the Second World War marks a new stage in political awareness
even if the practical action has been disappointing as will be discussed in
this section. This, naturally enough forms (for the most part) a different
kind of literature to that referred to thus far – the literature of
governmental and institutional documents – a necessary analogue to the
review. Such documents may not rehearse the arguments in the
persuasive manner of much of the literature that has been cited earlier
but nevertheless it offers an interesting narrative dimension to the issues
raised by this thesis and offers a compelling authority of its own.
Moreover, it was to play its own significant role in informing the research
journey and its outcomes, as will be seen.
The USA, as the leading economy in the world is widely perceived
as the main contributor of environmental degradation. However, under
President Carter a critical assessment of the future of the environment
was commissioned – known as the Global 2000 Report to the President
(1981) it made some startlingly accurate predictions:
If present trends continue, the world in 2000 will be more crowded,
more polluted, less stable ecologically and more vulnerable to
disruption. Serious stresses involving population, resources, and
environment are clearly visible ahead. Despite material output, the
world’s people will be poorer in many ways than they are today.
79
79
G. Burney, Global 2000 Report to the President, New York, Penguin, 1981, p. 1. Cited
in S. Dresner, The Principles of Sustainability, London, Earthscan Publications
Ltd, 2002, p. 27
51
Interestingly, however, any prospect of leading sustainable development
was lost by the USA when successive Presidents and Congress rejected
any attempt to reshape economic policies in the light of the Global 2000
Report to the President and in the intervening years environmental
leadership has largely passed to Europe.
80
It is only recently in President
Bush’s address to the State of the Union, in which he acknowledges
America’s ‘addiction to oil’ that a glimmer of recognition of the current
environmental crisis has surfaced. These were well chosen confessional
words that implied both a psychological and physical dependency.
Perhaps the first international conference to raise the issue of
sustainable development to a level of international discourse though was
the UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972.
The debate centred on poverty in the developing countries. However the
preoccupation of European countries with environmental pollution was
regarded as hypocritical by developing countries who argued that poverty
represented a worse form of pollution. Nevertheless the Stockholm
Declaration, however, established environmental problems on the
international agenda for the first time and led to the formation of the UN
Environmental Programme (UNEP) which has been the repository of ‘the
global environmental conscience’.
81
The Brundtland Commission also played a pivotal role in raising
global awareness of environmental issues. It was the Brundtland Report
(1987) which gave currency to the term ‘sustainable development’ a term
that manages to negotiate the delicate balance of reconciling the
developed world’s idea of development with the developing world’s
aspiration to better itself.
Sustainable development remains to some extent an elusive
concept but it has provided a valuable hook around which discussion and
debate can develop. The World Council of Churches in 1974 had earlier
produced the idea of a ‘sustainable society’ linked to an equitable
80
S. Dresner, The Principles of Sustainability, London, Earthscan Publications Ltd,
2002, p. 27
81
Ibid., p. 28
52
distribution of resources which subsequently became a central tenant of
the Brundtland Report together with democratic participation, which was
in turn to become a cornerstone of the Earth Summit’s Agenda 21 (1992)
document.
82
However, it was The World Conservation Strategy (1980)
conference which first employed the term ‘sustainable development’
which it defined as ‘the integration of conservation and development to
ensure that modifications to the planet do indeed secure the survival and
well-being of all people’. It anticipated many of the ideas associated with
Brundtland by calling for ‘a new international development strategy that
would redress inequity, stimulate economic growth and counter the worst
poverty’.
83
Sadly, it failed to achieve widespread recognition because it
was based on a Euro-centred view with ‘a moral framework that was not
universal’ – a problem that Brundtland put right.
84
The UN General Assembly formed the World Commission on the
Environment and Development (WCED) in 1983 in tandem with Gro
Harlem Brundtland, the former Norwegian Prime Minister, as chair
person. In 1987 the Commission produced the document Our Common
Future. The impact of the report was useful and yet, in many ways its
thinking lacked originality, rehashing ideas from earlier initiatives. Its
effectiveness in appealing directly to all levels of society and institutions
through developing a broad concept of sustainable development
encouraged a global discourse on the concept.
85
Its impact on global
discourse was ultimately secured through the Brundtland Report of 1987
and the Commission’s inclusive membership of representatives from
every continent and drawing scientists, lawyers and others into its
consultations. The Report recognises the requirement to meet the needs
of all members of humanity (particularly the deprived) and also
recognised that technology and social organisations, often impose certain
82
Ibid., p. 29
83
Ibid., p. 31
84
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, World
Conservation Strategy: Living Resources Conservation for Sustainable
Development, Gland, Switzerland: IUCN, Section 1.2, 1977. Cited by S. Dresner,
p. 30
85
J. A. Palmer, ‘Gro Harlem Brundtland, 1939-’, in J. A. Palmer (Ed.), Fifty Key Thinkers
on the Environment, Routledge, London, 2001, p. 276
53
limits. However, it did recognise that development that reconciles
environmental issues is only possible if there is the political will:
Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable - to
ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The
concept of sustainable development does imply limits – not absolute
limits but limitations imposed by the present state of technology
and social organization on environmental resources and by the
ability of the biosphere to absorb the effects of human activities. But
technology and social organization can be both managed and
improved to make way for a new era of economic growth. The
commission believes that widespread poverty is no longer inevitable
… A world in which poverty is endemic will always be prone to
ecological and other catastrophes. Sustainable development is not a
fixed state of harmony, but rather a process of change … We do not
pretend that the process is easy or straightforward. Painful choices
have to be made. Thus, in the final analysis, sustainable
development must rest on political will.
86
The Brundtland Report is not without its critics. In its proposal to the
UN, Programme of Action on Sustainable Development, third world critics
have questioned the implicit assumption in the Report that only existing
international organisations are capable of facilitating progress. As De la
Court argued ‘the present structures have given us the disease - is it then
logical that they should also provide the cure?’:
The ideology of the dominant pattern of development derives its
driving force from a linear theory of progress, from a vision of
historical evolution propounded in the eighteenth and nineteenth
century Western Europe and universalised throughout the world
especially in the post-war development decades. The linearity of
history, presupposed in this theory of progress, created the ideology
of development that equated development with economic growth,
economic growth with expansion of the market economy, modernity
with consumerism and non-market economies with backwardness.
The diverse traditions of the world, with their distinctive
technological, ecological, economic, political and cultural structures,
were driven by this new ideology to converge into a homogeneous
monolithic order modelled on the particular evolution of the west.
87
86
World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future, Oxford
University Press, Oxford, 1987, pp. 8-9
87
T, de la Court cited by Palmer, ‘Gro Harlem Brundtland: 1939-’, p. 280. in J. A. Palmer
(Ed.), Fifty Key Thinkers on the Environment, Routledge, London, 2001
54
The challenge to the current global model is whether it can
recognise and assimilate a diversity of cultural traditions each with its
unique approach to life? The widespread acceptance of the notion of
sustainable development as presented by the Brundtland Report lay in
part in its ability to appease vested and partisan interests in the West who
saw environmental limits as a prohibition on economic development and
growth. Interestingly enough, the Brundtland Report did have a positive
influence on many southern hemisphere governments who no longer
regarded environmental issues as just a Western indulgence; it forced
governments and international bodies to discuss the issues and provided
a coherent, if limited, agreement for the case of developing a more
equitable sustainable world.
88
The Brundtland Report proposed a plan of action which led directly
to the convening of the UN Conference on Environment and
Development 1992 (UNCED), known as the Earth Summit held in Rio de
Janeiro. The Secretary-General of the conference, Maurice Strong, had
a clear vision of what the conference was to achieve:
• Conventions on climate, biodiversity and forests;
• An Earth Charter;
• Agenda 21, a global action plan outlining the sustainable
development priorities for the 21st century;
• An agreement on new financial resources to implement Agenda
21, and progress on agreements to transfer environmentally sound
technologies from North to South;
• A strengthening of UN institutions, including an Earth council.
89
The Earth Summit generated considerable media coverage and raised
the level of public debate to new levels but the actual signed agreements
by the world leaders were less than impressive. According to Dresner,
the framework on climate change reflected the series of compromises by
politicians that characterised the follow-up international agreements. A
consensus was achieved that climate change was serious problem but
88
Dresner, Principles, pp. 36-37
89
Ibid., p. 38
55
due to US pressure targets or dates were hard to agree. However, the
steps were put in place to reach a binding agreement which led to the
Kyoto Protocol in 1997.
90
The Agenda 21 document provided a framework of global action for
achieving sustainable development. It represents a significant reversal of
governance in which individuals, particularly women, communities,
businesses and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were
encouraged to become active participants in a democratic process of
change. There were a number of reasons for this change of attitude by
the UNCED policymakers. Dresner suggests that the unprecedented
level of NGO involvement at the Earth Summit ‘was institutionalized in the
document’ and ‘the role of the market, trade and business’ were
recognised. However, ‘both these features of Agenda 21 can partly be
attributed to the demise of state socialism and the general disillusionment
with bureaucratic approaches to problems’.
91
Agenda 21, of course, was
to provide the catalyst for this research project.
A series of political compromises produced a watering down of
controversial issues. Chapter 4 of Agenda 21, which discusses
unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, calls for national
strategies and policies to encourage ‘sustainable consumption patterns’
but according to Dresner lack specific targets which were toned down by
industrial countries, particularly the US. Chapter 5, Agenda 21, which
dealt with population growth under the theme Demographic Dynamics
and Sustainability had all mention of contraception removed at the
insistence of the Vatican and the Philippines. Militarism and international
debt were too controversial and not even included. Agenda 21, in the
end, did not get the financial support it required. The proposed budget of
US $600 billion a year was reduced to a derisory US £2 billion over three
years, about 0.5 per cent of the sum requested.
92
The related UNCED conference played an unprecedented role in
establishing the ‘global environment as a major political issue in
90
Ibid., p. 39
91
Ibid., p. 41
92
Ibid., p. 42
56
international politics. Rio was a major political event in a way in which
Stockholm had not been’. Over a hundred national leaders attended
UNCED compared to two at the Stockholm Conference.
93
Global governance
What was achieved in terms of lasting action following the
emergence of the concept of sustainable development in global
discourse? Agenda 21 was the action plan for UNCED. In Chapter 28,
Agenda 21, local authorities were asked to produce a local Agenda 21
through consultation with members and representative groups in their
community. What is significant is that Agenda 21 recognised that many
of the solutions to global problems could only be resolved through
problem solving at grass roots level – and providing a principle
fundamental to this research project:
Through consultation and consensus building, local authorities
would learn from citizens and from local civic, community, business
and industrial organizations and acquire the information needed for
formulating the best strategies.
94
Its progress as a global initiative can be seen as a measure of success
for UNCED. The implementation of Agenda 21 was the responsibility of
the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). Although officially
a subcommittee of the UN Committee on Economic and Social Affairs
(ECOSOC) its membership, which includes government environmental
ministers, has more power and influence than ECOSOC has. However,
as Dresner observes
The job of coordinating a global transition to sustainable
development has rather unsurprisingly proved a somewhat over-
ambitious task for a body that meets so little and has so few
resources itself.
95
Agenda 21 became a document that was widely disseminated
amongst political leaders from national to local politicians. It can not be a
93
Ibid., p. 45
94
J. Connelly and G. Smith, Politics and the Environment, 1999, London, Routledge, p.
294
95
Dresner, Principles, p. 43
57
coincidence that the level of political patronage at UNCED was reflected
in subsequent years in the support and interest from governments at all
levels. A further development of Agenda 21 identified by the Local
Government Management Board in the UK was the need for local
authority to change from within as well as develop a collaborative
partnership with the members in the local community. The following
initiatives were proposed on the part of the local authority:
• Managing and improving the local authority’s own environmental
performance
• Integrating sustainable development aims into the local authority’s
policies and activities
• Awareness raising and education
• Consulting and involving the general public
• Partnerships
• Measuring monitoring and reporting on progress towards
sustainability
96
The success of Agenda 21 depended on the ability of local
governing authorities to set up the necessary infra structure to generate
meaningful dialogue and action plans with their respective local
communities and establish unprecedented levels of cooperation in
implementing new strategies for economic development. Success has
been limited, partly because the level of cynicism by the electorate has
limited the response but (in my view) it is also because local communities
lack the necessary participatory democratic structures and there is no
culture of consensus building.
The difficulty of consensus building is also a feature of international
agreements on environmental issues. There has been a growing
awareness since the 1970s that the environmental problems can not be
resolved through the intervention of individual nation states. In the
absence of an inter-state system of governance, which could ultimately
regulate recalcitrant nation states, a series of “regimes” have been
96
Connolly and Smith, Politics and the Environment, p. 294
58
initiated such as the Montreal Protocol and the Statement on Forestry
Principles which establish principles, rules and decision making
procedures in specific areas of international concern. The difficulties
arise over the conflicting ‘nature of the international political and
economic systems’ and the way in which the environmental problems
challenge the concept of national sovereignty.
97
The political and
economic dominance and isolationist policies of the United States; the
entrenched unwillingness of industrial countries to moderate their concept
of economic development, and the relative powerlessness of third world
countries to influence global economic policy are just a few examples of
the obstacles which hamper progress towards sustainable development.
Increased international cooperation is fundamental to progress. In
areas of mutual concern the political and economic dominance and
isolationist tendencies of the United States have seriously hampered
progress. When the United States has taken the lead, a stronger regime
has been created. However, it has regularly resisted cooperation in
formulating protocols and conventions, resulting in a weaker regime.
98
Yet without political cooperation, nation states have limited capacity to
protect citizens from the effects of environmental degradation. As
Connolly and Smith argue ‘environmental politics can be seen as
fundamentally challenging dominant understanding of sovereignty as the
legitimacy of states understood in terms of capital accumulation is itself
challenged’.
99
Climate change is perceived as one of the most critical
environmental issues and it remains one of the greatest challenges to
collective action. It is a problem that many politicians try to avoid.
Climate change brought about by rising carbon dioxide first came to the
global agenda in 1990 when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change predicted a global temperature rise of 1.5 to 4.5
º
C over the next
century at current trends. It suggested significant reduction of sixty per
cent of carbon dioxide emissions over the following fifty years would be
97
Ibid., p. 183
98
Ibid., p.187
99
Ibid., p.189
59
required to prevent rapid climate change that could potentially jeopardise
planet life.
100
The Montreal Protocol of 1987 had successfully tackled the
reduction of the production of the ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons.
The subsequent Framework Convention on Climate Change signed at the
Earth Summit provided a basis for international governments’
consultations which eventually led to the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The
resulting Protocol agreed between industrial nations was a modest
reduction of 5.2 per cent in their joint annual emissions of the main
greenhouse gases for the years 2008-12 compared to the 1990 levels.
101
However, agreement as to how the protocol would be implemented was
contested between nations. The Hague Conference 2000 made little real
progress and in 2001 President George Bush declared the United States
was withdrawing from the agreement. In the same year the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) increased their
estimates of global warming to 1.4 – 5.8
º
C.
102
The lack of progress on
establishing a relatively low reduction and the United States’
unwillingness to cooperate demonstrates the current weakness of
achieving international agreements on climate change.
103
Other
initiatives also produced disappointing compromises as outlined in the
following examples.
• The collapse of an International Forest Convention (1992) led to the
Statement on Forest Principles in an effort to salvage some sort of an
international agreement on forestry management. The agreement
only confirmed the sovereign right of nation states to maintain their
own autonomy over a resource. Countries with tropical forests were
particular affronted by industrial countries’ attempts to influence their
forestry policy.
104
• The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) was the
substitute for the Earth Charter, originally an inspiring statement of a
100
Dresner, Principles, p. 39
101
Ibid., p. 52
102
Ibid., p. 56
103
Ibid., p. 56
104
Ibid., p. 40
60
new global environmental ethic. The Rio Declaration became a
compromise which ‘emphasized development and national
sovereignty’ in contrast to the Stockholm Declaration (1972) which
‘had emphasized environmental protection and international
cooperation’.
105
• Attempts by the international business community have also lacked
impetus. The Business Council of Sustainable Development (BCSD)
represents nearly fifty international business leaders including the
Swiss billionaire Stephen Schmidheiny who published Changing
Course (1992) as the BCSD’s manifesto. He drew on Total Quality
Management Theory (TQM) as the basis for a business approach that
integrated environmental efficiency in the production cycle. Later
renamed the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, it
failed to generate real changes in the business practices of its
members.
106
• The World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002) at
Johannesburg was the follow-up to UNCED 1992. The focus was on
development to meet the needs of Southern countries. The US
resisted setting targets that would impair its own economic
development and ‘no new commitments were made to increase aid,
relieve debt or tackle the crisis of falling commodity prices’.
107
The lack of progress on sustainable development and the
deteriorating global environmental crisis highlighted a paralysis of
collective political will. The global political structure which still held the
nation state as an autonomous self-determining entity was in conflict with
the needs of a global community which was powerless through the lack of
adequate global system for governance. Gro Harlem Brundtland put the
105
Ibid., p. 41
106
Ibid., p. 46
107
Ibid., p. 59
61
question succinctly enough: ‘the question remains: do we have the
political ability to organize and to change what we need to change’.
108
If political will is essential to bring about the necessary
transformation in global governance what are the obstacles? For an
insight I turn to J. Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize winning economist of the World
Bank, who provided an analysis of the failures of global economic
governance in his book Globalisation and Its Discontents (2002). Stiglitz
is critical of Western powers’ failure to play their part in the promise of the
creation of an equitable global economic order. He argues that ‘the West
has driven the globalization agenda, ensuring that it garners a
disproportionate share of the benefits, at the expense of the developing
world’.
109
He asserts that ‘for many in the developing world, globalization
has not brought the promised economic benefits’.
110
The hypocrisy of the
West, he argues, has been tangible; while demanding trade agreements
that open markets and the elimination of subsidies on industrial goods in
the global South, developed countries have maintained quotas and
contrived to subsidise their own agriculture making the poorest countries
worse off.
111
Stiglitz suggests that one of the positive features of greater global
integration is the establishment of organisations which function at an
international level: ‘Globalization has been accompanied by the creation
of new institutions that have joined with existing ones to works across
borders’.
112
These include NGOs and inter-governmental institutions,
such as the World Health Organization (WHO). Globalisation has,
however, been ‘powerfully driven by international corporations, which
move not only capital and goods across borders but also technology’.
113
According to Stiglitz, the failures in the economic arena have been
brought about by the three main institutions (known as the Bretton Wood
108
G. Brundtland, ‘Our Common Future and Ten Years after Rio: How Far Have We
Come and Where Should We Be Going?’, Earth Summit 2002: A New Deal, F.
Dodds (Ed.), Earthscan Publications Ltd, London, 2002, p. 254
109
J. Stiglitz, Globalization and Its Discontents, London, Penguin Books Ltd, 2002, p. 7
110
Ibid., p. 4
111
Ibid., p. 7
112
Ibid., p. 9
113
Ibid., p. 10
62
Institutions) that determine the economic rules of globalisation. These
are the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World
Trade Organization (WTO). The IMF, like the World Bank, was
established in 1944 with the mandate to prevent global economic
depression in the ‘recognition that markets did not work well’. They were
founded ‘on the belief that there was a need for collective action at global
level for economic stability’. However, from the original vision at Bretton
Woods ‘it now champions market supremacy with ideological fervor’.
114
Stiglitz argues these institutions have failed in their mission to promote
global stability through supporting countries economic development. The
change in ideology was initiated by collusion between the IMF, World
Bank and the United States Treasury who invoked the supremacy of the
market.
115
Stiglitz maintains that ‘decisions were made on the basis of
what seemed a curious blend of ideology and bad economics, dogma that
sometimes seemed to be thinly veiling special interests’.
116
This failure,
Stiglitz argues, is partly due to the nature of governance. Decisions by
these institutions are made secretly by technocrats who ‘are not
representative of the nations they serve’.
117
The technocrats who run
these global institutions and influence global economic policy typically
come from international financial corporations. The policies are therefore
‘closely aligned with the commercial and financial interests of those in the
advanced industrial countries’. The problem with globalisation, according
to Stiglitz, is not that it is good or bad but that it is not being adequately
regulated to prevent the extremes and deprivations it is causing.
118
He
goes on to say:
Unfortunately, we have no world government, accountable to the
people of every country, to oversee the globalization process in a
fashion comparable to the way national governments guided the
nationalization process.
119
He describes the current situation as follows:
114
Ibid., p. 12
115
Ibid., p. 16
116
Ibid., p. xiii
117
Ibid., p. 19
118
Ibid., p. 20
119
Ibid., p. 21
63
Global governance without global government, one in which a few
institutions - the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO – and a few players
– the finance, commerce and trade ministries, closely linked to
certain financial and commercial interests – dominate the scene, but
in which many of those affected by their decisions are left almost
voiceless.
120
It is probably fair to say that Stiglitz is not opposed to free trade
capitalism but is questioning the checks and balances within the existing
infrastructure that regulates it. He does not question the assumptions on
which the current form of capitalism is based and which is defining the
form of economic development that is unfolding on a global level. If we
are to begin to understand the ideological basis of economic growth I
believe it is necessary to explore some of the twentieth century
sociological theories of consumerism. By having a greater insight into the
nature of our collective patterns of consumption and its relationship to the
present form of capitalism I hope to be able to provide a more informed
view of sustainable design and make practice which will be discussed in
the next section (entitled ii) The concept of sustainable design).
Nevertheless, Globalisation and Its Discontents is a stimulating and
provocative text which did much to help clarify the contesting political
positions around sustainability
Consumption
One of the earliest sociological studies on what is now referred to as
consumerism came from Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929). His thesis The
Theory of the Leisure Class (1899)
121
attacked the “Leisure Class” and its
obsession with the acquisition of clothes and consumer goods and
analyses the social structure of a consumer society. He argues that
identity and place in the social order are derived from the ability of the
individual members to demonstrate ‘pecuniary strength; and the means of
showing pecuniary strength, and so gaining or retaining a good name, are
leisure and a conspicuous consumption of goods’. The social order
headed by the “Leisure Class” who set the ‘manner of life and its
120
Ibid., pp. 21-22
121
T. Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class, London, Macmillan, 1899
64
standards of worth’ determines the ‘vicarious consumption practised by
the household of the middle and lower classes’ and the aspirations of the
‘most abjectly poor’.
122
The social structure of a capitalist society is,
according to Veblen, always determined by the possession of wealth.
However, ‘the methods of accumulating wealth, and the gifts required for
holding it, have changed in some degree since the early days of the
predatory culture’. Admission to this class no longer requires ‘aggression
and unrestrained violence’ as in the past. Instead the ‘pecuniary
aptitudes’ and ‘tenacity of purpose’ distinguish the ‘successful upper-
class man from the rank and file of the industrial classes’.
123
In Veblen’s theory, consumerism is the basis of a social hierarchy in
which social worth and position are determined by the ability of the
individual to acquire ‘honorific’ commodities, a notion that is as relevant
today as it was over one hundred years ago. It is a theory that has
achieved widespread currency and general acceptance. One hundred
years later, consumerism has created an inequitable global order which
have shaped the psychological condition of Western society. In Status
Anxiety, the philosopher Alain de Botton identifies a related universal
social pathology in contemporary society - a condition of status anxiety,
brought about by economic and social uncertainties of living in a
changing world of recession, redundancy, success and failure as well as
peer group recognition.
According to De Botton, our sense of ourselves is determined
mainly by extrinsic factors including our relationship with others and what
we own. Snobbery has, according to De Botton, determined what things
gain acceptability and prestige over others. However, he asserts that
psychological pressures of material progress have produced this
particular social pathology. The unprecedented level of technological
innovation which began around the middle of the nineteenth century has
brought extraordinary material benefits and well-being to populations
122
T. Veblen, Conspicuous Consumption, Penguin Books Ltd, London, 2005, p. 58
(This Penguin publication is an extract fromThe Theory of the Leisure Class,
1899)
123
Ibid., pp. 74-75
65
whose ancestors merely subsisted. Yet, as De Botton points out, the
emotions it has engendered have been disquieting.
The increased standards of living have produced ‘vast inequities’
that have provoked envy. Unlike previous societies, where inequality was
the social norm and order, Western economic development is founded on
‘a practical belief in the innate equality of all humans and in the unlimited
power of anyone to achieve anything’.
124
Envy, De Botton reminds us, is
based on being conscious of our differences amongst our peers around
us and not on those inaccessible to us. Nevertheless the media’s much
vaunted celebration of conspicuous wealth increasingly cultivates a
society based on envy. As a result envy, the desire to have what others
have, drives the discontent that motivates consumerism. As De Botton
observes ‘by fostering unlimited expectations, they (society) open a
permanent gap between what we want and what we can afford who we
are and who we might be’.
125
The status of the consumer object is also the basis of another seminal
theory by Jean Baudrillard, one of the foremost sociologists of the second
half of the twentieth century. In his renowned text The System of Objects
(1996), Baudrillard provides a post-structuralist cultural critique of the
commodity in consumer society and a theory of consumerism. The basis
of Baudrillard’s theory ‘the status of the modern object’ which ‘is
dominated by the MODEL/SERIES distinction’.
126
The model exists as an
idea with actual variations referring to that idea:
The model has a harmony, a unity, a homogeneity, a consistency of
space, form, substance and function; it is, in short, a syntax’
127
and
‘without peer’ … only the ‘personalization’ of objects allows the play
of differences to expand in proportion with the length of the series
(as when fifteen or twenty different shades are available for a single
make of car).
128
124
A. de Botton, Status Anxiety, Penguin Books Ltd, London, 2004, p. 47
125
Ibid., p. 62
126
J. Baudrillard, The System of Objects, Verso, London, 1996, p. 137
127
Ibid., p. 148
128
Ibid., pp. 147-148
66
According to Baudrillard, the process of personalisation is attained
‘through an idea that is both vague and shared by all’.
129
Through slight
of hand ‘at the level of the industrial object and its technological
coherence the demand for personalization can be met only in
inessentials’.
130
Clearly ‘personalization’ as defined by Baudrillard is not
just a marketing device but an ideological concept. The consumer is
offered the illusion of choice while real choice is denied:
We no longer even have the option of not choosing, of buying an
object on the sole grounds of its utility, for no object these days is
offered for sale on such a ‘zero level’ basis.
131
Within the ideology consumerism is elevated to good citizenship ‘it is
imposed upon us as such, and through it society as a whole is likewise
imposed on us’.
132
Baudrillard argues the model itself is both an
abstraction and a contradiction but nevertheless a necessary feature of a
‘cultural system capable of embracing modern industrial society in its
entirety’,
133
confirming Giedion’s thesis that human needs are subservient
to technology.
Baudrillard proposes that products (like furniture) fulfil a functional
role but not in the way we would normally understand the term function –
i.e. to fulfil a specific purpose or need. Functionality, he argues, is
defined by an object’s ability to perform a secondary function of becoming
part of a ‘universal system of signs’ in which the intrinsic value of an
object becomes subjugated, or rather, is made irrelevant:
134
What emerges from the realm of signs is a nature continuously
dominated, an abstract, worked upon nature, rescued from time and
anxiety, which the sign is constantly converting into culture.
135
Baudrillard concludes his theory on naturalness and functionality by
revealing the inherent contradiction of consumption. He argues that the
‘transcended presence of Nature’ which provides its justification as a
129
Ibid., p. 144
130
Ibid., p. 142
131
Ibid., p. 141
132
Ibid., p. 141
133
Ibid., p. 143
134
Ibid., p. 63
135
Ibid., p. 64
67
‘cultural model’, is simultaneously denied as a presence making the
system one of ‘disavowal, lack, and camouflage’.
136
Baudrillard draws on Maurice Rheims’s metaphor comparing an
object of consumption to a domestic animal which reciprocates the
devotion of its owner and is in turn perceived by its owner as embodiment
of the self same qualities projected onto the animal. Unlike relationships
with fellow human beings in which conflicts and tensions can emerge,
objects are totally benign and offer unrestricted attribution.
137
According
to Baudrillard, objects become a substitute and catharsis for neurosis and
for the inability to invest in human relationships. Baudrillard suggests
they acquire a ‘soul’, become ‘the décor for a tenacious mythology, the
ideal décor for an equilibrium that is itself neurotic’.
138
Ultimately, as
Baudrillard proposes, ‘what you really collect is always yourself’ and the
collection is only complete when it includes the collector.
139
Baudrillard also argues that the credit system is an integral part of
the culture of consumerism. Just as personalisation is more than an
advertising strategy, ‘credit is a decisive argument in the ‘strategy of
desire’, and its role is comparable in every way to any other quality of the
object on offer’
140
and ‘is nothing less than a fundamental dimension of
our society and in effect a new ethical system’
141
an ‘economic right of the
citizen’.
142
However, in striving for liberation through acquisition we
become unwitting victims in the creation of a system that binds us: ‘Credit
has thus brought us back to a situation that is in fact feudal in character’.
It becomes evident from Baudrillard’s theory that our society relies
on tacit complicity, in which consumers are the willing participants in a
system which binds them to a dependency cycle that ensures ‘They buy
so that society can continue to produce, this so they can continue to
work, and this in turn so they can pay for what they have bought’.
143
136
Ibid., pp. 64-65
137
Ibid., p. 89
138
Ibid., p. 90
139
Ibid., p. 91
140
Ibid., p. 156
141
Ibid., p. 158
142
Ibid., p. 156
143
Ibid., p. 160
68
In so doing, the consumer becomes an active participant in a credit
system which is the curse of ‘man’s irresponsibility towards himself: the
buyer alienates the payer, and even though they are in fact the same
person, the system ensures, by separating them in time they never
become aware of the fact’.
144
According to Baudrillard then, a subtle but profound transformation
has taken place in society under capitalism. The citizen fulfils his
responsibility to the system through being a loyal consumer. This is a
cultural system that is proving incapable of adapting itself to the needs
and challenges of the twenty-first century, a system which has now
become universalised through globalisation, thereby defining
consumption as a ‘total idealist practice’ in which its core ideological
principle is the act of consumption for its own sake which in turn provides
the purpose for living. An endless cycle of consumption, motivated by a
desire for personal completeness, becomes (according to Baudrillard) the
goal of life.
145
While the ideas floated in Baudrillard’s System of Objects is entirely
fascinating, it is interesting that it makes no mention of the crafts.
Perhaps he neglects to mention the crafts because they are not part of
the industrial process?
Is it possible for crafts to transcend this ideological system – a
position it has adopted since William Morris and its nineteenth century
origins? Perhaps not, if Peter Hobbis is to be believed. Hobbis offers a
case that undermines any claim that craft products can be independent of
a capitalist system. In The Value of Crafts, a paper presented at the
conference Obscure Objects of Desire (1997), he reopens the familiar
question of whether ‘the crafts have a value in contrast to the factory
mass production of industrial capitalism?’.
146
For many craftspeople, their practice is notionally predicated on a
rejection of the values represented by industrial society. However,
Hobbis argues the crafts exist as a necessary part of an industrial society:
144
Ibid., p. 162
145
Ibid., p. 203
146
P. Hobbis, ‘The Value of Crafts’, Obscure Objects of Desire – Conference Papers,
University of East Anglia, 10-12 January 1997, Crafts Council, 1997, p. 32
69
put simply, because it is outside the capability of industry to produce the
individual niche products characteristic of the crafts - for this reason they
exist. However, for the craft practitioner ‘the craft ideal defines the craft
work’s meaning in terms of the value of the craft activity. Its value is
inextricably bound up with the value of the object produced’.
147
The Craft Ideal, according to Hobbis, is committed to a set of values
in which objects are created communally by craftspeople for a user who
shares the same values. Accordingly, ‘those who buy craft objects
cannot be regarded as consumers; at least not within the craft ideal’.
148
However, Hobbis argues that, according to classical economic theory,
consumers are only engaged in satisfying their preferences. When all
wants are given equal parity, there can be no distinction between
consumer goods and crafts. The Craft Ideal and the capitalist market
economy may appear to be in opposition but in reality they are not. The
Craft Ideal believes it is founded on a set of values and a ‘way of life
which overcomes alienated existence’, both for the crafts person and the
user, and aspires to ‘presents itself as the escape route from industrial
society’
149
however, despite its nobility Hobbis argues this position is
inconsistent and once a craftsperson is willing to sell their products in the
market place to whomever wants to buy them, they cannot presume the
customer shares their values. In the marketplace the customer buys a
craft object for a range of reasons and the craftsperson can only regard a
customer as a customer, no more, no less. In this sense the craft ideal is
compromised. Hobbis therefore argues that within the market economy
‘endorsing the craft ideal is not like acting to promote real change. It is
only a gesture’. The customer or patron maintains the crafts but in reality
‘the craft ideal is beyond our reach’.
150
Like Baudrillard’s ideas, Hobbis’s
views are interesting and helped form the account of design and make
which helps define this thesis.
Citizenship and collective responsibility
147
Ibid., p. 36
148
Ibid., p. 37
149
Ibid., p. 39
150
Ibid., p. 40
70
The sociological theory of Veblen, formulated in 1899, still resonates in
the new millennium and alongside Baudrillard’s and De Botton’s theories
provides a powerful image of an ideological system that supports and
perpetuates a materialistic global system. The behaviour patterns that
characterise these theories are rooted in personal beliefs and values
which offer a range of fascinating models by which to engage the world.
In this connection, Ervin Laszlo (foremost exponent of system
philosophy and evolution theory and a member of the Club of Rome)
offers an analysis of how behaviour and motivations of individuals and
societies, what he defines as ‘the inner limits’, can determine the future of
a sustainable society. He attributes the current crisis to our individual and
collective denial about the human factors that are at the root of the world
problems:
The critical but as yet generally unrecognized issue confronting
mankind is that its truly decisive limits are inner, not outer. They are
not physical limits due to the finiteness or vulnerability of this world,
but psychological, cultural and, above all, political limits inner to
people and societies, manifested by individual and collective
mismanagement, irresponsibility and myopia.
151
He departs from approaches that seek to apply ‘technological fixes within
the framework of narrowly self-centred values and short-sighted national
institutions’. He advocates ‘a human and humanistic revolution mobilizing
new values and aspirations, backed by new levels of personal
commitment and political will’.
152
He attacks modernism as obsolete
‘because it no longer serves the genuine interests of human beings’.
153
Laszlo advocates global management of resources to solve
environmental problems and develop appropriate renewable energies.
The alternative, the status quo of the free market is increasingly leading
to ‘greater inequities and more violent competition for scarcer and still
higher-priced resources’. One vital aspect of this new paradigm is the
development of personal values for a global age. Laszlo suggests that
these values may come from a range of sources, for example, the great
151
E. Laszlo, The Inner Limits of Mankind, Oneworld Publications Ltd, London,1989, p.
26
152
Ibid., p. 27
153
Ibid., p. 39
71
religions and philosophers, ‘highly trained generalists’ to counteract
scientific specialists;
154
greater diversity of individual approaches, and a
sense of citizenship based on promoting the ‘best interests as one
member among many of an interdependent international community’.
155
Laszlo believes that spiritual values and an ethic based on collective
responsibility are indicative of a new age and that the current values that
define modernism are now heretical.
156
In his evaluation of the political systems of liberalism and Marxism
he argues that both fail to recognise that the ‘interdependence and
diversity are features typical of our world’, instead ‘liberals and Marxists
alike dream of extending national hegemony into international
uniformity’.
157
Domination of one or the other as an ‘international system
would progress with giant strides towards uniformity – and collapse’.
Laszlo believes it is beyond the scope of a single system to ‘replace the
flexibility and adaptability inherent in diversity’.
158
The current global
crisis ‘in the areas of security, food, energy and resources, economic
development and the environment’
159
require ‘a global partnership of all
nations and peoples in the pursuit of mutually beneficial global goals’.
160
The United Nations, however, the one institution representing almost all
the world’s nations and therefore in a position to ‘discuss practically all
matters of concern to the world community’ is denied the authority by its
membership to implement global initiatives.
161
Politicians, Laszlo points
out, only represent and express the narrow goals of their electorate rather
than the general interests of humanity: ‘these goals are a manifestation of
the worldwide impact of Western materialistic modernism’ and ‘constitute
inner limits to world development’.
162
In order to transcend the inner
limits Laszlo advocated two sets of rules: firstly ‘to orient the evolution of
personal values and aspirations’ and secondly ‘to motivate the
154
Ibid., p. 50
155
Ibid., p. 52
156
Ibid., pp. 53-54
157
Ibid., pp. 74-75
158
Ibid., p. 77
159
Ibid., p. 82
160
Ibid., p. 81
161
Ibid., p. 97
162
Ibid., p. 99
72
emergence of higher levels of political will’, that is, ‘ground rules for the
interrelationships of nations and people’.
163
These ground rules, Laszlo
asserts ‘must be based on universal values which permit of alternative
pathways of achievement’. These values are expressed in all the major
religions as ‘the golden rule … common to all cultures’.
164
Adoption of
these values on a ‘global scale will guarantee the right of all humanity to
strive to fulfil its basic needs for life, progress and justice’, failure will lead
to ‘a threat to peace and fulfilment everywhere’. This, he argues, is the
basis for a sustainable, developing and equitable world community’.
165
He proposes the concept of interexistence which embodies the principles
of cooperation which he states as ‘only those long-range policies which
bring positive-sum results are to be implemented’. Based on the
mathematical theory of positive-sum games it calculates the benefits and
losses to players so everyone wins. Applied to global security Laszlo
suggests ‘the establishment of a system of world security through
disarmament and mutually agreed upon peacekeeping’ would be a
positive-sum game.
166
This principle could be applied to all aspects of
the world problematic for the benefit of the whole of humanity.
167
Laszlo’s views are hugely interesting and offer an optimistic note to
end on. The challenges of sustainable development in an interdependent
world are, possibly, unprecedented in the history of humankind. The
rising level of political conflicts, social inequities and environmental
pollution are destabilising the world. Yet, as has been discussed, there
are also intellectual paradigms which are profoundly changing our
perception of ourselves in relation to each other and the physical world
and which can be seen as a series of models which have helped develop
this thesis.
The literature around the discourse on sustainability clearly indicates
a new consciousness aligned to the new intellectual paradigms. The
inability of political and economic institutions to respond fully and
163
Ibid., p. 103
164
Ibid., p. 104
165
Ibid., p. 106
166
Ibid., p. 112
167
Ibid., p. 115
73
wholeheartedly to the pressing needs of a global community in crisis is an
indication, in my view, of both a moral and ethical malaise amongst world
leaders and a perverse attachment to a bankrupt ideology and national
sovereignty - both anachronistic in the twenty-first century. Dialectical
historical materialism provides a possible partial explanation to the
current irreconcilable differences between the process of sustainable
development and the conflict between material and ecological
imperatives. These can be summarised as follows:
• The literature describes how pollution, waste resource depletion,
population growth, global warming and the disenfranchisement of
communities in political decision making are key issues which
remain largely unaddressed by world leaders. (Carson, Ehrlich,
Houghton, Illich)
• The literature identifies how inequalities between the North and
South are the result of historical differences of regional resources
rather than differences of ability. Developing countries have
subsequently suffered under the repressive political and economic
machinations of Western countries. (Diamond, Stiglitz)
• The literature reveals that despite the aggravation of inequities and
resource depletion how there are new economic paradigms that
reconcile ecology and economics and ethics with the environment.
Such models provide a scientific basis for new forms of economics
in which development begins at a local level and cultural diversity
is a governing principle. (Lovelock, Dahl, Schumacher, Richards,
Seabright)
• However, the literature also suggests how the concept of
sustainable development remains without a new economic model
to support it. Economic growth seems likely to continue
unchecked. The political discourse over the last thirty years has
opened up the ideological conflicts between the developed and the
developing nations and undermined the credibility of many of the
international institutions which have sought (what the West claims
is) sustainable development. Agenda 21 represents an historic
74
attempt to set in motion a process of participatory democratic
decision making at a local community level to promote sustainable
development. (Dresner, Brundtland)
• The literature also reveals how the inadequacies of local and
global systems of governance have become increasingly
untenable. Initiatives are either top-down and struggle to achieve
a consensus at local community level or are dominated at a global
level by powerful vested interests. Policies are frequently tailored
to the commercial and financial interests of developed countries,
resulting in greater inequalities and resource depletion. In the
absence of a global authority a form of unaccountable global
governance prevails. (Connelly and Smith, Stiglitz)
• The literature describes how economic growth through the
twentieth century has been dependent on consumerism and the
credit system that has been defined in sociological terms as a total
idealistic practice. Consumerism has become the new form of
citizenship in a capitalist system that can only be sustained
through continued economic growth facilitated by technological
development. According to the values embraced by artists and
craftsmen, who seek an alternative culture through the craft ideal
are compromised in the market place where the customer only
buys on the basis of preference and not values. (Veblen,
Baudrillard, De Botton, Hobbis)
• Finally the literature suggests that sustainable development (as
opposed to economic growth) requires two interdependent ethical
systems; one which addresses the behaviour of the individual in
relation to the global community and the other an equitable system
of governance which recognises the needs of the global
community in its diversity. Together this produces an ethical
system that aligns the new scientific paradigms with a global
consciousness of individual and collective responsibility. (Lazlo)
75
In conclusion then, what we may be witnessing in the global arena is
a protracted process of dialectical transformation in which the old world
order, based on nation building and the inherited assumptions of
eighteenth and nineteenth century philosophers is metamorphosing into a
new world order based on a paradigm of ecological interdependence and
unity in diversity; two principles of sustainable development. This
process clearly has a long way to go before we achieve equilibrium. Of
course, the key question remains - is there a role for the designer-maker
to play in the process of sustainable development?
ii) The concept of sustainable design
The designer, in the later part of the twentieth century has become part of
the celebrity culture, in the U.K. at least. Television features designers in
interior make-over programmes and the term “design” has become a
ubiquitous label on high street goods. Designer labels have become
successful marketing tools in an effort to encourage increased sales and
premium prices. Clearly design, or what purports to represent design,
sells; but what is the role of the designer and designer-maker in society
and are there responsibilities implicit in the role? These have been the
subject of a growing body of design literature during the twentieth century
which seems set to continue well into the new millennium.
The emergence of a plurality of discourses around sustainable
design highlights the diversity intrinsic to the process of sustainable
development. As in nature, the response to need and context produce a
raft of solutions. A range of theories and models are therefore discussed
in this section to provide an overview of some the key developments
towards a concept of sustainable practice within the field of design.
In reviewing the role of design I begin by drawing on the broad
critiques developed by three of the most eminent critics in the field – Nigel
Whiteley, Victor Papanek and Peter Dormer – and discuss their collective
vision of a shift from a consumption led model of design to an ecologically
and ethically based model. I continue the review by examining the work
76
of a range of other authors who have sought to identify the various ways
and means by which such a paradigm shift might be brought about.
Design Critiques
In his highly regarded Design For Society (1993), Whiteley analyses the
historical, social, economic and cultural issues that have shaped design’s
role within twentieth century society. The first generation of American
industrialist designers believed they were improving the quality of life
through making products more ‘user friendly’ but the motivation according
to Whiteley was about sales and profit. The economic system ‘was
becoming increasingly dependent on high consumption as the means of
creating wealth’.
168
According to Whiteley the post war period ‘shifted from one based
on scarcity and need to one based on abundance and desire’; this in turn
became ‘the model for other societies as soon as they could afford it’.
169
Britain, however, viewed ‘design as a socially and morally improving
force’.
170
By the mid 1960s, however, the arrival of the life style Habitat
stores saw Britain evolving from being a ‘consumer’ to a ‘consumerist’
society.
171
However, Whiteley argues that the emergence of globalisation
saw the development of a contradiction: on the one hand the ‘threat of
anonymous standardization’ which denies ‘national variety and cultural
difference’,
172
and on the other hand corporations targeting individuals on
the grounds of stylistic grounds ‘rather than social economic factors’.
173
According to Whiteley consumer-led design relies on the continuous
reinvention of a product or new products in such a way as to ‘become
merely an offshoot of the fashion industry’. Designers who have a
conscience about being part of this system have little influence with
manufacturers and companies: they can either embrace it or reject it. If
168
N. Whiteley, Design For Society, Reaktion Books Ltd, London, 1993, p. 14
169
Ibid., p. 15
170
Ibid., p. 17
171
Ibid., p. 18
172
Ibid., p. 25
173
Ibid., p. 26
77
they reject it there will always be another designer who is prepared to
take their place.
174
The situation is the same for the consumer. Whiteley argues
consumer-led design is inextricably part of the economic system, which
‘appeals directly to an individual’. Yet the individual is only regarded as
an element within a market in which ‘society is no greater than the sum of
its individualistic parts [and design] offers us no social vision – no vision
of society’.
175
Whiteley believes that consumer-led design therefore only
responds to the perceived needs of the market, and it can only be
sustained through profit; it cannot respond to needs of the marginalised
who are excluded from the market place and as such, it is part of a
system which is ‘socially divisive and environmentally destructive’ and a
complicit ‘part of an economic, social and political ideology’.
176
In the early 1970s Victor Papanek wrote a similarly challenging
polemical treatise on the social responsibility of the industrial designer
called Design for the Real World (1974), which proposed a new level of
responsibility. Instead of just producing products and gadgets for the
mythical ‘ideal consumer’, designers (according to Papanek) were well
placed to address the real needs of marginalised groups such as the
poor, the handicapped, the aged and the Third World. Papanek broke
new ground in being critical of the modernist influence represented by the
Bauhaus, particularly within design schools, regarding it as anachronistic.
He wanted to liberate the designer from the commodity fetish and
industry’s willingness to exploit ‘the public’s ready acceptance of anything
new, anything different’ and the ‘miscegenative union between
technology and artificially accelerated consumer whims which gave birth
to the dark twins of styling and obsolescence’.
177
However, he questions the feasibility of a ‘rational design
strategy’
178
in a ‘market-oriented, profit-directed system such as that in
the United States’, although he conceded that a ‘radical departure from
174
Ibid., p. 35
175
Ibid., p. 41
176
Ibid., p. 44
177
V. Papanek, Design for the Real World, Paladin, St Albans, 1974, p. 37
178
Ibid., p. 86
78
these manipulated values is difficult to achieve’.
179
He proposed instead
that in order for designers to be effective as problem solvers they needed
to ‘familiarize themselves with many other fields and, by knowing them,
redefine the relevance of the designer to our society’.
180
The key here is that Papanek recognised that the designer had a
moral responsibility to society outside of the economic system within
which he/she functioned, arguing ‘if design is to be ecologically
responsible, it must be independent of concern for the gross national
product’.
181
Although he placed the onerous responsibility on designers
to save the world, he identified a number of useful design priorities that
designers might begin to address. These included design for the Third
World; the design of teaching and training equipment for the mentally and
physically disabled; design for medical and dentistry equipment; and
design of survival systems for different environments.
In his subsequent and hugely successful book The Green
Imperative (1995) Papanek developed a more inclusive concept of the
role of design in shaping lives and the environment. He proposed
collective, ecological responsibility and argued that ‘a spiritual
underpinning to our ecological consciousness’ could overcome the
‘paralysis of will’ that prevents real progress.
182
Designers, he argued,
have the obligation to educate clients and ‘guide the intervention of
design with nature and mankind’.
183
The Green Imperative also
implicated consumers ‘in this ecological crisis’.
184
Responsibility, he
proposed, rests with every citizen who must ask ‘what is the impact of my
work on the environment?’ As consumers, we too must play our part.
185
In The Green Imperative Papanek considers the way in which
design can act as a ‘positive and unifying’ agency that reconciles ‘human
needs, culture and ecology’. He concedes the global environmental
challenges caused by industrialisation cannot be resolved simply by
179
Ibid., p. 87
180
Ibid., p. 132
181
Ibid., p. 200
182
V. Papanek, The Green Imperative, Thames and Hudson, London, 1995, p. 9
183
Ibid., p. 17
184
Ibid., p. 12
185
Ibid., p. 17
79
‘using less, preserving for the future, conservation and softer energy
sources’ but require that ‘these activities are linked to a greater social
process that can influence industrial design, industry and policy’. In
Papanek’s terms, ecology becomes a ‘socially based priority that asks
that design and planning consider sustainability and social justice as
reciprocal conditions – that saving the planet and saving the community
become one – inseparable’.
186
Interestingly, Papanek also raises questions around the spiritual
dynamics of design. Papanek is critical of the Bauhaus belief that value
is realised only through function. He believes ‘the intent of the designer
as well as the intended use of the designed object … can yield spiritual
value’.
187
Designers are not independent of what they create; their
character is shaped by their acts. By focussing on the social and
environmental benefits of design, ‘the performance of such services to
our fellow humans and the planet will help us inwardly. It will nourish our
soul and help it to grow. That’s where spiritual values enter design’.
188
This notion of spiritual value is not without interest and represents
something this thesis has been particularly interested in.
In terms of the literature around contemporary craft there is no doubt
that Peter Dormer remains one of its key authors and it is Dormer who
points to a potential contradiction within the field of fine craftsmanship
that cannot be ignored by the designer-maker who aims to promote
sustainable development. In one of his most thoughtful texts, The
Meanings of Modern Design (1991), Dormer highlights the fact that the
wealthy patronise craftsmen because ‘the presence of hand
workmanship’ represents ‘a special kind of service’ that ‘comes down to
the ability to buy other people’s service and servility’.
189
Craftsmanship
can therefore represent exclusivity on the part of the rich: ‘The crafts
bought by the rich are conformist, conservative and clearly the whim of
186
Ibid., p. 48
187
Ibid., p. 53
188
Ibid., p. 54
189
P. Dormer, The Meanings of Modern Design, Thames and Hudson Ltd, London,
1991, p. 122
80
the client and not any creative exploration on the part of the craftsman’.
190
The type of craftsman, that Dormer interestingly describes as a
‘thoroughly twentieth century invention’, is the designer-maker whose
starting point is ‘creative fulfilment and self expression’ representing ‘one
of a number of popular strategies by which intelligent men and women
have turned back from the shore of scepticism and into the warm sea of
belief’.
191
According to Dormer the conditions in which the ‘handicrafts of
potting or weaving or woodworking in the late 20
th
century are practised’
are ‘unlike those of previous centuries’. These trades have become
‘middle-class, creative, art-like activities’.
192
Once, trade activities
required long hours and arduous labour for meagre financial rewards; on
the other hand, the modern crafts liberated ‘from the economic
constraints of trade competition’ are ‘sold on aesthetic grounds’ and ‘are
not subject to competition by price’.
193
Dormer, however, regards
contemporary craft as ‘necessarily peripheral to all mainstream economic
activity’ and bought by clients who have ‘sufficient money – and
perception – to afford useless objects of contemplation’.
194
There is nonetheless a residual competitiveness between designer-
makers and manufacturers according to Dormer: ‘Contemporary wood
craftsmen have decided to compete with the machined certainties of
industry’ through ‘virtuoso performances unrivalled by craftsmen of
previous centuries’.
195
According to Dormer, craftspeople, unlike artists
however, are a marginal group ‘excluded from the real avant-garde, or
cutting edge, of contemporary culture’ instead this is the domain of
‘theoretical physics and applied technology’.
196
However, with regard to
Dormer’s view defining what is cutting edge is not always clear. The
designer-maker may also have a role in applied research through
developing and modelling innovative practices. The consumer too can, of
course, be a force for change; an interesting issue this thesis pursues.
190
Ibid., p. 133
191
Ibid., p. 142
192
Ibid., p. 150
193
Ibid., p. 152
194
Ibid., p. 153
195
Ibid., p. 164
196
Ibid., p. 169
81
On a more general level the emergence of the environmental
conscience embodied in the notion of the ‘Green Consumer’ began in the
1980s according to Whiteley.
197
Although the public have been aware of
environmental issues for much longer (perhaps since the oil crisis of
1973), the ability to respond to global issues on the part of the consumer
has been limited. Whiteley suggests the ‘main reason the public’s
interest lessened in the 1970s was … because the issues were
predominantly on a macro-environmental level’ and therefore ‘somewhat
abstract and removed from most people’s daily existence’.
198
As ethical
companies set up to meet the aspirations of consumers (such as The
Body Shop and the charitable collective Traidcraft), it was perhaps
predictable that consumers would eventually ‘follow through the logic of
their actions to the micro-level of what they buy on a daily basis’.
199
This
created a virtuous circle in which business and customers pursued
agreed social and environmental goals. The role of the designer-maker
can also play a part in facilitating common goals.
New design philosophies
In identifying appropriate design models that can facilitate a
fundamental shift from a consumption-led to an ethically based approach
to design I begin with an assessment of the modernist design axiom form
follows function, a concept that has dominated much twentieth century
design thinking. Although originally a nineteenth century concept inspired
by the rational model offered by the natural world (expounded by figures
like Darwin for example) in the twentieth century it became a simplistic
design concept that encouraged the kind of convergent thinking that
inhibits the progress of a concept like that of sustainable design. Both
David Pye and Henry Petroski for example, have critiqued the basic
assumptions underpinning modernist design philosophy. In his influential
text The Nature and Aesthetics of Design (1978), for example, Pye
proposed that ‘the form of designed things is decided by choice or else by
197
Ibid., p. 50
198
Ibid., p. 49
199
Ibid., p. 51
82
chance; but it is never actually entailed by anything whatever’. This is
supported (he argues) by two observable facts: firstly, that whatever is
designed is embellished strictly by “unnecessary” work in terms of pure
function but which exists for the purpose of our own emotional needs.
Secondly, ‘all useful devices have got to do useless things which no one
wants them to do’.
200
The lack of a coherent and comprehensive theory of design,
according to Pye, has reduced an extremely complex process to a
simplistic gesture predicated on ‘function’, which is used erroneously ‘to
cover any or all the factors which limit the shape of designed things
independently of the designers’ preference’.
201
In Pye’s view, design is in
fact influenced by economy more than the physical properties or
techniques of manufacture. Pye’s theory of design identifies six
principles of design. These include what he calls the requirements of
use, together with ‘requirement for ease and economy and the
requirement of appearance’,
202
the sum of which ‘cannot be
reconciled’.
203
Design, Pye argues, represents ultimately an artistic
process of compromise rather than a science of resolution.
Compromise is also the key aspect of design expounded in The
Evolution of Useful Things (1994) by Henry Petroski. He argues that
while the inadequacies of product design may provide the justification for
a product’s improvement ‘it is really want rather than need that drives the
process of technological evolution’. Products are subject to change and
evolution as a ‘response to their real or perceived shortcomings, [rather
than] their failures to function properly’. This principle, he argues, is the
motivation behind the designer’s desire to continuously improve things. It
also follows that as perfection can only exist as an ideal and our ideas of
perfection can also only exist as an ideal then ‘there can be no such thing
200
D. Pye, The Nature and Aesthetics of Design, Barrie and Jenkins Ltd, London, 1978,
p. 13
201
Ibid., p. 88
202
Ibid., p. 23
203
Ibid., p. 71
83
as a “perfected” artefact; the future perfect can only be a tense, not a
thing’.
204
Both Pye and Petroski’s theories of design dwell on the challenge of
creating an optimum product for an industrial system. J. Christopher
Jones, by contrast, explores design as a process in which the designer is
a facilitator. Jones’s Design Methods (1981), is regarded as the standard
text on design methods and offers a comprehensive review of design
methodologies, from those originating in craft-based techniques to
contrasting methods employed by industrial designers. Jones notes that
the ‘methods proposed by design theorists are frequently just as diverse
as are their descriptions of the design process’
205
and represent a range
of methodologies that often draw from ‘non-design’ disciplines. He
believes that there is a growing need for ‘multi-professional persons’
206
(what Lazlo terms the ‘generalist’) who can meet the challenges of an
increasingly complex world and ‘whose intuitive leaps are informed by
knowledge and experience of change at all levels - from community
action to component design’.
207
Jones believes that the Western world has cultivated the notion that
creativity is the domain of talented individuals and beyond the capability
of ordinary people. However in reality the new methods are frequently
based on collaboration and according to Jones the design process needs
‘to become more public so that everyone who is affected by design
decisions can influence what can be done and can influence the choices
that are made’.
208
However, such methods require the designer to
become more detached and in effect the facilitator of “design as a
process”. This, Jones believes, has parallels in the development of
modern physics no less than art:
The shift from the idea of ‘progress’ (towards a goal, a product) to
the idea of ‘process’ (as all there is) is surely a main event of the
twentieth century, in all fields of endeavour.
209
204
H. Petroski, The Evolution of Useful Things, Vintage Books, New York, 1994, p. 22
205
J. Christopher Jones, Design Methods: Seeds of Human Futures, John Wiley & Sons
Ltd, Chichester, 1981, p. 4
206
Ibid., p. xiii
207
Ibid., p. 42
208
Ibid., p. 9
209
Ibid., p. xxviii
84
It is process that is perhaps the key concept in both sustainable
development and design and it is perhaps the paradigm shift flagged up
above, from design as a discipline directed towards a product to design
as a process in which the designer becomes a facilitator, which underpins
the philosophical basis of sustainable or ecological design. This was
recognised, for example, by the Italian designer/philosopher Manzini in an
unlikely text accompanying the exhibition The Garden of Objects (Milan,
1985). In The Garden of Objects Manzini proposed we adopt a different
relationship to nature and ‘a profound change in the culture of design’.
210
This change, he argues, requires ‘new criteria of quality’ based on an
understanding of environmental issues. In The Garden of Objects two
sets of criteria are explored: ‘material qualities which are consistent with
sustainable development and technically possible’ and ‘experiential
qualities which reflect the new values and styles of behaviour generated
by environmental sensitivity’.
211
Manzini believed new values can
emerge through a reflective process in which designers observe and
interpret the signs emerging from society as well as the limitations and
constraints imposed upon us both by the environment ‘from without’ and
those constraints that we ‘encounter within’; a philosophical perspective
also articulated by Lazlo. According to Manzini only the process of
reflection can provide designers with the ‘foundations for new ideas’.
212
Manzini also adds that our relationship to objects should be ‘based on a
maximum of quality, a relationship that requires care and attention’, and
in consultation with our relationship with ‘Our Planet’.
213
He also
proposes the adoption of a range of strategic changes including circular
processes of manufacture that imitate nature rather than the current
linear processes which diminish resource and generate high levels of
waste; processes for extending the life of products and material selection
210
E. Manzini, The Garden of Objects, edited and translated extracts from the exhibition
booklet of The Garden of Objects, Eighteenth Triennale by C. Cattle, July 1995,
Buckinghamshire Chiltern University College, p. 1
211
Ibid., p. 2
212
Ibid., p. 3
213
Ibid., p. 5
85
that enhances the process of aging. ‘In short, it [design] demands a
culture that is capable of dealing with complexity’.
214
The challenge for sustainable development according to Manzini is
to make the transition from macro-economics to a local and individual
level, a principle promoted in Agenda 21 (and adopted by this thesis). It
is at this local level that Manzini argues synergies can be created which
can (potentially) achieve critical mass and in turn bring change at a
societal level. At the same time Manzini also advocates a contemplative
approach to economics and a new and radical ‘ecological economy’,
which redefines our relationship with the world - by encouraging a ‘non-
appropriative’ philosophy based on contemplative appreciation rather
than acquisition.
215
In his extraordinary musings Manzini ultimately proposes a world in
which objects that are cultivated on the same principle as a garden,
reflecting an ecological model characteristic of nature, in which colour
form and lifespan are cultivated on a sustainable basis (this is in marked
contrast to Baudrillard who compares the proliferation of consumer
products to the rich diversity of the flora and fauna of the natural world).
In Manzini’s rich model “an ecology of the senses” places the designer at
the centre of a design process that attempts to connect the ecology of the
environment with our inner sensibilities and in which the object becomes
the medium for a new level of sensory, empirical and intellectual
engagement by the user.
216
In Manzini’s model the object offers a series of possibilities for the
designer: the sensitive object for example, is designed to stimulate and
encourage ‘the need for care’ through ‘intimacy of use’; the lyrical object
transcends its function becoming a point for meditation;
217
the incomplete
object only becomes complete when being used in the same way as a
craftsman’s tool; the archetypal object acquires its significance through its
durability and qualities acquired through aging, ‘exemplified by
information codes and archetypes’; the object as provider of individuality
214
Ibid., p. 7
215
Ibid., p. 17
216
Ibid., p. 10
217
Ibid., p. 11
86
connects the user to the object through ‘psychological and cultural’
associations rather than as ‘a status symbol’;
218
the polyglot or universal
object provides a universal language through its ubiquitous forms; and
finally the discreet object, whose meaning remains elusive and whose
presence remains enigmatic.
219
In short, in Manzini’s Garden of Objects,
objects become wholly synonymous with our complex relationship with
the planet.
One of the characteristics of the contemporary era (which Manzini
characterises as marked by ‘design in transition’), is the need for
designers to adopt a qualitatively different attitude to problem solving as
we face greater complexity. To acquire the capacity to negotiate
complexity we have to learn to understand by “doing” and by learning to
listen to what other people are doing. Manzini believes that designers
can only address future developments through a co-relationship between
the physical environment and the virtual reality of the internet - in what he
calls the ‘hyper-connected sustainable society’. However, according to
Manzini, the fruits of the design cannot be presented as moral solutions, it
remains for the consumer to decide for him/herself the value of the
objects available for consumption.
220
Domestic Animals (1987), by Andrea Branzi, another eminent Italian
designer and critic, was conceived as a provocation (like Manzini’s The
Garden of Objects). By juxtaposing the aesthetics of modern technology
and the organic forms readily accessible from nature, Branzi attempted -
with his so called Domestic Animals - to create functional objects that
stimulate a meditative response. His objects are intended to become
anthropomorphic in character and in the same way as pets enjoy
reciprocal emotional relationships with their owners and become part of
the emotional landscape. Branzi’s thinking was predicated on a future he
saw characterised by a dramatic, cultural shift from mass market norms
to a fractured market dominated by the “intelligent consumer”, a self
218
Ibid., p. 12
219
Ibid., p. 16
220
E. Manzini, ‘Design in Transition –Product-Service for a Hyper-connected
Sustainable Society’, Transcript of a Seminar presented by E. Manzini at The
Role of Product Design in Post-Industrial Society Conference, n.d., n.p.
87
determined citizen who (in the 1970s) ‘devised new patterns of behaviour,
languages, fashions and commodities, to the point where society and its
consumption defined a whole new level of culture’.
221
Manzini and Branzi’s somewhat eccentric and decidedly poetic
provocations are very different in style but perhaps strikingly similar in
substance to recent concepts of ‘human or user-centred design’,
advocated by Patrick Whitney, director of the Institute of Design, Illinois
Institute of Technology. Whitney, writing in The Designer (2003),
distinguishes this design approach from other methods including design-
centred, technological-centred and market-centred, the objective of user-
centred design being:
To link the user value in the experience of products, environments,
messages and services to the competitive advantage it provides – to
aligning the strategic benefit to the producer with consumer user –
value.
222
Many designers work intuitively at this level but Whitney explains that in a
global market in which designers are designing products for emerging
markets from unfamiliar cultures, a more complex analysis is required
which draws on ‘physical cognitive social and cultural human factors’.
223
However, user-centred design is essentially a pragmatic response by
corporations to the changing demands of a global market place and does
not (according to Whitney) originate in the consumer. However it does
represent an interesting development in design in that it inherently
recognises their cultural diversity - a value that must be intrinsic to the
concept of a sustainable world.
An ethically based design model, one that reconciles human needs
with ecological balance, needs to measure the ecological impact of
human activity rather than economic benefits accrued to individuals and
society. The concept of an “ecological footprint” has popular currency
today but was an idea was first promoted by Canadian authors
221
A. Branzi, Domestic Animals: The Neoprimitive Style, The MIT Press, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, 1987, p. 2
222
P.Whitney, ‘Why Human-Centred Design is the Design of the Future’, The Designer,
Chartered Society of Designers, London, June & July 2003, p. 14
223
Ibid., p. 14
88
Wackernagel and Rees in their text Our Ecological Footprint (1998). It
offers an alternative analytical tool to conventional economic models that
assume ‘factors of production (e.g., labor, capital, information)’ are
substitutable and the world is capable of infinite carrying capacity.
224
Wackernagel and Rees argue existing measurements are too narrow and
are largely based on monetary approaches that
are blind to the requirements for ecological sustainability because
they do not adequately reflect biophysical scarcity, social equity,
ecological continuity, incommensurability, structural and functional
integrity, temporal discontinuity, and complex systems behaviour.
225
The concept of “ecological footprint” assumes ‘every category of
energy and material consumption and waste discharge requires the
procedure or absorptive capacity of a finite area of land or water’. It
therefore ‘measures land area required per person (or population), rather
than population per unit area’.
226
The limitation of the method is that
‘assessments are based on a limited range of consumption items and
waste flows’.
227
The method provides a summary of a specific
‘population’s impacts on nature by analyzing aggregate consumption …
and converting this to a corresponding land area’. This provides a
measure of ecological demand or natural capital requirements which can
be used to compare different ‘regions and thus reveals the effect of
differing income levels and technology on ecological impact’.
228
Wackernagel and Rees’s method of analysis has provided a
valuable tool to promote sustainability by providing ‘a cumulative
approach to impact analysis’ for measuring those economic activities
which ‘compete for ecological space’. It has also provided a tool to raise
awareness on natural capital depletion ‘consistent with basic laws of
physics, especially the laws of mass balance and thermodynamics’.
229
According to Wackernagel and Rees the concept of an “ecological
224
M. Wackernagel and W. Rees, Our Ecological Footprint, New Society Publishers,
Gabriola Island, Canada, 1996, p. 40
225
Ibid., p. 47
226
Ibid., p. 51
227
Ibid., p. 52
228
Ibid., p. 53
229
Ibid., p. 55
89
footprint” answers ‘the fundamental ecological question for sustainability
… whether stocks of natural capital will be adequate to meet anticipated
demand’. It therefore determines ‘the ecological constraints within which
society operates; to shape policy to avoid or reduce overshoot; and to
monitor progress towards achieving sustainability’.
230
It is evident then
that Ecological Footprint provides an essential text and guide for the
ecological designer.
While an “ecological footprint” can provide a measure of
sustainability, ecological design can also help define appropriate lifestyles
for a sustainable world. A widely acknowledged concept of ecological
design has been developed by Sim Van der Ryn (chief designer of the
Ecological Design Institute and emeritus professor of architecture at the
University of California, Berkeley) and Stuart Cowan (ecological designer)
in Ecological Design (1996) – and it might be noted here that this
particular model provides a vital conceptual framework for this PhD
project.
In Ecological Design, Van der Ryn and Cowan discuss the principles
observed in ecology as the basis ecological design. They define
‘ecological design’ as ‘any form of design that minimizes environmental
destructive impacts by integrating itself with living processes’.
231
This
methodology requires a radically new approach which rather than
‘applying design intelligence to narrowly circumscribed problems’ instead
integrates ‘ecologically sound technologies, planning methods, and
policies across scales and professional boundaries’.
232
Van der Ryn and
Cowan propose three ethically based integrated strategies. Firstly,
through conservation ‘which slows the rate at which things are getting
worse by allowing scarce resources to be stretched further’. Secondly, by
regeneration, the ‘expansion of natural capital through the active
restoration of degraded ecosystems and communities’ which ‘preserves
and protects’. The third and final element of the strategy involves the
stewardship of living creatures and landscape, ‘a process of steady
230
Ibid., p. 56
231
S. Van der Ryn and S. Cowan, Ecological Design, Island Press, Washington, 1996,
p. 18
232
Ibid., p. 19
90
commitment informed by constant feedback’. According to Van der Ryn
and Cowan together these three strategies ‘remind us of both the
technical and personal dimensions of sustainability’.
233
Ecological design ‘responds to the particularities of place’ both
physical and human. ‘It seeks locally adopted solutions’ and ‘matches
biological diversity with cultural diversity rather than compromising both
the way conventional solutions do’.
234
It integrates ‘human purpose with
nature’s own flows, cycles, and patterns’.
235
The role of the designer is
therefore one of a facilitator ‘in the cultural processes underlying
sustainability’.
236
Van der Ryn and Cowan propose five principles be considered for
ecological design. Firstly they suggest design solutions should develop
from ‘specific site conditions and limitations as well as the values of
users’
237
- a principle which recognises that ‘the skills required to build a
sustainable community are already actively employed in our everyday
activities’
238
and which in turn leads to the development of a culture in
which sustainability ‘depends on the everyday actions of ordinary
people’.
239
Local knowledge is an essential component to problem
solving and can only be acquired ‘through a steady process of cultural
accretion’.
240
It also recognises complexity: standardised design
solutions arbitrarily imposed on a situation ‘erode local and regional
differences’.
241
Ecological design, by contrast, ‘works with the inherent
integrities of a given place’.
242
It also recognises ‘the limits to knowledge
and therefore the limits to management’.
243
Every model requires appropriate methods that can translate a
concept into measurable data. Just as economic theory requires
accounting methods to measure and manage economic progress,
233
Ibid., pp. 21-22
234
Ibid., p. 23
235
Ibid., p. 24
236
Ibid., p. 25
237
Ibid., p. 54
238
Ibid., p. 62
239
Ibid., p. 63
240
Ibid., p. 65
241
Ibid., p. 69
242
Ibid., p. 72
243
Ibid., p. 66
91
ecological design requires ecological accounting to measure sustainable
development. According to Van der Ryn and Cowan, the second
principle, ecological accounting, assesses the ‘ecological costs, from
resource depletion to pollution and habitat destruction’.
244
In normal
accounting, externalities such as pollution and habitat destruction are
ignored. This oversight presents a challenge for ecological designers. It
requires an assessment of ‘the type and quantity of energy, water,
materials, toxins, wastes, and land used in a design’. In addition it
‘requires us to choose boundaries of space and time’ which leads to what
the authors call ‘life-cycle analysis’.
245
Analysis requires certain laws
being taken into account. Firstly, the laws of thermodynamics which
states that ‘the energy stored in the inputs must equal the energy stored
in the outputs plus any waste energy’. Secondly, ‘energy degrades in
quality or usefulness as it is converted from one form to another’.
Another consideration of this analysis is that all processes must ‘obey a
fundamental law of material accounting: matter is neither created nor
destroyed’.
246
Ecological accounting is (according to Van der Ryn and
Cowan) the ‘key analytical tool of ecological design, for it provides a kind
of litmus test for sustainability’.
247
The third principle, design with nature, requires understanding and
‘working with the patterns and processes favored by the living world’, will
enable us to ‘dramatically reduce the ecological impacts of our
designs’.
248
The complexity of nature is described by Van der Ryn and
Cowan, in terms of an evolutionary process which ‘generates many levels
of wholeness simultaneously’. ‘Each level of integrity manifests a working
logic of its own’. Each level – cell, organism, ecosystem, bioregion,
biosphere – presents a series of critical design opportunities and
constraints’.
249
Design with nature represents a partnership, ‘a kind of
covenant between human communities and other living communities’ in
which nature is regarded as a ‘matrix within which designs find an identity
244
Ibid., p. 55
245
Ibid., p. 85
246
Ibid., p. 89
247
Ibid., p. 90
248
Ibid., p. 55
249
Ibid., p. 103
92
and a coherence that contribute to the health of the whole’.
250
One vital
outcome and benefit of ecological design is that it enhances biodiversity,
just as it enriches cultural diversity; both fundamental to ecological and
social stability.
The fourth principle, accepts that everyone is a designer and
recognises the collaborative and cooperative basis of the design process
in which a ‘solution grows and evolves organically out of a particular
situation, process, and pattern of communication’.
251
It also recognises
that it is ‘only through actually implementing a design does one begin to
understand it’.
252
At a community level it requires participatory
democracy and ‘is at the core of a culture of sustainability’.
253
The widest
participation in the decision-making process, according to Van der Ryn
and Cowan, develops a robust culture of sustainability.
254
The link
between ecological design and participatory democracy is fundamental
(just as Ivan Illich proposed in Energy and Equity (1974)) and a culture of
grass roots democracy enables communities to apply appropriate
technologies to meet respective needs.
Unrestrained capitalism (according to van der Ryn and Cowan),
can also apply technologies that disempower communities, creating a
culture in which technology no longer serves the best interests of the
community. Instead an illusion of technological progress obtains, in
which members of the community become willing consumers of the new
technologies without being aware of their environmental and social
consequences.
The relationship between ecological design and participatory
democracy is further developed by Van der Ryn and Cowan in a fifth and
final principle, which asks that nature be visible and requires
‘technologies that are not hidden and that do not possess hidden
consequences’.
255
This they argue, represents an epistemological
change in which learning is sought through an evolving understanding of
250
Ibid., p. 105
251
Ibid., p. 55
252
Ibid., p. 149
253
Ibid., p. 154
254
Ibid., p. 158
255
Ibid., p. 162
93
our relationship and involvement with nature and our surroundings – in
short, a diametrical opposite approach to the current design
methodologies which separate and desensitise us from nature. Van der
Ryn and Cowan argue ‘As nature has receded from our daily lives, it has
receded from our ethics’.
256
Ecological design by contrast ‘makes natural
processes visible and active at levels of scale from the household to the
neighborhood to the entire city’.
257
This approach strengthens our
relationships ‘with wider communities of life’ and ‘informs us about the
ecological consequences of our activities’.
258
Such an approach provides
the community with a level of transparency to enable it to engage with the
ethical choices relating to human needs and ecological balance. A vital
aspect of this approach is that in revealing the ‘symbiotic relationship
between culture, nature, and design’ a new aesthetic develops, termed
‘visual ecology’ which becomes a powerful learning tool as ideas
‘expressed visually and experienced directly’ are learnt more rapidly.
259
In their conclusion Van der Ryn and Cowan describe the current
approach to the built environment and its destruction of nature as a
‘holocaust’. Ecological design, they argue, could be a revolution ‘every
bit as profound as the preceding Industrial Revolution’.
260
Once again
Ecological Design is a substantial text that offers designers a valuable
methodology and has helped shape the nature of the research pursued
by this thesis and contributed to the outcomes.
Industry and economy
Perhaps no matter how well intentioned designers are, the
challenges of realising sustainable development cannot be met within a
market place which only aggravates social and environmental problems.
A more equitable and just economic framework is required, one that
rewards ethical and sustainable design practice.
256
Ibid., p. 161
257
Ibid., p. 163
258
Ibid., p. 164
259
Ibid., p. 165
260
Ibid., p. 171
94
Economic revolution is the premise of Factor Four: Doubling Wealth,
Halving Resource Use (a text written essentially as a report to the
economic group known as the Club of Rome), in which Von Weizsäcker
et al. attempt to answer the question: ‘If Markets Create the Problem, Can
They Provide Much of the Answer?’. The challenge for designers, they
argue, is to redirect market operations which currently promote
unsustainable practices to one that channels the profit motive in creative
ways that promotes sustainable development.
261
So imperfect is the
current market system, they argue, that subsidies aimed at helping
business, discourage efficiency. The World Bank estimates ‘direct and
indirect subsidies totalling some £200 thousand million go into the energy
sector alone’.
262
Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use is
an interesting text which highlights the fundamental flaw in mainstream
economics that supports the notion that the market is perfect and
‘founded on consumer preference expressed through purchasing
decisions it assumes that if people want something different they would
have already made that choice’. Yet the preconditions for a theoretical
free market such as ‘perfect information about the future, perfectly
accurate price signals, perfect competition, no monopoly or monophony,
no unemployment or under employment of any resource, no transaction
cost, no subsidy’ are clearly absent in the real world, a world that
ideological free market economists refuse to acknowledge.
263
The
authors argue a new economic model is vital for the operation of a market
but question its limits as an intellectual construct; the danger is that
economics becomes ‘the state religion to which policies are aligned’ with
potentially negative and profound consequences.
264
However, Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use
argues that existing markets can be adapted to promote sustainability by
utilising the profit motive through creative use of market prices which
‘coordinate ingenuity, rapid feedback and diverse, dispersed resourceful,
261
E. von Weizsäcker et al., Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving Resource Use,
Earthscan Publications Ltd, London, 1997, p. 143
262
Ibid., p. 140
263
Ibid., p. 147
264
Ibid., p. 153
95
highly motivated actors’.
265
What is required, the authors argue, is
‘market-based institutional innovations’ which promote ‘eco-capitalism’.
266
The authors put forward a wide range of principles to support the
notion of eco-capitalism. Ecological Tax Reform (ETR), for example,
provides the mechanism to counteract the disincentive in the market
place for businesses to act in ways that are good for the environment and
addresses a fundamental economic aberration of externalising costs (the
land fill tax is such an example). Competition in a free market also does
not distinguish between companies damaging the environment and those
preserving the environment. Thus ETR is recognised by some
economists as a useful method for ‘changing perverse incentive
structures, for reducing undesirable taxes and for environmental
deregulation’.
267
Another strategy - Utility Regulatory Reform - also led to significant
changes that made utility profits independent of electricity sales; instead
they were rewarded for reducing customers’ bills by investment in end-
use efficiency thereby ‘saving electricity more cheaply than it could be
produced’ and creating in its wake a ‘negawatt [sic] revolution’.
268
Profitability under this scheme was independent of sales; both the utility
company and consumer benefited.
The authors also argue that current building practice does not
reward optimum performance. In most countries architects and designers
are paid a fee based on the cost of the building or equipment they
specify. The design is usually a modification of a tried and tested design
but one not necessarily the most efficient or economical for the purpose.
Established professional practice allows little or no incentive for cross-
disciplinary design collaboration to achieve optimal performance and
economy by reducing construction and operating cost and improving
productivity. A fee structure, however, aligned to these outcomes and
regarding integrated resource-efficient design reflected in the costs of
265
Ibid., p. 143
266
Ibid., p. 144
267
Ibid., p. 205
268
Ibid., pp. 159-160
96
running the building could encourage a collective approach to problem
solving.
269
However, by far the greatest challenge to sustainable practice,
according to the authors, is the unwillingness of classical economists who
shape national and international development, to question the basis of
their economic assumptions. Classical economists (those that have an
ideological belief in a perfect free market) deny the possibility that the
market operates less than perfectly. One example cited by the authors is
that of Nordhaus who calculated that ‘the stabilisation of CO
2
emissions
set by an international negotiating group in Toronto … would “cost” about
$200 thousand million per year’. Nordhaus’s calculations were based on
a series of theoretical assumptions. These included the assumptions that
the cost of more efficient use of energy would necessarily cost more and
the increased price of energy could only be achieved through taxation.
Nordhaus’s analysis shaped both Reagan and Bush administration
policies and international agreements on stabilising CO
2
emissions.
270
As the authors argue, while economic theory has value and
coherence within its own sphere it only represents a partial truth like other
disciplines. Prices fail to tell the truth and in so doing consumers cannot
make intelligent choices, allowing socially and environmentally damaging
market anomalies to persist. The authors cite the case for private
transport for example in which ‘“external” … costs approaching 1 trillion
[US] dollars a year, … are borne by everyone but not reflected in drivers’
direct costs’.
271
It can be seen that sustainable development depends on
a well-regulated market economy as well as ecologically based design
practice.
The Concept of Sustainable Design - Summary
What the literature reveals then is that the current economic model,
that assumes the market is perfect, generates market/consumer-led
design. A new ecologically based economic model would encourage a
269
Ibid., pp. 179-181
270
Ibid., pp. 149-150
271
Ibid., p. 189
97
shift to sustainable development based on sustainable design. The old
design axiom form follows function needs to be redefined and aligned to
an integrated approach that is process orientated and integrated with
ecological principles. Ecological design can be defined as any form of
design intelligence that minimises environmental destructive impacts by
integrating itself with living processes. The following principles
summarise some of the features of a concept of sustainable design found
in the literature:
• A universal ethical code would reconcile the needs of the individual
with the needs of the global community and the environment. In
the old model consumer-led design appealed to the individual but
in the new model the responsible consumer becomes an active
participant in sustainable design. (Papanek, Whiteley)
• It seeks local solutions and responds to biological and cultural
diversity, recognising sustainability depends on the active
participation of community members. (Van der Ryn and Cowan)
• Design is a collaborative and cooperative process in which the
designer is a facilitator enabling the stakeholders, i.e. the
community to find the most appropriate solution as well as
implement it. (Jones, Van der Ryn and Cowan)
• Ecological footprint accounting assesses the sustainability of
human activities by measuring the flows of energy and matter to
and from a defined economy and convert them into the
corresponding land/water required to support these flows.
(Wackernagel and Rees, Van der Ryn and Cowan)
• New object types need to be defined that meet the spiritual, social,
physical and cultural needs a sustainable world. (Manzini, Branzi,
Whitney)
• Ecological design makes natural processes transparent and active
at all levels of society: from the household to the global
community. It informs everyone about the ecological
consequences of our actions. (Van der Ryn and Cowan)
98
• Design works with nature recognising that human communities in
partnership with other living communities and nature are a matrix
within which design contributes to the sustainability of the whole.
(Von Weizsäcker et al.)
• At governmental and intergovernmental levels laws can moderate
and reward good environmental practice in the market place
through, for example, ecological tax reforms and incentives to
reduce energy consumption. New regulations for fee structures
could reward cross-disciplinary design teams for developing
integrated resource efficient designs. (Van der Ryn and Cowan)
In conclusion then, it appears clear from the literature that there are
well defined principles that characterise sustainable design practice but
different levels of complexity will require different approaches. Large
organisations require complex systems while designer-makers are able to
develop simple innovatory methods. All sustainable design is
underpinned by a cooperative and collaborative ethic. Sustainable
design is therefore characterised by its plurality of methodologies and
strategies, whether industrial or craft-based, as it responds to the
respective needs of its community – a final principle which, in some small
way, this PhD has sought to keep in view.
iii) The furniture designer-maker
The furniture designer-maker is clearly one subset in a complex web of
contemporary craft based designer-makers who undoubtedly share a
collective and well defined lineage that goes back to William Morris and
the Arts and Crafts Movement. The rich and well documented history of
this Movement – from its late nineteenth century origins to the Second
World War lies beyond the scope of this thesis.
272
This review is more
272
See, for example, I. Anscombe, Arts and Crafts Style, Phaidon Press Limited, Oxford,
1991
L. Lambourne, Utopian Craftsmen: The Arts and Crafts Movement from the
Cotswolds to Chicago, Astragal Books, London, 1980
G. Naylor, The Arts and Crafts Movement, Trefoil Publications, London, 1971
99
immediately concerned with the emergence of the contemporary furniture
designer-maker, who shares with the Arts and Crafts Movement what
might broadly be defined an oppositional relationship to consumption and
the capitalist values of the commercial mainstream – and although the
emerging critical tendencies within the commercial mainstream are
acknowledged and have an interesting literature of their own - they too lie
beyond the scope of this thesis.
273
Rather, this section of the Literature
Review concerns itself specifically with a critique of the literature
surrounding the emergence of the figure of the furniture designer-maker
in the period 1945 to date – the term designer-maker being the preferred
term of this resistant sub-cultural group.
274
One influential observer who was to recognise the emergence of the
contemporary furniture designer-maker was Betty Norbury, who in 1990
published British Craftsmanship in Wood, as the result of a three year
research project which catalogued a total of almost two hundred active
furniture designer-makers. The publication identified a very diverse group
whose communality Norbury defined in the broadest terms as a group
scattered ‘in small workshops … designing and making their work
themselves’.
275
Norbury’s intention was to showcase the work of a contemporary
group of craftsmen and rebut the commonly held public view that
craftsmanship was in decline. Norbury subsequently ran an annual selling
exhibition for furniture designer-makers from 1990 in Cheltenham which
is still a regular event. In 1999 she published Furniture for the 21
st
Century and co-curated an exhibition Designs for the Environment at
Whitehall Palace, London, a showcase for the designer-makers
represented in the book. The publication had a narrower focus than her
earlier work. Norbury, who was by now widely recognised as a leading
authority in this field, identified twenty-five key designer-makers who she
273
See, for example, E. Ambasz, Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, Moma, New
York, 1972, and its critique of avant-garde post-war design
274
See C. A. Knott, cited in Ideas in the Making, Crafts Council, London, 1998, p. 93
’ … many furniture makers preferred to call themselves “designers” rather than
“craftspeople”. In fact, for many, the label “craft” was seen as derogatory and
unhelpful and they preferred to be known as “designer-makers”’.
275
B. Norbury, British Craftsmanship in Wood, Stobart Davies Ltd, London, 1990, p. 7
100
felt had made a significant contribution and were also likely to continue to
play an influential role in the twenty-first century, including a group of
younger designer-makers whom she believed would ‘play a major role in
the industry’s continued growth’.
276
In terms of a more significant literary contribution to the field, Tanya
Harrod’s account of The Crafts in Britain in the 20
th
Century (1999) is
worthy of note. Harrod traces the struggle through the 1930s and the
1950s of the ‘handcraft furniture movement’ and its tendency to be
‘trapped by its history’ and what she calls the ‘Cotswold legacy’.
277
Harrod describes how figures like Sandy Mackilligin emulated continental
mass produced furniture lines, providing ‘clients with a humane flexible
approach at relatively low cost’,
278
while others like Alan Peters and John
Makepeace eventually ‘decided against entering the mass market and
instead concentrated on more expensive one-off pieces … returning to
the exquisite craftsmanship of early Cotswold furniture’.
279
However, as Harrod’s title concedes, Harrod’s account is centred on
Britain and it is perhaps worth noting that the evolution of the arts and
crafts worker to the contemporary figure of the designer-maker followed a
very similar development in the USA. According to Patricia Conway for
example, James Krenov, Joe Osgood, George Nakashima, Sam Maloof
and Dan Jackson were all responsible for the post-war craft revival which
inspired a second generation that began to emerge in the mid-70s.
280
To develop a better understanding of the defining characteristics of
design and make, it is useful to turn to Peter Dormer and David Pye – two
of the best known critics of the genre. In his influential text The Art of the
Maker (1994), for example, Dormer reacts to the perception in the art
world and current art theories that skills are only mechanical and can be
easily learnt. Dormer identifies craft as a specific form of knowledge ‘that
must be demonstrated since it will not easily, if at all, be adequately
276
B. Norbury, Furniture for the 21
st
Century, Stobart Davies Ltd, Hertford, 1999, p. 6
277
T. Harrod, The Crafts in Britain in the Twentieth Century, Yale University Press, New
Haven, 1999, p. 328
278
Ibid., p. 331
279
Ibid., p. 333
280
P. Conway, Art for Everyday, Clarkson Potter, New York, 1990, p. 20
101
conveyed through what can be said or written about it’.
281
He
distinguishes it from conceptual knowledge observing that ‘The
knowledge required to make something work is not the same as
understanding the principle behind it’.
282
It is a form of applied knowledge
which ‘not only enables you to achieve your goal, it also enables you to
imagine what your goal might look like’.
283
Dormer also questions the
Shibboleth of a whole culture which associates making with ‘unthinking’,
observing that ‘the thinking in the crafts … resides not in language, but in
the physical processes involving the physical handling of the medium’.
284
Making for the designer-maker is therefore a continuation of the design
process.
It is through the interaction of the material with the idea that design
evolves according to David Pye, who provides further clarification of the
act of making in his equally influential text The Nature and Art of
Workmanship (1968) and its definitive theorisation of craftsmanship. Pye
was concerned that confusion regarding the precise nature of
craftsmanship had led (historically) to muddled thinking and that the
continuing absence of a coherent theory on the subject would inevitably
lead to further confusion. One of the key principles that Pye expounds
concerns his idea of a ‘workmanship of risk’. Pye argues that
craftsmanship has always been defined by a different kind of quality to
that characterised by industrial production. However, Pye argues that
workmanship is perhaps best defined according to the degree of risk
involved.
285
Although he argues risk in itself does not determine quality, it
provides the means for ‘an immensely various range of qualities, without
which at its command the art of design becomes arid and
impoverished’.
286
The control and relative freedom that is peculiar to the craftsman is
extended (according to Pye) through the autonomy the designer-maker
281
P. Dormer, The Art of the Maker, Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 1994, p. 7
282
Ibid., p. 11
283
Ibid., p. 19
284
Ibid., p. 24
285
D. Pye, The Nature and Art of Workmanship, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1968, p. 24
286
Ibid., p. 7
102
often has - i.e. the ability to explore an idea, a design, through the making
process and thereby imbue the product with qualities associated with the
material. The distinction lies not in the quality of the two processes but in
the potential of the designer-maker to explore a wide range of material
qualities compared to a production system which must rationalise
processes specifically in order to reduce risk – an intelligent and incisive
distinction.
In terms of writing by practising designer-makers themselves
though, there can be no more absorbing reading than that offered by the
American furniture designer-maker James Krenov whose uniquely
interesting writings provide rich insights into the field of design and make.
Amongst the plenitude of books written about making, few rise to the level
of Krenov’s A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook (1976). The text develops the
philosophy of a furniture designer-maker who has spent his lifetime
exploring the subtleties and intricacies of designs in wood, in which
Krenov reveals an implicit understanding of the sustainable value of what
he was trying to achieve and that it was in opposition to the commercial
pressures of the day:
Fine things in wood are important, not only aesthetically, as oddities
or rarities, but because we are becoming aware of the fact that
much of our life is spent buying and discarding, and buying again,
things that are not good. Some of us long to have at least
something, somewhere, which will give us harmony and a sense of
durability – I won’t say permanence, but durability – things that,
through the years, become more and more beautiful, things we can
leave to our children.
287
Krenov also recognised that quality of craftsmanship could not be
widely available: ‘I’ve never believed that a really good craftsman is
intended for a tremendous public … size of his public is almost in inverse
porportion [sic] to the quality of his work’.
288
Krenov is also scathing of
commercial products which in his opinion, frequently ‘lack any humility
toward the material, or respect, or even simple practical consideration’.
289
287
J. Krenov, A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook, Cassell & MacMillan Publishers Ltd, London,
1976, p. 15
288
Ibid., p. 16
289
Ibid., p. 24
103
In contrast Krenov is motivated by a (historically) romantic vision and a
desire to achieve ‘the quiet object in unquiet times … worked honestly
and well but with humility too’.
290
Krenov defines the role of the designer-maker in wood as someone
differentiated from the industrial process of manufacture, through the
intimate relationship with the material, ‘I realized wood contains so much
inspiration and beauty and rhythm that if used properly it would result in
an individual, a unique object’.
291
His intuitive approach to design is also
a template for many furniture designer-makers in wood. A design is not
fully formed before the making commences, instead there ‘is a chain of
thought behind everything, but it’s not drawn and calculated … It is an
idea and a guessing, step by step’.
292
In subsequent publications, Krenov continues to share his personal
journey as practical philosopher and designer-maker. In The Fine Art of
Cabinetmaking (1977) he explores the diversity of wood through a
personal relationship based on ‘curiosity’ and ‘chance’.
293
In The
Impractical Cabinetmaker (1979) he prefaces his technical and
philosophical discussion with a personal review of the current
developments of the professional designer-maker noting the ‘emergence
of superstar craftsmen’ as ‘one strand of development in woodcraft
today’.
294
This development according to Krenov is not consistent with
the ‘lasting values and integrity’ that characterise craftsmen, but
represent ‘catering to public taste and trends’.
295
Krenov also identifies a
move towards an existential approach to craft, in which by doing
‘something we enjoy is to begin to know ourselves’.
296
The existential
has also found a resonance amongst the amateur woodworkers and the
buying public who ultimate sustain the crafts. Craig McArt notes in his
foreword to James Krenov, Worker in Wood that ‘no influence has been
290
Ibid., p. 45
291
Ibid., p. 73
292
Ibid., p. 81
293
J. Krenov, The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking, Cassell & MacMillan Publishers Ltd,
London, 1977, p. 8
294
J. Krenov, The Impractical Cabinetmaker, Van Nostrand Reinhold Ltd, New York,
1979, p. 9
295
Ibid., p. 8
296
Ibid., p. 14
104
so profound as the recent acceptance of the craft as a creative art worthy
of critical attention from galleries, museums, and the press’.
297
Although
this recognition has placed pressures on the designer-maker to appeal to
whimsical demands, McArt reminds us of Krenov’s environmentally
ethical vision, one which respects ‘the mystery of this living material’ and
the ‘decisions in which the wood itself should have a determining voice’
combined by ‘attitudes of curiosity and virtues of integrity’.
298
Krevov’s
writing have inspired several generations of furniture designer-makers
and provided a unique insight in to the mind of a leading figure in the
history of the craft revival.
However, in attempting to define the contemporary furniture
designer-maker some useful insight is offered by Liz Farrelly. Farrelly
provides one of the most comprehensive overviews of the complexities
and pluralities of this field in her introductory essay to the Jerwood
Applied Arts Prize 1999. Unlike other fields of craft practice, furniture,
she observes ‘doesn’t cleanly fit the definitions – art, craft, design – as a
piece of furniture may be any, or all, of these’. This goes to the essence
of the problem of defining what is the furniture designer-maker? Its
ubiquity and universal appeal is also its Achilles’ heel. While it has the
‘advantage over other creative forms in that it is indispensable … it may
be considered as an anonymous “non-art”’.
299
The furniture practitioner shares common ground with other crafts in
that ideas are developed through the making process. Farrelly argues
that it is from this point that furniture becomes diversified through ‘a
myriad of approaches, methodologies, niches and attitudes’. What makes
furniture possibly quite unique in comparison to other crafts is, according
to Farrelly, its ability through its diversity to reach wide:
discerning and well-defined niche audiences of consumers and
collectors. It may also hold the clue to future relevance of craft
practice. As furniture is all things to all people it gives a vote to
297
C. McArt, James Krenov Worker in Wood, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., New
York,1997, p. 8
298
Ibid., p. 9
299
L. Farrelly, Introduction to The Jerwood Applied Arts Prize by Crafts Council, Crafts
Council Publication, London, 1999, p. 1
105
diversity over the monolithic canon – in working methods, materials
and aesthetics, retail dissemination and mass-media coverage.
300
Farrelly identifies “four zones of contradiction” in furniture practice, which
she describes as ‘an initiation into inclusive thinking, where opposites are
seen to attract and extremes are revealed to be intrinsically linked’.
301
I
think is useful, at this point to summarise these four “zones” as they
provide a useful categorisation that can help identify a provisional
definition of the term furniture designer-maker in the context of this thesis.
Firstly, the ‘public/private’ which she defines as the contradiction
between the personal world inhabited by the designer-maker and the
public profile that the work can receive through the media. Secondly, the
‘cheap/precious’ which ‘begins to indicate just how sophisticated a
commodity furniture has become’. Thirdly, the ‘familiar/iconic’, a zone
that at one end reinvents the recognisable in different forms and at the
other ‘demonstrates a new way of thinking, doing or making’. Finally, the
‘ecology/technology’ zone which has, in Farrelly’s estimation, moved from
opposing positions to one of convergence in which the ecological
movement shifts from ‘niche to mass’ market and industry seeks to
develop environmentally aware practices.
302
Professor Floris van den Broecke also noted that amongst the
submissions for the “Jerwood Applied Arts Prize 1999” was a significant
group of designer-makers following the Arts and Crafts movement
working mainly in hardwoods: ‘This tradition affords much individuality,
possesses an in-built morality and allows forays into experiment without
much violation of the canon’.
303
The short list included designer-makers
who fitted this group: Guy Smith, Robert Kilvington and Jim Partridge; the
winner, however, was Michael Marriott whose work explored the
“familiar/iconic”.
One of the most influential advocates of the designer-maker is Peta
Levi. Founder in 1994 of The Design Trust (TDT) and New Designers in
300
Ibid., p. 2
301
Ibid., p. 2
302
Ibid., pp. 3-4
303
F. van den Broecke, Introduction to The Jerwood Applied Arts Prize by Crafts
Council, Crafts Council Publication, London, 1999, p. 5
106
Business (NDB), Levi believes the UK ‘has an international reputation for
innovative design and craft’. She traces this success to a gradual
sustained effort over the last forty years through a series of related and
interdependent developments. These include the expansion of higher
education provision for design students; the diverse culture of academic
life; the predilection of designers to establish their own small business;
the decline of British manufacturing initiating firstly, new silversmith
workshops led by young designers and secondly in furniture making
when in the 1960s Alan Peters and John Makepeace set up their own
workshops. They in turn subsequently inspired a new breed of Royal
College of Art trained designers in the 1970s including Fred Baier, David
Field, Ashley Cartwright, Richard la Trobe Bateman and Rupert
Williamson. According to Levi, this new breed of designer-makers
produced mainly one-offs and ‘established a trend for designers to set up
their own workshops’.
304
The work of these designer-makers gained access to the public
through the establishment of the Prestcote Gallery, an independent
gallery set up in Cropredy, a small village near Banbury, Oxfordshire, by
Anne Hartree. This brought a loose group of designer-makers together
ranging from the innovative Fred Baier and John Makepeace to the
conservative designs of Edward Barnsley. What began as a craft revival
by Royal College of Art graduates, who turned their backs on a design-
resistant manufacturing industry, continued unabated into the 1980s. As
Jez Broun, the accomplished furniture designer-maker, observed in his
narrative Furniture Today (2006) ‘the momentum of the 70s craft revival
was carried through into the 80s with increased interest from exhibition
curators, auction houses and the blossoming crafts media’.
305
This audio-visual account by one of the acknowledged forerunners
of the furniture designer-maker phenomenon provides a fascinating
multimedia overview of the design and make field which includes over
800 references, 400 images and fourteen video clips documenting an
304
P. Levi, New British Design, Reed Consumer Books Ltd, London, 1998, pp. 6-7
305
J. Broun, Furniture Today, PART ONE & PART TWO, Thinking Hand Video, Bath,
2006 (DVD)
107
‘underground revolution in craftsmanship and design over the past thirty
years in Britain’ in which Broun observes that:
What was started by a handful of workshops in the 1970s probably
turned into hundreds by the end of the 90s but that movement was
still so quiet that not many people know about it. The quality just got
better, patronage as ever was elusive.
306
Broun concludes that this rich and ever expanding diversity can be
regarded as a reflection of the current social, economic and spiritual
changes taking place in society; the concern with green practices and
ecological design representing a newly heightened and increased social
and ecological awareness in the new millennium.
In this connection, it is certainly true that the media interest in design
and make has changed significantly in the last ten years. Designer-
makers were not ignored in the past but their work was frequently
stereotyped by design journalists as eccentric or anachronistic. Feature
articles tended to focus on their alternative lifestyles rather than position
them in the market place as a genuine option to the mainstream retailers.
While increased affluence has certainly motivated buyers’ interest in
wider choice, the media’s attention on designer-makers now increasingly
recognises they fill a market need resulting in a rise in editorial coverage
from not only the consumer interior magazines but what was until recently
the broadsheet newspapers. Dominic Lutyens, for example, writing in The
Independent at the beginning of the millennium on design in the new
coming decade, commented that ‘people are design-literate now, more
than before’ and this, combined with access to the internet greatly
increases choice: ‘A thirst for bespoke design will be another
consequence of the desire for wider choice’.
307
While the Internet has provided greater visibility for the small
independent designer-maker, potential clients who are still tentative are
more likely to commission furniture through seeing examples of work,
either at a showroom or an exhibition. Lucia van der Post writing in The
306
Ibid.
307
D. Lutyens, ‘21
st
-Century Schizoid Man’, The Independent, Independent News and
Media Limited, London, 8 June 2000, p. 18
108
Times encouraged her readers to visit Betty Norbury’s “Celebration of
Craftsmanship exhibition” (2003) for:
All the classics most houses need – chairs and tables, chest of
drawers, desks and bed heads … and if, by chance, you happen to
need something of a specific shape, size or design, to see if there is
anybody there who could bring your own particular dream alive.
308
The glossy Interiors style of magazines probably remain the main
source of information for most private buyers and it is in these
publications that the most lavish editorials on designer-makers can be
found in recent years. The magazines Homes & Gardens and Grand
Designs, for example, have both produced main features that guide
potential clients through the bespoke commissioning process, offering
advice and showing a selection of work by selected designer-makers.
Homes & Gardens (November 2003) featured the work of selected
designer-makers including myself, Petter Southall, Matthew Burt and
Waring Robinson over a six page colour feature entitled Wood by the
journalist Kate Taylor.
309
Grand Designs (November 2004) produced a
similar feature entitled Bespoke Furniture which showed case studies of
commissions by Wales & Wales and Toby Winteringham from the clients’
perspective.
310
These two editorials also follow a pattern of being well
researched and providing contact details for potential clients to follow up.
The rewards and challenges of commissioning craft work have also
recently been the basis of a feature in the Economist’s Intelligent Life
magazine. In his article entitled Return of the Artist Craftsman, Luke
Collins observed for example that ‘one of the most interesting
developments of the past few years has been the emergence of designer-
cum-makers’. However, he contrasted the ease of buying luxury brands
with the difficulties of finding and commissioning a designer-maker. The
rewards, however, were ‘an opportunity to form a continuing relationship
with a maker whose work you like’ and the acquisition of ‘truly exclusive
308
L. van der Post, ‘CHIC OF THE OLD BLOCK’, The Times, Times Newspapers Ltd,
London, 15 August 2003, p. 12
309
K. Taylor, ‘Wood’, Homes & Gardens, IPC SouthBank Publishing Company, London,
November 2003, pp. 194-199
310
D. Gilhooley, ‘Bespoke Furniture’, Grand Designs, Media 10 Ltd, Epping, November
2004, pp. 118-126
109
and exquisitely beautiful things’, an alternative to the ‘commoditisation of
luxury brands’.
311
While the obsession with such exclusivity may not satisfy the social
conscience of some designer-makers, it can clearly be seen that the
media message that now appears to be emerging from the popular press
suggests that design and make is no longer perceived as the activity of a
disparate group of romantic escapists but represents the work of a
significant creative group engaged in a critical discourse with
contemporary society and a group anxious to respond – individually and
(arguably) collectively too – to its urgent creative and economic
challenges. To this extent, this thesis has also sought to respond to these
challenges and (as will be seen) respond in particular to the growing
global crisis around resources.
312
In conclusion, this Literature Review has considered three related arenas;
each one discusses a range of issues around a particular theme that has
informed the research process. The issues around global resources and
sustainable development have been approached from a broad
perspective that has included authors and texts from sociological,
economic, political and environmental disciplines. This approach
recognises the interdependency of these disciplines in addressing real
rather than hypothetical problems. While acknowledging the difficulty of
negotiating wide ranging literatures the review has identified a number of
broad issues that have shaped the research process and provided a
theoretical framework for the research. The issues around Agenda 21,
ecology, economics, and ethics are developed in the main text. The
second arena, towards a concept of sustainable design, provides a range
of theoretical and conceptual models to develop the practice based
research. The third and final arena positions the furniture designer-maker
as a significant constituency in the UK and the focus of this thesis.
311
L. Collins, ‘Return of the artist craftsman’, Intelligent Life, The Economist Newspaper
Limited, London, Summer 2005, p. 13
312
For further material on design and make and the institutionalisation of its practices
see Part One
110
111
Part One: Signed & Sealed – Project Rationale
The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens
Bahá'u'lláh
1.0 Introduction
In setting out the rationale for the “Signed & Sealed” project I begin by
identifying two key areas discussed in the Literature Review: Agenda 21
together with an integrated concept of ecology and economics that offers
a framework for sustainable furniture design & make. This is followed by
a review of examples of sustainable design practices by product
designers, the design community and commercial mainstream to
demonstrate the diversity of approaches that have been adopted in
response to sustainability issues. I then consider a range of practices
that have been developed by contrast, out of craft based practices. The
case is then made that the contemporary bespoke furniture designer-
maker can (potentially) develop sustainable design practice (an eco
business) to facilitate local sustainable development - and it is here that I
set out the main arguments for the “Signed & Sealed” project. Firstly,
that the furniture designer-maker can respond not only to the changing
needs of the consumer but also to the wider social, economic and
environmental issues critical to sustainable development. (S)he can do
this firstly by considering a more flexible relationship to the client than
that traditionally embodied in the bespoke commission – for example, in a
variation that I term the semi-bespoke. Secondly, (s)he can make
greater use of a local cycle for sourcing and processing timber which
would reduce dependency on imported timber, contribute to the
sustainable management of neglected timber resources and make
available an untapped resource for the furniture designer-maker.
This brings me to the final argument that furniture designer-makers
are also uniquely placed to explore the creative potential of non-
commercial local timber in their furniture designs and add value to it
through the design and make process, for example by revealing what I
112
term the unique signature to be found in non-commercial local timbers.
In the conclusion to this section, these latter terms – the semi-bespoke,
the local cycle and unique signature are taken up as the defining
elements of the “Signed & Sealed” project and become key to the
development process outlined in Part Two of the thesis.
1.1 Agenda 21, economics and ecology
In 1992, the people of the world were alerted to the problems of
sustaining global economic growth at the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro.
313
The conference, as has been discussed, was part of a series
of international initiatives that had begun in the 1970s, focused on a
range of global issues which include deforestation, biodiversity, and
pollution. The resulting proposal, known as Agenda 21, a 500 page
document endorsed by 179 heads of state, recognised the
interdependence of social, economic and environmental issues and need
for sustainable development.
The Earth Summit was dominated by political leaders from powerful
industrial economies who recognised that while it was necessary to
moderate the excesses of industrial development, resisted the idea that
the sustainable future would require a more globally equitable distribution
of resources if that meant a radical change to the prevailing balance of
power within the economic system. The Brundtland Report (1987), had
disseminated a wider understanding of the issues around sustainable
development and recognised that the global economy would have to
change significantly: ‘a new development path was required, one that
sustained human progress not just in a few places for a few years, but for
the entire planet into the distant future’.
314
However, the difficulties of implementing strategies for sustainable
development are apparent at both the global and local level. This is
evident in the two conflicting interpretations of the meaning of sustainable
313
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, ‘The Rio Declaration
on Environment and Development’, UNCED Secretariat, Rio de Janeiro, 1992
314
World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future, Oxford
University Press, Oxford, 1987, p. 4
113
development; each one satisfies a different constituency. One view
holds that it represents a refinement and adjustment of existing economic
growth and industrialisation and the other believes it is about our non-
material improvements such as creating a socially more just and
equitable world. Developed nations separate the environmental problems
from the economic system that they derive their prosperity from and tend
to see ‘environmental problems as technical issues that can be tackled
without altering the structure of the global economic system without
challenging free market principles and the logic of capital
accumulation’.
315
The problem with the concept of a global strategy for sustainable
development is that until the values of the different constituencies
promoting it are clarified there is no common basis on which to implement
strategies. According to Nitin Desai it is ‘not defining sustainable
development, but understanding it. … The value of any definition of
development is simply the clue that it gives to the moral premises of the
person who's giving the definition’.
316
While achieving a consensus about sustainability remains a
prerequisite to implementing strategies, sustainability must also to be
measured if it is to be managed on both a micro and global level.
Interestingly, a UK-funded research team identified seven indicators that
were subsequently applied to the Scottish economy over the period 1980-
1993. Evidence, while uncertain with regard to sustainable practice did
demonstrate how large the interdependencies between the economic and
environmental systems were. One scenario, “business as usual”
predicted a ‘major and rapid collapse in world economic and
environmental systems in the 21st Century’.
317
Despite academic researchers producing verifiable measures of
sustainability, the difficulty of creating generic indicators that are both
universally applicable and yet relevant to individual countries remains
315
J. Connelly and G. Smith, Politics and the Environment: From Theory to Practice,
Routledge, London, 1999, p. 185
316
N. Desai cited in S. Dresner, The principles of sustainability, Earthscan Publications
Ltd, London, p. 64
317
I. Moffatt et al., ‘Measuring and Modelling Sustainability’, Global Environmental
Change Programme Briefings, no. 26, June 1999 (no page numbers given)
114
profound. Moreover, achieving universal acceptance of a set of proposed
indicators by all governments represents an even greater challenge,
particularly as many national governments hold on to their autonomy.
However, it was at the level of community grass roots that an attempt was
made to initiate the process of sustainable development.
As noted before, the aspirations of the Earth Summit became
embodied in a document, known as Agenda 21, which came to be
regarded as a blue print for a sustainable development for the peoples of
the world. The document was conceived to empower the individual
through the democratic process. It recognises that efforts towards
sustainable development must come from grassroots level initiatives.
Because community knowledge and participation are vital for effective
decision-making, local authorities, businesses and individuals are
encouraged to engage in local-level planning and collaborative action.
The Agenda 21 initiative recognised that 'many of the problems and
solutions being addressed by Agenda 21 have their roots in local
activities'.
318
The vital contribution of local authorities was recognised by
the LGMB (Local Government Management Board)
319
when it estimated
two thirds of Agenda 21 'can not be delivered without the commitment
and cooperation of local governments'.
320
In the period leading up to the Rio de Janeiro Summit local
authorities, such as district councils (which represent their local
constituencies including communities, minorities and businesses as well
as NGOs such as charities and religious groups), made their own
declarations regarding their democratic responsibility to ‘inform, mobilize
and speak on behalf of their own communities’.
321
This was subsequently
reflected in the Agenda 21 document that stated that local authorities, as
directed at government level, should formulate a ‘Local Agenda 21 by
1996 based on consultation with individuals and organisations’.
322
318
Connelly and Smith, Politics and the Environment, p. 291
319
The Local Government Management Board’s purpose is to provide services and
support to all local authorities in England and Wales. www.lgmb.gov.uk
320
Connelly and Smith, Politics and the Environment, p. 291
321
Ibid., p. 293
322
Ibid., p. 294
115
According to Connelly and Smith (1999), local authorities throughout
the U.K. have demonstrated a high level of commitment to Agenda 21; it
has enabled them to re-establish themselves as important pivotal
instruments for widening democratic consultation within communities.
Although environmental issues have been the main focus of such
institutions, including energy, transport and land use clearly consultation
will be required if environmental, social and economic agendas are to
become unified.
323
However, as Dodds (2002) has pointed out, in the
U.K. there is also often a discrepancy between the vision and strategic
view of sustainability adopted by local authorities and the implementation
of policies. Application of these commitments in everyday economic
decision making can be inconsistent, either through an inability of staff to
integrate strategic views with operational decisions or regional authorities
subverting local authority plans through, for example, road building
projects.
324
Local authorities have found in Agenda 21 a new role that
reinvigorates their democratic relationship with the community they serve
as well as helping them to redefine their role in local governance. The
emerging agenda for sustainable development has been one of the most
effective means of promoting democratic debate at a local level.
Although action is slow some real progress has been made.
325
The workplace was also recognised by governments at the Earth
Summit as a vital arena within which to implement change; a special role
for workers and trade unions was highlighted in Chapter 29 of Agenda 21.
The link between our unsustainable life style and our workplace was
firmly established. ‘Rio de Janeiro proposed changes in patterns of
production and consumption that were radical in nature – nothing less
fundamental than a wholesale change in the way we live, work and make
decisions’.
326
The basis of this transformation depended on the
recognition that:
323
Ibid., p. 297
324
J. Brugman, ‘Agenda 21 and the Role of Local Government’, in F. Dodds (Ed.), Earth
Summit 2002, EarthScan Publications Ltd, London, 2002, pp. 42-43
325
Connelly and Smith, p. 300
326
F. Dodds (Ed.), Earth Summit 2002, EarthScan Publications Ltd, London, 2002, p. 52
116
Consumption patterns … derive from social and economic factors
including industrial relations in the workplace and it is in this light
that we must begin to tackle the most negative forms of a
'consumerist' approach to the world, its people and its resources,
including advertising and other market processes that portray
unsustainable behaviour as desirable.
327
A democratic workplace therefore becomes essential in developing
sustainability: ‘Involving workers in changes to production is the most
direct way of influencing their habits as consumers’
328
and entrenched
hierarchical roles ‘which engage workers only in the strict execution of
assigned tasks and presumes that "personal life" begins only when the
worker is off work’.
329
Despite the promise of the Commission for Sustainable
Development (CSD)
330
there has been no attempt to recognise the
workplace as a ‘focal point of production and consumption’
331
even
though they have a significant influence over patterns of consumption and
shape the character of their communities. Instead of embracing the
constituency of the workplace in which resides one of the largest
representations of humanity the CSD, for whatever reason has limited the
discourse to “business” and “production”, marginalising the workplace.
Corporate hierarchies and top-down decision making remain a
convenient method of preserving the socio-economic status quo but
frequently deny an opportunity to radically rethink the long-term
sustainable future of businesses and the role of work.
A redefinition of work itself must also be considered, as sustainable
economic development cannot be limited to a physical readjustment of
natural resources to align with productive capacity or even a more
equitable global distribution of those resources, important as they are.
The purpose of work has to be reassessed and expanded in the light of
the fact that the mere production and consumption of products at an ever
327
Ibid., p. 57
328
Ibid., p. 57
329
Ibid., pp. 57-58
330
Commission for Sustainable Development is a United Nations Non-Governmental
Organization (NGO) Steering Committee set up to monitor and implement the
work agreed at the Earth Summit
331
Dodds, Earth Summit, p. 53
117
increasing level is not only causing environmental degradation it is
debasing an area of human activity that could enrich the quality of life and
be the focus of individual development, instead ‘the concept of work has
been largely reduced to that of gainful employment aimed at acquiring the
means for the consumption of available goods’.
332
If work is narrowly
defined, the consequences are inevitable and largely evident in the
proliferation of consumer goods: ‘Not surprisingly, therefore, there is
increasing recognition that the world is in urgent need of a new “work
ethic”’.
333
Dodds too argues that ‘workers must become part of the dynamic of
change, as whole persons, not ciphers with muscle and labour time.
Their spirit and capacity to care and be creative must be harnessed’.
334
Work in whatever form - craft, art, trade or profession – is not just a
means of livelihood. When performed in a spirit of service it can
contribute to sustainability: ‘in acting thus they become participants at
however a modest level in the processes of the advancement of
civilization’.
335
Sustainability is therefore a dynamic process shared between the
individual, the community, business and social and political institutions.
The individual plays a fundamental role when impelled by an awareness
of his relationship to the world. Motivated by an awareness that his future
(and future generations) material and spiritual well being can only be
secured through actions and behaviours that benefit him, the community
and the environment, a process of sustainability is initiated and a dynamic
induced. When the initiative and action of a critical mass of individuals is
reciprocated at an institutional level we move towards creating a
sustainable world.
The Bahá’í Writings assert that ‘because the relationship between
the individual and society is a reciprocal one, the transformation now
332
Bahá'í International Community, Prosperity of Mankind, Bahá'í Publishing Trust,
Oakham, 1995, p. 22
333
Ibid., p. 24
334
Dodds, Earth Summit, p. 55
335
Bahá'í International Community, p. 24
118
required must occur simultaneously within human consciousness and the
structure of social institutions’.
336
Whiteley (1993) follows a similar line of thought when he argues that
the challenge for the future is to reconcile the interests of the individual
with society at large and those of the planet.
337
Clearly what is required is
an integrated approach to solving problems.
Science has been at the forefront of recognising that the physical
world operates as one entity. Ecologists, for example, observe the
complex eco systems functioning interdependently and in perfect
harmony. One of the most significant scientific theories based on ecology
to emerge in the 20th century to support the dynamic relationship
between equity, resources and the environment is the Gaia Hypothesis,
developed by James Lovelock (1995). This recognises that humanity is
also a part of the greater organic whole. Gaia regulates the biosphere,
maintaining a balance between the physical and chemical conditions of
the surface of the earth, the atmosphere and the oceans ensuring the
presence of life can be maintained.
338
On a physical level we are not
separate beings who can arbitrarily manipulate the earth's resources for
whatever materialistic ends we choose. Instead, man is ‘part of, or
partner in, a very democratic entity’.
339
Humanity's future is conditioned
by the limits Gaia imposes rather than the arbitrary socio-economic
systems we devise. What may be a cause for optimism is the notion that
Gaia will ultimately moderate the excesses of any human system that
undermines the earth’s essential unity, a prerequisite for sustainability.
An alternative, but closely related theory, links the ecological model
developed by Lovelock to a redefined economic model that brings the two
systems into alignment. In The Eco Principle (1996), for example, Arthur
Dahl argues that a range of socio-economic and environmental problems
result from the current economic theory that is the basis of Western
336
Ibid., p. 8
337
N. Whiteley, Design for Society, Reaktion Books Ltd, London, 1993
338
J. Lovelock, Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, Oxford University Press, Oxford,
1995
339
Ibid., p. 137
119
capitalism’s planning and management
340
. These problems stem from
industrial development which was based on obsolete economic theory
which, while intellectually cohesive in itself, has ceased to exert the
beneficial material and social effects it claims to be capable of creating.
The market system, on the contrary, is aggravating global environmental
and social problems, ‘while allowing a small minority to live in undreamed
of affluence’.
341
Dahl proposes that ‘sustainable development requires
the integration of economics and ecology’.
342
The current economic
system externalises costs and internalises benefits, environmental
pollution is ignored and natural capital (i.e. raw materials such as trees) is
measured as a capital gain. Yet inadequate investment in the replanting
of forests and other renewable resources is creating what Dahl describes
as ‘an accommodating resource department resulting from the draw down
of the planet's natural resource capital’.
343
According to Dahl, his theory of ecos reconciles economics with
ecology, drawing on the science of ecology which focuses ‘on dynamic
systems and the processes of change’.
344
It defines the characteristics of
an eco based on a concept defined as ‘any natural or man-made
functional system with internal integrity and distinct features and
behaviour enclosed with clear boundaries’.
345
An eco therefore can be
anything from an organism to planet Earth itself (as in Gaia), from a
business to a global economy. An eco has distinct characteristics
whatever form it takes. According to Dahl these include:
• Physical boundaries that define its form and size: material content
• Resource capital (for example, a workshop building, machinery,
tools, craftsmen)
• Energy to function
• Materials which add or subtract to the resource base
• Dynamic change over time which can be measured
340
A. Dahl, The Eco Principle, George Ronald, Oxford, 1996
341
Ibid., p. 3
342
Ibid., p. 2
343
Ibid., p. 37
344
Ibid., p. 46
345
Ibid., p. 47
120
• Information (for example, experience, tacit knowledge and skill)
• Organizational structure
• Forms of internal communication, etc., which enable the materials
and processes to function
• The transfer of materials, energy or information or the building of
connections with other ecos
346
Dahl argues that the eco concept redefines ‘ecology as the study of ecos
… and economics as the management of ecos’.
347
The theory of ecos applied to current economic development
demonstrates the weakness of the economic system to regulate material
affairs because of its failure to integrate externalities essential for
environmental balance and social justice. Economic theory generally
assumes consumers behave only selfishly, maximising their satisfaction
irrespective of the effect on the environment or their fellow men. Dahl
argues that the eco principle requires individuals to have well developed
interpersonal qualities such as openness, lack of prejudice and
cooperation which are characteristics of ecological systems, mature
individuals and societies.
348
However, negative characteristics, including
a desire for power, control and domination, would damage a system as is
apparent in the global economy. How a shift in attitudes and behaviours
can be brought about is a fundamental question that is at the basis of
sustainable economic growth. Clearly then the role of design is vital in
bringing about some of the necessary adjustments to promote
sustainable development. The “Signed & Sealed” project rests on this
belief.
1.2 Ecology, design and the commercial mainstream
There is an extensive body of literature that explores a wide range of
conceptualisations of sustainable practice from product design, industry
and designer-maker perspectives and the account that follows here
346
Ibid., pp. 47-48
347
Ibid., p. 49
348
Ibid., p. 60
121
cannot be comprehensive (such an account lies beyond the scope of this
thesis) but serves to indicate something of the range of designers and
initiatives that populate the field. The literature around product designers
and the design community demonstrates how committed the design
profession is to sustainable issues.
The U.K. may have a declining manufacturing industry but the
creative industry is developing a role in the global economy. Nicholas
Grimshaw, the architect of the Eden Project’s geodesic domes believes
that
There is a great renaissance in British design. In architecture, for
example, many of us are successfully exporting our skills. … You
can not win commissions overseas unless you are generating
creative heat at home.
349
One factor that may contribute to the success of U.K. designers is
their ethical and environmental approach to design combined with a keen
sense of market aspirations and commercial constraints. If Fiell and
Fiell’s popular Designing the 21
st
Century (2001) is a measure of the time,
many young designers are addressing the problem of production in a
range of responsible new ways that show an ecological awareness. In
the U.K., for example, Jane Atfield sees design evolving as a reciprocal
process in which the public will shift from traditional forms of consumption
through retail outlets to increased use of the internet and social
experiences with designers as ‘enablers and facilitators for the various
groups’ own ideas and requirements’. Environmental issues will also
become more important with greater emphasis on recycling and local
solutions using ‘low-tech resources’.
350
Echoing Papanek’s thoughts,
Ross Lovegrove also anticipates that new possibilities are being realised
through computer technology which will break down boundaries and ‘lead
mankind full circle back to nature’ and organic thinking.
351
Seymour
Powell, like Lovegrove, believes future products will take on a new form,
349
N. Grimshaw cited by J. Sorrell, Creative Island, Laurence King Publishing Ltd,
London, 2002, p. 32
350
J. Atfield cited by C. Fiell and P. Fiell (Eds.), Designing the 21
st
Century, Taschen,
Köln, 2001, p. 47
351
R. Lovegrove cited by C. Fiell and P. Fiell (Eds.), Designing the 21
st
Century,
Taschen, Köln, 2001, p. 297
122
no longer ‘physical’ but ‘intangible (the “meta”-product)’.
352
Michael
Sodeau is aware that information technology and rapid prototyping make
it possible for products to enter the market at an increasing pace.
However, he believes his responsibility is to respond to ‘the needs of the
21
st
-century consumer’ to create objects with ‘personality and character
so as to create a bond between object and user’.
353
Jasper Morrison,
however, provides a more pragmatic view. He believes the future will be
a compromise between the aspiration of the designer who wishes to bring
‘exceptional aesthetic and material quality to products’ at ‘affordable
levels’ and a world dictated by marketing people ‘flooding the world with
useless articles that nobody needs’.
354
Two particularly noteworthy young U.K. designers who are
establishing growing reputations but display a contrasting approach to
design based on a clear ecological ethic are Simon Pengelly and Michael
Marriott. Pengelly combines an affinity with materials and a highly refined
design sensibility with an acute commercial awareness. This combination
has enabled him to produce classic contemporary furniture in traditional
materials conceived and manufactured for longevity. He says it is ‘a
designer’s responsibility to design products that’ll be as relevant 20 or 30
years down the line as they are now. You’re marginalizing the appeal of
something if you make it too fashion-oriented’. His Radius range of
bedroom furniture in solid oak is sold by Habitat with sales of £6m to £8
million a year.
355
While Pengelly has established a reputation designing for
mainstream retailers and manufactures, Michael Marriott offers a witty
sideways post-modern view of design. He ‘has a different way of viewing
the world to the rest of us. An upside-down and faintly bemused slant on
life that sees unlimited potential in the ordinary things that everyone else
352
S. Powell cited by C. Fiell and P. Fiell (Eds.), Designing the 21
st
Century, Taschen,
Köln, 2001, p. 455
353
M. Sodeau cited by C. Fiell and P. Fiell (Eds.), Designing the 21
st
Century, Taschen,
Köln, 2001, p. 461
354
J. Morrison cited by C. Fiell and P. Fiell (Eds.), Designing the 21
st
Century, Taschen,
Köln, 2001, p. 343
355
S. Pengelly cited by J. Oliphant, ‘The Best of British’, Cabinet Maker, CMP
Information Ltd, London, 16 January 2004, p. 31
123
takes for granted’.
356
His use of everyday recycled objects such as
wooden spoons to form a coat stand, sardine tins to form a chest of
drawers and lemon squeezers converted to lampshades have created a
new design language which might be described, using Manzini’s term, as
the polyglot object: ‘a vocabulary of the everyday’
357
which is ‘accessible
to people’.
358
Marriot’s designs are an alternative approach to design
illustrating the many niches where design can survive despite global
branding and marketing.
International product designers are increasingly defining their work
within an ethical framework that includes a response to the environmental
challenges. The German designer Ingo Maurer, for example, believes:
‘The main challenge for a designer in the future will be to act responsibly
towards human beings and the environment’.
359
Similarly, Stephen Peart
believes designers ‘must be aware of the consequences of the products
we create. We need to protect our physical playground, it’s too much fun
to lose’.
360
Further afield the literature shows that product designers are taking
seriously the challenge to produce effective designs that are also
sensitive to increasing scarce resources. The Dutch designer Marcel
Wanders (like Starck), for example, is focussed on creating objects that
have lasting qualities. His design reflects what he calls ‘old metaphors’
as well as new ones in order to allow a more respectful and ‘natural
ageing of my products’ allowing them to ‘age with dignity’. His choice of
materials reflects this understanding and materials like willow and
sponge, for example, are employed in his designs. This principle has a
subtle but more profound effect on his approach to design: ‘Durability in
the field of ideas, relationships, objects and so on, not only to create a
356
M. Ogundeihin, ‘Michael Marriot Uncut’, Uncut, Chartered Society of Designers in
collaboration with Paper Focus magazine, London, 1997, issue two, p. 3
357
M. Marriott cited by M. Ogundeihin, ‘Michael Marriot Uncut’, Uncut, Chartered Society
of Designers in collaboration with Paper Focus magazine, London, 1997, issue
two, p. 1
358
Ibid., p. 3
359
I. Maurer cited by C. Fiell and P. Fiell (Eds.), Designing the 21
st
Century, Taschen,
Köln, 2001, p. 326
360
S. Peart cited by C. Fiell and P. Fiell (Eds.), Designing the 21
st
Century, Taschen,
Köln, 2001, p. 374
124
world that is less wasteful but also to create deeper and more meaningful
relationships with our environment’.
361
The popular Indian designer Karim Rashid offers an unusual
alternative to the current controversy around unsustainable consumer
demands, arguing that: ‘every new object should replace three. Better
products edit the market place’.
362
It is evident that designers who create
new product types which enrich the environment are following the spirit of
Manzini’s Garden of Objects.
363
The recycling and reprocessing of material has also become an
increasing priority of some product designers. Jakki Dehn, a furniture
designer, noted that the U.K. government’s response to the European
Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (which required ‘50%
of all packaging waste to be recovered by the year 2001’) was the
imposition of a landfill tax to encourage industry to change its
practices.
364
Dehn’s overview of developments in this field describe a
broad range of initiatives and ‘Recycling waste is now seen as a positive
commercial resource in certain material sectors’.
365
In the USA, however,
the field is ‘still fraught with contradictions’.
366
Dehn identifies three area
of progress:
1. A reduction in the waste of natural resources
2. Increasing value of waste materials
3. New business and employment opportunities
367
361
M. Wanders as cited by C. Fiell and P. Fiell (Eds.), Designing the 21
st
Century,
Taschen, Köln, 2001, p. 545
362
K. Rashid cited by C. Fiell and P. Fiell (Eds.), Designing the 21
st
Century, Taschen,
Köln, 2001, p. 407
363
E. Manzini, The Garden of Objects, edited and translated extracts from the exhibition
booklet of The Garden of Objects, Eighteenth Triennale by C. Cattle, July 1995,
Buckinghamshire Chiltern University College
364
J. Dehn, ‘An overview: the development and application of recycled and reprocessed
material into products, interiors and the exterior landscape’, Furniture, Design and
the Environment, Seminar Proceedings, Towards Sustainable Product Design
1996 series, The Centre for Sustainable Design, Faculty of Design, The Surrey
Institute of Art & Design, Farnham, M. Charter and A. Chick (Co-ordinators), 12
November 1996, p. 1
365
Ibid., p. 2
366
Ibid., p. 3
367
Ibid., p. 4
125
While she recognises the progress made, she believes further progress
will require greater understanding of the issues between designers,
managers and citizens.
However, it is perhaps appropriate to conclude with one of the most
celebrated international designers, Phillip Starck, who manages to be
both a designer-business man of prodigious productivity and designer-
philosopher. France’s Starck also believes the responsibility of the
designer is an ethical one. It is the obligation of the designer, he argues,
to decide if a product is justified and he claims he refuses to create
something that ‘already exists and functions well’. Ultimately, he says, it
is the job of the designer to promote ‘A good product’ by designing ‘a
product which lasts’.
368
Starck’s response to the excesses of consumerism is a radical
attempt to rethink of the role and purpose of products in our lives. His
thinking reflects Papanek's ideas, and is based on the need to re-
evaluate our relationship with products. ‘We need fewer possessions in
our lives, and those items that we do own must be better made than
before, they must be reduced to the basics and they must be long
lasting’.
369
He is committed to developing an integrated approach, an
alignment of ecological principles with politically and moral correctness.
Products, or rather ‘non products’ will not be created for commercial
motives and, because they fall outside the marketing system, ‘will be sold
through a mail-order catalogue and via the internet’.
370
Shops he
believes will ultimately be obsolete because they are inaccessible to
many people, reliant on transport and inflate the cost of goods because of
rent. Starck believes a system geared to profit is dehumanising, it
manipulates people, imposing an order that dictates our lives but
masquerades as freedom of choice and a better life, instead ‘we have
come to serve the products and life is no better’.
371
Starck has put his
vision into a new initiative that represents an important contribution to
368
P. Starck cited by C. Fiell and P. Fiell (Eds.), Designing the 21
st
Century, Taschen,
Köln, 2001, p. 479
369
P. Starck cited by F. Sweet, ‘Q&A: Starck Raving’, The Right Angle Magazine,
September/October 2000, p. 70
370
Ibid., p. 70
371
Ibid., p. 70
126
ethical product design: Good Goods: The Catalogue of Non-Products for
the Non Consumer for the Next Moral Market represents an alternative
way of buying products that are in themselves elegantly designed to
render ‘service with grace’
372
and combine ecological principles with a
socially responsible commitment to paying fair wages and fair prices.
Starck's proposal, if it is successful, could radically change the concept of
designer products and bring about a realignment of consumerism with
socially and environmentally responsible design.
It is also noteworthy to mention institutional contributions to the
sustainability discourse. The contribution of the design community to
sustainable design has been at the level of debate and exchange of
information and initiatives through specialised institutions and
conferences. The XVIII Triennale di Milano (1992) organised by the
International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID), Life
between Artifact and Nature: Design and the Environmental Challenge
which coincided with the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED), commonly known as the Earth Summit, and
likewise explored the ‘dialectic between what man creates and
dominates, and nature, by which man is both dominated and created’.
373
It therefore represents a significant shift in the understanding of the role
of design in society by the design community.
The late twentieth century saw design conferences become the
vehicle for the design community to explore its relationship with wider
social and environmental issues rather than a product-focussed debate.
The International Design Congress, Design Renaissance 1993 confirmed
this awakening to the wider societal responsibilities. The ICSID and the
U.K. Chartered Society of Designers (CSD) were amongst the organisers
and associates of the Congress. Reflecting on the core concerns raised
at the conference Jeremy Myerson observed that the ‘moral and ethical
responsibilities of the design profession in a world now wracked by
372
Ibid., p. 70
373
C. Venosta, Foreword to XVIII Triennale di Milano, Life between Artifact and Nature:
Design and the Environmental Challenge, Electa, Milan, 1992, p. 6 (International
Exhibition Publication)
127
environmental fragility and economic instability proved to be the most
powerful line of enquiry’.
374
In the U.K. academic institutes have similarly been at the forefront of
research and debate. The Centre of Sustainable Design, for example, an
initiative of the Surrey Institute of Art and Design, established in 1995,
has organised seminars and international conferences on sustainable
product design.
375
The University of Sheffield Hallam has also been
active in research; the Centre for Sustainable Consumption, for example,
was established in 1996 to respond to the need for greater understanding
of issues relating to the environmental impact of consumption and its
research focuses on consumer behaviour and the environmental impact
of domestic goods and has an international reputation for research
relating to the life span of household products.
376
Other initiatives include
the commercially run Centre for Alternative Technology at Machynlleth
which educates the public in ecologically benign non-industrial
technology.
377
A similar initiative in the Netherlands is the O
2
organisation which aims to develop solutions that reconcile sustainability
with quality of life. It provides an open forum for designers of all
disciplines ‘grappling with the problems of a throw-away culture,
formulating nonpolluting [sic] production methods, sourcing nontoxic [sic],
sustainably managed materials—and crucially, passing on the
knowledge’.
378
One of the most well-publicised and popular sustainable projects in
recent years is the Eden Project based in Cornwall. It was the vision of
Tim Smit who had discovered and restored the Lost Gardens of Heligan,
‘the largest garden restoration project in Europe’.
379
The Eden Project
was conceived as ‘a living theatre mounting the planet’s greatest
374
J. Myerson (Ed.), Design Renaissance, Open Eye Publishing, Horsham, 1994, p. 9
375
The Centre for Sustainable Design, The Centre for Sustainable Design,
http://www.cfsd.org.uk/, n.d. (accessed 7 April 2006)
376
Sheffield Hallam University, Centre for Sustainable Consumption,
, n.d. (accessed 7 April 2006)
377
Centre for Alternative Technology, Centre for Alternative Technology,
, n.d. (accessed 7 April 2006)
378
B. Kiser, A Blast of Fresh Air: The History of O2, , n.d. (accessed 7 April 2006)
379
M. Jackson, Eden: The First Book, The Eden Project, St. Austell, 2000, p. 8
128
drama’
380
which presents a ‘world of plants and people, showing why we
need plants, how we use them, and why we need to look after them’.
381
The theatre takes the form of a series of interconnecting geodesic domes
that function as giant conservatories. Designed by Nicholas Grimshaw
and Partners, they were inspired by both nature and traditional
architecture. The challenge was to create a design that was ‘functional,
sustainable, economical…oh…and an international architectural icon’.
382
The design uses the hexagon, a form found in nature, as a building block.
The resulting geodesic domes provide the most efficient space, creating
structure, maximum light and minimum heat loss.
383
What sets the Eden Project apart from other initiatives that have
similar aims is the skilful interdisciplinary collaboration of artists,
designers and scientists who devise miniature displays ‘so that ideas
such as conservation and sustainability become obvious needs, rather
than heavyweight political or academic relics’.
384
In order to pursue the relationship between ecology, design and
sustainability it is valuable to explore some examples of the commercial
mainstream’s response to the environmental challenges. The literature
around sustainable models is particularly useful. An interesting historical
example of a sustainable model emerged during the Second World War.
According to the Gefffrye Museum, one initiative, the post-war Utility
Scheme, ‘was an unparalleled example of the total state control not only
of the supply but more importantly, the design of an essential
commodity’.
385
The scheme recognised the scarcity of timber and
carpenters. The solution to the problem of regulating quality and offering
value for money (prices were controlled under the scheme) was
standardisation of design, to ‘avoid the unnecessary use of raw materials
and labour, and by its high quality give it a long and useful life’.
386
380
Ibid., p. 2
381
Ibid., p. 61
382
Ibid., p. 30
383
Ibid., p. 33
384
Ibid., p. 59
385
Geffrye Museum, Utility Furniture and Fashion 1941 – 1951, Geffrye Museum Trust,
London, 1995, p. 7
386
Ibid., p. 5
129
The success of Utility furniture was clearly in part due to the
contribution of Gordon Russell who provided the vision and strategic
design thinking. The Utility Scheme provides a valuable model for
sustainable design demonstrating how through government leadership
and regulation scarce resources can be harnessed through a well-defined
design strategy to bring the widest possible social, economic and
environmental benefits to a society.
As industry has become more complex new sustainable models
have developed to respond to the challenges of monitoring industrial
processes against good sustainable practice. Industrial ecology is a
subject that has an interesting body of literature devolved to it. Perhaps
the best known text is Industrial Ecology by Graedel and Allenby
(1995).
387
The basic principle of industrial ecology involves a complex
process which like biological ecology is based on the recycling of
resources rather than their conventional extraction and disposal of them.
In Industrial Ecology, Graedel and Allenby detail the theoretical
model developed by the American electronics corporation AT&T:
Industrial ecology is the means by which humanity can deliberately
and rationally approach and maintain a desirable carrying capacity,
given continued economic, cultural, and technological evolution. The
concept requires that an industrial system be viewed not in isolation
from its surrounding systems, but in concert with them. It is a
systems view in which one seeks to optimize the total materials
cycle from virgin material, to finished material, to component, to
product, to obsolete product, and to ultimate disposal. Factors to be
optimized include resources, energy, and capital.
388
The complexity of managing industrial ecology should not be
underestimated; the publication itself codifies and explicates methods
which transform industrial processes from a non sustainable system to
one which is aligned to a sustainable one. Trends and patterns of
industrial development and environmental impact must first be carefully
examined according to specific categories. This in turn is followed by a
‘life-cycle assessment’ (LCA) which determines the environmental
387
T. Graedel and B. Allenby, Industrial Ecology, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New
Jersey, 1995
388
Ibid., p. 9
130
ranking of particular products or processes; this is followed by designing
a strategy for improvement, known as ‘design for environment’ (DFE).
389
The process requires, according to AT&T’s Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer Robert Allen, the nurturing of ‘a new generation of
engineers, scientists, business people, and public policy experts’,
directed by an ‘environmental ethic’.
390
Industrial ecology offers the
designer a valuable tool.
Ecology and ethics are also the driving forces of the German
contract furniture company Wilkhahn. Founded in 1907, Wilkhahn is a
medium-sized manufacturer which now employs five hundred workers
and has adopted sustainable practices throughout its whole organisation.
According to Becker in The Wilkhahn Philosophy (1996) these include
socially responsible management including profit sharing introduced in
1971
391
and a cooperative management style based on ‘no orders without
explanation’.
392
Its design philosophy (ironically based on the principles
of the Bauhaus) is an expression of the attitude and thinking of the
company itself
393
which claims ‘it is our aim to design durable goods, to
increase their value in use and to reduce their waste’.
394
The company
has developed an environmental responsible policy towards nearly all
aspects of its business including the design of its buildings, managing the
ecological impact of the company itself as well as the manufacture of
products. As early as 1989:
The management and Works Council of Wilkhahn agreed a
common goal. … Environmental responsibility must be taken very
seriously … and in case of doubt, the ecological aspect has priority
and must be assigned a higher value than quick profit.
395
The establishment of a business division called ‘Innovation and
Ecology’ was responsible for developing an in-house eco-control
389
Ibid., pp. 13-14
390
R. Allen, Foreword to Industrial Ecology by T. Graedel and B. Allenby, Prentice Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1995, p. xv
391
H. Becker, ‘The Wilkhahn Philosophy’, Furniture, Design and the Environment,
seminar proceedings, 6 November 1996, p. 3
392
Ibid., p. 2
393
Ibid., p. 1
394
Ibid., p. 2
395
Ibid., p. 5
131
system.
396
Materials, inputs and outputs for example, are monitored
through ‘an ecological chart of accounts’ which in turn provided
Wilkahn’s first so-called ‘eco balance sheet in 1993’.
397
These
evaluations also shaped Wilkahn’s design philosophy and introduced a
third criterion in addition to the demands associated with form and
function, known as ‘ecological accountability’ which demanded ‘a
careful and responsible approach to the selection and use of
materials’.
398
According to Becker, Wilkhahn adopted ecological
practices because of a commitment to the ethical rightness of this policy
and not because it saw a commercial advantage. While it has, in fact, not
yet paid back commercially it has positioned itself in the design-led
contract furnishings market as a responsible caring manufacturer. The
company believes ‘If what made the Bauhause [sic] effective in the 1930s
was social commitment, then Ecology could well be the factor that today
triggers a new design revolution’.
399
Both Wilkhahn and AT&T have
made a long-term commitment to restructuring their organisations to
become eco companies. Wilkhahn’s design philosophy “design for
disassembly” is also in conformity with their broader company’s
philosophy. The complexity of this industrial sustainable model is in
contrast to the relative simplicity of the pre-industrial craft models which
will be discussed in the following section.
1.3 Ecology, design and the furniture designer-maker
In the recent past the level of recognition of furniture designer-makers
has perhaps been commensurate with the fewness of numbers and their
isolation.
400
This has changed in recent years. A growing number of
bodies have over the last thirty years become increasingly representative
and supportive of designer-makers in general and furniture designer-
makers in particular. In the U.K. the Crafts Advisory Committee, for
396
Ibid., p. 5
397
Ibid., p. 6
398
Ibid., p. 7
399
Ibid., p. 11
400
T. Harrod, The Crafts in Britain in the Twentieth Century, Yale University Press, New
Haven, 1999
132
example, which was to become the Crafts Council, maintained a library of
selected designer-makers at its centre in Waterloo Place, London. Its
publication Craftsmen of Quality (1979) provided an illustrated guide to
the work of over 300 designer-makers and provided an explanation of the
commissioning process. Its section on wood included thirteen furniture
designer-makers including John Makepeace, Alan Peters, Martin
Grierson, Fred Baier and Edward Barnsley.
401
The formation of The Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers in
1952 ‘to foster both the craft and industry of furniture making, marketing
and retailing in the United Kingdom’
402
was not an obvious body to
advocate and support furniture designer-makers as they were virtually an
unknown breed. However, in recent years it has begun to identify this
particular genre as a significant and growing part of the furniture industry.
Its award of Guild Mark for ‘exacting standards of excellence in design,
materials, craftsmanship and function’ is one of the hallmarks that have
identified outstanding pieces. In 1998, to mark its fifty years of existence,
A Celebration of Excellence was published to provide a public reference
and showcase of the 250 examples of furniture awarded Guild Marks and
to ‘encourage would-be commissioners of fine furniture to see the
exceptional work of current designers and makers’.
403
The fortunes of the U.K. furniture industry, by contrast, in the face of
global competition are being threatened. The report Competitiveness of
the U.K. furniture manufacturing industry into the ‘threats and
weaknesses’ of the industry by the Furniture Industry Research
Association (FIRA) in 2002 identified a series of issues that the industry
needs to develop a strategic response to reduce the current
competitiveness gap in a global market.
404
One particular area that will
have a significant impact on the future of the industry is ‘that neither
401
Crafts Advisory Committee, Craftsmen of Quality, London, 1979, pp. 149-157. (NB At
the time of this publication going to press, the Crafts Advisory Committee was in
the process of changing its name to the Crafts Council)
402
Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers, A Celebration of Excellence, Worshipful
Company of Furniture Makers, London, 1998, p. 2
403
Ibid., p. 1
404
S. Timms, Foreword to Competitiveness of the UK furniture manufacturing industry
by Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA), FIRA International Ltd,
Stevenage, 2002
133
manufacturers nor retailers have a mechanism to identify customers’
needs and wants’.
405
The structural problems of the furniture industry, its
lack of a ‘cohesive approach to implement industry-wide initiatives that
will improve competitiveness’ were again reviewed in a further
government supported review.
406
The Furniture Industry Strategy Group
(FISG), formed in June 2003, also recognised the fragmentation of the
industry and ‘widespread concerns over the competitiveness of the U.K.
furniture manufacturing industry’. What is interesting is that this is a
government (Department of Trade and Industry) supported report which
highlights, possibly for the first time, furniture designer-makers as a
significant area of growth in contrast to a contracting mainstream
industry: ‘there is [a] growing furniture market represented by
designer/craftsmen and small business supplying bespoke furniture direct
to the consumer’. Clearly designer-makers are ideally placed to
understand the individual ‘needs and wants’ of customers, unlike the
struggling furniture industry. In his introduction, the chairman of FISG,
Martin Jourdan also draws attention to the potential of designer-makers to
be ‘the best means of stemming the tide of imported furniture’ although
he warns that they are ‘the ones most likely to be adversely effected by
regulations and the reduction in support’.
407
Furniture designer-makers
can no longer be regarded as an economically marginal activity.
Government support to encourage a regional development of furniture
designer-maker businesses has recently come in the form of an initiative
to ‘foster the furniture making skills of the Chilterns and to promote the
use of local timber resources, by providing business incubation facilities
for entrepreneurs and young companies’. The Chiltern Enterprise
Gateway was formed in 2003 under the aegis of South East England
Development Agency (SEEDA) to build ‘a new heritage for the 21
st
405
Furniture Industry Research Association (FIRA), Competitiveness of the UK furniture
manufacturing industry, FIRA International Ltd, Stevenage, 2002, p. 6
406
Ibid., p. 57
407
M. Jourdan, Introduction to The single voice of the industry, Furniture Industry
Strategy Group (FISG), June 2000, p. 4
134
century by engaging the affluent market in the South East that is
increasingly becoming design aware and environmentally conscious’.
408
Although support and patronage of a craft is essential for its
development, craftsmen themselves need to identify with each other and
form associations to facilitate collective aims. There are a number of
regional associations including the Devon Guild of Craftsmen and
Norwich Furniture Makers, which organise exhibitions. One of the most
unusual and perhaps significant developments is the formation of the
email discussion forum Designer Makers Forum, set up by Barnaby Scott,
the co-founder of Waywood Furniture. It has a peer group membership;
selection is through nomination and in its two years of existence has
grown to a membership of over 150. This national forum was created
almost by accident as it was originally established in 1994 by Lucinda
Leech and I to serve a regional group of about thirty Oxfordshire and
Buckinghamshire furniture designer-makers. The power of the internet
facilitated a nationwide membership.
The phenomenon of Parnham (1977 – 2000) should also not be
overlooked in the development of the designer-maker. Under the
leadership of John Makepeace, the college was able to produce self-
starting designer-makers, something most other educational
establishments offering craft-based diplomas and degrees aspired to do
but could only achieve in a limited way, and managed to circumvent the
narrow craft training offered by a conventional apprenticeship. It offered
students the opportunity to develop core craft, design and entrepreneurial
skills and confidence to embark on their own independent enterprise.
Part of its success was to do with the craft revival of the 1970s and John
Makepeace’s role. It also succeeded because the programme developed
by Robert Ingham, a teacher and practitioner, had a relevance and
immediacy other institutions could not match. Unconstrained by the
requirements of fulfilling an academic degree programme and drawing on
his professional experience, Ingham was free to design a practical
course, in consultation with John Makepeace that met the future needs of
408
Chiltern WoodWorks Steering Committee, Chiltern WoodWorks Enterprise Gateway
– Business Plan, Business Link Solutions Ltd, Thame, June 2003, p. 4
135
aspiring designer-makers. Equal emphasis was given to choosing
students who would benefit from the course on the basis of their potential
as entrepreneurial designer-makers (as well as of course on their ability
to pay substantial fees). The course developed, according to John
Makepeace, ‘self-reliance through learning to design and make
objects’.
409
Conceptual design training was counterbalanced by technical
and entrepreneurial instruction. The training identified the entrepreneurial
skills that a designer-maker would need to be effective in a demanding
and competitive market place. It also demystified the notion that these
skills that were presumed to be the result of a natural propensity
bestowed on the few. It taught entrepreneurship as a latent ability that
could be developed as a creative activity. According to Makepeace ‘it is
simply about responding to changing circumstances in every sense -
social, economic, political environmental - with ideas and actions’.
410
The
response to change also manifested itself in the increasingly divergent
paths the students took. Although the course was conceived to equip
students with skills to establish themselves as self employed designers
and craftsmen under the banner The School for Craftsmen in Wood, the
students were choosing from two quite distinct career pathways. There
were those who developed a passionate attachment to wood as a
material and chose to set up workshops to design and make individual
and one-off furniture and those that were focussed on developing their
career as a designer. The training in craft skills, the ability to realise
ideas through making, provided a common training that enabled
graduates to further their career aims either as independent designer-
makers or industrial product designers. There was also significant
movement between the areas. Many graduates have gone on to
establish successful careers in both areas, including Nicholas Pryke, Rod
Wales, Mark Boddington (Silver Lining), Daniel Lacey, Robert Kilvington
and David Linley
409
J. Myerson, Makepeace: A Spirit of Adventure in Craft & Design, Conran Octopus,
London, 1995, p. 76
410
Ibid., p. 81
136
The 1980s represented a further development in the evolution and
diversification of the crafts. In Industry of One, Designer-Makers in
Britain 1981 – 2001, (2001) David Redhead provides an overview of the
divergent strands that characterised this nebulous genre. The title itself
indicates a significant shift in the perception and nature of craft. The Arts
and Crafts ideal that found a new vitality in the 1970s gives way to a more
pragmatic approach. Redhead offers three models, each shaped by a set
of economic social and political constraints: ‘from the designer-maker
heroes of the 1980s, through the new realists of the early 1990s with their
eco-conscious, minimal designs, to the proto-design managers of the late
1990s and present day’.
411
Redhead, like Harrod, believes that they
represent a manifestation of a counter culture and ‘would probably not
exist, if it hadn’t been for the resistance to design in Britain’.
412
Another
factor which encouraged the flowering of creativity was the ‘rise and rise
of London’.
413
The evolution of designer-makers into establishment figures in the
design world can perhaps best be traced through Tom Dixon and Ron
Arad. Dixon, who is entirely self-taught, began constructing furniture from
recycled metal in the 1980s in his garage; he is now a design director of
Habitat. Arad, by contrast, is Course Director of Design Product at the
Royal College of Art and gained an international reputation through his
inventive explorations in metal produced at his own workshop One Off in
Covent Garden. There he reinvented the Rover car seat as an armchair,
produced domestic furniture out of sheet steel that has helped to define
him as ‘a poet of technology’, according to Richard Rogers who wrote the
foreword to the book Ron Arad, Restless Furniture (1990).
414
Both Dixon
and Arad moved into the mainstream and are influencing the direction of
commercial retailing and education. This thesis however focuses on
furniture designer-makers as a catalyst for sustainable development and
411
D. Redhead, Industry of One, Designer-Makers in Britain 1981–2001, Crafts Council,
London, 2001, p. 7
412
Ibid., p. 13
413
Ibid., p. 40
414
R. Rogers, Foreword to Ron Arad, Restless Furniture, by D. Sudjic, Fourth
Estate/Wordsearch, London, 1990, p. 9
137
it is from this perspective that I return to Papanek for insights into this
role.
The craft-based business eco
Design can be an integrating discipline addressing different levels of need
within a community or society as a whole. Designer-makers, in particular,
can facilitate sustainable development at a local level by finding new
creative approaches to problems in conditions of global instability. As
Victor Papanek suggests: ‘new directions in design … arise out of real
social and cultural changes’.
415
Papanek recognises that as problems
become more complex the role of the designer needs to be redefined.
Instead of being a creator of more consumer products, a designer can
redefine his role in relation to the wider social and environmental needs of
the community or society to which he/she can contribute. A designer may
function in the capacity of a facilitator or synthesizer, collaborating with
non-design experts to find new solutions (either products or processes)
that reconcile social, economic and environmental needs. Papanek, like
Van der Ryn and Cowan, believes that good design is far too complex for
a designer to solve alone.
416
However, designers and designer-makers are seemingly not
recognised in Agenda 21 in relation to sustainable practice and perhaps
confirming that the design profession has yet to make a significant
contribution to the development of designs that promote sustainability.
Nevertheless, Papanek advocates an ethical approach to design and
insists: ‘We must examine what each of us can contribute from our own
specific role in society’.
417
He asks ‘What is the impact of my work on the
environment?’
418
Design, according to Papanek, must be positive and
unifying: ‘Design must be a bridge between human needs, culture and
ecology’.
419
415
Papanek, The Green Imperative, p. 55
416
Ibid., p. 57
417
Ibid., p. 17
418
Ibid., p. 17
419
Ibid., p. 29
138
Papanek echoes Dahl’s belief, that sustainability is directly linked to
mature interpersonal qualities. He believes designers who work towards
promoting a holistic approach to design are also defining themselves as
individuals: ‘As we practise our art and skill what we do moulds who we
are and what we are becoming’.
420
In this sense design becomes a
spiritual or moral activity that not only shapes the character of the
designer but also the world around him – a view expounded upon in the
Bahá'í Writings:
We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside
us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be
improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the
environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts
upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the
result of these mutual reactions.
421
Papanek has been the conscience of the design profession
chastising designers about their social and environmental responsibility in
Design for the Real World
422
and The Green Imperative
423
. In both texts,
Papanek argues design should be a service to humanity; in particular it
should improve the quality of life for the marginalised who are ignored by
the commercial world.
The relationship between designers and the economy is however
not straightforward, designers have limited influence on a macro level.
Design played its part in the global economy reducing prices and
increasing demand of products but economic development has failed to
bring wider benefits to not only the customer but also to workers, society
and the environment as a whole. Some critics of the capitalist model
recognise the urgency of creating new types of business to meet
customers' needs. For example, Zuboff and Maxmin believe corporate
businesses have to begin with identifying the psychological identity of the
individual/customer who now requires a deeper relationship, not just
goods and services. They argue that you can not take a system
420
Ibid., p. 53
421
Universal House of Justice, Conservation of the Earth’s Resources, The Bahai
Publishing Trust, London, 1990, p. 15
422
V. Papanek, Design for the Real World, Paladin, St Albans, 1974
423
V. Papanek, The Green Imperative, Thames and Hudson, London, 1995
139
designed for the mass market, which assumes its only obligation to
customers is efficiency and hence low prices, and make it service-
orientated.
424
Their analysis identifies a key challenge in the failings of
the economic system – a system built on the premise of reducing costs:
can the system transform itself to meet the diversity of needs of a global
society? There is clearly an opportunity for the craft-based business
(eco). Papanek believes that small factories and workshops are better
placed than large corporations to design, innovate and custom-build
goods for special needs. It can also ‘make a decent profit for its owners
and pay proper wages for its workers’.
425
In this way the designer-maker
could play a vital role in developing new forms of business that meets
both the individual's and society's needs based on sustainable practice.
The challenge for the designer-maker is to define a strategy that
negotiates the relationship between mass consumer products and the
rarefied craftsman-made products. There may be a symbiotic
relationship enabling the development of new types of designer-maker
furniture as an alternative to branded products from retail outlets or one-
off designer-maker furniture - surely an argument for the “Signed &
Sealed” project to embrace.
The availability of relatively low cost consumer products has, in a
sense, liberated the craftsmen in the West from the tyranny of
subsistence, enabling the crafts to flourish. Susan Cohn suggests: ‘It is
not the crafts that have changed but the demands of the market. Mass
production has simply freed crafts people from the drudgery of mass
market production and allowed them to define their own market, the kinds
of things they want to produce and the size of their production runs’.
426
Mass production, Cohn argues, has ‘liberated the craftsmen’.
427
If this is true, designer-maker furniture should be a viable alternative
to branded consumer products. However expensive, one-off pieces
cannot meet this embryonic demand. The challenge for the designer-
424
S. Zuboff and J. Maxmin, The Support Economy: Why Corporations Are Failing
Individuals and the Next Episode of Capitalism, Alan Lane, London, 2003
425
Papanek, Green Imperative, p. 65
426
S. Cohn, ‘The Crafts: on their own terms’, P. Timms (Ed.), The Nature of the Beast,
Craft Victoria, Fitzroy, 1993, p. 24
427
Ibid., p. 24
140
maker is that unlike industrial production, where designs are developed
and refined through a series of prototypes before production, bespoke
furniture-makers must resolve design problems on the first attempt. The
time invested in designing and making these virtuoso pieces of
craftsmanship are reflected in their total cost. As commissioning a one-
off involves not only a significant financial commitment from a client but
also some uncertainty. A successful outcome will depend on the ability
of the designer-maker to interpret the requirements and aspirations of the
client; translate these into a design and create a piece of furniture that
represents fine craftsmanship; a high risk situation for both designer-
makers and client. Some designer-makers committed to the one-off have
not resolved this dilemma.
Makepeace, for example, sees any form of replication leading to a
compromise of quality:
In making a piece for the first time, all one's efforts are focused on
anticipating and solving problems. In a sequel one's attention can
be clouded by attempts to recall the way in which the first result was
achieved.
428
He acknowledges, however, that this approach does not lead to a
resolved design. The one-off therefore becomes one step in a process to
achieve the designer's longer term goal. ‘One success out of ten will
suffice, with the other nine pieces acting as sketches, prototypes and
support material along the road to that significant artistic result’.
429
This
may be worthy in itself but if nine of the ten one-offs are commissions that
have failed then the clients are acting as unwitting guinea pigs (two-thirds
of John Makepeace's work are commissions).
430
Making a living from designing and producing one-offs is a myth and
has probably never been and will never be viable for the majority of
independent designer-makers who are trying to make a living from
commissions. The fallacy is summed up by the ceramicist Carol
McNicoll:
428
John Makepeace, furniture designer-maker, Beaminster. Interviewed by B. Norbury,
June 1998.
429
Ibid.
430
Myerson, Makepeace, p. 133
141
In order to keep coming up with the endless new ideas that the new
category [artist-craftsman] requires, you need time; to have time you
need money and to make money, you need to either to charge art
prices, run a factory or have a private income. What our art
education didn't teach us was that most of our precursors came from
a section of society where poverty is defined as only having private
income to live on.
431
When the designer-maker tries to cross over and serve the mass
market the pitfalls can also be equally devastating at a creative and
commercial level. The comfortable niche market which can be created
over a period of time can be undermined when designs are translated for
the commercial world. Again McNicoll warns: ‘The history of twentieth
century consumer culture is littered with examples of crafts people losing
their market share when their products became fashionable enough to
mass market’.
432
Designer-makers are often wise to develop their own
idea rather than cross over into the mainstream market. To do this they
need to create viable businesses.
If designer-makers are to play a greater role in a sustainable future
they need to evolve ecologically based businesses. The challenges of
developing a designer-maker business are great and require some
discussion here. The development of any craft-based business (eco) is
dependent on the designer-maker competently managing a range of
disparate skills from design and making to marketing and selling.
Matthew Burt believes they all require similar levels of commitment: ‘each
must be undertaken with the same degree of intensity, creativity,
imagination and skill’.
433
Success depends on embracing and mastering
these skills and pursuing them with a passion. John Makepeace has
embraced the diverse aspects of managing a craft business but he
believes ‘the U.K. underplays the rewards of doing different things that
use the whole being’.
434
Designer-makers who are reticent or challenged
431
C. McNicoll, ‘The Real Economy’, Obscure Objects of Desire Conference,
Conference Papers, University of East Anglia, 10-12 January 1997, Crafts Council,
1997, p. 380
432
Ibid., p. 380
433
Matthew Burt, ‘Viewpoint on Design’, Furniture and Cabinetmaking, Guild of Master
Craftsman Publications Ltd, Lewes, no. 34, November 1999
434
Makepeace. Interviewed by Norbury
142
by the demands of managing a business struggle to survive. Toby
Winteringham, an established designer-maker, for example, concedes
that it is difficult to keep all the ‘balls in the air … hates the marketing
side’ and finds he ‘sells things in spite of [himself]’.
435
Mastering the
many skills is, however, a protracted process. Richard Williams who set
up his first workshop in 1990 is still endeavouring to find the balance, as
ninety per cent of his time is preoccupied with the demands of trying to
manage a financially viable business that can support his family.
Some designer-makers have made the decision to function as
one-man businesses to minimise the difficulties of managing a larger
business. Mark Ripley, a designer-maker in South Oxfordshire, estimates
it has taken thirteen years to establish his one-man workshop; by
contrast, Williams employs between five and six craftsmen. Each
workshop has either found its optimum size or is working towards it, be it
one or ten. Beyond this number the business has to take a new form.
Mark Ripley recognises, for example, that growing his business would
mean working ‘in a completely different way from how I work now. I
would almost have to reinvent the business on a different scale to do it
efficiently’.
436
A craft-based business like every eco, to use Dahl’s terminology, will
therefore have an optimal size determined by its form, structure and the
economics or “dis-economics” of scale inherent in the system processes.
Increased efficiency which is producing more with less ‘comes from
greater strength, smaller distances, faster speeds and less expenditure of
resources to maintain essential balance’.
437
Ecos of different conditions,
craft or industrial, will exist side by side competing or acting
interdependently. It is not without significance that the growth in the
number of designer-maker businesses has synchronised with the
changing aspirations of the market.
435
Toby Winteringham, furniture designer-maker, King’s Lynn. Interviewed by B.
Norbury, June 1998
436
Mark Ripley, furniture designer-maker, Reading. Interviewed by B. Norbury, June
1998
437
Dahl, Eco Principle, p. 54
143
Furniture designer-makers have been responsive to the changing
aspirations of the public as well as being pioneers in developing a new
type of eco-business. The preservation of this unique maker-client
relationship has a wider social dynamic according to Matthew Burt who
believes, like Dahl, that diversity is an ecological law and is a prerequisite
of stability. This principle, he believes, must be applied to the market
place where small business must provide alternatives to mass
manufacture of the kind which has come to provide ‘a convenient
expression of capitalism and a convenient way of controlling a market’.
438
It is becoming increasingly evident that the small workshop business
producing a highly individual service and range of products contrasts
sharply with the impersonal experience of high street retail outlets. For
example, the growth of huge national and international companies is,
according to John Makepeace, ‘undermining people’s contact with their
inner being and with their souls’. He believes that bespoke designer-
makers are in a unique position to respond to clients’ needs and
aspirations giving them ‘something that is much more fulfilling for them
than anything else they can purchase’.
439
Designer-maker businesses
have been multiplying over the last thirty years creating new opportunities
for both the designer-makers and potential clients.
The growth of the designer-maker has in the past been highly
restricted in the market. Alternative networks to the retail within the
market economy have barely existed. Potter reflected in the late 1960s:
Artisans have no way of opting out of society … because the
alternative networks of distribution and exchange do not in fact exist.
…workshops depend like everybody else on an open-market
economy.
440
It may be argued that there is still no alternative to the global market
economy but the world-wide web has played a significant role in enabling
small businesses to place their products and services in the market place
at nominal cost. In the intervening years there has been an incremental
438
Matthew Burt, furniture designer-maker, Warminster. Interviewed by B. Norbury, June
1998
439
Makepeace. Interviewed by Norbury
440
N. Potter, What is a Designer, Hyphen Press, Reading, 1980, p. 80
144
change in public awareness and according to Norbury, exhibition curator
and author:
Imperceptibly the tide is turning. As we move into the twenty-first
century the principles that these highly skilled and dedicated
designer-makers have adhered to so uncompromisingly are being
recognized as valid, and in tune with the times, the environment and
the needs of a population satiated with wasteful consumerism.
441
In some regions the multiplication of designer-maker workshops is
beginning to reach a significant level. The Oxfordshire and Chilterns area
is possibly approaching the point of ‘critical choice’.
442
The number and
diversity of furniture makers in the area is significant enough to attract a
considerable demand from both local and regional clients. The
emergence of a network of established workshops has made
commissioning furniture a more attractive possibility than if there were
only a few and clients are more aware of the possibilities and less
inhibited about approaching furniture makers. Competition is mitigated by
the diversity and individuality of the furniture makers who each have their
own style and niche market.
This diversity means that clients choice is not conditioned by what
the manufacturer decides what is viable and profitable or the duplicitous
relationship of the market and consumer which generates fashion for its
own sake resulting in the ‘dangerous, unsatisfying, insubstantial’.
443
To
meet these diverse needs and aspirations, the new alternative local and
regional networks of designer-makers are emerging facilitated by the
media, exhibitions, and the World Wide Web. According to Norbury:
We now enjoy the benefit of a society in which there are hundreds of
well trained, highly skilled and for the main part, ethically right-
minded, independent furniture makers. This implies a future where
many people will commission custom-made furniture as readily as
they order a fitted kitchen or a set of curtains.
444
441
B. Norbury, Furniture for the 21
st
Century, Stobart Davies, Hertford, 1999, p. 8
442
A term used by Prof. Alison Rieple, Westminster University, in conversation with
Philip Koomen, 10 February 2004
443
Starck cited by F. Sweet, p. 74
444
Norbury, p. 10
145
The growth of designer-maker businesses will, however, depend on
how prospective clients perceive the value of designer-maker furniture.
The viable price for craftsman-made furniture is generally how much a
craftsman can sell his work for and make a living. This is a different
concept from an entrepreneurial business which will try to obtain the
maximum possible profit, particularly if it is a large corporation
accountable to the stock market. According to the critic Peter Dormer,
the ideal for a contemporary craftsman is to be independent of trade
competition which ultimately compromises both the nature of the work
and the nature of the product.
445
When the designer-maker is able to
charge a fair price that represents the effort (man hours) and skill that has
been invested in the product ‘irrespective of what other producers are
making, then you can afford the time to make the product you want on
your own terms’.
446
Inevitably, craftsman-made furniture will always have its equivalent
in industry, so it must be perceived by a client as distinct from the
industrial alternative otherwise the client will not justify the price
difference. As Pye suggests:
The differential in price between a product of craft of the best quality
and a product of manufacture varies naturally according to the trade
but it is always large and sometimes huge. Unless it is, the
craftsman has no hope of anything approaching a modest
professional standard of living and he will never be able to
command a better living than that.
447
This said, I believe, there must be a very clear ethic about pricing
craftsmen’s work. Both the late Jack Goodchild, the Windsor chair
maker, and Sam Maloof, the American designer-maker, believe there is a
correct price for their work which is non-negotiable. Goodchild, for
example, would not accept offers higher than the stated price.
448
The
right price for many established craftsmen is the ethical price, i.e. that
445
P. Dormer, The Meanings of Modern Design, Thames and Hudson, London, 1991
446
Ibid., p. 152
447
D. Pye, The Nature and Art of Workmanship, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1968, p. 77
448
H. Massingham, Men of Earth, Chapman and Hall, London, 1943, p. 132
146
which represents a fair return for their craftsmanship rather than the price
that reflects the market.
Since designer-maker furniture has its counter part in industrial
products it is inevitable that comparisons will be made. This is not
necessarily detrimental to craft practice when the process, as will be seen
in the “Signed & Sealed” project, promotes sustainable practice. The
alignment of the process to a clear and well defined set of values and
objectives provides a differentiating factor that enables clients to make a
considered choice. The challenge for many crafts people is that no clear
direction is being communicated to a receptive community. Dormer
argues that most crafts people are struggling to find a coherent
framework from which to develop their practice that communicates
directly to the public and potential market.
449
Since usefulness and hence
service no longer play a central role in craft practice in general, craft has
begun to loose a unified direction. The traditional handicrafts were bound
by common values of usefulness and need until the industrialised
consumer economy rendered traditional crafts redundant. The
relationship between handicraft and usefulness was significantly changed
with the emergence of middleclass men and women adopting former
trade activities, transforming them from the punishing trade crafts into the
gentrified art crafts leaving the crafts with no unified direction.
450
The question arises, how can the furniture designer-maker be a
relevant force in addressing issues around sustainability? Furniture
designer-makers are often criticised for their preoccupation with making
as an end in itself and not addressing wider issues. Jasper Morrison, a
furniture designer, refers in disparaging terms to the ‘designer-maker
thinking with his chisels’.
451
One model offered by Ihatsu postulates that
both art and design can act as guiding hands for crafts. Art offers
‘creative ideas, aesthetics, individually free expression or an intuitive way
449
P. Dormer, The Art of the Maker, Thames and Hudson, London, 1994, p. 72
450
Ibid., p. 72
451
J. Morrison cited by P. Dormer, The New Furniture, Thames and Hudson, London,
1987, pp. 136-137
147
to work’
452
and industrial design offers ‘function, customer service but
also problem solving, rational analysis and technology.
453
Craft can look
in either direction. The two ways of working, intuitive and rational, can be
used in turn, transforming crafts into a dynamic process. There is also
the designer-maker facilitator who uses his workshop as a laboratory and
multi-disciplinary skills to initiate change and innovation beyond the walls
of the workshop.
Two designer-makers in particular have been successful in this role;
Makepeace, for example, made the decision in the mid 1970s to delegate
the making of his furniture to his assistants and to stop being a maker
himself, arguing: ‘My approach now is to use the information coming to
me via the making process to enhance the object’. This freed him to
‘explore educational, environmental and economic issues
454
and led to
the establishment of Parnham School (as discussed) and Hooke Park, a
centre for training designers in ecological design.
455
The late Tim Stead,
a designer-maker who was based in Scotland, responded to his
conscious debt to trees and his awareness of their symbolic value in the
environmental crisis by direct action. This included a series of initiatives
in his community, including the Woodschool, which provides workshop
facilities for graduate designer-makers who produce designs using locally
sourced timber.
456
Both these designer-makers’ initiatives highlight the
furniture designer-maker’s dependency on their raw material: timber, now
largely an internationally traded commoditised product.
Furniture designer-makers like Makepeace and Stead responded in
individual ways to environmental and social issues. The One Tree project
(2001), in contrast, offers a unified model of a dynamic relationship
between timber, forestry, the designer-maker and the community.
Conceived as a touring exhibition and a book by two furniture designer-
makers/facilitators, Garry Olson and Peter Toaig, to demonstrate the
452
A. Ihatsu, ‘Art or Design? In Pursuit of the Changing Concept of Craft’, Obscure
Objects of Desire Conference, Conference Papers, University of East Anglia, 10-
12 January 1997, Crafts Council, 1997, p. 303
453
Ibid., p. 303
454
Makepeace. Interviewed by Norbury
455
Myerson, Design Renaissance, pp. 148-175
456
148
diverse applications of a mature oak tree, seventy artists, craftsmen and
designer-makers each produced an artefact from different parts of an oak
tree from the Tatton Estate in Cheshire. Not only the commercial part of
the tree, the trunk, was used branches, leaves and twigs were all utilised
to showcase the tree’s contribution to the creative process and our
dependency on this renewable resource. Like the Eden Project (2000) it
was an imaginative initiative that captured the public’s attention,
educating them about the material and aesthetic benefits of a renewable
source that they may have only appreciated as a standing tree in a park
or forest estate. By bringing together a network of designer-makers and
foresters in a unified vision it also demonstrated the maturity of a
community working towards a craft-based sustainable future.
The “Signed & Sealed” project is based on the responsibility of the
individual furniture designer-maker to develop a design strategy that
meets the needs of the market but reconciles the challenges of a
sustainable future. It was out of all these issues that the idea of
introducing a variation to the traditional practice embodied in the bespoke
commission came to me – an idea that I term the semi-bespoke.
Historically, the idea itself (although not the term) had occurred to me
before the genesis of this particular project but was one that I felt
impelled to revisit and was to provide a vital element in developing the
“Signed & Sealed” project (see Part Two). The concept of the semi-
bespoke was to represent the first strand introduced into the “Signed &
Sealed” project and provided the basis of a strategy which offered an
alternative to both the exclusivity of one-off design & make furniture and
the anonymity of high street consumer products.
1.4 Sustainable forestry management, the local cycle and timber
selection
Timber symbolises the ecological debate around sustainability. The
U.K.’s position is a poignant one in this regard. Forestry cover in England
is now one of the lowest in Europe at 8.5 per cent, less than one third of
149
Germany and France.
457
The USA and Brazil, by comparison, have 24.7
and 64.3 per cent respectively.
458
We import 1,725,000m
3
of hardwoods
and only produce 108,000m
3
for our own needs.
459
Although
conservation values can be enhanced through growing trees for their
timber, our National Forestry policy has concentrated on extending
National Parks for recreational and landscape purposes with little
consideration for timber production.
460
The government’s National Forest Policy aims to double woodland
cover to fifteen per cent in England within fifty years.
461
The policy is to
plant broad-leaved trees and promote multiple uses of woodlands and
public access. Although this appears to be a strategy to widen the
benefits of woodland the policy has fundamental weaknesses:
‘Sustainable forestry needs to deliver multi-purpose benefits. However,
current forestry policies are placing most emphasis on the social and
environmental benefits gained through growing trees, at the expense of
economic benefits’.
462
The economic value of woodlands is no longer measured in terms of
timber production by the government-backed regional policy.
463
A much
broader definition of values assesses that woodlands contribute one
billion pounds to the regional economy in added value.
464
Property
prices, for example, are enhanced by areas of outstanding natural
beauty, yet ironically woodland owners, who represent two thirds of
woodland ownership, generate a meagre twenty million pounds in
revenue, largely from timber sales.
465
The U.K. Government framework
attempts to define the requirements for sustainable forestry, by
457
Forestry Commission, Forestry Statistics 2001, Edinburgh, 2002, p. 2
458
Ibid., p. 6
459
Ibid., p. 23
460
Forestry Commission, England Forestry Strategy: a New Focus for England’s
Woodland, Edinburgh, 1998
461
E. Dougliss, ‘Trees’, Oxfordshire Agenda 21, S. Ohlenschlager (Ed.), Oxfordshire
County Council, Oxford, 1997, p. 68
462
G. Hemery, personal email to Philip Koomen, 24 August 2004
463
Forestry and Woodlands Framework Steering Group, Seeing the Wood for the Trees:
a forestry and woodland framework for South East England, Norwich, 2004
464
The Forestry and Woodlands Framework Steering Group, p. 2
465
A. Betts, ‘Regional Picture & Policies – The New Regional Forestry Framework for
the South East’, Chilterns Woodland Conference, High Wycombe, 16 October
2004
150
establishing social, economic and environmental criteria to meet long-
term needs and public funding applications. It does not, however,
address the global effects on U.K. forestry management and in particular
the potential impact of global warming or the possible effects of increased
demand on timber in a global market. In the U.K. the focus is on
conservation of our heritage and enhancing the value of existing
resources through diversification of activities that improve communities,
e.g. tourism, landscape and conservation and community projects. This
represents a strategic shift from the post First World War policy of
rebuilding the nation’s timber stock. Woodland and forestry management
for timber production is no longer one of the government’s priorities and is
left to individual and independent organisations’ own initiatives and the
forces of a free market.
The Northmoor Trust, for example, has observed that the Forestry
Commission will only be planting species of the same historical genetic
provenance as native trees.
466
. The trees grown will have the same
genetic limitations as their predecessors making them inferior in timber
quality and not necessarily suitable for the environmental conditions
brought about by climate change. This, in combination with the
government’s latest framework for the nation’s forests and woodlands,
will make us import-dependent for generations.
The range and diversity of imported hardwoods and their
exceptional quality have created high expectations by users which have
largely been matched by timber traders who have provided a supply of
timber with minimal defects but is unrepresentative of forest yield.
Customers specifying for joinery and furniture are, according to Steve
Say, of Timbmet Ltd, over-zealous in demanding ‘blemish-free, flat, stable
and consistent colour’.
467
Timber, although an organic natural material,
has come to be regarded by manufacturers, as a homogenous
commodity unrepresentative of actual forest timber production.
According to Dr Mike Packer, environmental manager of the Timbmet
466
G. Hemery, ‘Sustainable Forestry in the UK’, Our Woods in Your Hands Conference,
River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 25 September 2004
467
S. Say, Workshop Discussion, Our Woods in Your Hands Conference, River &
Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 25 September 2004
151
Group Ltd, this is an artificial and unsustainable situation in a global
market. He argues that current specification demands by the U.K. market
are unrealistic in relation to price expectations.
468
With new international
markets for commodities opening up, timber suppliers will be content to
sell their timber to less demanding customers at better prices. The U.K.
market will have either to accept lower grades, or to pay significantly
higher prices.
Local sourcing was gradually undermined in the twentieth century
because of the decline of the furniture industry and an increased reliance
on imported timbers producing a catastrophic impact on local timber
markets. Waning demand for local wood and falling timber prices
undermined woodland owners’ income and left local Chiltern and
Oxfordshire woodlands (like many others) in a state of ecological and
economic crisis.
“Under-management” therefore is presently a considerable threat to
the U.K.'s privately owned woodlands, which account for two thirds of all
woodlands. As Eric Dougliss, a Country Forester explains:
Much of Oxfordshire’s timber and wood resources is poorly used.
Our small woodlands alone have the capacity to produce up to
40,000 tonnes of wood, worth up to £1 million each year. Actual
production is around 5,000 to 10,000 tonnes, worth about
£100,000.
469
This decline, alarming as it is, can only be halted through a
coordinated and unified effort involving the various stakeholders who
have an interest in local forestry including woodland owners, wood users
and consumers. The current situation is critical. A recent investigation
into the feasibility of small English woodlands producing a sustainable
level of quality timber to supply saw mills, trade and chain retailers
concluded: ‘at present there is a question mark over the ability of English
timber to meet increased demand for all but the specialist niche end of
468
M. Packer, ‘Promoting Sustainable Forest Management: an International Trade
Perspective of Market Constraints and Opportunities’, Our Woods in Your Hands
Conference, River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 25 September 2004
469
Dougliss, p. 70
152
the market’.
470
Fragmentation within the forestry industry is one of the
obstacles preventing progress. The timber-using industry echoes this
view, according to Paul Newman from the furniture manufacturer Wood
Brothers in Hertfordshire. As a significant purchaser of timber, his
company is dissatisfied with the mediocre quality of timber bought from
woodland owners. He argues that the lack of a coordinated effort by the
forestry industry is hampering the effective utilization and marketing of
existing resources.
471
The public also has a fragmented view of the role of woodlands. On
the one hand people living in the Chilterns, for example, choose the area
because of the attractiveness of the landscape and its amenity and
conservation values but on the other hand have little support for the
purchase of locally produced wood products.
472
The relationship between
ecology and economics, two principles of sustainable woodland
management, are clearly not understood. Two regional organisations,
Transnational Wood Industries Group (TWIG) and the Northmoor Trust,
both engaged in research in forestry research highlighting this problem in
different ways.
According to TWIG, the Chilterns have the capacity to produce
between 70,000 m
3
and 80,000 m
3
of hardwood each year. These
figures are based on harvesting the sustainable maximum harvest of 112
hectares of woodland each year.
473
This action would normalise the age
distribution of the woodlands and generate an indefinite supply of timber
on an annual basis. Quality of timber is low with seventeen per cent of
sawn logs by volume being prime quality from eight per cent of standing
volume.
474
The lack of management of woods for timber and long-term
planning, the declining skill base and a deteriorating supply chain all
470
C. Christie and T. Cooper, ‘Wood Products from Sustainably Managed Woodland’,
Review of Consumer Awareness and Best Marketing Practice and Strategic
Guidance on Market Development, The Forestry Commission and The
Countryside Agency, August 2004, p. 7
471
G. Hemery and P. Savill, ‘Better Trees, Better Profits’, RFS Conference Report,
Quarterly Journal of Forestry, July 2004, Vol. 98, No.3, p. 189
472
M. Render, ‘Sustainable Woodland Management – What does this mean for the
Chilterns?’, Chilterns Woodland Conference, 16 October 2004
473
M. Dower (Ed.), Sustainable Woodland Management and Local Added Value to
Woodland Products, TWIG, Athens, 2002, p. 15
474
Report of the TWIG Conference Summary, Oxford Forestry Institute, 23 April 2001
153
serve to hamper progress, according to Steve Rodderick.
475
Ric
Pakenham, of Chiltern Forestry Consultancy, agrees and estimates the
current problems are the result of fifty to one hundred years of neglect.
476
According to Hemery, a forestry scientist at the Northmoor Trust,
Oxfordshire, the greatest threat to the U.K. market for timber is the long-
term environmental change and the consequent world-wide and local
shortage of timber. Hemery outlines six aspects to climate change
(summarised below) which demonstrate that the status quo is no longer
an option and radical solutions must be identified and implemented to
meet timber demands if a crisis is to be avoided:
• There is overwhelming scientific consensus that we have entered
a period of unprecedented climate change driven largely by human
activities
• Predictions are for an increase of between 3 and 5° C during the
course of this century
• Many scientists and politicians agree that climate change is the
most significant environmental threat to have faced the modern
world
• Since historic greenhouse gas emissions remain in the
atmosphere for long time (at least fifty years) so we have already
determined our short to medium-term climate
• People must understand the need to adapt to change, realizing
opportunities and accommodating threats (environmental, social
and economic) across all sectors
• The level of greenhouse gas emissions today and in years to come
will determine the amount of climate change in the latter half of the
21
st
century
• It is widely believed that warming in excess of 2 degrees
Celsius/atmospheric CO
2
in excess of 525 parts per million by
475
S. Rodderick, Wood Industries Liaison Group Meeting, 17 May 2001, High Wycombe
476
R. Pakenham, Wood Industries Liaison Group Meeting, 17 May 2001, High
Wycombe
154
2100 would constitute dangerous climate change, and make
adaptation of ecological and human systems impossible
477
Climate change is likely to have a significant effect on the
Oxfordshire Chilterns woodlands leading to a decline in beech which
requires a mild, sunny climate and moist and calcareous soils.
478
This
will produce more extreme seasonal conditions resulting in the decline of
beech but creating conditions more suitable for other broad-leaved
species.
479
Increased diversification of species to more light-demanding
trees such as ash, sycamore and oak will result in their replacing beech.
These changes will require both more management and frequent
interventions, resulting in higher costs and increased divergence between
economic and ecological requirements.
480
Not developing an appropriate
management policy in the Oxfordshire area will devastate the woodlands.
The development of a strategy to utilise timber from local woodlands is
therefore essential to promote sustainable woodland management.
By contrast, the problems associated with global forestry
management have been acknowledged and are being acted on. The
forestry and timber trade industry has begun to put in place a system
which provides an assurance that selected timber is sourced from a
sustainably managed forest. The Forestry Stewardship Council is the
leader in sustainable forest management certification (FSC) and provides
independent verification of performance against defined standards.
Formed in 1993 as a non-profit organisation with headquarters in
Germany, it was the result of extended consultations between timber
industry representatives, foresters, and business, environmental and
social groups who were concerned about the public’s increasing
scepticism of environmental claims by the timber industry and lack of
protection of the majority of the world’s forests. According to Jared
477
Hemery, Sustainable Forestry
478
G. Hemery, ‘Site and Light Assessment for Natural Regeneration’,
Discussion/workshop at a site meeting in Rumerhedge Wood, Checkendon, 9 July
2002
479
P. Savill, ‘Beech in Britain’, Goodbye to Beech ~ Farewell to Fagus?, Report of the
Transnational Woodland Industries Group Conference, 23 April 2001
480
Ibid.
155
Diamond ‘In a worst-case scenario, all of the world’s readily accessible
remaining forests outside those protected areas would be destroyed by
unsustainable harvesting within the next several decades’.
481
The Forestry Stewardship Council produced ten principles for
sustainable forest management in 1994 which formed the criteria for
certification. Together with “chain of custody certification”, which provides
the documentation that tracks the journey from the forest to the end
product that consumers purchase, a sustainable model was established.
A process was established to determine if forests met the criteria.
Accredited certifying organisations operate the system and forest owners
or managers submit their management plans and practices to
independent vetting at a financial cost. One of the main reasons for
voluntarily subjecting their businesses to such scrutiny is the access to
markets they can potentially gain and the credibility and improved image
the products acquire by the consumer.
The model is not without its problems. Firstly, there are competing
certification schemes including Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) in the
USA and the Pan-European Forestry Certification (PEFC) in Europe, to
name but a few. These schemes try to meet different needs or vested
interests. The result is confusing to the public, although the FSC scheme
is the most recognised and the most widely adopted, the alternative
schemes have often been developed for very legitimate reasons. The
PEFC scheme for example, according to Michael Buckley, ‘addresses the
needs of all private forest owners throughout the European Union and
tackles the practical problems of Chain of Custody’.
482
One of the issues
that is not fully addressed in “chain of custody” requirements is the
production inefficiency associated with segregating certified from
uncertified material in sawmills and many furniture manufacturers.
Buckley points out that “chain of custody” can potentially be
discriminating, favouring ‘competing materials that may be less
481
J. Diamond, Collapse, Penguin Books, London, 2006, p. 473
482
M. Buckley, North American and European Hardwoods, M.Phil thesis, University of
Bath, 1999, p. 213
156
environmentally friendly’ and ‘takes no account of comparative Life Cycle
Analysis (LCA)’.
483
Although only about five per cent of forests world-wide are certified
and only one per cent of tropical forests, certification is now becoming a
global enterprise. FSC is, however, a standard that can only be attained
gradually. One of the biggest problems is the issue of the importation of
illegal timber; the World Bank estimated that fifty per cent of logging
world-wide is illegal. However, with large purchasers, including
governments and local authorities, permitting only the purchase of
certified timber this system is beginning to regulate the market. The
Oxford based timber merchant, Timbmet Group Ltd for example, are
working with forestry management companies to facilitate the delivery of
increasing volumes of timber that is ‘legal and traceable and legal and
progressing to FSC’.
484
Timbmet see their future aligned to promoting
sustainable forestry. On a global level it becomes apparent that
significant progress is being made to ensure that the market can supply
timber from well managed sources. Collaboration between independent
third parties, international institutions (e.g. World Bank), forestry
companies and timber suppliers to establish mutually agreed standards of
verification ensure that when a customer buys a product from a retailer
the label FSC means what it says.
Implementation of the scheme in the global market has achieved
some real success. Its effectiveness can, in part, be measured by the
increasing number of high street and international retailers who now retail
FSC products. From its beginning when B&Q and Boots were party to its
formation some of the world’s largest producers and sellers of timber
products have joined including Home Depot, the world’s largest retailer of
lumber, Gibson Guitars, Sainsbury’s and Sweden-based IKEA, the
furniture flat pack retailer. Product certification by these companies was,
according to Diamond, motivated by ‘varying combinations of “push and
pull”, a reaction to the environmental lobby and recognition that there is
483
Ibid., p. 149
484
Packer, Promoting Sustainable Forest Management
157
an increasingly discriminating public who demand environmentally sound
products.
485
Forest and woodland estates in the U.K. that wish to be compliant
with Forest Management Certification (FMC), a comparable scheme,
usually choose the U.K. Woodland Assurance Scheme (U.K.WAS) put
forward by the Forestry Industry, NGOs and by the FSC. The scheme is
effective for larger commercial forests with the capacity to afford and
administer the scheme. It is also increasingly necessary for suppliers of
timber to be certified to maintain or develop new markets which are
demanding certification as a prerequisite for tendering. Difficulties arise
for smaller woodland producers: Gudrun Leitz, for example, a furniture
designer-maker who manages her own woodland in Herefordshire
became certified in the hope of gaining access to new markets but she
regards the scheme as too constraining and time consuming to
administer. Unfortunately, as yet she has been unable to find new
markets for her timber products.
486
A further complication for small
woodlands is that small sawmills, timber merchants and retailers have to
have a “chain of custody” certificate to sell FSC timber with the FSC logo.
If they are not certified they must order a complete lorry load of FSC
accredited timber to carry forward its accreditation otherwise the
authenticity of the certification cannot be assured.
487
Another difficulty for
small woodland owners is that their timber stock is generally very poor by
industry standards and when they do have stock of appropriate quality
and size the volume can be insufficient to make transportation viable.
The changes brought about by climate change and increased
competition in a global timber market are two of the conditions that make
local timber a potentially highly valued resource. David Rees suggests a
number of reasons why local timber could become a strategic solution to
an increasing difficult market, these include:
• Transport costs confer advantage to the local resource
• Horizons narrow as travel gets more expensive
485
Diamond, Collapse, pp. 476-477
486
G. Leitz, furniture maker. Interviewed by Philip Koomen, by telephone, 18 April 2004
487
K. Hall (Ed.), The BedZED files: Case Study 3: Certified Timber, Building for the
Future, Green Building Press, Llandysul, Vol. 14, No.1, 2004, p. 65
158
• Economics favour local fixes aligned to the environment
488
He argues that the consequences of not doing anything will ‘create a
timber famine for three generations’.
489
It is clear then that there is often
a conflict between short-term commercial interests and long-term
sustainable practice in both local and global marketing of timber products.
Developing a local cycle that establishes markets for local woodlands
was a crucial element in developing a strategy to promote sustainable
woodland management in Oxfordshire and the Chilterns and became
adopted as the second strategic strand of the “Signed & Sealed” project
(see Part Two).
Timber Selection
The history of timber selection is as old as civilisation. The diversity of
the characteristics of timber is well recognised by designers, craftsmen,
designer-makers and the public alike. Unlike many manufactured
materials, such as glass, steel and plastic, it is difficult to control its
properties.
Throughout the history of furniture design and making the decorative
qualities of timber and its structural properties have inspired and
generated new forms and design elements. As a decorative material it is
characterised by its visual diversity within and across each species.
While the progression of design forms, from joiners' furniture through to
contemporary designer-maker furniture, is well documented, the
exploration of the features of figure, grain, texture and markings is less
well defined. Historical examples are woven into the history of furniture
making and provide useful examples which demonstrate how figure is
revealed in oak, walnut and mahogany and have been employed as
design elements.
488
D. Rees, British Forestry (but not as we know it), Our Woods in Your Hands
Conference, River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 25 September 2004
489
Ibid.
159
Furniture makers, for example, have identified oak's quarter-sawn
flame figure that exploited oak’s characteristic multiseriate rays.
490
Walnut, a finer timber to work than oak, encouraged greater
experimentation as craftsmen searched for new ways of exploiting its
creative and design possibilities. This was an addition to the crown figure
achieved in “through and through” log conversion. The exceptional
stability of quarter-sawn oak combined with its decorative figure was
exploited through sawing techniques that maximised the yield of quarter-
sawn oak in a log. Walnut is a tree that is not indigenous to Britain as
oak is, having been introduced originally for its nut rather than its
timber.
491
The walnut furniture of the William and Mary and Queen Anne
periods show a distinct departure from oak in both form and the
decorative treatment of the wood. Cross-grained walnut mouldings
became a feature of cabinetwork and unusual walnut figure was exploited
as veneer in cabinetwork. This period could be considered as significant
for its unprecedented celebration of walnut. The duplication of grain
patterns produced by cutting thin slices could be used to create
symmetrical, book matched and quartered panels on doors and drawer
fronts and other surfaces. The technique of cutting veneers also
produced new possibilities. Parts of the tree, including burrs and the area
between two branches known as the “crutch” were considered valuable
for their dramatic figure. The root crown from uprooted walnut trees, with
the root ball still attached, also provided a rich source of decorative
possibilities in fine furniture making (as well as in gun stocks). While
walnut was originally selected for its high nut production and its ease of
harvesting it was not perceived as suitable for timber production which
required long and straight stemmed, finely branched trees. Ironically, the
characteristics that have made walnut unsuitable for timber production
have produced some of the most beautiful period pieces.
Mahogany, imported from the West Indies, Honduras and the
Yucatan Peninsula, became readily available around the beginning of the
490
H. Desch, Timber: Its Structure and Properties, Macmillan, London, 1974, p. 115
491
G. Hemery, Juglians regia L: Generic Variation and Provenance Performance, DPhil
thesis, University of Oxford, 2000, p. 2
160
eighteenth century superseding walnut and becoming the preferred
material by the new breed of furniture designers such as Chippendale
and Hepplewhite. Mahogany was often used in solid form for
construction but “crutch” or “curl” veneer was used on finer work. Oak, by
contrast, became associated with country furniture. Mahogany became
an ideal production timber. Its popularity extended to the end of the
twentieth century when restrictions on supply through export embargoes,
a more environment conscious public and price increases saw a
significant decline in its demand. These three timbers, however, remain
closely identified with period furniture styles and are still used to
reproduce furniture by manufactures content to replicate past traditions.
Contemporary furniture manufacturers (amongst many) have placed
greater demands on forestry resources as production has increased in
response to consumer demands. The requirement has been for
consistent and homogenous material which suits production processes.
Furniture makers have also generally preferred timber that behaved
predictably. Timber selection is generally based on a palette appreciated
for its predictable, visual and aesthetic qualities rather than for its
diversity. This is creating an imbalance in global forestry management
brought about by manufacturing needs and a perception that consumers
prefer uniformity in their timber. The following example highlights this
problem. J. P. Chevreton from Groupe Lapeyre, one of France’s largest
manufacturers of furniture and joinery, for example, would prefer a grade
of timber higher that the top grade FAS to meet his company’s production
requirements to minimise selection and waste at the production stage.
492
To achieve this standard, graders would be selecting from less than one
per cent of the forest yield. The demand by industry for a homogenous,
high yield timber to meet production needs contrasts with a latent
demand by potential customers for distinctive and unusual character in
furniture.
One consumer survey at an interior design show indicated that 83
per cent of the public preferred furniture made from woods which showed
492
6
th
European American Hardwood Convention, 19 and 20 November 1998, Paris
161
defects and colour variations.
493
These potential consumers reacted
more favourably to the defects and timbers than members of the furniture
trade who were interviewed at a trade show.
494
While this visitors’ survey
showed a similar result (76.3 per cent preferred “character” woods) the
trade is, in reality, resistant to marketing these character woods. Tulip
wood, which is generally used for painted furniture and joinery, was more
popular that red oak suggesting the lack of availability of products from
lesser known species represents an important obstacle to promoting
sustainable forestry and denies access to an untapped creative resource.
Clearly what is required is the development of markets for a wider range
of hardwood species and “character” grades. Commercial designers and
manufacturers have not synchronised the development of their products
with what grows in the forest resulting in, what Pye has described in the
following terms: ‘the range of qualities which mass production is capable
of just now is dismally restricted; because each is so uniform and
because nearly all lack depth, subtlety, overtones, variegation,
diversity’.
495
The contemporary designer-maker, however, is uniquely placed to
control both design and materials. According to Pye, product designers
working in industry are only able to control the medium to long range
elements but they cannot control the short range elements, which are the
domain of workmanship.
496
It is at this short range that the distinctive
figure often found in non-commercial timber comes into play as a
counterpoint to the more formal design elements and it is in this domain
that the designer-maker can develop the possibilities of the material
beyond the accepted norms of historical precedent, industry and the
market. Designer-makers can explore the whole tree rather than just the
main butt, evaluating the characteristics features and properties that can
be used to enhance and inform their designs. Pye considers the quality
of diversity of materials the exclusive province of workmanship: ‘Only
493
American Hardwood Export Council, Consumer Research Project conducted at the
BBC Good Homes Show, April 1998
494
UK Furniture Industry Trade Show (ASFI), November 1998
495
D. Pye, The Nature and Art of Workmanship, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1968, p. 3
496
Ibid., p. 34
162
worked material has quality, and pieces of worked material are made to
show their quality by men’.
497
The exploration of wood can go beyond the
skilful processing of the material to create furniture that interprets the
material in innovative and unusual ways. Drawing on the centuries’ old
tradition of craftsmanship, scientific and technical developments in wood
technology and the autonomy and creative freedom that the designer-
maker’s independence offers him, he can investigate the creative
possibilities of unusual and distinctive figure in his design explorations.
He can also look beyond the commercial timbers available from
merchants who are increasingly driven through market demand to
commoditise timber and investigate under-utilised resources with limited
commercial value.
What emerges in the approach of designer-makers such as Stead
and Nakashima is a creative process in which the exploration and
interpretation of the material suggest possibilities which lead to specific
responses in the form of design elements. In one sense this allows the
timber itself to dictate the formal elements of the design and subvert
historic design precedents or imposed forms. This design approach can
be perceived as fulfilling what Pye describes as diversity: ‘A thing
properly designed and made, continually reveals new complexes of newly
perceived formal elements the nearer you get to it’.
498
It became clear that identifying these design elements and the
unique signature that characterises the diversity of non-commercial
timber could add value and that the concept of the unique signature of
non-commercial timbers was to become adopted as the final strand in
developing the “Signed & Sealed” project.
1.5 The “Signed & Sealed” project
All of the above now brings me back to the “Signed & Sealed” project
which represented an attempt to develop a unified strategy with which a
furniture designer-maker might develop a sustainable practice based on
497
Ibid., p. 2
498
Ibid., p. 35
163
specific issues that emerged from Agenda 21 and the integration of
economic and ecology. It was intended to develop one model of
sustainable practice amongst a plurality of other models initiated by a
range of other industrial designers and craft practitioners, identified by the
three characteristic elements identified above in the terms semi-bespoke,
local cycle and unique signature.
The “Signed & Sealed” project then was intended to seek solutions
that reconcile economic and environmental considerations when creating
products for the market place as well as identify the social/democratic
and ethical/ecological principles that underpin sustainable development.
Although it may be argued that it would compete with other products and
services in the market place, it would clearly be aligned to a set of values
and benefits that allow potential clients to make a considered choice and
would seek to offer clients an alternative to the consumer-based retail
experience by embracing local and sustainable practices consistent with
broader global issues.
In framing this strategy it is acknowledged that the time frame of the
“Signed & Sealed” project would represent only the first stage in an
attempt to re-orientate an established design and make practice in order
to move towards a more ecological and ideologically coherent. As Von
Weiszäcker has observed: ‘The systems that waste resources today are
difficult to design because they are complex, but extremely efficient
systems are at least as difficult to design because they're sophisticatedly
simple’.
499
The Philip Koomen Furniture craft-based business was to provide
the vehicle for the research and development of the “Signed & Sealed”
project which is further documented, described and discussed in Part
Two.
499
von Weizsäcker et al., Factor Four: p. xxvi
164
Part Two: Signed & Sealed – Developing a Sustainable
Practice
2.0 Introduction
This section of the thesis is intended to open up the process of design
development to scrutiny, a process that frequently goes unrecorded. It
discusses the three strands of the “Signed & Sealed” project identified in
Part One out of which the “Signed & Sealed” strategy has developed,
namely the ideas relating to the terms semi-bespoke, local cycle and
unique signature brought together in order to form a coherent ideology
and facilitate the specific range of social, economic and environmental
benefits identified in the introduction to the thesis.
The text begins with a study of the range of bespoke commissioning
practices and issues that relate to contemporary furniture designer-
makers in the U.K. This is followed by a more specific study of the
commissioning practices amongst furniture designer-makers in the
Oxfordshire/Chilterns area where the “Signed & Sealed” project has
emerged. The original concept and development of the idea of semi-
bespoke is then reviewed before discussing how it has been applied in
the “Signed & Sealed” project.
The text then focuses on the issues around the attempts to develop
a local cycle to source and process non-commercial timber for the
“Signed & Sealed” project in relation to established trade practice and
other sourcing initiatives in the U.K. and Germany.
Finally, the concept of unique signature is discussed in relation to
the practice of four designer-makers of national and international repute
(Alan Peters, John Makepeace, Tim Stead and George Nakashima) in
order to contextualise its embodiment in the “Signed & Sealed” project.
The conclusion to this section, entitled Conclusion: Promoting
sustainability with the “Signed & Sealed” brand, assesses the contribution
of the “Signed & Sealed” project to the local economy, in particular the
low environmental impact and economic contribution of the local cycle.
165
I have always wanted to make unexceptional things of an exceptionally
high quality that ordinary people could afford
Hans Wegner
2.1 The semi-bespoke
Before discussing the genesis of the “Signed & Sealed” project and its
particular strategies, some rather more wide-ranging discussion of the
nature of design and make in the U.K. is necessary. In the last quarter of
the twentieth century, for example, the survival and expansion of bespoke
furniture making in particular and the crafts in general, has been a
surprising phenomenon. David Pye’s prediction in 1968 that ‘if the crafts
survive, their work will be done for love more than for money’
500
has
proved unjustified and Pye subsequently had to acknowledge a
significant shift in the appreciation of the crafts by the public underpinned
by a ‘strong demand for the best quality’.
501
It was the 1970s which saw
the beginning of a small network of galleries opening up to exhibit
furniture which signalled the change. Rupert Williamson, one of the
U.K.’s best known designer-maker for example, saw the Prescote
Gallery
502
as a forum for exhibiting furniture that represented an
‘explosion of adventurous work’.
503
By the end of the twentieth century
the number of furniture designer-makers in Oxfordshire, for example, had
increased significantly.
504
Alan Peters, whose career as one of designer-makers’ most senior
figures has spanned the greater part of the last fifty years commented: ‘I
can’t think of a more dynamic period; everything that William Morris had
ever dreamt of is coming to fruition. A series of things have made it
500
Pye, The nature and art of workmanship, p. 81
501
Ibid., preface
502
The Prescote Gallery, in Cropredy near Banbury, was opened in the late 1970s by
Ann Hartree to promote contemporary crafts people and, in particular, furniture
designer-makers
503
Rupert Williamson, furniture designer-maker, Milton Keynes. Interviewed by B.
Norbury, June 1998
504
In 1995 the Oxfordshire furniture makers network had thirty-three members; when I
set up my workshop in 1975 I knew of no other workshops in Oxfordshire
166
possible. All the efforts of various organisations and individuals over forty
to fifty years have brought this craft to a very exciting stage’.
505
The bespoke or one-off plays a fundamental role in the development
of a designer-maker's work; it also highlights the unique nature of the
commissioning process which is the product of a collaborative
relationship between designer-maker and client. The terms “bespoke” a
traditional term, and “one-off”, a contemporary one, need some
clarification here. The term bespoke has a long association with tailoring
and means ‘made to order’;
506
it can, however, be applied to all crafts. It
is therefore a term applied to a craft which is produced through the
commissioning process in which a client specifies their requirements.
The craftsperson interprets them through the design process to create an
individual product that meets the client’s requirements. The product is by
definition a “one-off” in that, unlike batch or mass production, it is not
repeated. There are also other variants of the one-off that are not
bespoke in nature. There can, for example, be experimental designs
produced speculatively by the designer-maker who wishes to extend the
boundaries of their craft unfettered by the constraints of the
commissioning process. The bespoke, however, embraces a wide
spectrum of craft-based design commissions from the most conservative
to the innovative but is shaped through the creative collaborative dynamic
between the client and the designer-maker.
The formal process begins with defining a “brief” determined through
dialogue during which ideas and questions are discussed resulting in a
mutually agreeable set of criteria. These boundaries enable the
designer-maker to explore creative possibilities within a framework which
Robert Ingham describes as a two way process in which the designer is
required to interpret the ideas of the client.
507
Ingham also believes his
clients’ ideas have had a profound influence on the way his work has
developed, claiming ‘the subtlety of input [from the client] has produced
505
Alan Peters, furniture designer-maker, Cullompton. Interviewed by B. Norbury, June
1998
506
The Oxford Paperback Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1988
507
Robert Ingham, a furniture designer-maker, was a tutor at Parnham School, Dorset.
He subsequently set up his own workshop in Dyserth, Wales
167
objects that are richer for that experience’.
508
David Savage, a designer-
maker based in Devon, also describes a special kind of creative
chemistry behind his best work which he feels is a response to the client’s
belief in his ability as a designer-maker: ‘I do my good work when I am
inspired by someone’s confidence and trust’.
509
Like Robert Ingham,
Savage also appreciates that the work he can produce in collaboration
with a client is superior to other forms of work, even the speculative
pieces: ‘I can’t do my best work without a relationship with a client’.
510
According to John Makepeace ‘the furniture is an expression of a
splendid kind of relationship’. Through the act of commissioning he gets
to ‘know clients rather well because you are challenging them on a lot of
things that are close to their hearts and their souls’. The initial briefing is
clearly more than information gathering. Makepeace, for example, like
Ingham is clear that his role is: ‘to understand people’s needs and
interpret those in a way I can contribute’.
511
Designer-makers, however, are also guided by a personal vision.
Alan Peters, for example, gives an instance of how a furniture designer-
maker can transform an initial brief through the consultative process: a
client who had originally requested a reproduction Georgian table was
persuaded to accept a design for a contemporary rosewood and
sycamore table and was very satisfied with the result.
512
Commissioning
furniture then can lead to discussions that result in more than a furniture
designer-maker at first expects. The difficulty for potential clients who
have not commissioned furniture is the unfamiliarity with the
commissioning process. Many clients commissioning furniture for the first
time feel tentative about the process. According to Andrew Varah, most
prospective clients are likely to be apprehensive about commissioning
furniture. He believes the designer-maker must establish the confidence
508
Robert Ingham, furniture designer-maker, Dyserth. Interviewed by B. Norbury, June
1998
509
David Savage, furniture designer-maker, Shebbear. Interviewed by B. Norbury, June
1998
510
Ingham. Interviewed by Norbury
511
Makepeace. Interviewed by Norbury
512
Alan Peters, furniture designer-maker, Cheltenham. Interviewed by P. Koomen, 3
September 2001
168
and trust of a prospective client if he is to establish a successful
relationship.
513
As the success of the relationship is measured in terms of the merits
of the final product, it is the designer’s responsibility to build a relationship
with the client that stimulates creativity. Ashley Cartwright, for example,
begins building confidence ‘by finding out what that person is about, [and]
creating a rapport’.
514
The initial stage, he says, is overcoming the fear of
the commissioning process. Once trust and confidence is established,
the client can enjoy being an active participant in the design process,
from developing the brief to seeing the work through to completion. The
designer-maker for his or her part is motivated by a commitment to
produce something that will fulfil or even exceed the expectations of the
client. Nicholas Dyson, for example, tries to make this the main objective
in his relationship with clients: ‘we will design and make something for
them which is more than they could have imagined before they came in
the door. That is the process one is aiming for’.
515
Many designer-makers produce only bespoke one-off furniture.
While some, like John Makepeace and Rupert Williamson, prefer this
form of work, others, like Alan Peters, rework designs, producing
variations on a theme. This allows them to benefit creatively and
financially from previous experience. However, a one-off has to be
produced with the minimum of changes to avoid costly financial penalties.
As Varah puts it: ‘design one-offs – one chance’.
516
One-offs are a high
risk challenge: an underestimate of the man hours required to design and
produce such a piece can result in a reduced profit margin, a financial
loss, or even complete design failure.
Designing and making one-off furniture is clearly very important to
many designer-makers but a precarious strategy around which to develop
a craft-based business. Before considering the alternative strategies that
513
Andrew Varah, furniture designer-maker, Little Walton. Interviewed by B. Norbury,
June 1998
514
Ashley Cartwright, furniture designer-maker, Towcester. Interviewed by B. Norbury,
June 1998
515
Nicholas Dyson, furniture designer-maker, Wantage. Interviewed by B. Norbury, June
1998
516
Varah. Interviewed by Norbury
169
designer-makers have adopted it is important to consider how designer-
makers view the future of their craft.
The future of the craft: the designer-maker perspective
The increased number of new workshops represents greater competition
to established designer-makers yet it can be equally seen as a healthy
sign of growth and beneficial to all. Ian Heseltine and Declan O’Donohue
of S.F Furniture, for example, acknowledge that the market is becoming
more competitive but success, they believe, depends on identifying
market niches for the craftsman’s work.
517
Robert Ingham also sees
increased competition as a challenge, believing that design and making
skills must be complemented with business discipline in order to achieve
success.
518
Success, according to David Savage, will depend on the
ability of the designer-maker to take advantage of opportunities in an
increasingly difficult and problematical world; the future is ‘stormy but
exciting for those who take if by the scruff of the neck’.
519
Designer
craftsmen who are less established see the increasing number of
designer craftsmen as a potential threat to their livelihoods. Williams and
Cleal, for example, think the growing number of designer-makers will
create a supply greater than the demand for the bespoke.
520
What is clear though is that many designer-makers have historically
specialised in the one-off although the reasons are not always clear. The
marketing skills of designer-makers are becoming more effective.
Brochures, web pages, professional photography, publications and
exhibitions are some of the tools of the 21
st
century designer-makers’
marketing repertoire that enable them to promote a professional image to
the growing number of discriminating clients who are seeking out these
specialist skills. Designer-makers have to work diligently to gain
recognition and commissions. Ashley Cartwright sums up the position:
517
Ian Heseltine and Declan O’Donohue, furniture designer-makers, Badminton.
Interviewed by B. Norbury, June 1998
518
Ingham. Interviewed by Norbury
519
Varah. Interviewed by Norbury
520
Jane Clean and Justin Williams, furniture designer-makers, Taunton. Interviewed by
B. Norbury, June 1998
170
Most people do not know what is available. People are buying
through traditional routes and do not know about alternatives.
Increasing awareness of the salaried population can now find where
these places are, these small makers, specialised services… which
is new in the last ten years.
521
However, according to Rod Wales, there is now a significant number of
people looking for alternatives to the conventional.
522
Andrew Varah has
also observed a change in a public which is no longer satisfied with
conventional products and is more prepared to investigate alternatives;
he believes it is an indication of the desire to have more choice and more
value.
523
The existence of such a public, according to Gordon Russell, is
due to the ‘demand for idiosyncratic, well crafted furniture that can not be
bought in a shop’.
524
This fact, he believes, is because people have a
requirement for something that is individual ‘regardless of how many
products [are] in the market’.
525
It may also indicate a desire to have
something more personal and therefore more valuable rather than unique
for its own sake.
Despite the growing number of workshops and the increased
exposure from the media, designer-makers remain isolated and often
inaccessible. Potential clients are not necessarily aware of who they can
approach to have furniture made. The local craftsman who once was a
member of the local community is an anachronism. Today contemporary
designer-makers must be systematic about raising their profile in the
national/international market place if they are going to establish a viable
craft business. They must also address how their craft can be developed
to meet both the needs and aspirations of the market and, arguably,
broader societal needs.
Matthew Burt, for example, is systematic in his approach, and
‘bends over backwards’ to make his workshop accessible. He chooses
five exhibitions a year to display his work selected from all over the
521
Cartwright. Interviewed by Norbury
522
Rod Wales, furniture designer-maker, Lewes. Interviewed by B. Norbury, June 1998
523
Varah. Interviewed by Norbury
524
Gordon Russell, furniture designer-maker, London. Interviewed by B. Norbury, June
1998
525
Russell. Interviewed by Norbury
171
country, from London to Edinburgh. Each exhibition provides him with an
initial point of contact with the public and an opportunity to meet new and
prospective clients. In addition he tries to obtain five media articles a
year, organises an open day, produces a newsletter and targets
individuals who he thinks will be interested in his work. Marketing, he
says, is the most difficult discipline in running a designer-maker
business.
526
Petter Southall has identified a fundamental problem with
commissioning furniture. He believes it necessary to have many more
designer-makers before the public’s awareness is raised to a sufficient
level for the market for designer-maker furniture to reach its potential.
Accessibility, he believes, is key to an increased understanding of the
commissioning process: ‘The more accessible designer-makers are, the
more accepted the process of commissioning furniture is, the more
people will be doing it- it is still very much a mystery’. Potential clients,
Southall argues, are not familiar with the intricacies of commissioning
furniture. If it were to become more common, many more people would
find it natural to commission a piece. He is less certain about the future
though if it continues to remain a mystery. The current situation, he
argues, limits the growth of these businesses to a low turnover and low
profit margin enterprise. He argues that high prices are, in reality,
indicative of a low level of productivity.
527
David Colwell also believes that the designer-maker who produces
one-offs is not in tune with the needs of today’s society. As an
experienced product designer he is sceptical that the one-off can be
sufficiently well developed to resolve the design problems. He argues
that designer-makers who focus on the one-off are less concerned with
performance but are preoccupied with producing objects of desire: ‘things
that are overtly lush. They say to you “You are expensive”. It’s taken a
long time to make; the materials are rare and fine’.
528
526
Burt. Interviewed by B. Norbury
527
Petter Southall, furniture designer-maker, Bridport. Interviewed by B. Norbury, June
1998
528
David Colwell, furniture designer-maker, Salisbury. Interviewed by B. Norbury, June
1998
172
In recent years a number of designer-makers have made a
conscious effort to move away from the bespoke and sought to become
designer manufacturers but designer-manufacturers whose approach is
characterised by a philosophical alignment to an anti-capitalist and eco-
conscious ethos.
529
Matthew Burt, like David Colwell, for example, is no longer satisfied
with the bespoke as an appropriate vehicle for his craft. He is making the
gradual transition from one-offs to marketing his own product range.
While acknowledging one-offs are essential for researching ideas and
providing the means to produce speculative experimental work, like
Andrew Varah, he is uncompromising about the perils of the one-off:
‘With one-offs you give your soul and normally get kicked in the balls for
it. You don't estimate correctly, you don't time it well’. Driven by financial
imperatives Burt resolved to develop a range of designs that he could sell
directly from exhibitions at affordable prices that would attract buyers.
Initially he designed a key cabinet, a tray, a loo roll holder and a CD
cabinet. This approach enabled him to ‘perfect an idea – so it was
enduring in its design, construction, in all its functions; and have an
ecological roundness to it’. This product-led approach is quite distinct
from bespoke or semi-bespoke design approaches which are dependent
upon the client's input in the design process. Instead the potential client
is presented with a ‘resolved design for the price stated. If a client wishes
to have a variation it might be the basis of another product rather than a
modified version of the original’. However, Burt acknowledges there is an
element of flexibility in producing work to order for individual clients and
incorporating ‘small individual adjustments where people want it’.
530
Burt has gradually extended the concept to a comprehensive range
of furniture that now includes outdoor benches, shelving and cabinets,
seating and low tables, tables and desks: low volume production pieces
that can be produced on a made to order basis. His aim is to ‘do thirty
529
See Industry of One, Designer-Makers in Britain 1981-2001, for a comprehensive
overview of the varied pathways designer-makers have developed
530
Matthew Burt, furniture designer-maker, Warminster. Interviewed by P. Koomen, 16
September 2001
173
per cent one-offs and seventy per cent production’.
531
The furniture is
made from managed European hardwoods. He prefers their superior
quality as compared to the English equivalent. However, he points out
that in the Wiltshire area hardwoods have been exhausted so local
sourcing is not even a consideration. Burt is also unable to sustain a
local market: ‘Wiltshire is full of military and retired people … so it is
rather traditional around here’. In order to find clients who are receptive
to his ideas he has had to make a national effort: ‘we were principally
forced into the London market because that is where a lot of our clients
were, and realised through Art in Action that it was further afield we had
to look’.
532
He has recently opened his own gallery in Horton, a village a
few miles from his workshop, encouraging potential clients to view his
designs in a relaxed country setting.
David Colwell, perhaps one of the most politicised and articulate
designer-makers of his generation, sees his work as part of the country
vernacular tradition and aligns himself to the Windsor chair makers,
Shakers and the Scandinavian Movement. He is, however, sceptical of
the long-term contribution of the craft revival movement that has emerged
since the mid 1970s. He criticises designer-makers believing that they
represent an extension of the eighteenth and nineteenth century tradition
of cabinet making that satisfies the need for personal aggrandisement
amongst the bourgeois.
533
Colwell's designs are produced by individual
makers, working within Trannon, who are responsible for the whole
production process and whose efforts and skills are recognised by
signing each piece they make.
534
Like Wegner, he was concerned about
the democratisation of quality through design but not at the cost of profit.
Despite the recognition his designs had, he was unable to persuade
manufacturers to adopt his work. Colwell therefore decided to expand his
own workshop forming Trannon Furniture with two partners. Initially
Trannon aimed its products at the contract market where it competed with
531
M. Burt cited by L. McClair, ‘A question of balance’, Furniture & Cabinetmaking, Guild
of Master Craftsman Publications Ltd, Lewes, no. 29, June 1999, p27
532
Burt. Interviewed by Koomen
533
Colwell. Interviewed by Norbury
534
D. Colwell speaking at the Forest to Product Conference, Parnham Trust,
Beaminster, 8 March 2000
174
main stream manufacturers from Scandinavia and Germany. Colwell
believed Trannon furniture was comparable, if not superior, in quality to
its competitors, but it was a very difficult market for Trannon to operate in
and success only came through reducing their profit margin.
535
They
decided to redirect their marketing efforts to the public. Fortunately, the
public were more responsive to their environmentally sensitive designs
and their middle market pricing (stacking chair sells for £240).
536
By the
late 1990s they were benefiting from a trend favouring craftsman-made
furniture in general and their style in particular: ‘we produce unpretentious
stuff – it's the first time there has been a critical mass of people who want
precisely that’.
537
It is clear that while leading designer-makers in the U.K. like
Matthew Burt and David Colwell believe that bespoke furniture is not
aligned to the needs of society others such as Ingham, Makepeace and
Savage find the process creatively enriching and central to their practice.
Younger, less established designer-makers, like Williams and Cleal, are
anxious that the increase in their numbers will make bespoke furniture
making too competitive.
538
Southall, on the contrary, believes this will be
beneficial, particularly if the commissioning process becomes more
transparent.
539
Most designer-makers recognise that they have to be
more effective at marketing. These designer-makers are generally
optimistic about the future believing that there is a growing demand by
the public disillusioned by the retail market for products that are more
personal and meaningful.
Burt and Colwell have developed strategies aligned to product
design but based on democratic and eco ethics. However, they are faced
with the challenges of creating brand awareness of their product in a
competitive U.K. market. By contrast, designer-makers in the affluent
Oxfordshire/Chilterns area have developed a range of strategies some
535
Colwell. Interviewed by Norbury
536
D. Colwell, Trannon Furniture promotional literature/price guide. Price based on Solid
Ash or upholstered seat, February 1999
537
L. McClair, ‘Making Ecological Sense’, Furniture & Cabinetmaking, Guild of Master
Craftsman Publications Ltd, Lewes, no. 36, January 2000, p. 26
538
Cleal and Williams. Interviewed by Norbury
539
Southall. Interviewed by Norbury
175
closely aligned to the semi-bespoke concept to reach a predominately
local client base. Of course, Philip Koomen Furniture is based in the
Chilterns and so some closer description of the strategies employed by
some of the area’s best known designer-makers may be useful at this
point.
Oxfordshire/Chilterns designer-makers
Waywood based near Woodstock, for example, unlike Burt and Colwell,
produce mainly one-offs to commission for private clients. Barnaby Scott,
Waywood’s owner, believes design is directed by the client but ‘inspired
by what they see’. However, he concedes that the process is highly risky:
‘if we don't come up with what they want we don't get the job’.
Waywood's furniture is designed with ‘materials in mind’, mostly home
grown hardwoods; and they remain ‘keen to find tropical timbers from a
sustainable source’. Scott argues there are also greater demands
working in solid wood, compared to veneers, it is: ‘a more labour
intensive approach and its appeal is harder to bring out’. According to
Scott, however, one-off designs are generally unviable under £2500. In
order to make Waywood’s furniture more affordable he believes ‘batch
thinking is the way ahead and enables one to develop things to satisfy the
market at that level of pricing’. He thinks clients would ‘be happy to
choose between six coffee tables and variations of them’, indicating a
semi-bespoke approach. Waywood are located in a rural part of North
Oxfordshire and although about half their business is local the rest has
come from London and has assured they have the necessary
commissions for survival.
540
Like Waywood, Angus Ross, who is based in South Oxfordshire,
also produces mainly one-off commissions. Fifty per cent of these,
however, are for public spaces, which he describes as a more demanding
than designing for private clients. Ross's designs, like Waywood’s, are
‘mainly solid wood’ but with ‘some board and veneers’. Having worked as
a product designer using plastic moulding he commented that he is
540
Barnaby Scott, furniture designer-maker, Chadlington. Interviewed by P. Koomen, 21
June 2001
176
inspired by the freedom of solid wood: ‘as a material wood lends itself
very well to curved structure; curves are intrinsic to the material’. His
designs have gradually been simplified and progressed into cleaner,
purer shapes. Timber selection is restricted to ‘indigenous and northern
temperate hardwoods: quite a mix, mostly ash, oak and maple but also
brown oak from the Baltic’. He also likes to use the more unusual woods
like catspaw oak, but finds them difficult to source. He is particularly
impressed by the qualities of oak as ‘it works well in all sections of the cut
because it is more interesting in its end grain’. His choice of timber is
always affected by the design and function of a piece; a table top, for
example, is an opportunity to ‘celebrate the wood and its variety rather
than just having it very bland’. Nevertheless, in recent years Ross, like
Burt, has also developed a range of products to spread design costs
although his strategy has not proved successful in respect of marketing
his range to retailers. He does, however, recognise the possibility of
producing semi-bespoke designs: ‘I am comfortable with doing repeats
and variations. It makes economic sense that the process has been
worked out already’. Unusually Ross's client base is drawn mainly from
London with only about thirty per cent of clients drawn from a twenty mile
radius. Unlike most furniture designer-makers in the
Oxfordshire/Chilterns area, half of his commissions are for public projects
which ‘can come from anywhere’.
541
Robin Furlong, who is based in North West Oxfordshire, has
successfully developed a range of designs which are closely aligned to
the semi-bespoke concept. He estimates he has five or six designs that
he repeats: ‘we do different sets of the same chair as well as other
designs from the portfolio’. Furlong is familiar with producing variations
on a theme: ‘clients see things and want the same or similar … they
might ask for it to be slightly modified or in a different wood’. His designs
use predominantly North American hardwoods, some European ones,
Jarrow from Australia and tropical olive from Ghana. Furlong has spent
twenty years establishing a market for his furniture. He is active in
541
Angus Ross, furniture designer-maker, Nuffield. Interviewed by P. Koomen, 26 June
2001
177
promoting the concept of contemporary furniture to potential clients:
‘encourage people to buy furniture of now because it is adding to history’.
He markets his work through local and London exhibitions, including
Artweeks and Celebration of Craftsmanship;
542
although word of mouth
and editorial are also important. Most of his clients are drawn from within
a fifty mile radius and even those from London often have houses locally
as well. He finds having a local client base is essential to his viability;
travelling is too time-consuming.
543
Richard Williams has one of the largest workshops in the Chilterns
area with a team of up to six craftsmen based in Amersham,
Buckinghamshire. His core designs are based on variations on a theme:
‘where I am not looking to break new ground but where I just want to do a
nice job and fulfil the target for a core group of clients’. Williams uses a
range of about twenty woods: English, European and exotic. Like
Furlong, he prefers North American woods because they are reliable and
consistent in quality with minimal wastage. He doesn't have to select the
timber but can order it over the phone. When he sees English timber he
selects it at the timber merchant's because of its variability; oak, however,
is the exception as it is very consistent. Williams is still exploring
alternative design strategies to establish a financially viable business. He
is considering batch produced furniture around a range of more modest
designs for clients who may have limited budgets but appreciate fine
craftsmanship. However, Williams also wants to be known for ‘working in
ultra fine material’ and has found it necessary to market his work outside
his local area to ‘mostly London and Oxford based clients’. His strategy
is to promote his furniture through selected exhibitions in these places.
544
Mark Ripley works on his own near Wallingford, Oxfordshire. He
describes his design style as ‘traditional but not reproduction’ and his
furniture as ‘harmonious objects which project the wood rather than
542
Annual exhibition held in Cheltenham showcasing designer/craftsman made furniture
and decorative arts. Curated by B. Norbury.
543
Robin Furlong, furniture designer-maker, Chipping Norton. Interviewed by P.
Koomen, 19 May 2001
544
Richard Williams, furniture designer-maker, Amersham. Interviewed by P. Koomen,
31 May 2001
178
promoting [sic] me’. At one stage he had six design motifs that he
repeated in different configurations which could be described as semi-
bespoke. He works with individual clients who appreciate his style of
work who want something ‘simple and solid’. New directions can be
inspired by economical solutions, new ideas because ‘a customer
suggests something’. He is motivated by the ideal that design can create
affordable furniture. By using a combination of solid wood and veneered
panels he can produce economical design solutions. ‘Economy is an
important issue because I discovered early on that making furniture is
actually easy but making good economical furniture is quite a trick’.
Ripley makes ninety per cent of his furniture in English oak; he also
uses English ash, sweet chestnut but avoids English elm and cherry
because he has found them difficult to dry. He also uses a small amount
of American hardwoods including ash, maple and cherry. However, he is
determined to use only English hardwoods sourced from ‘people who
personally select their own trees and supervise the process of felling,
drying and conversion’. He likes to celebrate the fact that ‘no two pieces
are the same’.
Ripley decided not to market himself through exhibitions. He has
limited his clients to mostly Thames Valley; they come through word of
mouth or the advertisements he places in local shops. By limiting himself
in terms of style, product range, pricing and geography he has
established a successful and viable one-man craft workshop.
545
Stewart Linford, a furniture maker based at High Wycombe, by
contrast, is one of the most established and largest bespoke furniture
makers in the region employing around forty staff, mostly craftsmen. He
has managed to develop his reputation as a maker of fine Windsor chairs
since he began working on his own in 1976. His furniture remains
bespoke despite the scale of his production. In fact, it is probably more
accurate to describe his approach as semi-bespoke. He has developed
over seventy interpretations of traditional designs across four ranges
including twenty-three Windsor chair designs, tables and cabinets.
545
Mark Ripley, furniture designer-maker, Wallingford. Interviewed by P. Koomen, 28
May 2001
179
Customers can specify the combination of timbers in their chairs and
have customised elements such as commemorative carved lettering; the
Table and Cabinet range is produced to the specific dimensions required
by the customer.
Linford's designs are rooted in the English tradition of craftsmanship
using native English hardwoods which he sources through a network of
timber merchants who understand his requirements. However, he has
successfully integrated craft and production technology to produce an
extensive range of designs that have a recognisable traditional local
heritage. His business has interestingly doubled in turnover over a three
year period since he stopped selling through a retailer and began
marketing directly. The majority of his customers now come from a thirty
mile radius of his workshop.
546
German designer-makers
The British picture, interestingly enough, is quite different in
character from that found on the European mainland. For example,
furniture designer-makers in the Trier area in Germany, by comparison,
have a very different approach compared to their counterparts in the
Oxfordshire/Chilterns area. Both areas are vibrant with workshops and
enjoy a plentiful supply of local timber resources but the similarities stop
there. The German workshops compete directly with large manufacturers
producing similar designs. They distinguish themselves by the quality of
their bespoke service and their market. The “bespoke” service focuses
on understanding the requirements of the client rather than developing a
personal style. High quality solid wood furniture is produced using the
most efficient machine technology available with only a small proportion
of time spent on handwork compared to the U.K. designer-makers.
Wolfgang Hank of Tischlerhof Newel, for example, spends as much
time with prospective clients as they need. His philosophy is to offer
people a ‘holistic service because people have a need to be listened
546
Stewart Linford, furniture designer-maker, High Wycombe. Interviewed by P.
Koomen, 29 May 2001
180
to’.
547
He educates his clients about the importance of living with kitchen
furniture which is made from materials with no harmful additives and thus
help to create an intimate environment which is more than a kitchen.
Norbert Brakonier at UniKat Partners also has a similar philosophy; he
believes that their success is due to their making a concerted effort to
understand the needs of the client.
548
Rudi Steiner, the most established furniture maker in the Trier area,
has a series of six show rooms in his workshop, offering a range of
furniture for the kitchen, dining room and bedroom each furnished with his
designs. He has purpose-designed kitchen furniture for the disabled and
specialises in creating interiors for healthy living by stressing natural
materials such as horse hair mattresses. Here his clients can get his
professional advice.
549
These furniture makers follow a generic approach to both
manufacturing and design unlike their Oxfordshire and Chilterns
counterparts. The designs for chairs and cabinets are strikingly similar
between the furniture makers. The use of solid wood construction,
machine techniques and designs aligned to the mainstream market has
created a lack of diversity indicating that their training and perhaps culture
promotes a narrower and limited generic approach. Technical mastery is
emphasised at the cost of creativity. The furniture makers tend to limit
design possibilities for the sake of production efficiency. Steiner, for
example, only offers beech and alder to his clients. He finds maintaining
a wide range of timber stock is problematical and costly.
The German bespoke market has very different demands from the
U.K. one. The German customer has high expectations of quality, and
can typically purchase a quality product at a reasonable price, from cars
to furniture. A bespoke chair, for example, costs approximately £200
from UniKat and an equipped fitted kitchen circa £15,000 from Wolfgang
Hank; this represents about half the U.K. price. Value for money in
547
Wolfgang Hank, furniture designer-maker, Trier. Interviewed by P. Koomen, 23
September 2001
548
Norbert Brakonier, furniture designer-maker, Trier. Interviewed by P. Koomen, 22
September 2001
549
Visit to Rudi Steiner’s furniture workshop, Trier, 23 September 2001
181
Germany is clearly a benefit of a well trained organised and market-led
service based furniture industry.
Designer-makers in Germany, unlike those in the U.K., see
themselves as an integral part of an industrial economy. German society
has a much bigger middle market than the U.K. and is willing and able to
buy bespoke furniture. In the U.K. the situation is more polarised; IKEA
and MFI are at one end and David Linley and John Makepeace at the
other with very little in between. Designer-makers in the U.K. look to
create their own unique niche in the market place to succeed. Each one
develops a unique style that reflects their creative aspirations as well as
the needs and aspirations of their clients. The UniKat Partners’ view of
the U.K. designer-makers' perhaps embodies the cultural differences,
describing Linford’s, Williams’s and my work as ‘rustic, bourgeois and
Victorian’.
550
While these critical observations do, however, identify some
of the range of references that U.K. designer-makers draw on, they do
not reflect their diverse approach to bespoke design.
From bespoke to semi-bespoke
In terms of my practice and Philip Koomen Furniture the concept that I
have termed semi-bespoke was first adopted in the early 1980s as an
alternative method of creating designs to meet the needs and aspirations
of individual clients without the problems inherent in the one-off bespoke
design. Like several other designer-makers the bespoke solution did not
seem appropriate in many situations, and it became clear that many of
my clients were either unwilling or unable to afford the cost of producing a
one-off bespoke design. I began to consider alternative approaches to
make craftsman-made furniture more accessible and affordable in the
market place. I believed a product-led design approach was not viable
without the marketing resources to promote a range of products in a
highly competitive and sophisticated market place.
I believed that the key to success lay in the client-maker
relationship, one of the most important factors contributing to the creative
550
Unikat Partners, Unikat Partners, furniture designer-makers, translated from German
by E. Koomen, Trier, 22 September 2001
182
process. What was needed, rather than a product range, was a series of
generic designs offering a framework within which individual design
solutions could evolve in collaboration with the client. This approach,
developed over a twenty year period, was ultimately to provide the
foundation to the “Signed & Sealed” project.
The concept began circa 1980 with four designs, three for coffee
tables and one for a stool. One of the table designs proved popular and
was commissioned on a regular basis in a variety of forms demonstrating
the practicability of the semi-bespoke approach (Fig 5). The next stage
was to produce a more comprehensive range of generic designs. I
decided to focus on dining chairs and tables for both strategic and
creative reasons. Dining tables, in my experience, were usually the first
piece of furniture in the dining room that clients would commission,
followed by chairs. I decided to concentrate on developing three chair
designs and three dining table designs. Each design was to be distinct in
both form and method of construction to increase the potential of
possibilities that could be explored with the client.
Between 1984 and 1991 six designs were developed as prototypes,
and began to form a generic range. These designs were intended to
provide a framework for dialogue with clients and encourage discussion
of their intrinsic and relative merits helping to facilitate the exploration of
ideas and inform the semi-bespoke process. The choice of timber was
critical to the process as this would influence not only the final look but
also the making of the furniture. The designs were based on using
readily available timber of a high quality and yield, i.e. with very few knots
and producing very little waste. Although I had had some experience
using home grown hardwoods, I found them too unpredictable in
appearance, quality and availability and therefore initially decided they
were not suitable for the designs I wanted to produce.
551
The temperate
crop timbers, including North American and European (mainly French and
German) seemed the appropriate choice since, as managed crop
timbers, they could be bought from U.K. timber merchants. The North
551
The first prototype HG dining table was made from locally grown elm
183
American grading system also gave assurance about yield and the
European timbers offered a consistently high quality product compared to
the variability of English timbers.
Clients were guided through the semi bespoke process based on
four principles, which could be summarised as follows:
Stylistic interpretation
• Original designs could be adapted to suit the clients’ aesthetic
preferences within certain constraints
Choice of woods
• Each design was to be made from a choice of four crop
hardwood timbers: oak, cherry, walnut, maple (Appendix VII)
• Clients were advised how the choice of material would alter the
design's appearance
Cost
• The prototype designs were priced according to the man hours
they were likely to take to produce based on the prototype and
previous commissions
• Transparent pricing enabled clients to decide if the furniture
was within their budget
• Design fees were not chargeable
Mix and Match
• The clients could combine any table with any chair design within
the range
• A semi-bespoke design could be combined with a one-off design
• Clients were encouraged to discuss the possibilities of
developing a hybrid design, combining elements of the original
generic prototypes
The semi-bespoke process therefore involved a method that was
intrinsically innovative in that it facilitated design solutions that met the
needs and aspirations of the client working within the well defined
limitations of each generic design. The direct relationship between the
client and designer-maker encouraged the spontaneous exchange of
ideas through a consultative dialogue. Innovative developments also
184
emerged through consultation with clients motivated by the impulse to
find an individual interpretation of a generic design. One client, for
example, who commissioned a set of maple high back chairs (Jones,
1993) chose to incorporate three inlay motifs rather than one in their
designs (Fig 6a/6b) and thereby created a new precedent with each chair
achieving individuality through a series of unique motifs designed for the
client.
Consultation with clients based on the semi-bespoke process also
produced cost saving innovations to meet budgets. For example, to
reduce the cost of producing the generic high back chair, the labour
intensive technique of through tenons, a feature of the initial design, was
later replaced with stub tenons secured with a contrasting dowel (Regent
Associates, 1995). This method reduced man hours by over thirty per
cent and consequently the cost to the client.
Changing the dimensions of a design to meet the requirements of
clients could occasionally, however, be problematical when necessitating
radical modifications of proportions of a design to harmonise with the new
measurements. Chairs in particular are susceptible to dimensional
changes. To minimise these problems, the modifications to the
sculptured chair and ladder-back chair, for example, were carefully
controlled. The original seat heights, widths and depths remained a
constant; only the overall heights were adjusted to create different
proportions. In the early stages of the semi-bespoke process each new
commission that deviated from the original prototype version presented a
challenge to produce a well proportioned variation. An empirical
approach became necessary to resolve the dimension-proportion
relationship. In the case of the HG table design (Fig 7), for example, the
request for different sizes eventually led to a range of standard circular
and extendable versions. As well as producing semi-bespoke designs by
modifying standard jigs, an extensive range of variations and possibilities
evolved over an eighteen year period and twenty-eight commissions
demonstrating the flexibility of the semi-bespoke process.
Choosing a wood was also an integral part of the semi-bespoke
process, a decision usually made in the final stages. Clients' knowledge
185
of timber is often very limited so they have to be guided through the
options. Four woods were originally offered: North American maple,
cherry, walnut and European oak. This limited selection helped to
simplify the choice although other woods can be offered. Clients made
their choice based on aesthetic preference, practicality and availability.
The use of inlay (stringing) also played an important part in many of
the early generic designs. The selection of inlays: boxwood, pear wood,
walnut, rosewood and brown oak extend the choice of woods and create
scope for interesting combinations of solid wood and inlay. These
timbers and inlays were offered to clients because they proffer a palette
of interesting colour and grain which is enlivened by polishing. Clients
were advised that no stain was applied prior to polishing and the wood
was carefully selected for matching colour and grain although subtle
variations in the wood grain and colour would occur.
Each generic design took on a different quality or style according to
the choice of wood and inlay used. For example, the HG table in maple
had a contemporary quality; in contrast walnut or cherry, with a
contrasting inlay such as boxwood or rosewood, created a classical style
reminiscent of Georgian mahogany dining tables. Oak and English ash
on the other hand were often used where the tables are going to receive
heavy domestic use, i.e. a kitchen. The integrity of the process depended
on the designer-maker giving the client an informed but disinterested
understanding of the aesthetic and practical considerations advising them
on the appropriateness of their preferred choice.
As the semi-bespoke process developed an extensive range of
designs and new forms based around variations of the theme
supplemented the original six generic designs, creating a rich field of
choice that enabled clients and designer alike to explore new possibilities.
The original three generic chair designs, for example, have generated a
total of fourteen variations over a nineteen year period demonstrating the
potential of the semi-bespoke concept to create a diversity of forms. The
high back chair (Fig 8), for example, has had six commissions. One
commission required the chair design to be coordinated with a mahogany
Chippendale-style cabinet. The selected design reflected some of the
186
cabinet’s classical features (Fig 9). A characteristic that became
apparent during the semi-bespoke process was that the rectilinear form
could be adapted in size without compromising the design. The ladder-
back chair (Fig 10), the most traditional of the three chairs, has also
evolved into six variations, each of which has its own distinct character.
One variation, the 'X' chair (Fig 11), was originally produced in 1989; five
more variations were commissioned by 2001. The potential for further
variations is almost unlimited; the generic form has a vernacular quality
that can be adapted to many historic design styles in a pared down form.
Variations have also developed through hybrid designs based on
developing elements from different generic designs. Two new hybrid
generic chair designs have emerged, for example Allen, 1995 (Fig 12)
and Jones, 1998, (Fig 6a/b). This approach produced varied results;
though the Allen chair, for example, proved complex to make, despite the
simplicity of the design, increasing costs accordingly, the Jones chair, on
the other hand, achieved a reduction of man hours and therefore reduced
costs.
The versatility of the generic design concept is also clearly
evidenced in its success. The HG table has to date been commissioned
for twenty-eight interiors, including twenty dining rooms and seven
kitchen-living rooms. Feedback from clients has also encouraged the
reworking of the generic designs to create derivative forms that extend
their possibilities both in form and function. The HG table, to date, has
produced variants which include an extendable dining table, a console
table, and a 200 cm diameter conference table (Sotheby's, 1999).
In terms of a historic summary of the Philip Koomen Furniture semi-
bespoke process to date, its key features can be detailed as follows:
1. A transparent process in which:
• Six generic designs (three chairs and three tables) form the basis
of the semi bespoke process
• Transparent cost benchmarks and no design fee are critical to the
integrity of the semi-bespoke design process
187
• Simple methods are used to illustrate appropriate design solutions:
line drawings (to illustrate design variations), plan drawings and full
size templates for tables together with polished wood samples to
indicate colour figure and finish, etc.
2. A consultative client relationship which:
• Produces individual solutions without the problems inherent in the
one-off approach
• Produces design innovations and cost savings
• Facilitates those clients who want individual solutions but are
generally not process orientated
3. A range of woods which:
• Limit the basic range of timber to four choices to control quality
and costs
• Offer sufficient range in combination to create different qualities or
styles appropriate to different interiors and domestic uses
4. A range of dimension variations which:
• Allow each design to be varied according to customer specification
• Allow each design to be customised to produce a definitive
variation (an element of uniqueness)
All the above (together with the possibility of hybrid variations across the
six generic designs) have produced an extensive field of design variations
over the past twenty years, demonstrating the effectiveness of the idea of
a generic range and semi-bespoke approach as a strategy to promote
craftsman-made furniture in the market place.
From semi-bespoke to “Signed & Sealed”
Having described the original semi-bespoke concept and principles, and
its subsequent development it is now possible to describe how the
concept and the insights came to be applied and developed in the
“Signed & Sealed” project. The solution was simple enough: it is the
combination of locally sourced timbers together with generic design
that best defines the Signed & Sealed range. It is a combination that
has proved dynamic, particularly in inspiring new generic models. It also
188
presents a new set of problems and challenges quite distinct from semi-
bespoke. Furthermore, it is a combination that has impacted upon my
practice in a subtle, complex and broader way. What began to unfold
was how the sourcing of non-commercial locally sourced timber has
begun to produce a creative dynamic in the semi-bespoke process which
is distinct from the original one. For example, the “Signed & Sealed”
process generally requires more discussion with the clients in order to
determine the most appropriate selection of figure. In high grade crop
timbers, grain and colour are very consistent and selection is a relatively
straightforward process. In using locally sourced timber the predictability
of the colour, grain and defectives is less certain. As the variability of the
wood will have a great influence on the aesthetic appearance of the
furniture, it may be necessary to engage the client at several different
stages of the selection process either because the designer-maker
intuitively feels it necessary to consult the client (Brett, 2001) or because
the client asks to be involved in the selection process (Howlett, 2001). In
“Signed & Sealed” the semi-bespoke process in relation to identifying
unique signature is a more complex one compared to using crop timbers.
In the case of the two commissions mentioned the clients were part of the
process of identifying the unique signature. The range and variability of
locally sourced timber made it essential that the clients were witness to
my selection preferences and had an opportunity to share their reactions
and considerations. In this way the semi-bespoke has become a more
interactive process compared to using crop timbers.
The important area of costing “Signed & Sealed” designs has been
more problematical compared to semi-bespoke designs. Establishing
cost bench marks for the “Signed & Sealed” range has been more difficult
to achieve for a number of reasons. Firstly, the range of designs is now
very extensive and the data for man hours is limited to usually one or two
projects for each design. There is therefore as yet insufficient information
to develop comprehensive costing for every design produced except
perhaps for the “Pondlife” bench (Fig 13). Even when a number of
variations of the same design have been produced there can be
considerable differences in the man hours involved in each piece (e.g. the
189
plank table). The only consistent example to emerge so far has been the
“Pondlife” bench which now has been made often enough to allow the
development of a comprehensive price range. As the “Signed & Sealed”
project unfolds a price guide no doubt will be developed reflecting the
range of man hours that each design may take to produce and to this
may be added the increased cost of an extended dialogue in connection
with the choice of local (non commercial) timbers and their inherent
complexities. However, in addition to cost bench marks the principle of
not charging for the design work integral to the semi-bespoke concept
was adopted in the “Signed & Sealed” project. Testing the cost
boundaries has only been successfully done to date in the “Pondlife”
bench design series because it has been possible to produce them as a
series ensuring comparative data on making hours is available.
Another basic assumption of bespoke and semi-bespoke design is
the ability to produce furniture in non-standard sizes unlike most
manufactured furniture. In the original semi-bespoke concept an
optimum range of sizes for each generic design evolved through each
commission, beyond which the form was compromised. Materials were
not normally a constraining factor in the design process. In the “Signed &
Sealed” range, however, it is evident that materials define possibilities.
This is both a constraint and an area of creative possibilities. The
designs evolve in response to the materials and dictate the ultimate forms
in ways that crop timbers do not. In the “Pondlife” bench design, for
example, the dimensions of the seat and reeds can be altered
significantly without compromising the design concept. The standard
bench has been developed through the semi-bespoke processes and
now is available in anything from a single seater to a five-seater bench,
measuring 2.6 meters long by 2.9 meters high. The materials for the
reeds, sweet chestnut thinnings which are readily available, can
accommodate many different sizes to meet the needs of clients. Yet,
each “Pondlife” retains an organic shape because of the individuality of
the carved reeds. In contrast, the plank table and plank chair designs are
constrained dimensionally by the materials. The timber is generally
selected from ear marked pieces or sourced from a log with the potential
190
to produce a design that will meet a client’s requirements. Like the
“Pondlife” bench, the plank table and chairs are not sensitive to critical
dimensions as they are predominantly sculptural pieces. Clients are
willing to accept that nature is playing a hand in defining what is possible.
Cabinet work and dining tables, by contrast, tend to require a more
controlled approach consistent with their function. Dining tables have to
be designed for specific seating and cabinet work usually has specific
storage requirements; both must fit into room spaces that will determine
their dimensions and shape. Customised dimensions do not present
practical difficulties in semi-bespoke designs although they can affect the
proportions of the original generic designs. The main problem at this
stage in terms of the “Signed & Sealed” brand is the material constraint of
locally sourced timber. The restrictions of size and thickness of the
material available and the variability of the quality, combined with the
negotiation of its unique signature results in a high wastage factor
compared to crop timbers. In the cabinet for the Wilson commission
(2001), for example, the readily available stock of brown/tiger oak
enabled the cabinet to be produced from timber selected to achieve the
desired result. This helped to reduce waste although a significant
proportion of the timber had to be set aside due to its variability of colour.
The Brett “Trio” plank tables (Fig 14) were also selected from pristine
boards of brown/tiger oak. As the boards are only partially used we are
effectively left with off-cuts. This raises the issue that the client may have
to pay for the whole board rather than just the proportion used for their
furniture. It also challenges the basic premise of semi-bespoke using
crop timbers where clients could have a design tailored to specific
dimensions. In relation to “Signed & Sealed” specific items of furniture,
such as cabinets and dining tables, may only be able to be produced on a
limited basis depending on the availability of suitable timber.
In the semi-bespoke approach using crop timbers clients want
individual solutions but are generally not process orientated; consultation
normally takes place prior to the making with little involvement in the
decisions thereafter that determine the final product. When they are
involved, these decisions are in some sense arbitrary such as deciding
191
what decorative elements such as inlay to include or what motif is
appropriate for the design. Choice of wood is made from a limited
number of options and is based on aesthetic judgement. However, in
terms of the “Signed & Sealed” brand when clients engage with the idea
of timber that is locally sourced, a new perspective emerges in which the
timber employed is no longer just another commodity. The suggestion of
using locally sourced timber is often initially seen as politicised (Howlett,
2001. Howlett assumed it was unobtainable) but once the choice is
discussed as an option it is favoured over other woods. In the case of
two clients (Rieple, 2001 and Woolcot, 2001) it was also the preferred
choice over crop timbers. Once the client is committed to this possibility,
the selection of the wood takes on an ideological function becoming a
focal part of the process.
The provenance of the material and its availability can become the
basis for consultation over the length of the commissioning process. In
the Howlett’s commission, for example, identifying an appropriate mix of
woods required numerous discussions over an extended period of
months until a suitable combination (yew and walnut) was found. In this
instance, fortunately, the client was content to engage in a protracted
dialogue because he was aware that the choice of appropriate local
timber was vital to the ideological status of the final piece.
The clients’ involvement in the selection process can often continue
after the initial choice of timber has been made. For example, in the
Woolcot commission, the original choice of olive ash for a table had to be
substituted with beech, the olive ash being unsuitable. Again, the choice
of beech for the Rieple writing desk was also problematical as the only
timber then available was spalted and considered inappropriate by the
clients. It was subsequently substituted for FSC oak - unlike crop timbers
the choice of local timbers can be affected by perceived quality issues.
So then, choosing locally sourced timber engages the client more fully in
the whole design process when availability, practicality and ideology are
all at issue.
Another aspect of the original semi-bespoke concept is
transparency which is critical to initiating and maintaining the integrity of
192
the semi-bespoke process. The importance of a transparent dialogue
with clients has an even greater significance with the “Signed & Sealed”
brand because the process involves the local sourcing of timber with all
the complex ideological and practical issues that this entails.
One of the most significant differences, for example, is the issue of
wood selection. In the semi-bespoke process clients were given small
wood samples of timbers to indicate how the end product would look. By
contrast, in the “Signed & Sealed” approach the client is involved in a
selection process which begins by examining examples of individual
boards from the wood store or converted logs in the yard. The client is
thus initiated as an active participant in identifying potentially suitable
timber for their design. Choosing a timber is no longer directed by the
crop timbers on offer (and available in the market place); instead choice
is influenced by what is available from the workshop stock and at what
stage the timber is in the drying process.
Clients also become aware (Howlett and Brett) that they are not just
choosing a timber in the same way they might choose furniture in a retail
shop, unaware of the environmental implications of their relationship with
the source. The concept of transparency is extended to another level
with the client and designer-maker engaged in joint decisions which can
be seen to have an impact on the local cycle.
In the “Signed & Sealed” brand the choice of timber is also based on
what is obtainable and processed from local sources and available from
the workshop stock. This has been developed to the greatest extent in
the “Pondlife” bench design in which the choice of woods has been pre-
selected. The local sourcing of the sweet chestnut is now being
managed successfully and commissions can therefore be negotiated in
the knowledge that there is continuity of supply for at least two or three
years and further supplies can be negotiated in the knowledge that the
timber is cultivated locally.
Another aspect of semi-bespoke is that the timber to be used is
chosen on a highly selective basis because of its variable colour grain
and form (Wilson, 2001). This variability can become a stimulant for the
exploration of the unique signature of each piece of timber that makes up
193
the elements of the design. Creating a dialogue between the various
elements of each design celebrates the unique signature of the materials
and symbolically embodies the idea of the integrated local cycle in which
a complete piece of furniture is made entirely from one log.
The original semi-bespoke concept was characterised by simple and
well defined strategy based around a limited number of designs.
However, in the “Signed & Sealed” project the exploratory nature of the
design process using locally sourced non-commercial timber has
generated an extensive range of new generic designs (currently thirty-
eight). These can be divided into two broad categories: firstly designs
that are very directly inspired by the material with all their so called flaws
(e.g. “Pondlife”, plank chair and table and the “Narnia” cabinet). These
designs could not have been made from bland crop timbers. Secondly,
inter-designs
552
which have been inspired by the material (e.g. the “Two
U” bench) and derive aesthetic quality from the unique signature of the
wood but in principle could also be made in blander crop timbers. This
works in reverse too, in the sense that inter-designs, which were
conceived as semi-bespoke designs, can be enhanced by the use of local
timbers and successfully incorporated into the “Signed & Sealed” (e.g.
“Ebb & Flow”) range.
One of the most important characteristics of the semi-bespoke
process was that clients could have individual solutions that met their
needs without the problems inherent in the one-off approach. The key to
the viability of this approach was for the designer to work within the
limitations of the generic design. This meant that any modifications
required should not involve a disproportionate increase in man hours and
hence costs. The “Signed & Sealed” commissions have also produced a
number of examples that demonstrated the ability of the generic design to
produce individual solutions too. The “Pondlife” bench, for example, has
produced three variations in addition to the original three designs in
response to clients’ needs. Two versions, a 2¼ and 2½ seater, are
simple adaptations. The more ambitious Bourton House “Pondlife” bench
552
Inter-designs is a term which comes from “inter” meaning “between” or more
specifically in relation to the “Signed & Sealed” project “interchangeable”
194
(Fig 15) has been designed as a site-specific piece, serving as an
outdoor sculptural focal point in a private garden open to the public.
Once the design concept was finalised with the client, the technical
problems could be resolved efficiently. This project was completed within
its allocated man hours, as were the previous two commissions.
There are also other examples that highlight the potential of the
“Signed & Sealed” commissions to meet clients’ needs. The three
commissions for chests of drawers (Foden, 2001; Wilson, 2001; Howlett,
2001) were also produced without unforeseen technical problems arising
in the construction. Each design was based on different constructional
methods and therefore required different resolutions. The experience of
the technical problems encountered in producing the Foden’s first
commission for bedroom furniture (Foden, 1997) was resolved in their
new “Signed & Sealed” bedroom furniture designs (Fig 16) which
substituted crop timbers (American cherry) for locally sourced timbers
(Checkendon, Oxfordshire cherry). The Wilson's commission (Fig 17), an
adaptation of an earlier semi-bespoke design (Sutcliffe, 1996), also
proved straightforward; the inclusion of a series of drawers with the
modified dowel construction avoided the more demanding and
unnecessary hand-dovetailed construction. The man hours to produce
each piece gave the clearest indication of actual problems. The actual
man hours to produce these commissions were only marginally above the
estimated time. The Howlett commission, by comparison, was less than
the estimate (Fig 18).
Two more examples illustrate the same principle. The commissions
for low tables (Day, 2001 and Brett, 2001) also produced individual
solutions with few technical problems, in the “Signed & Sealed” strategy.
Day's storage table designs (Fig 19b/c) and display cabinet (Fig 19a)
resolved the problem of providing versatile pieces of furniture using very
simple constructional methods. The display cabinet which used mitred
and biscuit-jointed corner joints, for example, was an adaptation of the
mitred plank table and proved a practical and neat solution. The Brett
“Trio” plank tables (Fig 14), which also used the same jointing technique
were also well resolved for their purposes. As well as creating three
195
occasional tables to replace old ones and match the original dimensions,
the third table also acted as a firewood storage unit by modifying the
position of the legs to act as a screen.
There have also been difficulties. The commission for a
development of the plank tables (Bowen, 2001, Fig 20a/b/c/d) was more
ambitious conceptually and presented technical problems. The design
was conceived for use on two levels; rotating each table through 90º to
up-end them into new positions. Although the idea was practicable, the
resolution of the design for the supplementary leg and the physical
handling of the large and weighty pieces of timber mitigated against the
tables being produced as efficiently as the other two commissions which
were also based on the same generic design. These technical problems
however represent minor difficulties in relation to the viability of the
“Signed & Sealed” project as a whole.
The costing of the “Signed & Sealed” designs have been more
problematical than the original semi-bespoke designs with the exception
of the “Pondlife” bench series and the plank table. These designs have
been produced regularly and so an average making time has been
established from which a price guide has been formulated. A two seater
“Pondlife”, for example, averages seventy hours to make and costs
£2364 (all prices mentioned include VAT). The plank table, which is
made from selected planks of variable size, can take between twelve and
eighteen hours to produce. As the “Signed & Sealed” designs develop
through identifying sustainable sources of timber it will become more
straightforward to establish transparent cost benchmarks in the same way
as the original semi-bespoke range. However, at this stage of the project
it is not possible to do so as the information is not available until more
designs are produced.
Therefore the essential differences in the idea of the semi-bespoke,
as applied to the “Signed & Sealed” project, come out of its use of local
timbers and their inherent complexity and diversity. In “Signed & Sealed”
new designs are informed by the diverse characteristics and unique
signature of the wood; it is therefore more complex because it can not be
196
controlled in the same way as the original concept. At this stage I would
argue this is intrinsic to the process.
The complexity of the process imposes limitations in terms of
developing it as the exclusive activity of the workshop practice. Although
“Signed & Sealed” brand is embedded in the practice it is more complex
to negotiate than semi-bespoke. One of the main limitations is the
availability of and processing facilities for local timber which is currently
restricted to the workshop based local cycle established for the purpose
of this project. It is probably not possible to expand the local cycle much
beyond the current scale, at least not in the short-term. Such an
expansion would constitute a greater financial investment than
undertaken to date and could not be justified (presently) in economic
terms. Even if this was a consideration the management of a local cycle
would shift the focus away from its current design and make base and
thereby change the nature of the practice. Alternative sources of local
timber are also very limited; the only known supplier is a one man
industry in the very early stages of becoming established. As an
alternative to local timbers a conscious effort has been made by Philip
Koomen Furniture to source English timber from two independent
specialist timber merchants; one in particular, supplies English FSC oak,
ash and beech. This initiative began at the beginning of 2006 with the
aim of still using U.K. timber where strictly local timber was not available
thereby reducing the practice’s present dependence on European oak.
However, this move has been problematical in terms of quality control.
Neither company has been able to supply a standard of timber
appropriate for the practice’s needs: kilning defects, ring shake and
discolouration being a few of the problems. By contrast, the European
timbers which have been sourced from one of the large timber
merchants, which has well regulated quality controls in place, has always
met the criteria for our needs. The “Signed & Sealed” furniture has
therefore to be restricted to what is presently available until alternative
sources of local timber can be identified and the local cycle developed.
This limitation does not severely restrict the creative aspect of the
“Signed & Sealed” process. The current level of timber stock built up
197
over the duration of the PhD project provides a valuable resource to
explore creative possibilities with clients through the semi-bespoke
process and experimental designs. The process can now be sustained
into the future. As stock is being used, it is being replaced by new stock.
In 2006, for example, both oak and walnut logs have been purchased
from local estates. The purchase of a substantial cherry tree has also
been arranged, ensuring continuity of supply for “Signed & Sealed” items
for at least three years.
By contrast, the four year duration of this project has produced a
great range of designs in a relatively short time. “Pondlife”, for example,
has been transformed from a one-off to become a well recognised range:
fifteen variations have been produced and a coffee table version was also
commissioned. Most recently a “Pondlife” bed design proposal has been
produced (as a model) for a client, suggesting the semi-bespoke concept
has some way to run yet. The plank table and chair (unique to “Signed &
Sealed”) and “Ebb & Flow” series (an inter-design) have also begun to
show interesting developments demonstrating their versatility as generic
design concepts. It is clear at this stage that new designs will continue to
be developed and current designs will continue to evolve. What is also
evident is that the “Signed & Sealed” brand has begun to take on a
distinct identity.
In summary, the defining characteristics of semi-bespoke as
developed in the “Signed & Sealed” range are now as follows:
1. An extensive range of thirty-eight designs exploiting the specific
qualities of locally sourced timber (some of which are unique to the
range while others can be produced in commercial timbers, i.e.
inter-designs)
2. An enhanced maker/client dialogue around selecting local timbers
and exploiting unique signature qualities at various stages in the
design and making process
3. Engagement in an enterprise that responds to the global issues
identified in Agenda 21 by investing in sustainable practice which
promote the local cycle
198
In conclusion, the “Signed & Sealed” project has facilitated the move of
Philip Koomen Furniture towards a more holistic and defensible
ideological practice as it moves into the twenty-first century.
2.2 The local cycle
Forest resources and forest lands should be sustainably managed to
meet the social, economic, ecological, cultural and spiritual human needs
of the present and future generations
Earth Summit
Few furniture makers source their own timber. However, it is perhaps not
without significance that both Alan Peters and John Makepeace, two
designer-makers pre-eminent in their generation both buy complete logs,
convert them and dry them at their own premises. Peters obtains his logs
from local estates ten to fifteen miles from his workshop.
553
Makepeace
also sources timber from further afield in the U.K.
554
Both maintain a
large stock of their own timber which gives them greater freedom and
control when they start selecting materials for a furniture design. What is
perhaps most significant in relation to the development of their craft is the
benefit the intimate knowledge of material has on their design.
Most furniture makers, however, prefer to buy from timber
merchants who specialise in a range of woods, imported or home grown,
often both. Some merchants have their own saw mill and kilns, buying
logs directly from estates or through wholesalers. Merchants often
specialise, each offering a different range of timbers, services and price
tariffs, thus encouraging buyers to purchase from more than one supplier.
The timber trade is dominated by a small number of larger
merchants spread over the country. Selecting timber requires a journey
to the merchant and so most furniture makers prefer instead to order by
telephone, indicating the quality and specification they want, leaving
selection to the merchant. If the quality does not meet their requirements
553
A. Peters, Cabinetmaking: The Professional Approach, Stobart & Son Ltd, London,
1984, p. 131
554
J. Myerson, Makepeace: A Spirit of Adventure in Craft and Design, Conran Octopus,
1995, pp. 100-101
199
they can reject it (however, this normally has to be done before the timber
is machined as the merchant will not accept planed wood). If the wood
has obvious faults such as kilning defects or woodworm the merchant is
under obligation to replace it or reimburse the cost.
While this method of buying would appear to be the most efficient
and risk-free, relying on the timber merchant for selection often presents
difficulties for the designer-maker. I have learnt from over twenty-five
years of experience that selection is subjective and it is therefore
necessary to inspect each board personally. Graded timber will predict
yield but it cannot indicate whether the wood will produce an interesting
and appropriate figure in the furniture, for example.
The qualities of timber are also so variable that the individuality of
each board in a log will indicate the type of furniture that it can be used
for. Although this method requires an investment in time it can be more
economical in the long term, as prudent, selective buying can both reduce
the volume of timber needed and minimise waste. Buying timber at any
stage, from the standing tree to the kiln dried board will always be a
speculative and risky exercise, a problem inherent in the material.
The typical contemporary designer-maker in the Oxfordshire
Chilterns area no longer sources his own timber as was common
amongst the traditional furniture making craft and industry up to the
Second World War. Local furniture makers like Jack Goodchild
555
and
Geoff Boyson,
556
who sourced their own timber, were unusual after the
Second World War. Woodlands are no longer managed for the benefit of
woodworkers, owners and community alike. The designer-maker today
rarely considers extending his skills to sourcing his own timber, it being
generally regarded as too problematical, preferring instead to buy through
the timber trade. By contrast, contemporary German furniture makers are
becoming more opportunistic, integrating the sourcing of timber into their
practice, an interesting situation which is worth some discussion.
555
Jack Goodchild made Windsor chairs in Naphill, near High Wycombe. He died in
1950
556
Geoff Boyson (b 1916) was a bespoke furniture maker in Stoke Row, near Henley-
on-Thames. He retired in the 1990s
200
Mark Ripley, for example, whose workshop is in South Moreton,
near Wallingford, Oxfordshire, is unusual amongst local designer-makers.
He has made the decision to limit the range of timbers he uses to locally
sourced woods from the Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire areas; ninety
percent is oak and the rest is ash and sweet chestnut. He avoids elm
and cherry believing that they dry poorly. He has developed a long term
relationship with a timber merchant who buys logs directly from estates in
the Gloucestershire area and who will identify timber that is particularly
suitable for fine furniture making.
557
The provenance of his timber is
therefore assured.
558
For other makers, provenance can be challenging, as timber
merchants may not be aware of the provenance of the timber they sell.
Barnaby Scott for example, based in Charlbury, North Oxfordshire, uses
mostly home grown hardwoods and would, like Ripley, prefer to use
English timber of known provenance but has been less successful in
obtaining it: ‘I used to ask questions about where it comes from but found
it hard to get answers. We have given up asking. We are comforted by it
being home grown in this country’.
559
He has also discovered that
specifying certain English hardwoods for a project can create difficulties
in sourcing them; timbers such as brown oak, for example, are not readily
available and can be difficult to obtain within the 3 to 6 months time frame
of a commission.
560
Furthermore, these are minor problems for the designer-maker
compared to the difficulties of buying and stocking his own timber.
According to Scott these included insect infestations and never having
the exact thicknesses needed to complete a commission. Petter
Southall, a designer-maker based in Dorset, also flags up as difficult the
need to store timber and the investment and time needed to manage the
process.
561
Both Scott and Southall prefer to order timber specifically for
557
Alex Goldworthy of Timberpride
558
Ripley. Interviewed by Koomen
559
Scott. Interviewed by Koomen
560
Ibid.
561
Southall. Interviewed by Norbury
201
each commission and believe sourcing and managing timber is an
unnecessary distraction and expense for the designer-maker.
While it could be argued that these designer-makers are too small to
integrate into their practices sourcing and managing of timber, which
requires specialist skills, the size of the business does not necessarily
increase the feasibility of local sourcing - as is demonstrated by Stewart
Linford’s company.
Stewart Linford, an established and well-known large craft-based
bespoke furniture maker in High Wycombe, uses about 100 cu ft per
week of English hardwoods including ash, beech, elm, burr elm, oak, burr
oak and walnut. He does not buy timber speculatively in the round as he
does not want to risk buying an inferior log. Like Scott and Southall, he
regards timber buying as a profession in its own right; sourcing timber
directly would not be economical and involve greater risk. He prefers to
develop long-term relationships with timber merchants who develop an
understanding of his needs. As a relatively large bespoke craft user of
timber Linford is able to buy the quality of timber he needs, sourcing the
rarer timbers like burr oak, elm and timbers with historical provenance for
exceptional pieces through his regular suppliers. These include, for
example, ancient oaks from Windsor Great Park, 4000 year old bog oak
from Ireland, and oak from the estate of Leeds Castle. Although Linford
represents a revival of Windsor chair making in the Chilterns area this
has not been reflected in the increased use of local timbers. The timber
trade infrastructure that serves the needs of the furniture industry in the
area has, in fact, declined in parallel with that of the High Wycombe
furniture industry.
562
The organisation of the timber trade also makes it increasingly
difficult to source local timbers. Obtaining regular supplies of local timber
can be problematical for both the one-man business and the large
manufacturer. Michael Buck for example, a green woodworker based in
Oxford, designs and makes bespoke sculptured garden installations
using coppice hazel. His nearest source is Tackley Wood, six miles from
562
Linford. Interviewed by Koomen
202
his base near Oxford. The long-term decline in the management of
coppice in the Oxfordshire area has made sourcing an adequate supply
difficult and time consuming for him. He has to “cherry pick” the best of
the poor quality coppice available, which has not reached the full rotation
period of 6-7 years. Coppice workers do not own the woodland they use
but buy the right to harvest the yield. Coppice is grown alongside oak
standards. Michael explains: ‘there is a relationship: the oak grows
straight because of the coppice and the coppice grows straight because
of the oak. The straighter the oak standards, the higher the value of the
timber’.
563
The decline in local woodland management has made the supply of
quality timber more difficult. Economic woodland management depends
on a high level of cooperation between the woodland owners and the
timber users. Tom Dean, former MD of Ercol, the furniture manufacturer
in High Wycombe, explains that having developed from the local craft
furniture making tradition in the Chilterns, Ercol uses mainly beech and
elm, two woods associated with the Windsor chair. The company was
able to source these timbers from the area until the 1990s by which time
it became less confident of the continuity of supply. In order to secure the
quality of timber it needed it was forced to buy “job lots” which included
timber unsuitable for its purposes, which it sold on. Ercol had to pay a
premium for its timber. Its reputation as a large consumer of timber had
an adverse effect on its ability to negotiate a competitive price. To
compound its problems, Ercol found that timber suppliers were indifferent
to their requirements, selling only when it suited their own cash flow
needs
564
. The lack of continuity and the increasing difficulty of sourcing
suitable quality pushed them to find alternative sources. Ercol now obtain
their beech from Denmark and their elm from Pennsylvania, USA, where
they own a sawmill. On their withdrawal from the local timber market the
price of beech fell dramatically and has continued to fall as the national
563
Michael Buck, green woodworker, Oxford. Interviewed by P. Koomen, 16 June 2001
564
T. Dean, ‘The Future of Furniture Making in the Chilterns’, Chilterns Woodland
Conference, 16 October 2004
203
demand for beech has been replaced by European beech and alternative
timbers.
565
The story of the decline of English hardwoods in large-scale
manufacturing may not be solely attributable to lack of cooperation either.
Mark Wilkinson for example, owner of Mark Wilkinson Furniture, believes
it is not possible for bespoke companies of his size to rely on a
sustainable supply of English hardwood timbers: ‘we would start to inroad
on parkland trees and ruin how England looks’.
566
The implication of
Wilkinson’s arguments is that it is only smaller craft-based businesses
that are suited to using English timber and developing markets that
exploit their diverse characteristics.
This said, there are many examples of local designer-makers
attracted to the idea of using locally sourced timber who are prevented by
the problems associated with it. Angus Ross for example, based at
Ipsden near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, would like to use local
timbers but presently regards it an ideal as he sees too many problems
associated with sourcing although his long-term objective is to source his
own timber and build up a stock. He aims to develop a range of suitable
designs to ensure the wood is used rather than concentrate on one-
offs.
567
Richard Williams, based in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, would
also only consider using local timbers if there was a local supplier who
could offer a professional service. He regards the demands of running a
business as too arduous to consider exploring local sources, preferring
the convenience and certainty of a timber merchant. He prefers North
American timbers as they can be bought over the phone without the need
to select. ‘You know its yield and its colour; you don’t want to spend time
selecting timber that fits a particular requirement’. Williams’ own attempt
at buying English timber in the round was time consuming and costly.
Like other furniture makers he believes it is more viable to buy from
565
Ibid.
566
Mark Wilkinson, furniture designer-maker, High Wycombe. Interviewed by P.
Koomen, 10 July 2001
567
Ross. Interviewed by Koomen
204
specialists. However, he does aspire to stock his own timber if only he
had suitable storage space.
568
While there is clearly a latent demand for locally sourced timber, a
lack of infrastructure prevents the creation of a local market. This
situation is quite different from the furniture designer-makers in the Trier
area, Germany, for example
569
. They are, by contrast, committed to
using locally grown hardwoods. More than forty per cent of their
consumption is local beech, followed by cherry, sycamore, walnut and
alder. Oak which grows plentifully is unfashionable, and as a
consequence of low demand is in abundant supply, the reverse of the
Chilterns situation. Of four furniture makers visited in Trier, three
specialised in working in solid wood but each one had developed a niche
market using specific timbers. This affected the sourcing and selection of
the timber they used. For example, the most experimental of the
designer-makers, the Unikat Partners, established in 1998 and employing
three craftsmen, sourced unusual timbers including lace wood. As well
as buying green timber they buy local kiln-dried oak from a nearby
sawmill at a modest price (the equivalent of £12 per cu ft, less than half
the price of English oak). According to Norbert, one of the partners, their
motivation was both economic and aesthetic. Buying green timber
represented a good financial investment and they wanted to experiment
with different woods in their designs; they also wanted to provide a wider
choice to clients.
Rudi Muller, whose one hundred year old family business in
Germany employs fourteen craftsmen, also buys timber directly from local
sawmills, collaborating with two other furniture makers in sourcing,
converting and drying beech and alder. Muller has recently made the
decision to limit his production to these two timbers as he has found that
it is uneconomic and problematical to manage more timbers. The other
furniture makers similarly prefer to limit the timbers they use; Wolfgang
Hank of Tischlerhof Newel, for example, produces all his kitchen furniture
568
Williams. Interviewed by Koomen
569
Based on a tour sponsored by TWIG of furniture makers in the Trier area, Germany,
21-23 September 2001
205
in locally grown beech. None of these makers use North American
timbers regarding them as too expensive.
These German furniture makers are more organised and unified
than the Chilterns/Oxfordshire ones in their efforts to source local timber
perhaps because the German Guild system provides an effective network
on both a local and regional level. The emphasis on local timbers there is
apparently also influenced by wider public and client concern about the
lack of responsible management of tropical rain forests and its global
consequences. This concern extends to a refusal to produce furniture
that uses tropical timbers. Unikat suggests that as the public is sadly
largely unaware of the certified management schemes. However, there is
an impressive level of general environmental responsibility from the
furniture makers themselves. Muller and Winfried, for example, have both
undertaken an environmental audit and run their businesses in conformity
with government standards of best practice, offering a model that the
Oxfordshire and Chilterns designer-makers might well consider.
The U.K. is not without its own examples of local sourcing. Again,
like the German example, it is generally furniture makers themselves who
have taken the initiative and pioneered alternative local sourcing
schemes. Tidmarsh & Goodwin, for example, a company based in
Norfolk, produces high quality reproduction furniture with a staff of over
fifty. Since 1970 it has been buying and processing its own timber at its
sawmill. According to chairman of the company, Peter Goodwin, its aim
is to give a better price to the timber grower than the timber trade as the
middle men are eliminated. The majority of their timber comes from East
Anglia and up to a radius of 100 miles. It took seven years for the
company to become independent in oak because of the range of
thicknesses required and the length of time required to air-dry 10 cm thick
timber.
570
More recently, Tim Orson and a group of like minded furniture
makers set up the Oak Dean Co-op, an independent trading company
based in the Forest of Dean, in 2002. Their aim is to source and supply
570
Peter Goodwin, chairman Tidmarsh & Goodwin. Interviewed by telephone by P.
Koomen, 18 May 2004
206
local timbers from the Forest of Dean to a potential market of 200 wood
users in an area with a population of 72,000. Before their initiative,
ninety-five percent of timber was sourced from outside the area, yet there
were four mills in the area supplying secondary uses such as fencing and
gates. The initiative extends from sourcing to marketing and retailing.
They are able to tag timber, enabling customers who buy their furniture
products to know its provenance, i.e. where the tree was grown from
which the furniture was made. Orson emphasises that this is not a
marketing technique but it is intended for their records to verify the
timbers’ provenance. Although relatively young, this project has made
significant progress. It has received some financial support from
Woodland Heritage
571
to purchase a conversion band saw and the
Forestry Commission has been supporting the project in helping it to
overcome the problems of buying standing timber at auction (normally
only within the financial means of the timber trade).
572
As well as the above local examples, several other British
independent suppliers have taken the initiative. Tino Rawnsley based in
Cornwall, for example, is a woodland manager as well as a furniture
maker. He has recently set up as a supplier of local hardwoods to fellow
furniture makers to promote the Cornish supply. With this in mind he has
invested in the building of a solar kiln with the capacity to dry up to 150 cu
ft. He hopes that local furniture makers will see the economic and
aesthetic value of using his service, and in promoting the provenance of
Cornish timbers in their work.
573
Alex Goldworthy of Timberpride Ltd, based in Gloucestershire,
became a timber merchant recognising a need for landowners to have a
representative who could sell their timber both directly and more
profitably than through the timber trade. Local craftsmen, in his view,
were not obtaining quality English timbers directly from private estates.
571
Peter Goodwin (Tidmarsh & Goodwin) is a co-founder of Woodland Heritage, a
charity that promotes the management of woodlands for the production of high
quality timber
572
Tim Orson, furniture designer-maker. Interviewed by telephone by P. Koomen, 18
May 2004
573
Tino Rawnsley, furniture maker. Interviewed by telephone by P. Koomen, 4 April
2004
207
By adding value through converting and drying timber, and selling it to
local craftsmen, who prefer quality English timber of known provenance,
he has created an alternative market outside the established trade.
574
Finally, Coed Cymru (meaning Welsh Wood), a long-term politically
motivated regional initiative, was established in 1985 by local authorities
to revive the chronic condition of the Welsh woodlands by promoting the
use of local hardwoods. Welsh timber is promoted as a generic brand
through a network of twelve regional officers. Product development
enables low grade timber, which cannot be sold in the mainstream timber
market, to be used in timber based designs. The Welsh Angle range of
furniture designs (Fig 21), for example, is produced by businesses with
basic woodworking skills often alongside a farming practice. According to
David Jenkins, its director, low grade oak has been converted into
flooring with an annual turnover of £6,000.000 from a seed investment of
£900. This is an impressive example of a regional initiative which is
showing real benefits to the community and the economy. Since
government decentralisation and the establishment of the Welsh
Assembly there is according to Ian Nicolas, one of the regional officers,
evidence that Welsh politicians are pressing the Welsh Forestry
Commission to support Coed Cymru in the development of markets for
timber.
575
Such political leadership is critical to promoting sustainability.
The above examples illustrate that effective measures can be put in
place to facilitate utilising locally sourced timber, timber which would not
be considered commercially viable by the timber trade. There are,
however, challenges facing the marketing of local timbers in the
Oxfordshire/Chilterns region but there are considerable benefits if a local
market can be established. According to David Rees, project manager
at Oxfordshire Woodland Project:
Despite poor current availability, there are very good reasons why
furniture makers, joiners and perhaps others might wish to purchase
local hardwoods. Foremost among these is the desire to operate in
574
Alex Goldsworthy, furniture designer-maker. Interviewed by telephone by P. Koomen,
4 April 2004
575
Ian Nicolas, regional officer Coed Cymru. Interviewed by telephone by P. Koomen, 7
April 2004
208
a more sustainable fashion if only they can be presented for sale at
a competitive price.
576
The difficulties highlighted in establishing a local sourcing cycle led
to a consultative meeting to identify the problems and opportunities. The
invited group of woodland owners, managers and advisers, a contractor
and furniture makers represented the various stakeholders in woodland
management (Appendix VI, Local Sourcing - Participants “Better
Marketing of our Broadleaved Timber”). The results are summarised
firstly as regards the problems of marketing local timbers:
No local market
• Current demands for hardwood by joiners and furniture makers
are satisfied through the trade's commercial merchants and
importers
• Timber is no longer marketed locally on a significant level
No local distribution network
• Unlike the timber industry, there is no distribution network.
Woodland owners can sell to 'round' wholesalers but minimum
quantities and sizes limit sales opportunities
• When locally grown timber is bought by the trade its provenance
is usually lost
No infrastructure and expertise
• The decline in the local market has led to the reduction of the
infrastructure to process timber, i.e. saw mills and timber drying
kilns are closing down
• The associated expertise is also being lost
High cost of processing local timber
• Transport costs to and from a saw mill are high and minimum
loads are required (average cost £1 per ft
3
each way for a 250 ft
3
load)
• Conversion costs are between £1.50 and £2 per ft
3
• Kiln drying costs are between £3 and £4 per ft
3
576
David Rees, Oxfordshire Woodland Project, letter to P. Koomen, dated 24 October
2004
209
Competition
• Imported timber is readily available and is generally less
expensive than home grown. French oak, for example, is
cheaper than English and sweet chestnut is more expensive
than European oak based on current exchange rates
• The demand for square edged imported timber with a more
predictable yield and consistent quality is increasing
Supply issues
Preconditions of a working supply chain were considered. These
included:
• Timber of appropriate quality must be present in the local
woodland in sufficient quantity
• The appropriateness of felling, and the owners' willingness to fell
• Eight further factors were identified that affected availability, e.g.
species, dimensions, timing and environmental credentials
• Each factor may have a number of variables; for example, timber
dimensions may require five thicknesses multiplying the stock
requirements across a range of species
• The majority of timber users prefer to order timbers by phone
rather than inspect it
• Local timbers lack the consistency of imported timbers requiring
timber users to view it or a clear visual grading system to be
developed
• A local woodland timber supplier could not start a comparable
service to an established timber merchant
Quality
• Defining quality and grades is difficult
• Character grade is a subjective aesthetic assessment
• Timber yield is difficult to assess on non-standard timber
• Buyers want kiln dried timber as a safeguard against infestation;
air-dried timber or timber dried through a dehumidifier does not
eliminate the risks
210
By contrast, the potential advantages of developing a local market for
timber were seen to be as follows:
Higher price for local provenance
• Local timber of an appropriate quality should have a premium
price, just as organically grown vegetables and specialised foods
• Establishing a local market
• This will take a long time, probably five to twenty years
• It requires a collective will from a critical group of like-minded
stake holders
• Woodland managers will have to develop an understanding of
their potential buyers' requirements
• Timber buyers will have to be more aware of the woodland
managers' constraints
• New and existing local users with internet access could be
targeted to promote the sale of local timber, e.g. Oxfordshire
Furniture Makers Group
Processing timber
• Mobile sawmills can be used for conversion at the woodland to
reduce haulage costs
• Alternative technologies for timber drying can be used where the
timber is converted, e.g. dehumidifier units, solar energy kilns
Distribution
• Local depots could be set up to dry, store and sell timber
Partnerships
• Cooperative partnerships could be established with woodland
owners/managers and timber users to share costs and risks
Environmental benefits
• Creating a demand for local timber would improve the
management of woodlands by generating income from the sale
of timber and added value through processing the timber
“Signed & Sealed” and the local cycle
211
Establishing a local cycle for sourcing local timber on a regional basis
clearly represents a long-term challenge and would require a
considerable commitment by a group of like-minded stakeholders. In the
“Signed & Sealed” project the objective was to create a micro cycle for
Philip Koomen Furniture to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of
sourcing local timbers. This initiative is not without historical precedent.
The woodland areas adjacent to my workshop in Checkendon and
neighbouring Stoke Row and Highmoor in South Oxfordshire once
provided livelihoods for a significant numbers of men living locally in the
first half of the twentieth century, as well as supplying fuel for the villages.
Bodging and tent peg making were the two main woodcraft
occupations.
577
Local employment was later also found at the Stoke Row
Starbrush Company factory, built in 1921 to produce paint brush handles
called ‘brush backs’. The factory used about one thousand cubic feet of
beech every week but this was beyond the capacity of the local
woodland. Some timber was, however, felled around Checkendon and
Lambridge Wood, near Henley-on-Thames. The firm closed in 1982 due
to competition from cheaper imports from China and Romania.
578
There was no known tradition of fine furniture making in the locality
until Geoff Boyson moved into Stoke Row in 1946 when he bought an
area of woodland on which he built his workshop and house. Boyson
was aware of the history of woodland usage in his locality: ‘Stoke Row
used to depend a lot on timber and a lot of the people in those days were
wood people’. He was able to produce nearly everything from timber
grown in the locality. If he could not convert a log himself the local
woodworking factory Hamilton Starbrush Company would convert his
logs. This company would also supply him with beech and birch. In
order that he could manage his own timber he bought a trailer to transport
the logs to Starbrush or Smallbones, a local building and joinery
company, in Streatley, Berkshire, about six miles from his workshop. If
he saw an interesting tree suitable for furniture making he would make
577
A. Spencer-Harper, Dipping into the Wells: the story of the two Chilterns villages of
Stoke Row and Highmoor seen through the memories of their inhabitants, Robert
Boyd Publishers, Witney, 1999
578
Spencer-Harper, Dipping into the Wells
212
enquiries with the woodland owner, such as the Reed, Nettlebed and
Fleming Estate.
579
Boyson eventually retired in 1996, aged 80.
580
In 1984, I moved to my current workshop at Wheelers Barn,
Checkendon (Fig 1). However, my interest in using locally sourced
timbers began when I started professional furniture making. In 1976 in
Henley-on-Thames, I felled two mature elm trees blighted by Dutch elm
disease. The timber was converted at a local saw mill and air-dried at my
workshop. The availability of a relatively inexpensive material
581
made it
possible to undertake various speculative projects that would otherwise
be financially too risky to consider.
582
From these early ad hoc experiments in locally sourced timber a
conscious effort was made from the mid 1990s to source interesting
timbers in the woodland around my workshop. A limited network of
contacts, mainly tree surgeons, was established who would advise me
when a felled tree looked promising. Logs were bought intermittently on
this basis, converted at local sawmills and brought to the workshop where
they were air-dried for a number of years, until an appropriate
commission for furniture created an opportunity to use the timber to its
best advantage. The problem with this ad hoc approach was that a
considerable stock of timber was built up and there were only limited
opportunities to use it. One-offs and the range of semi-bespoke designs
were more suitable for crop timbers rather than local timbers. Another
problem was that the air-dried timber had to be kiln-dried at the nearest
commercial kiln and transported to and from Stokenchurch at additional
cost. The closure of the only local kiln, circa 2000, was an incentive to
considering alternative methods of locally sourcing and processing timber
which began in earnest in the beginning of 2001 with the commencement
of the “Signed & Sealed” project.
579
In the war, for example, Boyson bought stands of oak for £2 from the Ministry of
Defence that had been cleared from the Reeds Estate in Checkendon for missile
pads (‘good straight butts’).
580
Geoff Boyson, furniture designer-maker, High Wycombe. Interviewed by P. Koomen,
21 July 2001
581
The only direct costs were the conversion costs and transportation
582
The first HG dining table (1985 prototype) was made from this elm
213
Identifying actual and potential timber resources for the “Signed &
Sealed” project has presented minimal problems since many
relationships had been established with local tree surgeons in the 1990s
and therefore a vital link was already in place. The network was,
however, extended at the beginning of the project to include selected
woodlands and two charitable advisory agencies, The Oxfordshire
Woodland Project and The Chilterns Woodland Project, whose mandates
are to improve woodland management and timber utilisation in
Oxfordshire and the Chilterns.
583
These mutually supportive
organisations have been established for a number of years providing an
important source of impartial advice. A further source of advice has been
the Transnational Wood Industries Group (TWIG), which functioned from
1999 to 2002 to investigate how to improve the utilisation of timber in the
Chilterns area.
584
The original objective of this investigation was to identify suitable
resources available from selected local woodlands committed to
improving their management for sustainable timber production. A total of
thirteen woodlands and estates have participated. From these estates,
timber has been bought from six, either in the round or as air-dried
planks, and furniture subsequently made from them.
Two woodlands, Stonor Park and one in Stoke Row, have
subsequently begun their own timber conversion and drying; Stonor Park
was supervised by me (Fig 22-26), the other by Adam Dawson.
585
The
remaining five have to date not produced any timber suitable for the
project mainly due to lack of time, although in one case the contractor
felling oak preferred to sell the timber directly to the trade.
586
Non
woodland resources have also been identified and have been used or are
currently being processed. These have been acquired from sources as
583
Both organisations are funded by County and District Councils
584
TWIG was a multi-national partnership, part funded by the European Commission;
one of its partners was based in Trier, Germany
585
Adam Dawson is an agro-forestry scientist and project manager at the FSC Hardwick
Estate, Whitchurch, Oxfordshire
586
Besselsleigh Woodland owned by the Vale of White Horse District Council and
managed by David Rees, Oxfordshire Woodland Project
214
diverse as private gardens to institutions like Harcourt Arboretum,
Nuneham Courtenay, owned by the University of Oxford.
Identifying appropriate resources has come from a combination of
research and opportunities. Sweet chestnut was identified, in
collaboration with the Oxfordshire Woodland Project (Fig 27), as the most
appropriate locally grown woodland timber suitable for “Pondlife”
benches. Beech was selected because it is an abundant species
dominating the Chilterns and its under-utilisation merited investigation.
Brown/tiger oak, burr oak, oak, olive and white ash and cherry were also
local woodland timbers that were readily available and warranted
exploration. Non-woodland timbers (including pippy yew, box holly,
walnut and laburnum) were also on offer, either by private owners or
professional foresters who had identified an unusual tree and recognised
its creative and marketable potential.
587
The success of the enterprise depends on the relationship with the
woodland owners. The unfolding story reveals some interesting
developments. All the woodland owners approached were very receptive
to the opportunity of participating in a collaborative project. Nearly all of
them were anxious to find new markets for their timber in a difficult
commercial climate. An established local furniture maker, already
acquainted with buying logs, represented a new potential buyer.
The most effective and successful collaborators were the ones who
brought professional or trade knowledge to the relationship, and who had
either previously conducted business or were well known to me. In a
market situation transactions are conducted most efficiently and
advantageously when there is mutual trust and a long-term business
relationship is being established.
Another type of approach has also been cultivated based on my
providing the consultative expertise, advising on what timbers were
suitable for specific furniture or joinery applications, and supervising the
conversion and air-drying.
587
These timbers came from private gardens
215
The act of purchasing timber from local woodlands initiates a
demand for under-utilised resources. Through such initiatives, woodland
estates can be helped to become more sustainable by developing a
market for their timber. Although the income from timber sales from any
one furniture maker cannot make a significant contribution, an example
has been established. If a collective initiative can be organised (see Oak
Dean Co-op), then the demand can begin to make a valuable contribution
to the local economy.
Determining an equitable price remains a problem in a nascent
market when norms have not been established. This is also aggravated
by global factors when the market has a distorting effect on the price of
timber, affecting the local supplier as well as the larger timber importers.
Imports are increasing as local timber declines. Martin Drew, an
Oxfordshire timber contractor, has observed that the price of first quality
oak, for example, has remained the same since the 1970s at £5-£6 cu
ft
588
. Simon Fineman, CEO of Timbmet Group Ltd, has also seen the
price of imported timber in real terms fall for the last ten years.
589
The
market price is clearly not based on an equitable price for timber.
Establishing a price, that allows the forester to manage his resources in a
sustainable way for local timbers, was decided by mutual agreement
between buyer and seller based on its perceived value. This was the
case in all the purchases made. However, as will be described next,
there were many differences in approach to the negotiation of the price.
Woodland managers, for example, who are experienced in selling to
the timber trade proposed a price that was marginally more than the best
price they could obtain from the trade. As the timber in each case did not
conform to the minimum requirements set by the trade, this market was a
difficult one in which to sell. Selling to me, a designer-maker was one of
the most viable sales opportunities.
In two examples, Martin Drew and Norman Cox, the price offer was
accepted without negotiation as it represented a fair and affordable price
588
Martin Drew, timber contractor. Interviewed by P. Koomen, 22 February 2001
589
Simon Fineman, CEO Timbmet Group Ltd. Interviewed by P. Koomen, 26 November
2004
216
in relation to the risk. In both cases the timber was sold “in the round”
(Drew included the conversion of the log at Helmdon Sawmill and delivery
to the workshop in the quotation). The timber was offered for sale by the
woodland managers who had felled the timber and needed to sell; a
different situation to the next case when I negotiated a price for the timber
to be used in the “Pondlife” bench. Here, the price was negotiated on the
basis that the timber was required for a specific need and the woodland
manager has a sufficient supply to meet that need.
Sweet chestnut, the material used for “Pondlife” benches, was in
plentiful supply as thinnings from Bagley Woods, near Oxford. Although
Bagley Woods was selling the occasional sawn section to members of
the public as “substitute oak”, this represented a very small market for the
high volume supply of thinnings. Having outlined my long-term
requirements a price was agreed to purchase sweet chestnut thinnings
that had been partially converted (Fig 28).
Following the initial purchase, further orders were made culminating
in the largest order which represented the total clearance of the estate's
sweet chestnut thinnings. The negotiated price of the timber therefore
represented considerable benefits to both parties. Since they had a
sawmill, Bagley Woods were able to add value to the material by
converting the timber to meet my specific requirements; they were also
able to deliver the timber to the workshop. The estate also benefited
from combining a necessary thinning programme with the consecutive act
of clearing a “waste” material. The sale of the timber produced a cash
profit, improved the management of the estate and ultimately enhanced
the value of the remaining stock of sweet chestnut which could grow to its
optimum maturity. The sourcing of this timber has completed the
integration of the supply of the material with the making of “Pondlife”
benches; a win-win scenario for both seller and buyer.
In the final example, the difficulties of agreeing a fair price in a
nascent market are all too evident. Trying to establish a fair price for
converted timber that had been partially dried proved problematical. The
timber in question, two inch air-dried beech from the Hardwick Estate,
was offered at £18 cu ft, more than ten times its price in the round. It
217
appears that the estate administration determined this initial price by
placing covert telephone calls to timber suppliers and retailers to
determine a value. Sadly this price bore little relationship to the quality
and condition of the material. The estate administration subsequently
acknowledged their inexperience and finally agreed on a negotiated price
based on the trade price for kiln-dried timber plus a £1 per cu ft premium,
i.e. £13 cu ft.
In addition to the beech, two boards of air-dried spalted Norwegian
maple were purchased. In this case the price proposed was related to
the previous sale at £35 per cu ft. Unlike the beech, which was of poor
quality, the spalted maple had revealed interesting markings in
conversion although it was originally regarded by the estate as only fit for
firewood. A price of £30 per cu ft was negotiated on the basis of its
unique signature. This suggests that such timber generally could have a
premium price if it is marketed well.
These two examples illustrate the fundamental problem in
determining price and value: woodland owners who are trying to sell
timber as an added value product and are not necessarily technically
competent at judging relative quality may have an unrealistic view of the
price and value of the timber.
Having identified and purchased appropriate timber the next stage
are its conversion, drying, delivery, and the logistics involved in these.
The decline in the traditional local infrastructure for converting and drying
timber necessitated investigating alternative options; even existing local
sawmills were found to be unsuitable for converting timber.
590
The increase in the number of mobile saw mills, however, has
proved a viable alternative. The Woodmizer and Forestor saw mills, for
example, each offer specific advantages for different situations; both are
designed to be used where the timber has been felled. The Woodmizer
was particularly suitable for converting the beech at the Hardwick Estate
as limited access might have proved very expensive to transport to a
590
Some of the sawmills visited had inefficient, antiquated machinery, e.g. Benson
Sawmill. Those that were fully operational produced mainly fencing, e.g. Norman
Cox, Ipsden, South Oxfordshire and Nettlebed Sawmill, Nettlebed, South
Oxfordshire
218
commercial sawmills (Fig 29a/b and 30a/b). The beech was also
subsequently air-dried on the estate avoiding storage issues until such
time as it was required for furniture making (Fig 31a/b).
The ash, oak and cherry from the Reed Estate was transported to
Culham where it was converted on a Forestor saw mill (Fig 32a/b) and
then transported to the Philip Koomen Furniture workshop. Although the
timber was felled within two miles of the workshop the contractor decided
it was more efficient to convert at his yard where he could make use of a
crane to handle the material.
The conversion of the sweet chestnut thinnings was undertaken at
the Bagley Woods Estate, where the trees grew, and then transported to
the workshop. This proved the most efficient arrangement as
transportation was reduced to a single return journey. By contrast the
larger logs, the brown oak from Thame (Fig 33a), Oxfordshire and ash
from Kingsclere, Berkshire could not be converted locally as the saw mills
were inadequate for the logs. These were instead transported to
Helmdon Saw Mill, near Banbury, where they were converted and
partially air-dried (Fig 33b and 34a/b) before being transported to the
workshop where they were restacked and continued to air-dry until
required (Fig 35a/b).
In the above examples, conversion was managed efficiently but this
was not the case throughout. As already mentioned existing local saw
mills were sometimes found to be unsuitable for our purposes. For
example, three ash and oak logs from the Swyncombe Estate were
delivered to one local saw mill (Fig 36a/b) who subsequently took two
years to convert them, resulting in two of the logs developing rot, thereby
degrading some exceptional timber (Fig 37).
Conversion is clearly a specialised craft requiring a significant
investment in machinery and outside the resources of the Philip Koomen
workshop. The workshop has however increased its own capacity for
secondary conversion through the addition of a second larger band saw
for shaping the “Pondlife” reeds and converting smaller logs as well as for
experimental work. As for the logistics of transporting timber, this has
219
generally been an efficient and environmentally sensitive process
constrained by the availability of suitable saw mill conversion equipment.
The drying of timber after conversion is successfully carried out at
the Philip Koomen workshop which has a concrete yard that is private,
well sheltered with adequate access and therefore suitable for drying and
storing timber. This area has now been adapted for these purposes. A
timber store has been built in this area to house dry timber (area 500 sq
ft), (Fig 38a/b). Converted green logs are stored outside on concrete
lintels which provide a level base clear off the ground. The method of
drying is as follows: a series of “stickers” between twelve mm to twenty-
five mm thick are placed between each board to allow the air to circulate
and the moisture in the wood to evaporate. The ends of each board are
painted with a wax sealer to reduce excessive drying which can cause
end checking. A corrugated roof is place over each stack of timber to
protect it from rain and direct sun. Air drying will take a minimum of one
year for every twenty-five mm of timber thickness. When air-dried to
between fifteen and twenty per cent moisture content, it can be further
dried to ten to twelve per cent moisture content in the dehumidifier
chamber in the workshop (Fig 39). This process removes about 0.5 per
cent of moisture per day. The timber can be ready for furniture making
between ten and twenty days. The creation of a local timber cycle is
complete once the furniture is made and delivered to the client.
The advantages and disadvantages of establishing a local timber
cycle can be identified as follows:
Advantages
• Woodland management will become more sustainable by
increasing the income from timber production through prices
negotiated at a local level
• Carbon emissions and environmental damage will be reduced
when the timber, which has been converted and delivered to the
workshop to dry, is not transported again until it leaves the
workshop to go to a client as a piece of furniture
220
• An assessment of potentially suitable trees can be made over a
long period if furniture makers develop knowledge of the
woodlands in the locality and dialogue with their owners
• Reliance on imported timber is reduced and the vagaries of
fluctuating exchange rates are avoided
• Creating a market for locally grown timber does not exclude the
commercial alternatives, merely allowing clients to make a more
informed choice
• Buying green timber is a low risk investment as the price is
usually less than half that normally charged by timber merchants
• Free of commercial pressures, timber can be air-dried for free
over a number of years until required
• Low cost dehumidifying chambers can be built to condition air-
dried timber
• The greatest added value in timber is achieved in the drying
process
• Special journeys searching for unusual timbers can be avoided
by specifying from stock
• Identifying suitable timbers for a project can be done
conveniently
• A new market can be created as public awareness increases
through commissions, exhibitions and media coverage, gradually
increasing demand for local timber
• Greater collaboration and experimentation will be possible when
relationships between woodland owners, foresters, sawmills and
furniture makers are developed over a long term giving a greater
understanding of each other’s needs and problems
Disadvantages
• The specialist skills of timber buying, converting and drying
timber necessitates the designer-maker to learn new skills
• Processing timber requires investment in space for air-drying,
dry storage, kilning or dehumidifier equipment, etc.
221
• Many workshops will not have the storage space to consider it as
a possibility
• The costs of buying and processing timber on this relatively
small scale are higher than for larger commercial organisations
that have specialist handling equipment, etc.
• Transportation costs tend to be higher as small quantities are
involved and lorries are not always used at their maximum
carrying capacity
• The cost of buying logs, converting and transporting them has to
be paid for at the earliest stage
• The financial return can only be realised when the furniture is
completed and paid for which can take many years
• A large quantity of timber has to be maintained to meet different
requirements, e.g. different species and various thicknesses
• There have been particular problems in the course of the
“Signed & Sealed” project with regard to timber degradation and
defects, including:
o Degradation through being left in the round too long, e.g.
ash, beech
o Degradation caused in the drying including warping,
cupping, honey combing, checking and splitting
o Discolouration - inherent colour defects which appear
during machining and have no aesthetic value
o Inappropriate drying stickers may produce marks that
penetrate the wood
o Infestation – timber from local woodlands is more
susceptible to insect attack than commercially available
timber which has been kilned
591
o Inherent defects – ring shake, splits
o Human interference – nails, wire, etc, damage not only
saw blades but also damage the timber (common
591
Dr Andrew Pitman, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, produced a guide
to monitoring infestation for Philip Koomen Furniture
222
amongst trees grown in private gardens and poorly
managed woodlands)
• Every stage has to be managed on an operational level
(including stock management) as well as a strategic level (for
example, will clients want brown oak in five years?)
In conclusion then, the aim of the “Signed & Sealed” project has not
been confined to a narrow short-term commercial exercise. It is to
facilitate a more integrated and sustainable approach to furniture making
that provides a foundation for a long term future generating wider social
and economic benefits as well as creative design solutions. It will take
many more years to develop now that the infrastructure is in place. Even
at this early stage, it is not possible to quantify the exact financial
benefits; the indications are that this model of a local supply cycle is
generating economic returns and benefits to woodland owners, local
contractors and Philip Koomen Furniture. Clients are also clearly
becoming engaged with the concept when suitable timber is available.
Establishing the infrastructure and system to process locally
sourced timber at a workshop level is a complex and multi skilled activity.
The Philip Koomen Furniture workshop has not become entirely
independent of commercial timber merchants in the period of the “Signed
& Sealed” project. In the short term the range of commissions we
undertake means our requirements for different species, qualities,
thicknesses and timescale necessitates timber has to be bought from
different sources including North America, Europe and the U.K. As local
sourcing is expanded and the range of semi-bespoke designs increases it
is anticipated that the workshop will use a greater proportion of local
timber.
2.3 Unique signature
Unless workmanship comes to be understood and appreciated for the art
it is, our environment will loose much of the quality it still retains
David Pye
223
No two trees are alike, rather like humans. Each has its individual identity
which can be read in the figure grain, texture, colour, knots and markings
of the timber. This constitutes a kind of geology called its unique
signature and is evidence of a particular history of time and place,
genetics and conditions of a growth including the impact of climate and
disease. Furniture designer-makers can develop the concept of unique
signature through the skilful manipulation of timber in their designs.
The idea of revealing unique signature has been incorporated into
the framing of the “Signed & Sealed” project where it fits seamlessly with
an ideology centred on sustainability and the local cycle. However, its
revelation is by no means confined to the “Signed & Sealed” project – it
can be seen to be exemplified by several contemporary designer-makers.
Furniture designer-makers and unique signature
In the U.K. and the USA, Alan Peters, John Makepeace, Tim Stead
and George Nakashima have been amongst a select band that have
extended the boundaries of their craft through a practice-based dialogue
with wood which has led to individual interpretations of the ‘unique
signature’ of wood in their designs. Concurrent to this has been a
commitment to source and process their timber, often from local
woodlands. This has also enhanced their understanding of wider related
environmental, social and spiritual issues which have in turn enriched
their work.
Alan Peters has been a role model for a generation of aspiring
designer-makers since the 1970s. Having been apprenticed to Edward
Barnsley his subsequent design training equipped him to develop his own
distinct ideas through the medium of craftsmanship in wood. His
apprenticeship at Barnsley's workshop gave him an understanding of
working with wood that he was able to draw on and expand throughout
his career: ‘I probably know more about timber than most people. I …
spent weeks turning the timber over … in those days I used to strip off all
the bark with an axe’.
592
It was at this formative stage that he must have
592
Peters. Interviewed by Koomen
224
also learnt about the importance of selecting timber. According to Peters,
this is a logical part of the design process because it helps define the
character of the final piece. Peters will always personally make the
selection of the timber and cut out the material for each piece.
Like Barnsley, Peters enjoyed using a variety of imported exotic
timbers in his designs. His ebony desk (1979) combined solid mahogany
with solid and veneered ebony and his earlier work featured Burmese
teak, Indian padouk, rosewood, paldas, satinwood and kingwood. He
regularly combined exotic timbers with home-grown ones as well as using
these in their own right.
593
Although trained in the arts and crafts tradition he was not content to
recreate that style. Until Peters' visit to Japan his work had been strongly
influenced by industrial design and involving, for example, the use of
stainless steel but was subsequently impressed by Japanese architecture
and the extensive use of timber ‘beautifully worked’.
594
He came away
with a renewed appreciation of ‘simple everyday objects whose shape
and beauty were derived chiefly from their function and the most lyrical
and economic method of making’.
595
Japan and his later visit to Korea
ironically confirmed his love of traditional British crafts and craft objects,
bringing home to him the universality of the craft tradition and ethic. His
exposure to the Japanese and Korean craft traditions renewed his
appreciation of the pioneering work of Gimson and the Cotswold School,
inspiring him to focus on developing his designs around ‘form and
variation in construction’ using solid timber.
596
New creative possibilities opened up when Peters moved to his
Devonshire workshop in 1973. The generous outbuildings gave him the
opportunity and space to source his own timber. Most of his home-grown
stock came from timber felled within 10-15 miles of his workshop by
people known to him personally, reaffirming his experience during his
593
A. Peters, Cabinetmaking: The Professional Approach, Stobart, London, 1984
594
Ibid., p. 83
595
Ibid., p. 86
596
Peters, Cabinet Making, p. 80
225
training at Barnsley's.
597
This development required him to be intimately
involved in supervising the whole process of timber preparation, from
sawing the tree to milling, drying, and conditioning the timber. The
majority of Peters’ pieces is now made using home-grown timbers with
provenance recorded (e.g. Devon walnut or oak).
598
An early commission for the Swiss Chapel (1977) for a range of fifty
chairs (Fig 73) and a lectern was a pivotal experience in the use of low
grade native materials and low cost techniques. The limited budget
meant that Peters had to use the least expensive materials and the most
cost effective techniques of production. Motivated by economy he
selected the cheapest grade, mining ash, with sections of six inch
diameter or less. These small sections dictated how he could work the
timber. Peters devised a technique of using small sections, angling the
cut of each section to produce the subtle curved shape of the chairs and
lectern. The technique became the basis of his stack laminated designs
which explore the unique signature of a wide range of lesser known and
under-utilised timbers.
599
This method is very similar to the industrial method used by Ercol
Furniture. This company constructs their table tops and carcasses using
narrow strips of elm, a difficult wood not normally associated with fine
furniture. Peters has extended the possibilities of fine furniture by
adapting this industrial method. The technique has enabled him to
develop a range of designs using small sectioned refractory timbers such
as holly and mulberry and building widths or blocks of solid timber which
would otherwise be impossible to achieve.
600
His explorations have generated construction centred decorative
effects that extend craft practice. His range of bowl tables using ash or
acacia, partly inspired by David Pye's fluting technique, unifies the
perfected smoothness of the tables' flat surfaces with the controlled but
irregular carved fluting of the integral bowl. The “random selectedness” of
597
Alan Peters gives an account of the inspiration for his designs following his tour of
Korea in 1980 in the exhibition catalogue: Alan Peters, Furniture Maker,
Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, 1985
598
Peters, Cabinet Making
599
Ibid., pp. 143-146
600
Ibid., p. 143
226
his stack lamination technique adds a further dimension to the visual play
of the unique signature of these timbers.
601
Inspired by Japanese joinery,
Peters' designs also feature the use of end grain. The celebration of end
grain is a significant shift in the interpretation of the unique signature of
wood; an element which British joinery and furniture making has
previously tried to conceal:
The exposure of the end grain, it was that which I liked and picked
up; as a feature I use it. A big feature of my dining tables is the end
grain; sometimes I might strip them up (i.e. laminate them), other
ones are solid slabs, sometimes I use one centre joint.
602
His designs develop through his interaction with the timber and extending
throughout the whole making activity: ‘Many of my design ideas I find
come from constantly working with the material and the equipment I
have’.
603
Each project can also serve as the source of inspiration for
future designs, ideas are being stored mentally or documented until they
can be incorporated into new work: ‘whilst working on any one item, ideas
will often present themselves which are no longer possible on that
particular piece but they can be remembered, recorded and used on
future occasions’.
604
Peters sees this level of involvement as intrinsic to
the creativity of the designer-maker. His life-time achievements
demonstrate the aesthetic sensibilities of a designer-maker's exploration
of the unique signature of wood.
Makepeace, like Peters, is a “father figure” amongst designer-
makers. He combines the artist and craftsman's knowledge of wood
exemplified by Peters with the experimentalism of a restless innovator.
He views the diversity of wood as a phenomenon that merits empirical
exploration. He is intrigued by the idea of trying to use the diversity of
wood ‘in appropriate ways according to the particular object’. The
material itself becomes the source of inspiration for creative ideas: ‘I am
always looking at what are the qualities of the timber and how we can
celebrate them’. Makepeace identifies an important principle - that timber
601
Peters. Interviewed by Koomen
602
Ibid.
603
Peters, Cabinet Making, p. 80
604
Ibid., p. 80
227
as a material is intrinsically good. He feels that the designer-maker can
extend the boundaries of this material through innovative design,
redefining the boundaries of what is good or bad material:
Everything has quality, material of itself is not inferior, it is what you
do with it and as a furniture maker I'm fascinated to use the
spectrum of materials, particularly to use materials that would
otherwise have no commercial application.
Makepeace's design approach, like Peters, focuses on the creative
use of under-utilised timber. Mulberry and holly, for example, which can
get cut down and burnt because there is no market for them, have special
properties and are ‘well suited in my mind to making quite unusual
objects’.
605
Makepeace also has a particular affinity for yew but is aware
of its problematical working characteristics. Like Peters, Makepeace has
built up a significant range of local and British timber stocks which he has
sourced for his creative explorations.
In the early part of his career Makepeace made extensive use of
non sustainable hardwoods but in recent years, he has become a
committed environmentalist. This reorientation has had an important
effect on which timbers he uses and how they influence the way he
designs. The focus in his workshop is now predominantly on English
hardwoods - oak, holly, yew, mulberry, ash, cherry and sycamore – and
especially on the rarer forms, ripple and burrs.
606
These are the more
unusual woods which have special qualities but are found in quantities
which are too small for industry to use: ‘He therefore sees himself as
displaying and celebrating those materials which serve no purpose to
manufacturers and would otherwise be wasted’.
607
Makepeace views the
relationship of craft to industry as a complementary one: industry using
plentiful timbers cultivated for their commercial applications and leaving
craftsmen to exploit the rare and unusual.
Makepeace's designs, like designer-maker Tim Stead's, are
influenced by nature and environmental issues. The inspiration he gets
from nature is reflected in the subtle shapes and absence of ‘harsh
605
Makepeace. Interviewed by Norbury
606
Myerson, Makepeace, p. 99-100
607
Ibid., p. 103
228
angles or edges in his work’.
608
The Creation Collection (1994) was
motivated by his desire to inspire the public to reconnect with their roots
in the environment. The three designs that form the collection, Standing
Stones, Vine Chair and Swaledale Throne are very literal interpretations
of nature. His exploration of carving techniques in these pieces
‘extended his vocabulary of design through the art of making’.
609
The
Obelisk in English yew wood is a technically accomplished and visually
stunning demonstration of Makepeace's preoccupations and strengths
(Fig 74). His mastery and celebration of the most difficult cabinet making
timbers is combined with an exquisitely resolved design which makes
subtle reference to his environmental aspirations through its landmark
form and undulating top. His drive to extend the boundaries of craft
design is moderated by his commitment to the Arts and Crafts ethic of
fitness for purpose: using woods in their natural state with decoration
articulated or revealed through the unique signature of the material.
610
While Makepeace and Peters are designer-makers rooted in the
Arts and Crafts movement's love of wood, Tim Stead (1952-2000) was a
sculptor who discovered wood by accident. His fascination with it began
with his experiments with driftwood. It was this contact with the material
that opened up a new and so far lifelong relationship: ‘through the
driftwood I became addicted to wood’.
611
His initial use of timber was
fairly indiscriminate; he used tropical hardwoods sourced from old railway
sleepers, pine from demolition sites, anything that was readily available.
Although he was becoming aware of the debate over tropical timbers, his
discovery of the aesthetic and environmental merits of indigenous timber
was circumstantial and opportune.
It was his move to new workshops on an estate at Harestanes near
Jedburgh, Scotland, that brought him into direct contact with felled timber.
Like Peters, he discovered a new source of inspiration. He took a chance
and bought a lorry load of timber, including a burr elm log for about £60.
608
P. Glynn cited by J. Myerson, Makepeace: A Spirit of Adventure in Craft and Design,
Conran Octopus, 1995, p. 117
609
Myerson, Makepeace, p. 122
610
Ibid.
611
G. Sutherland, Explorations in Wood, The Furniture & Sculpture of Tim Stead, No
Butts Publishing, Galashiels, 1993, p. 20
229
He converted the logs at a local sawmill and dried the timber at the estate
kiln. From that point Stead was converted to indigenous timber, realising
that: ‘the most interesting territory and the greatest surprises are to be
found on our own door steps’.
612
Stead's discovery belied the potential
problems often associated with retrieving timber. Trees often require
skilful and costly pruning before felling, and can grow in inaccessible
locations requiring heavy machinery to remove and deliver them to a
sawmill.
613
Stead, like Nakashima, preferred to cut the logs on a horizontal
sawmill to preserve the natural waney edge. This stage is nominally a
routine process, producing planks cut at various thicknesses and
resulting in the log preserved in its bole form with each board kept in its
original position in relation to the log. However, the cutting of a log is
more than a mechanical process; it requires mental preparation and
spontaneous decision making:
I feel that I need to have every door of my brain open and to be
almost blank. I have to decide the way the section should be
positioned and at what thickness. However, the decisions I take are
sometimes arbitrary; decisions need to be made quickly and these
are usually irreversible.
614
When the boards are cut through and through, every one has its own
individuality and ‘reads like a page from a book’.
615
Retaining the natural edges and forms of the wood are intrinsic to
Stead's way of working. His designs speak of wood as coming from a
tree. This approach is diametrically opposite to mainstream furniture
makers, who use wood as a material to be controlled and manipulated
into forms of their own imagination or established tradition. ‘Normally the
wood that I use would not get into a furniture maker's workshop and if it
did it would tend to get squared up and have a man-made design
imposed on it’.
616
612
Ibid., p. 20
613
Ibid., p. 40
614
Ibid., p. 96
615
Ibid., p. 20
616
T. Stead cited by S. Biddel, ‘Local Hero’, Furniture & Cabinetmaking, Guild of Master
Craftsman Publications Ltd, Lewes, no. 46, November 2000
230
The natural forms of the tree, its defects and man's intervention
during its life are celebrated in Stead's designs. Motivated by thrift and a
challenge to make virtues of their unsuitability, features that would
normally be rejected and discarded by other furniture makers are his
sources of inspiration, becoming some of the essential elements of his
evolving design vocabulary. The waney edge is exploited throughout his
work, acquiring dramatic form as a burr with the convoluted edges
appearing to erupt like a volcano and producing a bizarre wart like edge
(Fig 75). Cracks and holes generally regarded as defects are also given
a new status and meaning. Stead views cracks, holes and the other
defects associated with mature trees as an opportunity to reveal what he
calls, the “geology” of the tree.
617
He gives these defects a new
significance, seeing a well executed repair as a way of creating a new
aesthetic experience: ‘there is a beauty in repair which is made visible’.
618
Small cracks are filled with cold-cast-bronze, ‘creating veins of light and
energy’ and larger holes are inlaid with random strips of contrasting wood
set in the bronze in large table tops.
619
The effect of the latter technique
creates small decorative inlay details clearly visible only at close
proximity, creating different levels of visual experience only achievable by
a craftsman’s skill.
Having discovered an indigenous resource that he could engage
with he was impelled to develop a visual language of forms that was also
indicative of Scottish culture. He believed that the cultural legacy had
obscured the true Scottish heritage which had ignored a balance with
nature. Giles Sutherland describes how at Scara Brae he discovered
some of the roots of this Scottish heritage; here was the evidence of an
indigenous vocabulary of architecture and design.
620
It also confirmed
the aesthetic principles of his work. These were motivated by a
commitment to develop organically inspired forms in an effort to find a
harmonious relationship with nature. Part of his inspiration to develop
new forms came from his abhorrence of the straight line: ‘The straight line
617
Sutherland, Explorations in Wood, p. 25
618
Ibid., p. 25
619
Ibid., p. 25
620
Ibid., p. 4
231
leads to a loss of humanity’ which is also absent in Makepeace’s
designs.
621
His work, particularly in sculpture, has been a journey of
exploration in which new insights and discoveries are revealed rather
than imposed. His techniques open up timber, evoking archetypical
shapes. His sculpture exhibits a level of playfulness that is only
suggested in his furniture. Using a band saw to explore the hidden
depths of the tree, sections of timber are ‘transmitted into fragile, spatially
expanded forms possessing surface areas extended beyond volume’.
622
His experimental sculpture is reflected in his idiosyncratic furniture, but it
is the freedom of sculpture that gives him the opportunity to investigate
the hidden forms in timber, uninhibited by the constraints of furniture
design.
Historically, one of the most influential designer-makers was the
Japanese-American George Nakashima (1905-1990) began to pioneer a
craft concept in a world growing accustomed to mass production in the
early 1940s when craftsmanship was regarded as an anachronism. His
aim was to produce the finest furniture from some of the most unusual
woods from all over the world.
Nakashima combined Buddhism with an esoteric approach to
woodwork: ‘Each tree, every part of each tree has one perfect use’.
623
He
describes his work as a Karma Yoga spiritual journey, the law of right
action, searching for the extraordinary, and the untold narrative of the
tree's life waiting to be revealed and read. His mystical approach was
tempered by a practical approach acquired through experience: ‘one
gains astuteness in judgement’, combined with patience and effort to find
the unusual.
624
The sourcing of logs and their subsequent use was a multi-faceted
creative skill that Nakashima perfected to a high degree. It requires the
knowledge of a good log buyer ‘who can size up a log whether fallen or
standing – who can feel the excellence of grain and the figuring or burrs
621
Hundertwasser cited by G. Sutherland, Explorations in Wood, p. 13
622
T Stead, Wild Wood, A Celebration of Imperfection, Artizana, Prestbury, 1997, p. 4
623
G. Nakashima, The Soul of a Tree: A Woodworker’s Reflections, Kodansha
International Ltd, New York, 1988, p. 93
624
Ibid., p. 86
232
without cutting the timber’.
625
He was not content to use the main length
or butt of a tree but to utilise the roots all of which required patient
digging. The roots will usually produce richer graining than the main butt;
the convergence of burrs with the roots creating exceptional figuring.
However, this creativity has risks; mature trees do not always realise
spectacular figure and can result in an almost total loss. According to
Nakashima trees that are past their prime often reveal the most
character.
626
Nakashima emphasises the collaborative nature of the process: the
realisation of the tree's potential requires the craftsman to work alongside
the sawyer, understand his problems and be able to make the instant
decisions that determine the appropriate cut. Like Stead, Nakashima
understood the critical nature of this stage:
As in cutting a diamond, the judgements must be precise and exact
concerning thickness and direction of cut, especially through figures,
the complicated designs resulting from the tree's grain. If the figure
is cut properly, the beauty locked in the tree will gradually emerge; if
cut improperly most is lost. Graduation of colour owing to the
chemical composition of the soil in which a tree grows as well as the
sharp contrast between dark heartwood and light sapwood will add
to their charm.
627
According to Nakashima, the precise method of cutting has no
formulas or guidelines, only experience, instinct and a contact with the
divine. Each log is cut through and through preserving its integrity in bole
order, that is in the order sawn, a practice he shares with Stead. His
method of sawing is different from the American commercial grading
sawing method of rotating the log 90º for every cut. Nakashima is critical
of this method, as it does not reveal the potential beauty of grain, and
produces narrow boards.
Nakashima begins the design process with study and assessment of
each board until the perfect use is realised; this can be a lengthy process.
Some are selected for their uniqueness, often revealing incidents in the
life of the tree: ‘A large hole where decay has started and the tree healed
625
Ibid., p. 121
626
Ibid., p. 112
627
Ibid., p. 94
233
itself is a positive statement of life which makes an extraordinary design
expression’.
His selection of the timber for its ultimate use is achieved through
various methods. Nakashima, like Peters, often relies on memory to
store design ideas; he records each board from a log mentally and
evaluates the appropriate use. As each board is removed from the
delivery lorry they are studied for their possible applications, occasionally
a clear ‘role is assigned’. Mostly though the boards are separated into
general categories according to probable future use and stored. ‘Size,
shape, thickness, figuring and unusual graining, even defects all
contribute to the decision as to what the future life of each board will be’.
Identifying the right use for each board and for each part of a board
requires ‘study and assessment’ until the right use is revealed.
628
Single
boards may be given a designated single use and consecutive boards
joined to create a book matched pattern: ‘Vigilance and sensitive
arrangement of boards to produce a harmonious pattern may take
several hours’.
629
Achieving the correct balance in the grain is essential
to the furniture's success: ‘one mismatched board in a cabinet can be a
disaster’.
630
The abutment of the edge of one board to an adjoining board
can mean the success or failure of a piece. ‘There must be harmony,
grace and rhythm’.
631
Each piece of furniture is made as far as possible
from the same tree although other timbers may be combined for their
particular qualities. The selection of boards could be protracted as
Nakashima believed the right purpose for each would be revealed
through meditation: ‘We search for its essence’.
632
Sometimes five to ten
years would pass before a board was selected for use. With about ten
thousand boards stored, matching boards is a measured activity until the
right combination is found.
633
Nakashima's designs are shaped by his contemplation of each
board's characteristics. Like Stead, his mission is to reveal the inner
628
Ibid., p. 112
629
Ibid., p. 117
630
Ibid., p. 116
631
Ibid., p. 128
632
Ibid., p. 121
633
Ibid., p. 128
234
beauty concealed within each tree. Forms evolve, with the shape, size,
texture and movement of the grain defining the design and function of the
piece: ‘often the shape, size and texture and the extravagances of
graining dictate the design and function of an object’.
634
He has
transformed the defect into a design motif. Defects are given a noble
value not ordinarily recognised by other woodworkers, a philosophy he
shared with Stead.
Nakashima's signature use of the butterfly joint, which he uses to
secure a crack or split (or on book-matched boards), fulfils a dual
function, adding strength and a creative design element (Fig 76). The
free edge is appealing too for it makes the table less formal than a perfect
rectangle, square or circle. His craftsmanship is very demanding and
precise but it is subordinated to the celebration of the wood and the
longevity of the furniture: ‘It is our deepest respect for the tree which
impels us to master the difficult art of joinery so that we may offer the tree
a second life of dignity and strength’.
635
Nakashima's philosophy of Karma Yoga is channelled through every
aspect of his work. He empathises with trees and, like Makepeace and
Stead, sees his life as a mission to connect humanity with its
environmental heritage believing that: ‘We must try to recapture a close
relationship with nature’.
636
He saw his role as searching for the inner
beauty of a tree and expressing it through the unique signature of each
board transformed into furniture, giving it a new life and purpose.
These designer-makers demonstrate how in craft practice the
design process is intimately linked with a profound understanding of the
qualities and characteristics of the materials they use. This
understanding is extended through their commitment to source and
process their own timber.
Although it could be argued that all timber possesses its own unique
signature this term in the context of the “Signed & Sealed” project is
specific to craft practice which utilises timber of known provenance, often
634
Ibid., p. 128
635
Ibid., p. 132
636
Ibid., p. 109
235
from a local source. Commercial or crop timber by contrast is processed
through a trade practice that reduces it to a commodity; provenance is
rarely known beyond the country or region of origin. Grading methods,
particularly in North America, typically do not distinguish from which tree
each board comes. Selection of trees is based on producing timber with
the fewest defects, particularly knots. Forestry researchers try to cultivate
trees that grow exceptionally straight with the fewest number of branches
along the main stem to increase the timber yield. The result is that timber
processed through the global timber trade has become increasingly bland
and homogenous and lacking differentiating characteristics within each
species.
Timber grown in the Chilterns and Oxfordshire area, by contrast, is
rarely processed through the timber trade and when it is, it often loses its
provenance. This leaves an abundant resource of locally grown trees
which are no longer grown for timber production and which come in a
great variety of shapes and species but are relegated to low grade
commercial uses such as firewood. These timbers have many unique
features such as knots, cracks, unusual grain patterns and contrasting
colour caused by fungi or the age of the tree. These features and
characteristics become the medium for my design explorations producing
furniture with a known provenance and local identity which communicates
a story, a narrative, about where the wood comes from. Through careful
timber selection, each piece can acquire a unique signature represented
by grain patterns, and other distinctive markings linked to its provenance.
In a sense unique signature is revealed; it combines the skill of
working the material and the perceptiveness of the artist’s eye to discover
the potential of the characteristics, features, defects and forms that reveal
the beauty of the wood in unusual and innovative ways which will
subsequently be the inspiration for new designs or developments or
earmarked for a semi-bespoke design.
The most critical stages in this process are the conversion of the
log. It is at this stage when the orientation of the log, the cutting of the
thicknesses of the boards has to be decided that the potential of the
unique signature can be compromised. Both Nakashima and Stead
236
describe the importance of this stage and how they rely on quick fire
decision making and the cooperation, sensitivity and judgement of the
sawyer. The designer-makers reading of the log will ultimately determine
the success of this stage but the skill of the sawyer is also relied on and it
is their insights that can also influence decisions. Both Nakashima and
Stead are convinced the “through and through” method of sawing is the
most effective for preserving the integrity of the wood. Stead describes
this method as comparable to opening a book in which the untold
narrative of the tree is revealed. This is also my preferred method of
conversion and this might be the appropriate point to discuss the
approach to unique signature in the “Signed & Sealed” project.
“Signed & Sealed” - Unique Signature
Developing an appropriate practice has had its problems in the
early stages of the project. In most instances it has been possible to
convert the timber using the through and through method but occasional
problems have arisen because either it was not possible to supervise the
sawing and communication failed or the log was too large for the saw.
Problems have generally been minimised where I have been able to
oversee the sawing. It is worth noting that in one instance when I
oversaw the conversion of a log bought from a timber merchant, my
stated preference of preserving the original bole form of the log was no
longer the practice of the merchant. The practice was rectified for my
purpose.
Another problem occurred in the early stages of converting the
sweet chestnut for the “Pondlife” reeds. Miscommunication led to the
timber being cut into regular square sections, rather than “banana split”
sections which were almost useless for producing the reeds as the
natural curvature of the thinnings, part of the unique signature, were lost
in the sawing. This is illustrated in Fig 40. As both Stead and Nakashima
indicate all senses need to be activated and all possibilities open;
judgement about where to cut has to be immediate, decisions are
irreversible.
237
During the “Signed & Sealed” project five sawmills have been used.
What has become clear is that good communication and mutual
understanding is vital to successful sawing. Discussions prior to sawing
and good non verbal communication during the act of sawing and the
development of a long-term relationship are vital to successful outcomes.
As both Stead and Nakashima indicate, all senses need to be active and
all possibilities open; judgement about where to cut has to be immediate
decisions are irreversible.
The “Signed & Sealed” project has produced an extensive range of
logs which have revealed some exceptional characteristics. Several
examples are worth mentioning. An oak tree (Checkendon) with a
significant amount of epicormic growth has produced boards with
extraordinary convoluted edges and catspaw figure (Fig 41a/b). An ash
log (Kingsclere, Berkshire) has revealed heartwood of rich olive with wide
bands of white ash either side (Fig 42a/b). The log also has a sweeping
curve along its length. These still have to be transformed into appropriate
semi-bespoke designs which may yet still have to be conceived.
Transforming timber which hasn’t been graded through trade
practice requires intuitive, experimental approach but some degree of
systematisation is ultimately required. Initially the process is intuitive in
that the characteristics in the wood which might be dismissed as
unsuitable for furniture making are tentatively explored. These design
elements are ultimately incorporated into experimental furniture designs
and subsequently assessed for their unique signature.
As the process has developed it has been necessary to reorganise
the timber storage facilities in order to have an efficient method of
retrieving air-dried timber, ready to use. This has been accompanied by
a written record system to identify the characteristics and provenance of
the timber shed. Visual memory also plays a vital role in the process
which is supplemented by selective photographic records, sketches and
descriptive notes. These aid the identification of unique signature in the
design process. The unique signature of each piece of timber can be
composed of a range of elements to produce a distinctive character. The
selection of these elements is an integral part of the design process. The
238
designer-maker’s judgement is critical at every stage from identifying the
tree to deciding what features in the timber are appropriate and how and
where they are incorporated into furniture design. This process is
experimental, producing a range of design elements using what are
regarded as common defects. They have been successfully incorporated
into “Signed & Sealed” designs, either commissioned by clients or
produced as prototypes. These are discussed next.
The crack, for example, often a result of tensions in the wood
usually caused by drying can be used as a celebratory feature rather than
a defect to be eliminated, as is common practice. This change of
perception transforms a piece of wood, ordinarily relegated to waste into
a potentially creative resource. The crack becomes one of nature's
aberrant expressions to be integrated as a design element.
Both Stead and Nakashima use cracks as design elements. Stead,
for example, describes the crack and hole as revealing the natural
geology of the tree. Nakashima leaves cracks exposed or secures them
with a butterfly joint. One of my early experiments featured the inclusion
of natural cracks or fissures incorporated into a low table in yew wood to
produce a design with a distinctive feature, circa 1987 (Fig 43). In the
“Signed & Sealed” project cracks are either contained within a board (Fig
44b/d) or extend to the edge where they create an open gap (Fig 44a/c).
In the brown oak tabletop (Fig 44a/b/c/d) the cracks’ convoluted shapes
create a visual drama that adds to a lively variegated grain pattern (Fig
44d). The contained cracks form negative shapes that frame unexpected
light sources and the open edge cracks redefine the rectilinear boundary
of the tabletop. Each crack is meticulously finished with carving chisels
and sandpaper removing all traces of ragged fibres. The crack is
celebrated and becomes as a natural design element.
Splits, like cracks, are the result of the wood fibres which have
separated from each other along a tension line but the board has
effectively divided itself into two sections. Splits often develop in the
drying process but are often detected at the early stages of converting a
log. In the following two “Signed & Sealed” designs, meandering splits
along the pith are explored in different ways. Each split has the
239
characteristic convoluted contour indicating the irregular shape of each
tree. Each design uses contrasting techniques to articulate the unique
signature of each board.
Firstly, in the mitred plank table (Fig 45b) made from one board (Fig
45a), the natural split is used as the inspiration for a design element. The
direction of the split forms a natural boundary line between the
contrasting markings of each side. The two halves are initially separated
along the split and then shaped and reformed with an inlay line
incorporated into the joint to create a continuous demarcation line that
follows the three faces of the finished mitred table. The anticipated effect
of providing a visual clue to the original split in the board is possibly
negated by the near perfect reformation of the two halves into one piece.
The inlay becomes an incidental decorative embellishment rather than a
signature feature to denote the fault line, as intended. The inlay,
however, creates a subtle playful feature and is perhaps a parallel motif
to Nakashima's signature dovetail which secures an open crack or joint.
In the second example the original boards are reduced to four
pieces after re-sawing to remove the contours of the split (Fig 46), in
contrast to the previous technique. The incongruity in the figure caused
by removing the strips of wood is mitigated by the book-matching of the
boards. It is evident to the observer that these are consecutive boards
from the same tree but the lack of perfect symmetry (which can only be
achieved with veneers) is compromised because the stages required to
produce flat planed boards removes a significant quantity of timber
thereby diminishing the mirror image effect. In this example, the
deviation is apparent along the centre line where the trace of a knot is
evident on only one side. The asymmetry created produces its own visual
tension that adds to the reading of the timber. The tiger oak pattern is
also enhanced by the delicate traces of the medullary rays as they dance
diagonally across the surface rather like a shoal of minnows in a stream.
This effect adds another visual dimension to the reading of the unique
signature of the wood. The book-matching is closely aligned to Peters'
distinctive table tops which, like this table top, make a feature of the end
grain.
240
In the book-matched mitred plank table, cracks and spalting (a form
of incipient decay) in Norwegian maple from the Hardwick Estate are
combined, (Fig 47). The symmetry, in this example, is an effective
method of celebrating the intrinsic beauty of defects described by one
observer as a pair of 'angel' figures. Observers generally find a
fascination in reading their own interpretations into the grain patterns.
Knots, like splits and cracks, are also regarded as defects in timber.
They can be structurally weak and are generally perceived by furniture
makers as having little aesthetic value. In fact the frequency of knots in
timber usually determines its grade and yield and reduces its commercial
value. In the “Signed & Sealed” project the abundance of low grade
timber characterised by frequent knots has been one of the many foci that
have been the catalysts to explore their design possibilities in developing
their unique signature. Cedar of Lebanon, a large fast growing tree, is
characterised by large frequent knots, which, historically has relegated
the timber to secondary uses. However, if the planks are cut to a
generous thickness of 70 to 80 mm, the timber is generally found to be
structurally sound, making it suitable for a number of potential
applications including bench seats and table tops. The availability of wide
widths of boards also minimises the jointing and enhances decorative
possibilities. The “Pondlife” and “Two U” seats (Fig 48), for example,
maximise the use of this “low grade” timber creating large areas of
dramatically contoured figure. The movement of the grain and figure is
further intensified by the frequency of large knots which radiate
eccentrically figured growth patterns. While selection of the positioning of
knots can ensure an evenly balanced pattern of figure, the overall effect
on these large and sometimes expansive surfaces can create a
compelling visual grain pattern and enliven a design in which a more
homogenous figure might appear bland.
Although knots create more movement in the figure of timber, their
presence may of course sometimes be detrimental to the aesthetics of a
design. In a cherry bedroom suite, a “Signed & Sealed” project (Fig 49),
a refined approach was required; knots were therefore removed from the
final pieces which allowed the accentuated movement in the figure to be
241
highlighted in the design. This was possible because the width of the
boards and the frequency of the knots which were approximately ninety
cm apart. This made it possible to cut out drawer fronts without the visual
distraction of jointing which would have compromised the continuity of the
figure in the wood.
637
The Shaker inspired design benefits from the lively drawer fronts
and figured top, creating a subtle series of panels that harmonise with
each other while possessing their own individuality. The sides of the
cabinet were selected from quarter sawn boards which produced fairly
straight grained figure ensuring that cupping and warping is reduced to a
minimum. The straight grained centre boards produced uniform side
panels that contrast with and frame the lively drawer fronts and top. An
ideal solution such as this was only possible because there was suitable
timber available from an extensive stock of local cherry.
The diversity of local timbers available is increased by the different
permutations produced by, for example, fungal attack. One of the most
unusual locally sourced timbers employed by the “Signed & Sealed”
project has been brown oak from Thame Park, near Thame, Oxfordshire.
It has transformed in colour through beefsteak fungus, a bracket fungus
which grows on the side of the trunk and which ultimately kills the tree but
not before producing a natural staining in the timber ranging from
chocolate brown to variegated browns. Where the staining has not
penetrated the natural colour of oak is retained. In the following two
“Signed & Sealed” commissioned designs brown/tiger oak, was used in
contrasting interpretations of unique signature. The process of visual
selection is described for each design.
Firstly, in the storage cabinet (Fig 50) the rectilinear design has
been conceived with minimal detailing like many of the “Signed & Sealed”
designs to create a form which provides a “canvas” to feature the unique
signature of this particular timber. The doors consist of a modified frame
and panel design in which the top and bottom rails extend the full width of
637
Another important aspect of the selection process is that the timber for the three
pieces of furniture was sourced from one log, ensuring greater colour continuity.
242
the doors emphasising their linear relationship with the extending top and
carcass sides. This interpretation of the unique signature is a controlled
exercise, each piece of wood being selected to create a particular effect
within the design as whole. This is achieved through careful selection.
The gradation of colour and pattern, from brown to tiger, characteristic of
this timber has been utilised throughout the design. The figure of the
brown oak is featured in the show wood while the tiger oak is used in the
interior drawer fronts. The top and sides are made from quartered brown
oak for stability and because of its rich chocolate colour. The door panels
are selected from two sets of book-matched panels, each contained
within the vertical stiles which appear to be integral with the panels,
creating continuity of figure across the width of the two doors. The
interior of the storage cabinet incorporates a series of drawers with tiger
oak drawer fronts, a variant of the dominant brown colour found at the
base of the same tree. As can be seen from this description the selection
of the unique signature was akin to an artist choosing colours for a
painting.
In the second example, a more dramatic interpretation of the unique
signature is featured in the commissioned “Trio” mitred plank tables (Fig
51b). The designs, two variations of the mitred plank table design, use
consecutive boards of brown/tiger oak from Thame Park in an innovative
method. Two of the tables are made from consecutive boards, of
sufficient width and length to allow each table to be made from one
section of each board. This ensures that each table has a continuous
figure throughout the three sections of the table, a characteristic of the
mitred plank table. The third table, however, required two consecutive
book-matched boards to achieve the extra width. The resulting “Trio”
tables, consisting of a matching pair and variation, produce an unusual
sibling set with a remarkable and surprising variation of figure. The table
on the far right is distinctly brown oak compared to the one on the far left,
which is clearly tiger oak (Fig 51b). Yet these two contrasting pieces can
be joined at the sides to reveal that they are derived from the same
board, confirming their shared provenance. The two pieces achieve a
unity in diversity through a common form and the unique signature of the
243
material. This striking congruency suggests a line of exploration in which
a family of related pieces, not necessarily the same in form, are
connected through the timber's provenance.
Another form of fungal attack is spalted beech which has been one
of the most interesting areas of exploration. Spalted beech can produce
very dramatic markings in converted timber (Fig 54a/b). It is a
widespread natural phenomenon occurring within the wood, caused by
fungi. Revealed by cutting or splitting, it is characterised by a mosaic of
light and dark areas of wood divided by dark brown or black lines
(Appendix II). Its decorative qualities have been long explored by wood
turners who can utilise small sections, furniture makers have also been
known to use it. Because of its very nature, spalted beech is not known
to be available as a regular supply. However, wood decaying
basidiomycetes from different origins will cause spalting if the beech logs
are in proximity to where fruiting bodies are present. Theoretically it is
therefore possible to encourage spalting although producing it on demand
in commercial quantities would be problematical (Appendix II). The
availability of well-seasoned Chilterns spalted beech created the
opportunity to develop two “Signed & Sealed” designs to showcase its
unique signature.
The low table and bench designs are formed from individual boards
and the low table resolved the problem of distortion by featuring the top in
two pieces with a narrow space separating them (Fig 55a/b). Selection
was therefore less problematical than in the previous two commissions.
The spalted figure was selected to create visually interesting and
balanced surface areas without the problem of trying to achieve
matching. The tables were, however, the result of a high proportion of
rejected spalted timber. Repetition and variation will be difficult to
achieve as no reliable supply of spalted beech has been identified so far.
The designs would however be suitable for regular beech, which
displayed variegated figure and colour or knots; red heart beech, for
example, could be an attractive alternative to the spalted beech; dark
veining, another feature of beech, could also be featured in these designs
(Fig 56).
244
The final experiment in spalted beech explored the possibility of
using two inch thick, end grain sections treated with a solution of
polyethylene glycol 1000 to stabilise the wood (Fig 57), (Appendix II). In
this one-off experiment, severe checking occurred which curtailed the
possibility of using the treated sections in possible designs. Nevertheless
the unique signature of the end grain in spalted beech was seen to show
considerable potential although the environmental impact of the chemical
was not investigated in relation to the experiment. Current literature,
however, indicates ‘there are little or no health effects associated with
exposure to the chemical’.
638
The abundance of beech in the Chilterns and its declining market
was the motivation to explore its possibilities in the “Signed & Sealed”
project. Beech is an unfashionable timber for furniture makers in the
U.K. so this presented potential perceptual problems. Five designs were
produced in Chilterns beech, each one has been problematical (See P.
344, Fig 52, Kitchen table; P. 345, Fig 53 Writing table and Appendix II -
P. 464, Fig 1. Plank chair; P. 465, Fig 2. Bench/table; P. 466, Fig 3.
Coffee table). The refractory characteristics of the timber have made the
exploration of beech challenging in each “Signed & Sealed” project and
are a clear sign that the timber requires a more radical rethink before
appropriate designs for it can be developed.
The commission for the kitchen table design, for example, has
produced a serviceable worktop but due to the problems in selecting
clean “sticker mark”
639
free boards, an arbitrary selection of widths has
been used which included medium tight knots (Fig 52). The individual
planks have a distinctive figure characterised by a subtle flowing
movement but the overall effect is compromised by the randomness of
638
C. Roelofs and M. Ellenbecker, Source reduction for prevention of methylene chloride
hazards: cases from four industrial sectors, Environmental Health: A Global
Access Science Source (online), 2:9, 21 July 2003,
, (accessed 7 February 2007)
639
Stickers are timber battens placed at intervals across each board to enable the
timber to dry. The selection of chemically neutral stickers is critical as a reaction
between the sticker and the board can produce a permanent stain that penetrates
the timber and can not be easily removed, even after planing
245
the widths and the lack of continuity from one board to another. Sticker
marks are visible on the left hand board of the finished table.
Problems of selection also occurred with the Rieple commissioned
writing table design (Fig 53). Timber that had been sawn in 2001 and air-
dried until 2004 at the Hardwick Estate, Whitchurch, Oxfordshire, could
not produce sufficient clean boards because of twisting and splits. The
original Hardwick Estate beech specified for this design had to be
substituted for FSC European oak after consultation with the client. On
the basis of these two projects it was evident that the ‘through and
through’
640
method of converting beech produced unstable boards that
were prone to distortion. Beech was, however, successfully used for
smaller sectioned components in the writing table; these included the rails
and turned legs. This use is consistent with established practice as
beech is recognised for its propensity to distort over wider sections;
smaller sections are more stable.
New forms
The search for new forms to convey the unique signature of local
timbers has produced a form that I will describe as inter-designs. The
Inter-design term comes from “inter” meaning “between” or more
specifically in relation to this project “interchangeable”. Therefore these
designs have either been conceived as “Signed & Sealed” designs to
explore the unique signature of wood or they were originally conceived as
semi-bespoke designs but were found to be appropriate for exploring the
creative possibilities of local timbers.
One such example is the “Ebb & Flow” design series that has been
adapted from the American Hardwood Export Council’s “Trio” project in
East Coast maple (2001), (Appendix III). The original semi-bespoke
designs have been used in the “Signed & Sealed” project to from locally
sourced brown oak (Thame Park) and olive ash (Cookley Green). Two
further designs, a writing desk and a bookcase, have been added to the
“Ebb & Flow” range.
640
Logs sawn 'through and through' produce plain sawn sections where the growth rings
meet the face at an angle of less than 45 degrees.
246
The writing desk (Fig 58), for example, features the brown oak in
quarter sawn timber from Thame Park on its top. The combination of
sweeping curves and the soft “cushion” profiled edges emphasise the
three dimensional quality of figure and grain as it negotiates the subtly
curved edges. The sculptural qualities of the expansive planes provide
an ideal canvas upon which to articulate the unique signature of this
wood, in particular the end grain. By lowering the edges at a point where
two converging curves meet the top surface becomes a three
dimensional 'cushioned' surface while the end grain, normally perceived
as a differentiating element, is unified to create a sculptural form. As in
Alan Peters’ designs, this feature emphasises the aesthetic value of end
grain although Peters’ designs retain rectilinear forms. In the “Ebb &
Flow” range the unique signature of the timber emerges as a three
dimensional curvi-linear form to reveal the subtly variegated markings of
both ends grain and the face.
Developing new forms is essential to exploring the potentiality of the
unique signature of local woods. Another example from the “Signed &
Sealed” range is the plank chair, (similar to the mitred plank table), which
is also constructed using selected single planks from logs of appropriate
length and diameter. In one variation of the original design, the beech
plank chair (Fig 59) incorporates a large knot and a partial split (probably
induced in the drying stage). The timber has been used as a blank
canvas for various experimental finishes. A scorched finish, for example,
has been applied to the back of the chair to highlight the split. The
potential for this effect is extensive, particularly with Chilterns beech,
which is so abundant and often perceived as bland in character.
In a second example, the yew plank chairs develop sculptural forms
derived from the convoluted shape of the yew tree. The outer shape of
yew, characterised by fissured growth, produces a highly contoured form
with unusually deep pockets of included bark. This is revealed in
converted planks as highly contoured edges, pockets and shapely holes
framed with borders of white sapwood (Fig 60). These features are
clearly evident with each chair characterised by its own subtle variations
of the unique signature (Fig 61). The utilisation of yew in this way is
247
particularly appropriate as its susceptibility to hair line cracks does not
compromise a finish which would otherwise be problematical on a surface
such as a table.
A final example of the plank chair theme is a book-matched
symmetrical pair of chairs from the “Signed & Sealed” project produced in
tiger oak (Fig 62). The natural convoluted edge contrasts with the sawn
edge produced at the initial conversion stage. The resulting shape
provides the form for the two plank chairs that explore the variegated
characteristics of this timber.
It is evident from these examples that the plank chair design
provides a form to explore the unique signature of a range of timbers of
local provenance, which might otherwise have limited applications. The
reading of the planks as a book, as suggested by Stead is particularly
appropriate in this form. The design is appropriate for trees of a certain
diameter and length and possibly selected parts of mature trees creating
limited editions as well as one-offs. The forms of these plank chairs and
the selection of most appropriate planks has emerged after lengthy
contemplation, in common with Nakashima’s practice.
New forms have also begun to emerge through the exploration of
the relationship between natural and rectilinear forms. In the “Signed &
Sealed” yew “Narnia” cabinet, (Fig 63), for example, the regular shape of
the brown oak cabinet and the juxtaposition of the organic asymmetrical
pippy yew doors illustrate the creative possibilities when natural forms are
incorporated into simple designs. The convoluted edge, a feature of this
design, is also a signature feature of both Stead and Nakashima's work.
My designs, however, tend to incorporate straight lines and soft curves as
a contrast to the natural convoluted edge. In this design the book-
matched pippy yew door panels stand in regimented unison, dominating
and partly camouflaging the design's storage function. The asymmetrical
shape of each door is converted into a symmetrical pair creating
harmonious but visually compelling patterns that can be interpreted, like
the Norwegian maple plank table (Fig 47), as varied shapes and figures.
Set against the splayed brown oak plinth the doors hint that there is more
behind their organic form, as the name “Narnia” implies; a further
248
suggestion being the brown oak spine which bridges the gap between the
convoluted edges of the doors. This device is also intended to unify the
contrasting features of the cabinet.
The yew wood doors came from an unusual log with epicormic
growth, which produced a range of boards each with its own unique
shape. It included a series of book-matched boards that were the
inspiration for a “limited edition” of two mitred plank tables. In these
designs the convoluted edge of the yew has also been explored in
different ways (Fig 64 and 65). One pair has retained the waney edge as
a feature on the outside edge of the finished table creating convoluted
contoured edges. The edges of the top adjoin the edges of the sides at
an abrupt right angle but retain their organic form. The soft curve of the
edge where the top meets the sides produces a continuous surface
adding to the incongruity between the formal precise elements and the
organic profile of the table (Fig 66, lower table). In the second table, by
contrast, the drama of the markings and figure are framed within a
precise rectilinear form which has been a common variant of the plank
table (Fig 66, top table). In this example the convoluted edges virtually
disappear, the remnants being visible as small misshapen openings
along the centre joint of the table; a subtle play of form is created along
the mitred edge when a hole negotiates the right angled edge as it is
reoriented from one plane to another.
These examples highlight the contrasting approaches to the
interpretation of unique signature. The forms described so far result from
converting logs into planks of various thicknesses usually between
twenty-five and seventy-five mm, drying and then selecting them. This
method, which is also a feature of Stead, Nakashima and Peters’ work,
limits the design forms and construction methods that can be used. It
also imposes a lengthy drying time (between eighteen months and four
years) on the thicker material using conventional air-drying methods. The
added value resulting from this process also tends to make the timber
more precious and which, in some measure, inhibits the freedom to
experiment.
249
A new method of processing sweet chestnut thinnings has been
developed for the “Pondlife” bench incorporating natural air-drying into
the shaping of the finished reeds. This has facilitated quicker drying and
because the timber cut can be shaped from green a more experimental
approach can be adopted; once shaped, they can continue to dry. As
fully shaped reeds, any movement or distortion that occurs can be readily
accommodated by the organic nature of the design.
As the sweet chestnut thinnings are generally too small and
misshapen to be converted into planks, the first stage of the process
requires they are band sawn into two halves often resembling a banana
split, thereby preserving the natural curve of the wood. The half round
logs are then band sawn into reed-like shapes, the final forms being
determined by the natural shape of the log and the desire to create a
lively curvi-linear form (Fig 67).
Akin to Stead's sculptural designs, the reeds are created or
“revealed” through a contemplative process, which assesses the potential
of each half log to produce a series of reeds of various sizes, shapes and
lengths. Initially, a series of square sectioned blanks are produced from
the first set of band sawn cuts. The final shape is created by rotating the
blanks 90° before making further band saw cuts to achieve a compound
curvilinear reed which is finally shaped through additional cuts and spoke
shaving to achieve the roundness of the final reed. At any stage a reed
with an unsuitable form or which develops inappropriate cracks can be
rejected. As the final shape is not consistent with the natural direction of
the grain (as in riven timber), the free-form curves and round shape
produce a distinctive pattern in each reed characterised by convoluted
figured rings. The figure is further enhanced by the inclusion of small to
medium tight knots, which create “eyes” producing radiating grain
patterns that intensify the movement of the figure (Fig 68). Each reed is
carefully positioned around the seat to create an “extended” family, giving
rise to a diversity of relationships that suggests a dialogue between each
reed. The spaces created between them are also important elements of
the design.
250
This method enables free form shapes to be produced from small
sectioned timber up to about six inches thick. Drying time is significantly
reduced because only the final form intended for furniture making has to
dry rather than the larger boards of equivalent thickness using air-drying
methods. The reeds can therefore be more playful and experimental and
the unique signature of the sweet chestnut is further expressed in the
diversity of forms produced.
The exploration of different parts of the tree beyond the main butt or
bole remains one of the least explored areas in contemporary designer-
maker furniture and may offer one of the potentially most interesting
areas of exploration for unique signature. The timber trade bases its
selection of timber on standard diameters and lengths; anything that falls
outside the criteria will be downgraded with limited market potential (see
Appendix VI, Local Sourcing – Round timber specifications). Furniture
designer-makers like Makepeace, Peters, Stead and Nakashima have
demonstrated in their respective careers the immense creative
possibilities of non-commercial timber, one of the principles of the
“Signed & Sealed” project. These designer-makers have generally relied
on well-seasoned timber to produce their furniture. The “Pondlife” bench
by contrast is inspired by small-sectioned misshapen timber which is not
produced or dried in a normal way. It is, however, closely aligned to
traditional green woodworkers’ methods such as chair bodgers and
contemporary green craftsmen like Mike Abbot.
641
Craftsmen, like Abbot,
generally fell their own timber utilising trees that have no commercial
value to the timber trade. Their craft is closely linked to woodland
management, often self managed by them. This gives them an intimate
knowledge of what timber to use and how to convert it. A few designer-
makers who work from green wood and manage their own woodland,
such as Gudrun Leitz have developed a more experimental approach to
their designs incorporating unusual natural shapes, often branches, into
641
For more information see M. Abbot, Green Woodwork, Guild of Master Craftsmen,
Lewes, 1989
251
her chairs, clearly capitalising upon her intimate knowledge of her
woodland.
642
In the “Signed & Sealed” project this area has been identified as a
potentially creative source for exploration but at this stage only tentative
efforts have been made. One example, the crotch (the part of the tree
where the tree forks), can produce highly desirable veneer particularly in
walnut and non-native mahogany. It is not, however, normally found in
solid form because, in thicknesses of less than two inches, the short grain
can make it susceptible to cracking (Nakashima, however, features it in
many of his designs). In the “Signed & Sealed” Bowen commission, the
tables are made from three inch ash ensuring that even if cracks develop
(Fig 69a/b), the sheer volume of the timber provides its own strength.
The potential of the unusual figure and sections of wood in this design is
explored through the combination of the symmetry of the book-matching
and the “folding” technique of the mitred tables (Fig 70a/b). The unique
signature pattern of the crotch is highlighted on the top faces but the
design allows each table to be rotated to enable the sides to be
repositioned as tops, thereby raising or lowering the height of the table
and highlighting the continuation of the grain pattern. By creating a
design that is minimal in form but sculptural in structure, the unique
signature of more unusual sections of a tree could produce new furniture
forms as in this example.
The difficulty, however, is not just developing new forms but
identifying timber resources that are from a sustainable source rather
than one-off pieces. Alison Crowther, for example, produces hand carved
naturally curved benches from oak branches which are converted into
three inch planks (Fig 77). It took her five years to educate a forester to
identify what she needed. What was normally regarded as waste or low
grade timber is the resource for many of her commissions. The designer,
Guy Martin, has also developed a range of repeatable designs that use
five to seven year old ash saplings as the basis of his forms (Fig 78).
Other furniture makers are also beginning to see the potential of using
642
Gudrun Leitz manages her own FSC woodland with Doug Joiner at Childer Wood,
near Ledbury (Herefordshire)
252
second lengths; Tim Orson, from the Oak Dean Co-operative, is selecting
and converting misshapen branches that could be used by furniture
makers in the Co-operative. It is possibly those parts of the tree that are
normally impractical for sawmills to convert to planks could potentially
provide the most interesting design forms. However, at this stage this is
only speculation.
Having discussed many of the “Signed & Sealed” designs produced
over the duration of the project it is also valuable to reflect on the nature
of unique signature as a process and in particular how it compares with
the use of crop timbers in the semi-bespoke process. The difficulties and
problems are wide-ranging. As discussed in Part Two, Local Cycle, a
significant investment in infrastructure has been necessary to facilitate
the process of identifying unique signature. Indeed the link between
identifying unique signature is inseparable from the development of a
local cycle for sourcing timber. The different stages discussed in Local
Cycle, from sourcing to drying the timber, are now embedded in Philip
Koomen Furniture practice and represent the initial stages in identifying
and developing the idea of unique signature. Although the methods of
the selection process have been discussed in this section; what is more
difficult to define is the nature of the process itself.
The role of unique signature predominantly embodies an exploratory
process. It can be compared to investigating an uncharted terrain.
Progress is non-linear, unpredictable and often protracted; success is
never assured. In contrast the selection of crop timbers in semi-bespoke
design is based on using high grade timber almost entirely free of knots,
cracks and discolouration which produce a level of consistency and
quality which makes it generally manageable and controllable. Crop
timber can also be purchased as and when required from merchants;
quality assurance is on the whole predictable and substandard timber can
usually be returned. By contrast, in establishing an independent cycle to
facilitate unique signature all the risks are born by the designer-maker;
this presents a number of challenges.
Making a virtue of the unique signature of local timbers explores the
opposite end of the timber spectrum. Timber which is rejected by the
253
timber trade and which has limited commercial application becomes the
medium for exploration. In discussing the development of the idea of
unique signature, it has not been possible to convey the contemplative
nature of the process. The act of identifying how non-commercial timber
can be utilised is a process which requires time; sometimes months or
even years transpire before the potential of the timber is recognised. Of
course, it can also happen instantaneously when, for example, the timber
is being converted into planks.
With the exception of “Pondlife”, which has an unusual but distinct
set of criteria, it has not been possible to be systematic in the final
selection process of timbers for the other “Signed & Sealed” designs. In
all other examples the unique signature has been developed by a largely
intuitive, process.
There are particular risks inherent in such a process. For example,
timber purchased, converted and dried has sometimes been rejected
because the timber was too bland or too degraded through infestation,
incipient decay or surface checking. Quantities of walnut, beech, spalted
beech and ash (even whole logs) have been discarded for all these
reasons. Wastage is therefore very high compared to processed crop
timbers which are often supplied square edged. In attempting to develop
unique signature not all the tree (or even the plank) can be utilised
because what might be usefully developed may only be found in one part
of the plank. Not all features (knots, cracks, etc.) can be utilised and
some may have to be cut out and rejected; wastage is therefore
considerably higher than with crop timbers.
Another of the challenges of the “Signed & Sealed” project has been
to develop a body of designs that make the most of the unique signature
of local timbers. Although the project developed a series of “Signed &
Sealed” commissions, the main body of work for the project was
experimental in nature. Such experimental designs have been essential
to demonstrate the possibilities of unique signature to clients and the
public but have not always met with success – at least in terms of sales.
These problems and difficulties pose the question: what is the value of
254
developing the unique signature of local timbers if it is a problematical
area?
The search for unique signature then is characterised by a spirit of
adventure, a passion to find the exceptional, a curiosity which can elevate
a piece of furniture to an object of exceptional beauty. It is the desire to
discover and reveal what was previously concealed that sustains the
effort and overcomes the difficulties – as Makepeace, Peters, Stead and
Nakashima have shown. Such an enterprise clearly lies outside the
norms of industry and it is in this domain that the designer-maker can
make a valuable contribution to increasing the range of aesthetic
possibilities of this medium of design.
In terms of summarising the concept of unique signature in relation
to the “Signed & Sealed” project, the following observations will prove
useful:
A. In terms of selection:
• Converting the timber at the sawmill is the most critical stage in
determining the potential of the log to reveal its unique signature
• Recording of the unique signature requires a range of different
methods:
1. A storing system to retrieve timber
2. A record system to accompany the storing system
3. Visual memory
4. Photographic records
5. Sketch records
6. Descriptive notes
• Selection of timber at every stage of processing determines the
unique signature possibilities. Selection is characterised by its
intuitive, experimental and random nature
B. As regards design elements:
• Cracks, usually regarded as defects have been celebrated as
design elements, either as contained negative spaces or as
elements that redefine rectilinear edges (brown oak table)
255
• Convoluted splits formed along the pith in irregular tree growth
have been the inspiration for inlay lines that match the contour of
the split to create a design feature based on unique signature
(mitred plank table)
• Large frequent knots have been used as features to enhance the
character of simple designs (“Two U” bench, “Pondlife” bench
seats)
• Knots have also been removed as features to emphasise the
vigorous movement created between the knots in the design
• The waney and convoluted edges produced by epicormic growth in
yew and oak produce some of the most dramatic natural features
in wood (“Narnia” cabinet, pippy yew mitred plank tables)
• Selected consecutive boards can create unique serial designs that
explore the diversity and continuity of the unique signature from
one tree (“Trio” tables in brown/tiger oak)
• Selected book-matching of consecutive boards has been used as
a method to explore the unique signature of timber which have
dramatic but irregular features (“Narnia” cabinet, pippy yew and
maple plank tables, plank chairs)
• Stained timber caused by fungal attack including beefsteak fungus
and spalting have been used selectively to create a range of
decorative effects (storage cabinet)
C. Distinctive forms that explore the three dimensional qualities of unique
signature include:
• Curvilinear forms that explore the relationship between surface
and end grain in brown oak and ash (“Ebb & Flow” design)
• Sculptural organic forms that utilise the natural misshapen
thinnings in sweet chestnut (“Pondlife” benches)
• Designs that explore the relationship between naturally convoluted
edges and rectilinear forms in epicormic growth in yew and oak
(“Narnia” cabinet)
256
• Designs have been developed to provide blank canvasses that are
appropriate for distinctive boards of timber which otherwise might
have limited use, these include:
o The mitred plank table (ash, brown oak, tiger oak, maple
and yew)
o The plank chair (beech, tiger oak and pippy yew)
D. With regard to processing and preparing timbers:
• End grain sections of spalted beech and similarly figured wood
treated with a stabilising solution has much to offer
• Unusual cuts of timber from different parts of the tree reveal
unusual and distinctive figure, for example, the crotch where two
branches separate
• New methods of processing can produce distinctive new forms,
e.g. the “Pondlife” reeds
• The exploration of the many parts of the tree can potentially reveal
new forms and design elements
• Wastage is higher than in crop timbers
In conclusion, the development of globalisation and an increasingly
sophisticated Western market economy has had the effect of
commoditising timber and creating furniture that is not synchronised with
what grows in the forest and woodland. Furniture designer-makers,
although small in number, can demonstrate through their creative use of
non-commercial timber the design possibilities of these underutilised
resources and greater appreciation of sustainable forestry.
The broad idea implicit in the term unique signature has been
intrinsic to furniture making ever since craftsmen first explored the
possibilities of wood in the design and construction of furniture. However,
most usefully, unique signature is a term specific to furniture craft practice
where the timber has been sourced and processed by the designer-
maker. It emerges through an intimate association with the timber, a
scientific and technical understanding of the material and processes, and
a knowledge acquired through the making process. It evolves and is
extended through a specific range of practices intended to explore the
257
creative possibilities of the intrinsic qualities of non-commercial and
lesser known species which have known provenance. In short, unique
signature is a celebration of the diversity of wood through a craft-based
design process.
2.4 Conclusion: Promoting sustainability with the Signed & Sealed
brand
The “Signed & Sealed” project has explored and developed a range of
strategies for facilitating sustainable development on a local level;
reducing costs and enhancing values across the economic and
environmental matrix that relate to Philip Koomen Furniture. Any
evaluation of the project must be provisional at this early stage but
provides useful indicators for future development as the “Signed &
Sealed” range is now embedded in the Philip Koomen Furniture
workshop practice.
The “Signed & Sealed” project, for example, has demonstrated that
it is possible to create a low environmental impact local cycle by sourcing
under-utilised timber directly from local woodlands based on the following
template:
• Timber is purchased directly from woodlands within a thirty mile radius
of the workshop
• Logs are converted either at the nearest commercial saw mill or at the
woodland using a mobile or fixed saw mill, usually owned by the
woodland estate
• Converted timber is brought to Philip Koomen Furniture workshop
where it is air-dried in the workshop yard for between one and four
years
• The selected timber is dried to ten to twelve per cent moisture content
in the workshop dehumidifier chamber
• Timber is previewed and selected in collaboration with a client for a
specific project
258
• Commissioned furniture is either delivered to the clients home or
collected from the workshop
This cycle significantly reduces the stage between sourcing the timber
and supplying the end product to the customer/client compared to the
industrial commercial model by eliminating “middlemen”. In Signed &
Sealed, production/consumption is normally reduced to three stages, i.e.
transporting the timber from the woodland to the saw mill, from the saw
mill to the workshop and finally from the workshop to the client’s home.
The “Pondlife” cycle has only two stages as the sawmilling is done at the
woodland estate.
By producing furniture from locally sourced timber in the manner
described above, carbon emissions and energy consumption through
fossil fuels are reduced to the minimum within the existing transport
system. The extended life of craftsman-made furniture, compared to
most commercial furniture, locks up carbon for the life of the furniture.
Energy consumption is also reduced through the natural process of air-
drying timber. Timber is dried for a maximum period of three to four
years when in the summer period it ultimately reaches its optimum level
of moisture content of fifteen to eighteen per cent for outdoor ambient
conditions. It is then stored in the purpose built timber sheds until
required. Only once timber has been selected for a project is it dried in
the dehumidifier chamber minimising energy consumption
The “Signed & Sealed” project has also helped to redefine what
constitutes usefulness and waste through the concept of unique
signature, which reassesses the potential of the intrinsic qualities of
timber previously discarded or down graded. In the “Signed & Sealed”
project, sweet chestnut thinnings, for example, previously considered a
waste product and low grade timber such as brown oak, which may only
have a market as firewood have become a valued economic resource.
The question as to what is waste is a fundamental issue when
global resources are becoming scarce and are threatening political and
economic stability. The development of products through appropriate
designs which incorporates the idea of the unique signature of local
timbers redefines the concept of waste, and therefore scarcity. A
259
realignment of the infrastructure on a regional basis to promote the local
cycle could release tremendous natural resources and make a significant
contribution to sustainable development by promoting sustainable
woodland management through the creation of a market for previously
unmarketable timber. The idea of unique signature could therefore be
developed to market these resources in the global economy; resource
management is emerging as one of the big issues in the twenty-first
century. Poor resource management will lead to scarcity of basic
commodities which will have significant political and economic
implications.
Finally, a project like “Signed & Sealed” adds economic value to the
local economy at every stage of the process bringing mutual benefit to
woodland owner, carrier, sawmill and furniture maker:
• Timber is purchased directly from the woodland owner or a local
contractor representing him. The value of the timber is negotiated at a
mutually acceptable price
• Transportation of timber between woodland, saw mill and workshop is
undertaken by a local contractor or by the saw mill’s transport based
on their standard charges
• Local independent saw mills or those owned by the woodland convert
the timber based on their standard charges
The sourcing and processing of local timber over the duration of the
project (January 2001 to December 2004) has, for example, contributed
£7540 to the local woodland economy, including contractors. This is a
modest but significant breakthrough for a project that is only in its infancy.
However, the “Signed & Sealed” strategy also depends on generating
commissions for semi-bespoke designs. It is from this perspective that
the sustainability of the strategy also needs provisional assessment. It is
more difficult to measure the economic value of the “Signed & Sealed”
project because of the disparate range of designs produced; the partial
utilisation of timber logs used in the process; the problem of quantifying
260
waste and the number of experimental designs produced to demonstrate
possibilities.
One design, however, provides a valuable example of the
relationship between the value of locally sourced timber to a “Signed &
Sealed” design. During the project, fifteen “Pondlife” benches were
produced with a total value of £38,351. The total value of sweet chestnut
and cedar of Lebanon acquired to produce these was £3,121. Material
costs therefore represent 8.14 per cent of the total value of furniture.
643
This is significantly lower than the cost of sourcing timber through the
timber trade. The average value of timber purchased through timber
merchants is 11.38 per cent of the total value of commissions.
644
The
difference in added value is due to the processing of timber at the
workshop, i.e. drying. The economic benefit to the local woodland estate
came from the income through the sale of a forestry by product, sweet
chestnut thinnings, which would otherwise have had limited alternative
markets. The “Pondlife” bench therefore provides an important economic
model for the “Signed & Sealed” strategy to contribute to the local
woodland economy and has made a significant contribution to developing
a sustainable practice.
As the majority of clients are from within a thirty mile radius of the
workshop, the local market is enhanced and a “Signed & Sealed” product
represents a complete local economic cycle from the design of the
product and the sourcing of materials through to the final product. Such
local sourcing also reduces the need to use imported timber and is a
protection from fluctuating exchange rates and potential upward price
movements if, as is likely, the global market for timber becomes more
competitive.
In conclusion, the “Signed & Sealed” project has initiated the
development of a sustainable practice by providing a vehicle of change in
promoting a local network for sourcing and marketing regional timber
643
This figure is based on the value of “Pondlife” benches produced and the total value
of stock of sweet chestnut and cedar of Lebanon. If, for example, the calculation
included a potential six 2-seater “Pondlife” benches @ £2364 each which could be
produced from timber stock, the proportion of material costs would be 5.94%
644
This figure is based on an average cost of purchases as a percentage of
commissions by Philip Koomen Furniture over four years, between 2001 and 2005
261
through the creation of a local cycle. In particular, the concept of unique
signature has become a touchstone by which, through the creative use of
defects, otherwise rejected waste material, is transformed into useful
objects that celebrate nature’s diversity. Finally, the semi-bespoke, which
began as a concept to democratise the commissioning process by
extending the availability of craftsman-made furniture to a wider market,
has been reshaped in the “Signed & Sealed” project to promote the local
cycle; the very act of commissioning initiates a local and sustainable
practice.
The culmination of this project, of course, has been the “Signed &
Sealed” collection (Appendix IX) and the “Out of the Woods” exhibition at
the River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames (16 September 2004
until 5 January 2005), its accompanying catalogue and associated
conferences which will be discussed in the next section, the Conclusion:
Reviews, Responses and Reflections.
262
Conclusion: Reviews, Responses and Reflections
Sustainability has been a guideline for human culture from time immemorial
E. von Weizsäcker
3.1 The “Out of the Woods” exhibition
The stated aims of this thesis were to address the ecological concerns
identified by the Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro 1992) and Agenda 21. The
“Out of the Woods” exhibition, held at the River & Rowing Museum,
Henley-on-Thames (September 2004 – January 2005), in many ways
marked the culmination of this research journey by tracing its route and
offering tangible evidence of its outcomes. The museum provided the
ideal venue to showcase the issues explored by the project, make visible
the process of research and development and offer its eventual outcomes
(embodied in the “Signed & Sealed” furniture designs) as a useful vehicle
for discussion. Thirty-six objects were presented - including nineteen
“Signed & Sealed” designs - together with related evidence of research
and developmental processes.
As a brand, the “Signed & Sealed” range of design was seen in the
exhibition to be identified by a promise that it is sourced from local
timbers of known provenance and designed with the express intention of
promoting sustainable management and the local economy. The “Out of
the Woods” exhibition also revealed how the “Signed & Sealed” range
embraced:
• The incorporation of unusual features, defects and waste materials
into furniture designs of a unique signature celebrating the value of
natural diversity
• The use of the distinctive characteristics of timber from local
woodlands in such a way as to enhance regional identity
• The selection of timbers through collaborative discussion with
woodland manager, maker and client developing a mutual design
process connecting forest to furniture and the environment to
people
263
As will be seen in the catalogue (Appendix XII, to be found attached to
the text) the “Out of the Woods” exhibition also addressed the various
ecological issues identified by the thesis and delineated the sustainable
practices embodied in the “Signed & Sealed” range – local sourcing,
unique signature and the concept of the semi-bespoke.
The exhibition was jointly curated by Jane Bowen and Ditte Hviid of
the River & Rowing Museum and it was scheduled on the back of an
earlier exhibition, sponsored by the River & Rowing Museum,
“Craftsmanship in the 21
st
Century
”645
in which I exhibited with David
Harber, sun dial maker and Colin Henwood, boat builder. The graphic
designer, Ross Speirs, Colophon Design, was commissioned by the River
& Rowing Museum to design the exhibition information panels in
collaboration with me and the co-curators (Appendix X). The discussion
was interesting and ranged over a number of museological issues relating
to audience and communication. A format was agreed in which each
panel integrated a number of elements:
• The theme title
• A freeze of images related to the “Signed & Sealed” project
• Information sub-zones with sub-headings
• Images from the project with captions
• Inspirational quotations
An insight into the relationship between man and nature was presented
through a series of inspirational quotations.
646
An audio-visual
presentation was prepared by Ditte Hviid which took the form of a series
of questions operated by push buttons (Fig 85). This provided an
eminently useful visual analogue that further helped open up and make
transparent the research and design process; this information was based
645
Craftsmanship in the 21
st
Century exhibition ran from 22 January to 22 April 2001
646
In collaboration with the Oxford Scribes, a series of calligraphy designs based on
Holy Scriptures were produced on locally sourced wood. Three pieces were
selected for the exhibition
264
on Antiques for the Future: The Inspiration, Art and Skill of Crafting Wood
(2003) by Dr Kyle Jones (Appendix XIII).
647
The exhibition lay-out made use of four partitions, each at ninety
degrees to the walls to subdivide the main gallery. These created a
series of discrete areas to exhibit furniture and highlight particular themes
of the PhD project. The partitions were each designed with an illuminated
niche at eye level for placing half-scale chair models. One partition also
had two display openings at eye level, visible from both sides, to allow
natural light through. The plinths were raised five centimetres above floor
level to protect the furniture but encourage visitors to approach the
furniture at close proximity. A curvilinear island display area was
complemented by surrounding curvilinear plinths to create a circular path
for visitors. All the furniture was arranged on plinths except the “Pondlife”
benches. While visitors were asked not to touch most of the furniture
(museum policy) they were invited to sit on the “Pondlife” bench and
enjoy the tactile qualities of the reeds. The constraint on the size of the
gallery did limit the display of raw timber in its various forms; however, a
sweet chestnut thinning was included showing how a basic reed for
“Pondlife” was formed and samples of beech were included.
The range of furniture exhibited also included a series of half scale
and quarter scale models; these were placed in their own distinct spaces
to stimulate a different level of visual experience to the full-size furniture
on display. Visitors could view these forms closely at eye level and
appreciate the designs from a different perspective (NB the complete
“Out of the Woods” Exhibition Objects list is detailed in Appendix XI).
3.2 The “Out of the Woods” catalogue and related conferences
An estimated 15,000 visitors viewed the exhibition over a period of three
and half months. The exhibition received extensive regional and national
647
K. Jones, Antiques for the Future: The Inspiration, Art and Skill of Crafting Wood,
Time & Co. Productions, Bicester, May 2003 (audio CD)
265
media editorial, including a feature on Meridian TV’s Town and Country
programme.
648
The “Out of the Woods” catalogue was conceived as a guide to the
“Signed & Sealed” project and its content followed logically from the
exhibition information panels. Where the information panels were
individually distinct, the catalogue provides both a unifying narrative to the
exhibition and a synopsis of the dissertation in an economical language
intended to be accessible to all. The content was prepared by me and
the structure negotiated in collaboration with Dr Reg Winfield,
Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College and the River & Rowing
Museum staff.
The catalogue was introduced by Dr Reg Winfield, who offered a
critical perspective on the nature of the “Signed & Sealed” project. Lady
Sabiha Foster, architect and designer, contributed a foreword which
provided an insight into the relationship between creativity and spirituality
based on the teachings of the world religions. The catalogue also
provided a directory for the sponsors of the catalogue, regional forestry
initiatives promoting sustainability, art and craft venues and a website on
world citizenship (Appendix XII, “Out of the Woods” Catalogue).
A one-day conference, “Our Woods in Your Hands” (25 September
2004), aimed at raising awareness of the issues and challenges of
promoting sustainable forestry from global, national and local
perspectives. The morning session offered presentations by four
respected professionals from forestry and the timber trade. David
Jenkins, director of Coed Cymru, Wales, introduced and chaired the
programme. Dr Mike Packer gave a global perspective of market
constraints and opportunities for promoting sustainable forest
management. Dr Gabriel Hemery discussed the long-term benefits of
genetic and provenance research in improving British hardwoods as well
as current U.K. forest policy and challenges of climate change. David
Rees presented best case/worst case scenarios of the future of
woodlands in Oxfordshire.
648
Town & Country, Meridian Television, 7 October 2004 (Television programme)
266
The afternoon discussion workshop encouraged cross-disciplinary
discussion and new initiatives from forestry professionals, woodland
owners, the timber trade, researchers, designers, craftsmen,
manufacturers and design students who use wood. Chris Cox and Steve
Say, from Timbmet Group Ltd, facilitated a discussion on designing with
timber through the question: “Are we expecting too much quality from out
timber?”. About fifty people attended the morning lectures and over forty
professionals participated in the workshop (Appendix VIII). This group
formed an important nucleus from which to develop a cooperative
network for sourcing processing and distributing local timber and
subsequently inks were made for example, with Coed Cymru and the Oak
Dean Cooperative.
A second one-day conference, “Out of the Woods: A Sustainable
Approach to Furniture Design” (20 October 2004) was organised in
collaboration with Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College and
sponsored by the River & Rowing Museum and the Chilterns Enterprise
Gateway. It also provided the occasion for the official launch of the
Chartered Society of Designers new Sustainability Group. The
conference was aimed at design professionals and furniture design
students to promote greater awareness of sustainable approaches to
furniture design through a series of presentations and workshops by
leading practitioners. David Colwell discussed his batch produced, eco-
designed, steam-bent furniture. Dr Chris Cattle presented a history of
grown artefacts and his ingenious approach to growing furniture. Gudrun
Leitz discussed how she has developed techniques to produce free-form
green wood furniture from managed woodland. The morning
presentations were followed by workshop discussions led by the
designers. A plenary session enabled participants to discuss issues.
649
A design project designed around the utilisation of beech, (one of the
themes of the “Out of the Woods” exhibition) was presented by Hugh
Scriven to the BA Furniture Design and Craftsmanship second year
students of Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College. John Morris,
649
The presentations were videoed and recorded on DVD by Buckinghamshire Chilterns
University College to document the event
267
of the Chilterns Woodland Project, agreed to collaborate with the students
to enable them to source beech from local woodland for a competition
sponsored by the Chilterns Enterprise Gateway. A further two one-day
seminars were also organised, aimed at interested individuals who were
offered a guided tour of the exhibition and the Philip Koomen Workshop,
which were intended to further promote understanding of ecological
issues and offer insight into the process of sustainable design.
The “Out of the Woods” exhibition came to an end in January 2005
but has since taken on a life of its own. It has subsequently been
resuscitated in an abbreviated form as part of Oxfordshire’s Artweeks
(May 2005 and 2006 – venue the Philip Koomen Furniture Workshop)
and at Art in Action, Waterperry House (July 2005) and has again
recently resurfaced fully fledged at the Wycombe Museum, High
Wycombe (August – October 2006). Further venues are presently being
discussed with Oxfordshire County Museum, Woodstock, the Artifex
Gallery, Sutton Coldfield, and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, amongst
others.
In one sense this thesis was given a kind of journalistic currency at
least, through the agency of the “Out of the Woods” exhibition. Susan
Herdman for example, used her review of the exhibition to affirm my
status as ‘one of the finest craftsmen in wood in Britain today’.
650
The
Guardian described the “Out of the Woods” exhibition rather more soberly
as ‘challenging unsustainable consumer demands’.
651
The Furniture
Journal wrote ‘The “Out of the Woods” exhibition highlighted Philip’s
beliefs that the role of the furniture designer-maker is crucial in
addressing the problems of consumption by helping to develop a greener
and more sustainable global economy’.
652
Kay MacArthur (the Henley
Standard) described how ‘the exhibition demonstrates how designers and
consumers can have a positive impact on the environment and local
economy’.
653
Barney Leith (Bahá'í Journal) observed that the exhibition
650
S. Herdman, ‘For the Love of Wood’, BBC Homes & Antiques, BBC Magazines,
February 2005, pp. 70-71
651
The Guide, The Guardian, 2 – 8 October 2004
652
‘Going Green’, Furniture Journal, May 2005
653
K. MacArthur, ‘Showcase for Unique Furniture’, Henley Standard, 1 October 2004
268
represented a ‘unity of concept holding together a diversity of realisation
in the actual pieces on show’.
654
Leith was also inspired to make it the
subject for his broadcast Thought for the Day, BBC Radio 2,
655
in which
he recognised the PhD project as a direct response to the problem of
being a designer-maker and world citizen. The ethical dimensions of the
project were also identified by Michele Fleming, who observed in her
review of the exhibition how:
Design and craftsmanship are subservient to his higher goal of
channelling his creativity in his push to work towards global
responsibility.
656
Many furniture designer-makers and peers also had the opportunity
to view the exhibition and were very encouraging. Chloe Darling, chair of
Chairs 2004 wrote:
Congratulations on producing such a marvellous exhibition
encompassing such thoughtfulness. The pieces were wonderfully
made and the designs so appealing … a positive message about
the good use of wood.
657
Richard Williams, the designer-maker, wrote:
I was impressed … not only with the quality of design and
workmanship (which goes without saying of course) but mostly how
it was unified by your research and the ethos behind the work.
658
However, setting journalistic licence aside, it is perhaps more useful
to note that the exhibition (and with it the “Signed & Sealed” project) was
mentioned in numerous trade journals. The American journalist Thomas
Russell, for example, reported: ‘the use of sustainable materials in
furniture interests Philip Koomen, a British-based designer who spoke on
the subject during an IFFS Design Forum’.
659
The trade journal Panels
and Furniture Asia also reported how the “Koomen Trio” project follows a
long tradition by American Hardwood Export Council of commissioning
654
B. Leith, ‘Excellence in All Things’, UK Bahá’í Journal, Winter 2004/5
655
B. Leith, Thought for the Day, BBC Radio 2, Broadcast November 2004 (actual date
not known)
656
M. Fleming, ‘Knock on Wood’, Bucks Free Press, 8 October 2004
657
C. Darling, Letter dated 19 September 2004
658
R. Williams, Letter dated 7 January 2005
659
T. Russell, ‘Salvaged Teak: Adding Spice to Gallery 278 Line‘, Furniture Today, USA,
May 24 2004
269
fine furniture makers to demonstrate the beauty and working properties of
American hardwoods’.
660
It would seem then that the “Out of the Woods” exhibition and the
“Signed & Sealed” range (and with it the related “Koomen Trio” project)
have clearly begun to raise awareness of some of the issues around
sustainability with both the public and the furniture and timber industries
and raise interesting questions regarding the reach of what might be
called the ideational footprint of this PhD project.
The conference “Our Woods in Your Hands” (together with
preceding lectures) also identified many of the challenges facing the
future of forestry in the U.K. and drew a wide range of responses. Peter
Hale of the Royal Forestry Society, for example, responded by confirming
that timber growers did not appreciate the ‘difficulties of small furniture
makers in buying timber for their work’ and ‘how woodland managers did
not realise how costly this can be to the user of wood in small
quantities’.
661
Alan Betts, conservator at the Forestry Commission, also
wrote to me to say: ‘I agree with you about local linkages to world issues
as expressed in this project’ and then went on to suggest the possibility
that the Forest Commission grant system could be linked to furniture. He
wrote:
Sustainable development, however, is the rationale for all our grants
nowadays so do let me know if you think there are ways of better
linking our woodland grants to work of your kind.
662
Clearly such responses show the need to influence influential government
agencies such as the Forestry Commission in their policy decisions. It is
my view that this can be facilitated through grass roots initiatives such as
that embodied in this PhD project aimed to stimulate constructive
dialogue around ecological issues.
The “Design for Sustainability” conference was also instrumental in
just this way, encouraging design and craft students to consider the
ecological and design issues raised. Several Buckinghamshire Chilterns
660
M. Buckley, ‘The Koomen Trio Furniture Project ‘, Panels and Furniture Asia, May
2002
661
P. Hale, Royal Forestry Society, Letter dated 25 March 2003
662
A. Betts, Forestry Commission England, Letter dated 26 April 2005
270
University College students, for example, subsequently explored the
issues in their final year dissertations and hopefully will be inspired to
develop their professional practice on sustainable principles. One other
small but significant achievement is perhaps also worth noting. It may be
surprising to know that until recently the Chartered Society of Designers
(CSD) had no office within the organisation to raise sustainable design
issues. Following a discourse with the CSD director, Frank Peters, about
the “Out of the Woods” exhibition, he proposed that I should chair a CSD
Sustainability Group and the “Design for Sustainability” conference was
the official launch for it. This offers a potentially important opportunity to
facilitate future discussion and highlight sustainable practice through the
CSD website and journal to the constituency of chartered designers.
3.3 Final reflections
As a direct result of the research undertaken for this thesis, the Philip
Koomen Furniture practice has developed a more balanced and
complimentary range of practices which includes high style one-offs,
semi-bespoke commissions and the Signed & Sealed. The relationship
of these three strands is a complex one and is linked in a number of
ways.
High style one-off commissions, for example, have provided
opportunities to develop design areas in which client and designer-maker
collaborate in the conceptualisation of a design brief that reflect the
client’s needs. This strand has enabled this designer-maker to explore
fertile areas of creative potential as well as help sustain the viability of the
practice. In recent years, as the research for this thesis developed,
commissions have also been linked to the sustainable issues explored in
this thesis.
The semi-bespoke, by contrast, offers a range of identifiable designs
that use crop timbers from well-managed sources. It meets the needs of
clients in the middle ground who appreciate tried and tested designs
which represent a high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail; it
also forms the majority of commissions undertaken by the practice.
271
In addition, experimental designs have also been part of workshop
practice since its beginning. They can extend the boundaries of the
creative practice through self-directed explorations of new concepts free
of the constraints of the commissioning process. These designs can
stand alone as points of creative reference or feed into the other strands,
particularly Signed & Sealed.
As yet, the “Signed & Sealed” furniture represents a small proportion
of the total commissions undertaken by the current practice. However,
what has become evident throughout the PhD process is the emergence
of “Signed & Sealed” as the focal point of the practice. It has evolved
from semi-bespoke and high style one-off commissions and experimental
designs over thirty years and contains elements of all but brings them
together in a unified and ideologically coherent way.
As for the “Signed & Sealed” research project itself, this explored a
number of issues around the debate on sustainable development and
focussed on a particular set of arguments expounded upon in Part One
from which the “Signed & Sealed” strategy was developed. These are
summarised as follows:
One of the key challenges facing sustainable development is the
conflict between two opposing views. One which believes it can be
achieved by refining the current pattern of economic growth and one
which proposes a more radical adjustment to align development to non
material goals. Perhaps more critical is the need to define the values that
underpin sustainable development without which there can be no
common basis on which to implement a strategy and measure progress.
The global initiative Agenda 21 relied on empowerment of
individuals and communities through the democratic process. It
recognised problems and solutions required local strategies. Progress,
however, has been restricted by the limited powers and influence of local
government and the relative apathy of individuals and communities.
A similar story is repeated in the workplace where potentially
workers, managers and entrepreneurs could collaborate in transforming
the nature and purpose of work aligned to the needs of the individual and
society, initiating a process that begins to reconcile conflicting interests
272
between the two constituencies. Again the lack of response from the
workplace and the business world indicates an unwillingness to face
current challenges and perhaps an inability to redefine the role of work
which has largely become reduced to a means of acquiring the medium
of exchange for the consumption of goods. The nature and purpose of
work and by implication business, requires a radical rethink to become
part of a dynamic process of sustainable development.
The integration of economic and ecological values provides an
alternative model for sustainable development. It reconciles the problems
of an economic system which externalises environmental and social costs
by integrating them into a system that provides ecological balance and
societal justice.
The design profession’s response to the sustainability question –
explored in the thesis through the philosophical perspectives of product
designers such as Jakki Dehn and Philippe Starck – is now supported by
a growing level of institutional research and discourse on a national and
international level. Industry too, represented by visionary companies like
AT&T and Wilkhahn, has been developing innovatory sustainable
practices despite the lack of short-term incentives. And by contrast, while
pre-industrial furniture crafts have inspired product designers like Hans
Wegner and David Colwell who have demonstrated the enduring
relevance of the craft ethos applied to industry, more recent
contemporary furniture designer-makers have also inspired innovatory
craft practices - as can be seen in the work of Chris Cattle, Guy Martin
and Daniel Mack. What has become clear then is that there now exists a
body of furniture designer-makers who have emerged in the last thirty
years from relative obscurity to become a small but highly regarded and
significant community in the economic life of the nation.
The difficulties of establishing a furniture designer-maker eco were
explored, including the problem of balancing the range of skills from
design and make to marketing and administration. The preservation of a
unique maker-client relationship was seen to remain central to this role.
The multiplication of the number of designer-makers over the last thirty
years is confirmation of a new appreciation and demand for designer-
273
maker furniture, a development that is particularly significant in the
Oxfordshire and Chilterns area and its long history of furniture making.
However, it was argued the viability and future of the designer-maker will
depend on defining the price differential between the manufactured
equivalents. The alignment of a practice to a well defined set of values
and objectives that promote sustainable practice may provide the
differentiating factor that enables clients to make a considered choice.
The “Signed & Sealed” project has provided the framework to
demonstrate the feasibility of this argument. Therefore central to this
thesis is the evolution of the bespoke furniture designer-maker practice
as an eco business, facilitating sustainable development at a local level -
in line with the objectives of Agenda 21.
The increasing recognition that an economic system designed for
mass market and reduction of costs cannot meet the diversity of human
or ecological needs provides a clear opportunity for the furniture
designer-maker to develop strategies that negotiate an alternative to the
mass consumer products and the rarefied one-off designer-maker
products. The concept of semi-bespoke furniture designs provided the
first strand in the “Signed & Sealed” project allowing clients to engage in
the commissioning process and negotiate individual designs to meet their
needs but working within the constraints of generic designs without
having the associated costs of a one-off design. The alignment of this
methodology to the utilisation of non-commercial timber from local
woodlands, which are in a state of ecological and economic crisis,
provide the basis for the “Signed & Sealed” strategy for the following
reasons:
• Local sourcing in the Oxfordshire and Chilterns area declined in
the twentieth century as the furniture industry contracted and the
demand for imported timber increased
• Under-management amongst privately owned woodlands in the
region caused by declining demand left woodlands in an
unsustainable condition
274
• The potential for timber production is recognised by researchers
but lack of management, skill base and deteriorating supply chain
restricts possibilities
• The public are ignorant of the relationship between the ecology
and economics of sustainable management, not recognising the
balance between landscape, ecological value and economic return
from timber sales
• The problems are aggravated by the disconnected condition of the
various stakeholders from woodland owners to consumers. This
condition represents a serious obstacle to unified action
• The global forestry crisis has begun to be addressed through the
Forestry Steward Council initiative and similar schemes which
provide certification for sustainable forestry management for the
commercial market but are still problematic for the small woodland
owner
• Certification affects five per cent of the forests worldwide and is
being adopted by an increasing number of forests. Although it has
become a standard for commercial forests, the public and the
consumer, alternative networks are needed for local markets and
crafts people
• The range and quality of U.K. imported timber with minimal defects
has created unrealistic expectations amongst timber users and is
unrepresentative of forest yield
• In the U.K. small independent woodland owners who wish to gain
access to markets requiring certification are hampered by high
administrative costs, poor stock and supply issues
• Current U.K. government policy emphasises the social and
environmental benefits of woodlands with little emphasis on the
economic benefits. Policy ignores the potential costs of global
warming and the possibility of greater demand for timber in a
competitive global market
275
• Predicted environmental changes through global warming require
a radical management policy to safeguard the future of U.K.
forests and reduce dependence on imported timber
• The development of a Local Cycle is therefore a practice-based
response to a regional forestry crisis that is also intimately
connected with U.K. government policy, changing global forestry
economics and the potential challenges of global warming
• Unique Signature develops from the exploration of non-commercial
local timbers through the local cycle process
• It extends the possibilities of a visual language for timber that
interprets its decorative qualities and structural properties beyond
the constraints of historical craft precedent and current commercial
practice
• It is a practice that has been identified in this research as common
to a number of well known documented designer-makers including
Peters, Makepeace, Stead and Nakashima
• It represents an alternative resource to the consistent and
homogenous material appropriate for production processes
• It meets a recognised but latent demand for “character” woods
which enhance what Pye refers to as the ‘short range elements,
which are the domain of workmanship’.
663
• It begins to address the imbalance in forestry management
produced by the demands of manufacturers by creating a demand
for non-commercial timber
The “Signed & Sealed” project was therefore shaped by a raft of
issues around the sustainable forestry debate but first gained its focus as
a practice-led response through the semi-bespoke methodology. In
reflecting upon its development the ecological design model proposed by
Van der Ryn and Cowan has provided an essential conceptual framework
from which to make some provisional assessment of the value of the
research in establishing the culture for promoting sustainable
663
Pye, The Nature and Art of Workmanship, p. 34
276
development. Five principles define ecological design and it is in relation
to these that I offer some comment on the “Signed & Sealed” project.
Firstly, design solutions should develop from the particular
conditions and limitations of the physical locality and develop from the
skills already employed in the area. In this regard the sourcing and
processing of local timber has only been possible through coordinating a
range of forestry and contractor professionals whose complementary
skills and knowledge made the project feasible as acknowledged in the
following relationships.
The experience of David Rees (Project Manager Oxfordshire
Woodland Project) - whose knowledge of independent woodlands
provided a valuable perspective to identifying collaborative woodlands.
Martin Drew, forestry contractor, whose knowledge of the characteristics
of local soil conditions helped select timber, together with a number of
woodland managers who helped identify specific trees suitable for felling.
The existence of a range of sawmills in the locality also enabled the
converting to take place without recourse to extended journeys. The
project has therefore established that despite the decline in the condition
of local woodlands there is still a tenuous culture that survives which may
yet build a larger sustainable community around expanding woodland
resources.
This local knowledge is an essential component to problem solving
and can only be acquired through a ‘process of cultural accretion’.
664
Within the period of the research project it became clear that much
progress was made in educating woodland professionals about my
intentions. Interestingly, clients and the public have also become aware
about the possibility of using locally sourced timber. At one recent
furniture makers network meeting a furniture maker raised the topic of
how could he obtain locally sourced timber as he was being asked by
prospective clients if he could supply it. Managing expectations has
become an important aspect of the process of accretion. Clients are
unaware of the complexities around sourcing local timber and woodland
664
S. Van der Ryn and S. Cowan, Ecological Design, Island Press, Washington, 1996,
p. 65
277
managers are keen to sell timber. Developing a culture in which both
managers and clients appreciate the limitation of the local cycle is
intrinsic to the process.
The principle of design with nature has been explored in this thesis
not only in relation to the ecology of forestry but also in terms of the
inherent sustainability of craftsman-made furniture. Design with nature
represents a partnership according to Van der Ryn and Cowan: ‘a kind of
covenant between human communities and other living communities’.
665
The project began in a spirit of learning in which the designs produced
responded to what the woodlands were able to offer under the
stewardship of the managers – in this respect it responded to the diversity
of the woodlands rather than imposed a uniform solution.
One of the most important principles in the project has been the role
of the designer as a facilitator and the recognition that everyone (in a
sense) is a designer. The essence of this principle is the collaborative
and cooperative nature of design as a process in which ‘solutions grow
and evolve organically out of a particular situation, process and pattern of
communication’.
666
Designs are therefore not imposed but develop
through a dialogue which at community level is an expression of
participating democracy. In this regard the community is represented by
Philip Koomen Furniture, the woodland community and the clients and
the dialogue is therefore three-way (facilitated by me acting the role of the
designer-facilitator).
The fifth principle asks that nature be visible and requires that
technology is transparent without concealed consequences. It requires a
level of openness that is also essential in the consultative spirit that
characterises the collaborative design process and which is fundamental
to semi-bespoke. By engaging clients in a consultation that informs them
about the ecological consequences of their decisions the ‘symbiotic
relationship between culture, nature and design generates new design
possibilities’.
667
Both designer and client are engaged in a learning
665
Ibid., p. 55
666
Ibid., p. 55
667
Ibid., p. 55
278
attitude in which possibilities are evaluated in relation to their impact and
benefit to the local environment.
It can be seen that the “Signed & Sealed” project has begun to
develop a strategy based on the ecological design principles advocated
by Van der Ryn and Cowan. However, as yet, the principle of ecological
accounting which measures sustainable development in relation to the
ecological footprint is not an integral part of the strategy. This is a vital
but complex system to try to introduce within an established practice. It is
acknowledged however, that it is (arguably) an essential analytical tool for
the long-term strategic development of the practice as well as offering
verifiable evidence to demonstrate to interested constituencies the
benefits of the strategy.
The development of new product types through ecological design is
regarded as a logical outcome of the process by Van der Ryn and Cowan
as well as Papanek and Manzini. One of the difficulties of the concept of
unique signature has been developing an appropriate language that
articulates particular features found in non-commercial timber used in the
“Signed & Sealed” designs. Manzini’s The Garden of Objects
668
is
particularly useful in this regard. Three particular object types he
identified have a resonance with “Signed & Sealed” designs. These are
the sensitive object, which stimulates a caring relationship; the lyrical
object, which becomes a focus of meditation and the object as provider of
individuality which has strong cultural associations. These three object
types find their expression through many of the “Signed & Sealed”
designs often combining in one design. The combination of
craftsmanship and sensitive use of materials, for example, evokes a
caring response by the user/owner. The “Signed & Sealed” designs can
also become objects of contemplation as can be observed through the
comments by members of the public on seeing the “Pondlife” benches at
the Ashmolean (Appendix V). However, perhaps it is in the cultural
associations that the designs have the strongest message. They emerge
668
E. Manzini, The Garden of Objects, edited and translated extracts from the exhibition
booklet of The Garden of Objects, Eighteenth Triennale by C. Cattle, July 1995,
Buckinghamshire Chiltern University College
279
with a distinct regional identity through their provenance and symbolise
the ecological issues of the woodland in the region. Manzini’s poetic
metaphors have an ecological roundness invoking a powerful image of
objects characterised by their diversity, variegated qualities and
individuality. As in the naming of flora and fauna, the characteristics
found in unique signature perhaps could be enhanced through the
development of a Manzini-style poetic categorisation of “Signed &
Sealed” designs, potentially enriching our perception of the nature and
purpose of ecologically inspired designs which explore non-commercial
timber – but for the moment that must wait.
The “Signed & Sealed” project began as an experiment within an
established workshop practice. One of the most significant aspects of the
project has been the role the workshop and team have had in its
development. Throughout the period of the project the workshop has
maintained a team of between four and five members producing
commissioned furniture. The “Signed & Sealed” project has been
undertaken within this context. The workshop facilities and support of the
team have been essential to its feasibility and have provided a laboratory
within which to experiment around the idea of a local cycle and enhance
the notion of unique signature under the banner of the “Signed & Sealed”
brand.
In addition “Signed & Sealed” designs have been presented to the
public through a series of exhibitions and demonstrations. These have
not only acquainted the public with the project and provided valuable
feedback but also created opportunities to sell the experimental furniture
and enlist further commissions. The relationship between the workshop
as a laboratory and the workshop as an economic entity has been
synergistic: the “Signed & Sealed” project could not have been developed
without having the support of a well established workshop but that same
workshop has, in turn, undergone a radical “root and branch”
transformation of its practice as a result of the “Signed & Sealed” project.
The nature of this transformation has been organic, based on an
eco-ethic value system. The essence of furniture craftsmanship from my
280
perspective has been the expression of two fundamental and universal
human values: love and service. The development of the skills required
to produce work of excellence is based on a heightened consciousness of
these values. Craftsmanship is the vehicle to embody these values. The
workshop practice has also been sustained through the interpersonal
values of collaborative and cooperative team work, an equitable system
of financial rewards including profit sharing and consultative decision
making to encourage the exchange of ideas and the critical and
constructive appraisal of progress.
In the “Signed & Sealed” project these values have been widened to
embrace the environmental and ethical implications of workshop practice.
Each member of the team is now beginning to perceive their contribution
as an expression of love and service in which the unified action of the
individuals working through the workshop practice begins to influence the
process of sustainable development. One of the immediate challenges,
however, is a review and reorganisation of the current business structure
to enable a succession of the current leadership to take place during the
next ten years enabling the next and succeeding generations to
undertake the leadership and management of the business and further
develop the notion of a sustainable practice.
The “Signed & Sealed” project is emerging as the nucleus of a micro
eco, to use Dahl’s term, in which internal integrity of the workshop
practice is consonant with the external environmental eco, in contrast to
the current economic system that frequently fails to integrate such
externalities. Unlike the current economic theory, which assumes
consumers will only behave selfishly, the eco model developed through
the “Signed & Sealed” project is based on a ethical principle that
consumers and stakeholders aspire to develop interpersonal qualities
based on cooperation - the defining character of mature individuals in
advancing societies.
One clear demonstration of the effectiveness of this particular micro
eco has been the success of the collaborations with like-minded large
ecos, such as the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and
Timbmet Group Ltd, in projects to develop a strategy to promote the
281
marketing of North American soft maple. The objective was to raise
awareness of this lesser known species, which was achieved through the
international trade and media coverage of the AHEC/”Koomen Trio”
furniture project and exhibition. The re-branding of the species as East
Coast maple was inspired by the concept of provenance, an idea
revisited in the “Signed & Sealed” notion of unique signature. This
collaboration shows how a micro craft business can co-exist with larger
corporations and play an essential role in promoting diverse approaches
to the creation of products and services that begin to address resource
management (Appendix III).
The role of the designer-maker in the “Signed & Sealed” project is
also extended to designer-as-facilitator. This affirms Papanek’s notion
that the role of design has changed and the designer is no longer the
designer of products but a designer of processes (See Part One). The
relationship between design, ecology and ethics, so passionately extolled
by Papanek, provides perhaps one of the richest sources of inspiration for
new designs that reconcile human needs and ecology. Designer-makers
can contribute to the broader ethical aspects of their profession by
responding to the needs of a society undergoing radical changes. Ethics
and ecology can illuminate their thinking, as Papanek argues. Dahl’s eco
model also provides one of the most coherent examples for, sustainable
development based on ethics and economic ideology aligned to
ecological balance. Sustainable development, as shown in the eco
model, must be inclusive and democratic, embracing all members of
society as active participants in the process. “Signed & Sealed” is framed
by the values and vision that underpin sustainable development:
consultative dialogue, transparency, equity and unity embodied in the
ethic of world citizenship. The role of the designer-maker as facilitator
can become an essential component in the process of sustainable
development. The “Signed & Sealed” project in particular has addressed
the social and community aspects of sustainable development through a
series of initiatives which may be described as creating a “community of
interest” in the following ways:
282
Firstly, the “Signed & Sealed” brand is rooted in the idea of semi-
bespoke, a dialogue between the designer-maker and the client in which
the design possibilities are discussed in relation to local sourcing. The
semi-bespoke process therefore creates a social ritual that promotes a
culture of connectedness amongst clients in which the task of acquiring
furniture and the wider environmental and ethical issues are illuminated
by the commissioning process. The narrative embodied in the furniture
links the design, craftsmanship, forest management and timber utilisation
and results in furniture identified by the “Signed & Sealed” brand. The
unique signature of each design allows clients and users to read what
Stead terms, the “geology” of the wood, creating a visual expression of
the narrative and another dimension of connectedness.
The “Signed & Sealed” concept also embraces a consultative
process in which all the community stakeholders engaged in the
production of the design (including co-designers, clients, craftsmen,
foresters, woodland owners, sawyers and contractors) become active
participants in creating a ‘culture of discoveries, inventions, innovations,
techniques and insights’.
669
“Signed & Sealed” is therefore grounded in
democratic values.
The “Signed & Sealed” project has facilitated greater awareness and
appreciation of the relationship between local woodlands (the
environment) and the furniture that has emerged from the process
(domestic products) by seeking engagement with the wider local
community (including school children, craft and design students and
special interest groups). This has been achieved, for example, through
the annual Oxfordshire Artweeks’ workshop exhibition which has provided
an important forum for local people to visit the workshop to enjoy an
exhibition of furniture in a workshop context, free of any obligation.
During the course of the project four of these exhibitions have been
organised each attracting between 500 and 1000 visitors. Public road
signage has increased the profile of this event encouraging more visitors
(Fig 79).
669
P. Dormer, The Art of the Maker, Thames and Hudson, London, 1994, p. 76
283
Participation in regional exhibitions has further raised the profile of
the “Signed & Sealed” project and encouraged dialogue with public
audiences. This has been most effective where the act of demonstrating
an aspect of a process has been the focus. Four high profile events, for
example, featured different stages of the development of “Pondlife”.
These were: Crafts in the Garden, Broughton Castle; Art in Action 2002;
Art in Action 2003 and the climax was an exhibition of the “Pondlife” semi-
bespoke range exhibited at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, as part of
Oxfordshire Artweeks 2003. Here the public enjoyed a “Pondlife”
installation (Fig 80) which they were invited to sit upon and give their
reaction to the experience (See Appendix V). Media coverage of the
project including interior magazines, radio and TV promoted wider public
interest in the issues and the actual furniture designs.
During the course of the project peer group dialogue has also been
developed through a collaborative network of like-minded organisations
and professionals in related disciplines facilitating discussion through
seminars and presentations at conferences with local, regional and
national groups.
The “Signed & Sealed” project has also contributed to the
international debate about sustainable design through participation at
international furniture design forums where the themes explored in the
“Signed & Sealed” project were presented to international audiences of
designers, designer-makers, manufacturers, craftsmen and journalists.
These included the following presentations:
• Towards a Sustainable Approach to Furniture Design, Furniture
Design Forum, Singapore, March 2004 (the other two invited
designers were Lars Engman, Design Manager IKEA, Sweden and
Christophe Pillet, Product Designer, Paris, France)
• Provenance of Wood in Furniture Design, Chairs 2004: an
International Symposium, Westonbirt Arboretum, May 2004
• Panellists Discussion, Furniture Design Forum, Singapore, March
2005 (the other two panellists were Lars Engman (founder of Ikea)
and New York furniture designer John Kelly
284
• Adding Value Through Design, 4th American Hardwood Export
Council México & Latin America Convention, Guadalajara, 16-19
March 2006
The influence of the “Signed & Sealed” project in providing a study
of sustainable practice at a local level is clearly evident. The
dissemination of the concept through various means including the semi-
bespoke process, the consultative dialogue with community stakeholders,
exhibitions, peer group dialogue and conferences have established a
“community of interest” at both a local and international level.
The research project (together with its exhibition and related
conferences) has made a small contribution to helping develop a more
sustainable world by identifying a number of issues that have wider
significance. The relationship between the purpose of work and the
location of personal and collective responsibility, as advocated by
Papanek and Whiteley, require our continuing vigilance. An economic
system that so often suppresses the potential of its workers and prevents
the development of their intelligence, talents and skills for the betterment
of all surely cannot (ultimately) be supportable or sustainable? Designer-
makers are beginning to demonstrate how what so many have seen as
an anachronistic attachment to the value of craft, can provide a viable
and useful vocation based on ecological principles.
The ethic of world citizenship which is based on the recognition of
the oneness and unity of mankind, and which embodies Dahl’s eco
principle, reinterprets the golden rule, explicit in every religion, to meet
the needs of today. The well being of humanity and the preservation of
the planet is everyone’s responsibility. The Earth Summit was just such
an alarm call. While it is clear that many political leaders in the West are
either negligent of their global responsibility or manipulated by powerful
vested interests, many individuals, groups and organisations are working
at grass roots for the betterment of the world. Sustainable progress can
only be achieved through unity of thought and action. Sustainable
development, as outlined at the Earth Summit, recognised the
interdependence of social, economic and environmental issues. The
285
environmental crisis is just one manifestation of a global community that
is only just beginning to come to terms with its new collective
responsibilities.
For my own part I recognise that this thesis marked the moment
when I began (in a more concerted and coherent way) to attempt to put
my house in order and recognise my own responsibilities as a world
citizen. This offers testimony to the value of the PhD and the systematic
process of enquiry it entails. It has for example, proved instrumental in
helping me to:
• Recognise something of the complexity of the relationship of man
to the planet and more fully understand the need for change
• Recognise and appreciate in particular something of the
complexity of ecological issues and the bewildering range of
possibilities for research and development available
• Appreciate the very great difficulties in attempting to construct - in
terms of design - an ideologically coherent model of practice
• Appreciate the difficulties in bringing together others in order to
develop an ideologically coherent and co-ordinated model of
practice
• Acknowledge and accept the limited impact of individual practice
(say with regard to the potential reach of industrial and/or
corporate practice)
• Acknowledge and accept that any claim on originality is strictly
contingent; it lies not in the developmental outcomes of the
research per se (the “Signed & Sealed” brand) nor in its strategic
dimensions (local sourcing, unique signature and the concept of
the semi-bespoke) nor even any unique combination thereof but
rather in the nature of the PhD process itself in articulating the
research journey, bringing transparency to practice and offering a
vehicle for discussion
286
This, perhaps inevitably, has led me to consider just how this PhD
project can be moved forward. In this connection I have identified a
number of potential pathways. These include:
• Setting up a range of indicators to measure the benefits of the
“Signed & Sealed” strategy - i.e. establish a method for a system
of proper ecological accounting
• Expanding and consolidating the range of “Signed & Sealed”
designs
• Developing a new website to promote the “Signed & Sealed” range
and disseminate the research
• Develop my own micro local sourcing infrastructure with the
objective of increasing the proportion of locally sourced timber and
exploring how different parts of the tree can be used in designs
• Investigating the feasibility of setting up a cooperative supply
network for sourcing local timber in collaboration with the
Oxfordshire Woodland Project, Northmoor Trust and Oxford
University Forestry Institute
• Editing video footage of the story of “Pondlife”, from sourcing the
timber to the making in order to open up the design and make
process to a wider audience
• Writing a series of profiles of designer-makers based on my
interviews to further open up the design and make process to
scrutiny and promote research within the design and make
community
• Respond to the invitation to further explore ecological issues by
contributing to a lecture tour in Vietnam (Sept. 2006), sponsored
by the American Hardwood Export Council
• Develop opportunities to further broadcast the PhD and explore its
issues by responding to an invitation to lecture at the Parsons
School of Design, New York (2007)
Perhaps the most challenging issue of all is the personal issues that
lie ahead of the Philip Koomen Furniture business to create opportunities
for the current team and encourage succession. There is a great need
287
for the creation of an inter-generational craft business that can sustain
itself in the future through the efforts and ideals of its members. This
could potentially act as a model for other designer-makers who are
committed to the craft business ethos but are uncertain what legacy to
leave over and above a body of personal work. Anyone committed to a
sustainable world must consider what it is they can leave to the next
generation.
In this connection, this author also believes that in developing this
thesis he has demonstrated the potential for rethinking personal craft
practices in such a way as to suggest the possibility of other models of
development for those designer-makers who similarly aspire to develop
more ideologically coherent and sustainable practices. Recognition of
this fact has come in many forms. The Chartered Society of Designers,
for example, awarded me a Fellowship in recognition of my ‘professional
standing and distinction of work’ (2002). However, the most significant
and unexpected acknowledgement came from HRH Queen Elizabeth and
HRH Prince Philip with an invitation to attend the first Royal Celebration
of British Design at the State Rooms of Buckingham Palace (2004) in
recognition of my ‘excellence in the practice of design’ - an event which
(significantly enough) marked ‘the first time the Queen has acknowledged
the world of design’.
670
This invitation came about as a direct result of the
Chartered Society of Designers’ recommendation based on their interest
and encouragement of the research for this PhD project. It also
recognised (interestingly) design in its diverse forms and the fact that I
was one of two furniture designer-makers amongst the five hundred or so
other designers, architects and design educationalists, I feel, marked it
also as a notable moment in the emergence of furniture designer-makers
as significant members of the design profession and useful contributors to
the cultural and intellectual ‘life of the nation’.
671
Work is love made visible
Kahlil Gibran
670
C. Roux, The Guardian, 23 November 2004
671
Wording on invitation from HRH Queen Elizabeth and HRH Prince Philip to attend the
first Royal Celebration of British Design at the State Rooms of Buckingham
Palace
288
Illustrations
All illustrations are the author’s own except where noted.
289
Fig 5. The mitred table design was influenced by the form and
construction of Chinese Ming furniture. The original table design was
based on the proportions 1:2:3
290
Fig 6a.
Fig 6b.
Fig 6a/6b. Set of high back chairs (Jones 1993)
incorporated three inlay motifs, rather than one,
creating a precedent in semi-bespoke chair design
291
Fig 7. The HG dining table (2
nd
prototype circa 1998) has
become the basis for a range of semi-bespoke variations;
each one an individual response to a semi-bespoke
commission
292
Fig 8. The high back dining chair design was the basis
for six semi-bespoke commissions for sets of chairs;
each one a variation of the original design
Fig 9. Back splat shape reflected profile
of Chippendale style cabinet’s glazing
bars in client’s dining room
293
Fig 10. Ladder-back chair in cherry
Fig 11. The X dining chair (Dann 1989)
294
Fig 12. This semi-bespoke hybrid chair design was inspired by elements
from the high-back chair and the ladder-back chair designs. Photograph
shows Nic Smith fitting the extension rail
295
Fig 13. Signed & Sealed “Pondlife” two-seater bench, one of a range of
semi-bespoke designs made from locally sourced sweet chestnut
thinnings and cedar of Lebanon
296
Fig 14. Signed & Sealed “Trio” plank tables in brown / tiger oak from
Thame Park
297
Fig 15. The Bourton House “Pondlife” bench. The team in 2004: from left
to right: Steve Salt, Nic Smith, Mike Bishop, Esmyr van Hees, Garvan de
Bruir and me (taking the photograph)
298
Fig 16. “Signed & Sealed” bedroom furniture in cherry from Checkendon
299
Fig 17. “Signed & Sealed” storage cabinet in Oxfordshire oak from
Thame Park (2001)
300
Fig 18. “Signed & Sealed” chest of drawers in Oxfordshire yew and
walnut from Brize Norton
301
Fig 19a. Display cabinet
Fig 19b. Corner storage table
Fig 19c. Storage table
Fig 19a/b/c. “Signed & Sealed” tables and display cabinet in
Oxfordshire brown oak from Thame Park
302
Fig 20a. “Signed & Sealed” split plank tables in olive ash from Burcot
(tables at maximum height)
Fig 20b. “Signed & Sealed” split plank tables in olive ash from Burcot
(tables at varied heights)
303
Fig 20c. “Signed & Sealed” split plank tables in olive ash from Burcot
(tables at minimum heights)
Fig 20d. “Signed & Sealed” split plank tables in olive ash from Burcot
(tables in reverse position)
304
Fig 21. Coed Cymru’s Welsh Angle range of furniture designs
305
Fig 22a. A “tree of heaven” log felled at Stonor Park by Martin Drew
(pictured), local contractor
306
Fig 22b. Sawing of “tree of heaven”
Fig 22c. The grain and figure
of “tree of heaven”
Fig 22a/b/c. Establishing a local cycle: Stonor Park
307
Fig 23a. Fig 23b.
Fig 23c. Fig 23 a/b/c. Conversion of olive ash logs at Stonor
Park using a Forestor
308
Fig 24a. A 200 year old oak showing some pronounced burr figure
Fig 24b. 100 mm thick boards being stacked to air-dry at the estate
Fig 24a/b. Conversion of a 200 year old champion oak tree from Stonor
Park
309
Fig 25a. Oak logs, with epicormic growth, being sawn
Fig 25b. One of the logs showing
cracks distinguished by the stains
Fig 25a/b. Timber conversion at Stonor Park, Oxfordshire
310
Fig 26a. Stacking boards ready for air-drying
Fig 26b. Completion of two days’ sawing and stacking
Fig 26a/b. Sawn timber is carefully stacked and covered to air-dry at
Stonor Park
311
Fig 27. Sweet chestnut thinnings felled at Bagley Woods Sawmill,
selected for “Pondlife” bench reeds. The sawyer, inspects the logs with
me to discuss the most effective method of converting them
312
Fig 28. Partially converted sweet chestnut thinnings are stored in an
open-ended store at Philip Koomen Furniture workshop, Checkendon
313
Fig 29a. Selecting beech trees with Adam Dawson (project manager
Hardwick Estate) for conversion on the Hardwick Estate
Fig 29b. The final selection of beech trees
Fig 29a/b. The Hardwick Estate, Whitchurch, Oxfordshire. The estate is a
Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) managed woodland
314
Fig 30a. First cut on the mobile Woodmizer
sawmill
Fig 30b. The logs are cut in the woodland
as close as possible to where they are felled
315
Fig 31a. The conversion completed
Fig 31b. The air-dried beech after two years. The semi-bespoke Rieple
commission for a writing desk was selected from this timber. Many of the
boards have twisted and cupped during drying
316
Fig 32a. The catspaw oak log being sawn by Martin Drew using a
Forestor mobile saw
Fig 32b. The logs have been transported from Checkendon to Culham,
near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, for conversion
317
Fig 33a. A felled oak tree with “beefsteak” fungus
Fig 33b. First stage of conversion at Helmdon Sawmill, near Banbury
318
Fig 34a. An individual sawmill at work; removing the first plank of brown
oak
Fig 34b. Sawn planks of brown oak: “stickers” being
positioned ready for drying
319
Fig 35a. The first delivery of 30 mm brown oak to the workshop after 18
months of drying at the Helmdon Sawmill
320
Fig 35b. The boards are arranged in their original sequence to
ensure the grain and figure of each board can be matched. Each
board is then numbered for identification
321
Fig 36a. A burr oak log and two ash logs, from Swyncombe Estate near
Watlington, waiting to be sawn at a local sawmill near Benson
Fig 36b. The ancient sawmill near Benson
322
Fig 37. Ash board revealing advanced decay after being left
in the round for too long
323
Fig 38a. The Philip Koomen Furniture workshop yard provides an ideal
area for arranging timber
Fig 38b. Air-dried boards are stacked in the purpose made timber store
until they can be dried in the workshop dehumidifier unit
324
Fig 39. Dehumidifier unit set up in the Philip Koomen Furniture workshop
where the air-dried timber from the workshop yard is dried between 8–12
per cent moisture content, ready for construction. This photo shows 50
mm ash from Cookley Green, Oxfordshire, and 30 mm brown oak from
Thame Park, Oxfordshire
325
Fig 40. Timber cut mainly into square sections rendering them useless for
the exploration of unique signature
326
Fig 41a/b. An oak tree (Checkendon) with a significant amount of
epicormic growth has produced boards with extraordinary convoluted
edges and catspaw figure
327
Fig 42a. An ash log being sawn at Helmdon Sawmill. The outer boards
produce white boards
Fig 42b. The centre of the ash log reveals olive heartwood
328
Fig 43. A low table featuring fissures in yew wood
329
Fig 44a. Fig 44b.
Fig 44c. Fig 44d.
Fig 44a/b/c/d. Natural cracks have been incorporated into the design of a “Signed
& Sealed” table top. Careful finishing of the cracks have created beautiful negative
spaces
330
Fig 45a. Board of tiger oak (Thame Park) with split
Fig 45b. Mitred plank table incorporating the natural split as a designer
element. The inlay follows the direction of the original split (made from the
board shown in Fig 45a.)
331
Fig 46. Original two book-matched tiger oak boards showing the contours
of the split before re-sawing
332
Fig 47. The plank table in Norwegian maple from the Hardwick Estate,
Whitchurch. The cracks and spalting have produced a pronounced
pattern
333
Fig 48. Knotty boards of cedar of Lebanon become part of the intrinsic
quality of the design of this bench (“Two U”)
334
Fig 49. The distinctive movement of figure in which this “Signed &
Sealed” cherry chest of drawers is achieved from low grade timber which
has a high proportion of knots. The drawer fronts have been selected
from pieces between the knots which have accentuated figure
335
Fig 50. The “Signed & Sealed” cabinet design provides a canvas to
feature the unique signature of brown oak. The inside of the cabinet
reveals the variegated pattern of tiger oak on the drawer fronts from the
same tree
336
Fig 51a.
Fig 51b. The “Trio” plank tables are made from three consecutive boards
of brown tiger oak from Thame Park (Fig 51a). The tables reveal a
remarkable diversity of figure and colour, creating an unusual “sibling” set
with a shared provenance
337
Fig 52. Detail of a “Signed & Sealed” kitchen table in beech from
Checkendon, Oxfordshire
338
Fig 53. Chilterns beech was successfully used in small sections for
the table legs and rails in this writing table. The top, which was to be
in beech, had to be made in FSC European oak because the client
and designer found the beech unsuitable. The beech had been
sourced from the Hardwick Estate
339
Fig 54a. A spalted beech log
Fig 54b. These planks reveal some interesting spalted figure after
conversion
Fig 54a/b. Spalted beech from the Hardwick Estate, Whitchurch,
Oxfordshire
340
Fig 55a. Table/bench in Chilterns spalted beech
Fig 55b. Table in Chilterns spalted beech. The end grain of the legs was
made into a feature.
341
Fig 56. These samples of beech show how diverse the characteristics of
Chilterns beech are. Clockwise from left: 1) 1
st
quality (commercial
quality) 2) Stained 3) Red heart 4) Character 5) Spalted 6) Red heart
342
Fig 57. End grain slabs of spalted beech were cut to 2” thick on a
Woodmizer at the Hardwick Estate. These sections were treated with
polyethylene glycol but severe checking in drying prevented the timber
being used in a design. The unique signature of end grain has
considerable potential
343
Fig 58. “Ebb & Flow” writing desk in brown oak (Thame Park). The
combination of the curvilinear form and the “cushion” profile of the edges
articulate the unique signature of this wood
344
Fig 59. The plank chair was originally as a design to explore the
possibilities of Chilterns beech. The design has also been used
for other timbers which otherwise would have limited applications
345
Fig 60. Six consecutive boards from a log of yew designated for plank
chairs
346
Fig 61. Two completed plank chairs
347
Fig 62. A pair of book-matched plank chairs in tiger oak. The natural
convoluted edges contrast with the sawn edge produced at the
sawmill
348
Fig 63. The Narnia cabinet explores the combination of book-matched
pippy yew wood doors in contrast with the formal rectilinear shape of the
cabinet
349
Fig 64. Two book-matched pippy yew boards, from Christmas Common,
feature convoluted waney edges. This provides the form for a plank table
350
Fig 65. The waney edges reversed on these boards and subsequently
straightened leaving gaps in the final plank table
351
Fig 66. The two pairs of book-matched boards have been made into two
plank tables. One features the convoluted waney edge on the outside and
the other one shows traces of the edges along the centre joint
352
Fig 67. Forming the reeds for “Pondlife” benches. Each reed follows the
natural curve of each sweet chestnut thinning
353
Fig 68. Detail of a “Pondlife” bench.
The round shaping and free curves of each reed produce a distinctive
and unique pattern. Small to medium-sized tight knots act as “eyes”
producing a radiating grain pattern. The reeds themselves sit in isolation
or form relationship with adjacent reeds. Each bench develops its own
distinctive character and identity
354
Fig 69a.
Fig 69b.
Fig 69a/b. Pair of “crotch” ash boards from Burcot, Oxfordshire
355
Fig 70a.
Fig 70b.
Fig 70a/b. Crotch ash to make a pair of tables. The design uses a
“folding” technique in the construction to explore the unique signature of
unusual sections of tree
356
Fig 71. A table top is selected from two book-matched tiger oak boards.
The convoluted contour of a split near the pith of the tree has been
straightened to create the table top shown in Fig 72 (below)
357
Fig 72. The unique signature of this table top explores the characteristics
of quarter sawn book-matched tiger oak boards
358
Fig 73. Low back chair (1976) using low grade ash thinnings
Designed and made by Alan Peters (Peters, p. 143)
359
Fig 74. Obelisk in yew wood by John Makepeace
(Myerson, p. 12)
360
Fig 75. Dresser in elm by Tim Stead. The convoluted edges of the
boards are featured in the design (Stead, p. 10)
361
Fig 76. Detail of coffee table in book-matched English walnut by
George Nakashima. His signature butterfly joint secures the two
pieces which form the top (Nakashima, p. 157)
362
Fig 77. Naturally curved benches hand-carved from oak branches by
Alison Crowther
363
Fig 78. Dining chair by Guy Martin. The parts are either turned or
shaped by band saw from five to seven year old ash saplings from
local woodland
364
Fig 79. Philip Koomen Furniture’s annual workshop exhibition is held
during Oxfordshire Artweeks, an annual event held in May to encourage
the public to visit open studios. AA signs, endorsed by the District
Council, help visitors find the workshop
365
Fig 80. “Pondlife” benches exhibited at the Ashmolean Museum,
Oxford, during Oxfordshire Artweeks 2003
366
Fig 81a.
Fig 81b.
Fig 81a/b. The “Out of the Woods” exhibition at the River & Rowing
Museum, Henley-on-Thames
367
Fig 82a.
Fig 82b.
Fig 82a/b. The “Out of the Woods” exhibition at the River & Rowing
Museum, Henley-on-Thames
368
Fig 83a.
Fig 83b.
Fig 83a/b. The “Out of the Woods” exhibition at the River & Rowing
Museum, Henley-on-Thames
369
Fig 84. The “Out of the Woods” exhibition at the River & Rowing
Museum, Henley-on-Thames
Fig 85. Recorded answers based on Dr Kyle Jones’ interview
“Antiques of the Future”
370
Fig 86a.
Fig 86b.
Fig 86a/b. The “Out of the Woods” exhibition at the River & Rowing
Museum, Henley-on-Thames
371
Fig 87. The “Out of the Woods” exhibition at the River & Rowing
Museum, Henley-on-Thames
372
ACCOUNT OF SOURCES
Bibliography
Abbot, M, Green Woodwork, Guild of Master Craftsmen, Lewes, 1989
Allen, R, Foreword to Industrial Ecology, Graedel, T and Allenby, B,
Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1995
Anscombe, I, Arts and Crafts Style, Phaidon Press Limited, Oxford, 1991
Ambasz, E, Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, Moma, New York, 1972
The Bahá'í International Community, World Citizenship: a global ethic for
sustainable development, Bahá'í International Community, New York,
1993
The Bahá'í International Community, Prosperity of Mankind, Bahá'í
Publishing Trust, Oakham, 1995
Baird Callicott, J, ‘Aldo Leopold, 1887-1962’, in Palmer, J (Ed.), Fifty Key
Thinkers on the Environment, Routledge, London, 2001
Batchelor, R, Henry Ford, Mass Production, Modernism and Design,
Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1994
Baudrillard, J, The System of Objects, Verso, London, 1996
Bernsen, J, Hans J. Wegner, Danish Design Center, Copenhagen, 2001
De Botton, A, Status Anxiety, Penguin Books Ltd, London, 2004
373
Branzi, A, Domestic Animals: The Neoprimitive Style, The MIT Press,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1987
Browne, J, ‘Charles Darwin, 1809-1882’, in Palmer J (Ed.), Fifty Key
Thinkers on the Environment, Routledge, London, 2001
Brugman, J, ‘Agenda 21 and the Role of Local Government’, in Dodds, F
(Ed.), Earth Summit 2002, EarthScan Publications Ltd, London, 2002
Brundtland, G, ‘Our Common Future and Ten Years after Rio: How Far
Have We Come and Where Should We Be Going?’, Earth Summit 2002:
A New Deal, in Dodds, F (Ed.), Earthscan Publications Ltd, London, 2002
Burney, G, Global 2000 Report to the President, New York, Penguin,
1981
Carson, R, Silent Spring, Penguin Books Ltd, Harmondsworth, 1962
Cohn, S,‘The Crafts: on their own terms’, in Timms, P (Ed.), The Nature
of the Beast, Craft Victoria, Fitzroy, 1993
Connelly, J and Smith, G, Politics and the Environment: From Theory to
Practice, Routledge, London, 1999
Conway, P, Art for Everyday, Clarkson Potter, New York, 1990
Corcoran, P, ‘Rachel Carson 1907-64’, in Palmer, J (Ed.), Fifty Key
Thinkers on the Environment, Routledge, London, 2001
Crafts Advisory Committee, Craftsmen of Quality, London, 1979
Dahl, A, Unless and Until: A Baha'í Focus on the Environment, Baha'í
Publishing Trust, London, 1990
374
Dahl, A, The Eco Principle: Ecology and Economics in Symbiosis,
George Ronald, Oxford, 1996
Desch, H, Timber: Its Structure and Properties, Macmillan, London, 1974
Diamond, J, Guns, Germs and Steel, Vintage, London, 1998
Diamond, J, Collapse, Penguin Books, London, 2006
Dodds (Ed.), Earth Summit 2002, EarthScan Publications Ltd, London,
2002,
Dormer, P, The New Furniture, Thames and Hudson, London, 1987
Dormer, P, The Meanings of Modern Design, Thames and Hudson,
London, 1991
Dormer, P, The Art of the Maker, Thames and Hudson, London, 1994
Dougliss, E, ‘Trees’, in Ohlenschlager, S, (Ed.), Oxfordshire Agenda 21,
Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford, 1997
Dresner, S, The Principles of Sustainability, Earthscan Publications Ltd,
London, 2002
Ehrlich, P, The Population Bomb, Sierra Club/Ballantine Books, New
York, 1998
Fiell, C and Fiell, P (Eds.), Designing the 21
st
Century, Taschen, Köln,
2001
Geffrye Museum, Utility Furniture and Fashion 1941 – 1951, Geffrye
Museum Trust, London, 1995
375
Giedion, S, Mechanization Takes Command, Oxford University Press,
New York
Graedel, T and Allenby, B, Industrial Ecology, Prentice Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey, 1995
Harrod, T, The Crafts in Britain in the Twentieth Century, Yale University
Press, New Haven, 1999
Houghton, J, Global Warming: The Complete Briefing, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, 1997
Illich, I, Energy and Equity, Calder & Boyars, London, 1974
Jackson, Eden: The First Book, The Eden Project, St. Austell, 2000
Jones, J, Design Methods: Seeds of Human Futures, John Wiley & Sons
Ltd, Chichester, 1981
Krenov, J, A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook, Cassell & MacMillan Publishers
Ltd, London, 1976
Krenov, J, The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking, Cassell & MacMillan
Publishers Ltd, London, 1977
Krenov, J, The Impractical Cabinetmaker, Van Nostrand Reinhold Ltd,
New York, 1979
Lambourne, L, Utopian Craftsmen: The Arts and Crafts Movement from
the Cotswolds to Chicago, Astragal Books, London, 1980
Laszlo, E, The Inner Limits of Mankind, Oneworld Publications Ltd,
London, 1989
376
Leopold, A, A Sand County Almanac, Oxford University Press, New York,
1949
Levi, P, New British Design, Reed Consumer Books Ltd, London, 1998
Lovelock, J, Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, Oxford University Press,
Oxford, 1995
Malthus, T, An Essay on the Principle of Population, J. Johnson, London,
1798
Massingham, H, Men of Earth, Chapman and Hall, London, 1943
McArt, C, James Krenov Worker in Wood, Sterling Publishing Company,
Inc., New York, 1997
Meyers, N (Ed.), Gaia: an Atlas of Planet Management, Doubleday, New
York, 1984
Myerson, J, (Ed.), Design Renaissance, Open Eye Publishing, Horsham,
1994
Myerson, J, Makepeace: A Spirit of Adventure in Craft and Design,
Conran Octopus, London, 1995
Nakashima, G, The Soul of a Tree: A Woodworker’s Reflections,
Kodansha International, New York, 1988
Naylor, G, The Arts and Crafts Movement, Trefoil Publications, London,
1971
Norbury, B, British Craftsmanship in Wood, Stobart Davies Ltd, London,
1990
377
Norbury, B, Furniture for the 21
st
Century, Stobart Davies, Hertford, 1999
Ohlenschlager, S (Ed.), ‘Trees’, Oxfordshire Agenda 21, Oxfordshire
County Council, Oxford, 1997
Olson, G and Toaig, P, Onetree, Merrell Publishers, London, 2001
The Oxford Paperback Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1988
Palmer, J (Ed.), Fifty Key Thinkers on the Environment, Routledge,
London, 2001
Packard, V, The Waste Makers, Penguin Books Ltd, Harmondsworth,
1967
Papanek, V, Design for the Real World, Paladin, St Albans, 1974
Papanek, V, The Green Imperative, Thames and Hudson, London, 1995
Peters, A, Cabinetmaking: The Professional Approach, Stobart & Son
Ltd, London, 1984
Petroski, H, The Evolution of Useful Things, Vintage Books, New York,
1994
Potter, N, What is a Designer, Hyphen Press, Reading, 1980
Pye, D, The Nature and Art of Workmanship, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, 1968
Pye, D, The Nature and Aesthetics of Design, Barrie and Jenkins Ltd,
London, 1978
378
Redhead, D, Industry of One, Designer-Makers in Britain 1981–2001,
Crafts Council, London, 2001
Rogers, R, Foreword to Ron Arad, Restless Furniture, Sudjic, D, Fourth
Estate/Wordsearch, London, 1990
Schumacher, E, Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People
Mattered, Blond & Briggs Ltd, London, 1973
Seabright, P, The Company of Strangers: a Natural History of Economic
Life, Princeton University Press, Woodstock (UK), 2005
Simmons, I, ‘Paul Ehrlich, 1932-’, in Palmer, J (Ed.), Fifty Key Thinkers
on the Environment, Routledge, London, 2001
Sorrell, J, Creative Island, Laurence King Publishing Ltd, London, 2002
Spencer-Harper, A, Dipping Into The Wells: The Story Of The Two
Chilterns Villages Of Stoke Row And Highmoor Seen Through The
Memories of Their Inhabitants, Robert Boyd Publishers, Witney, 1999
Stead, T, Wild Wood: A Celebration of Imperfection, Artizana, Prestbury,
1997
Stiglitz, J, Globalization and Its Discontents, London, Penguin Books Ltd,
2002
Sutherland, G, Explorations in Wood, The Furniture & Sculpture of Tim
Stead, No Butts Publishing, Galashiels, 1993
Timms, P (Ed.), The Nature of the Beast, Craft Victoria, Fitzroy, 1993
XVIII Triennale di Milano, Life between Artifact and Nature: Design and
the Environmental Challenge, Electa, Milan, 1992
379
Universal House of Justice Conservation of the Earth’s Resources, The
Bahai Publishing Trust, London, 1990
Van der Ryn and S. Cowan, Ecological Design, Island Press,
Washington, 1996
Veblen, T, The Theory of the Leisure Class, London, Macmillan, 1899
Veblen, T, Conspicuous Consumption, Penguin Books Ltd, London, 2005
Wackernagel, M and W. Rees, Our Ecological Footprint, New Society
Publishers, Gabriola Island, Canada, 1996
Von Weizsäcker, E, et al., Factor Four: Doubling Wealth, Halving
Resource Use, Earthscan Publications Ltd, London, 1997
Whiteley, N, Design for Society, Reaktion Books Ltd, London, 1993
World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common
Future, Stockholm, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1987
Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers, A Celebration of Excellence,
Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers, London, 1998
Zuboff, S and Maxmin, J, The Support Economy: Why Corporations Are
Failing Individuals and the Next Episode of Capitalism, Alan Lane,
London, 2003
Journals, Conference Papers, Newspapers, etc.
Becker, H, ‘The Wilkhahn Philosophy’, Furniture, Design and the
Environment, seminar proceedings, 6 November 1996
380
Betts, A, ‘Regional Picture & Policies – The New Regional Forestry
Framework for the South East’, Chilterns Woodland Conference, High
Wycombe, 16 October 2004
Biddel, S, ‘Local Hero’, Furniture & Cabinetmaking, Guild of Master
Craftsman Publications Ltd, Lewes, no. 46, November 2000
Van den Broecke, F, Introduction to The Jerwood Applied Arts Prize by
Crafts Council, Crafts Council Publication, London, 1999, (p. 5)
Brown, P, et al., ‘Types of Research in the Creative Arts and Design’,
Discussion paper prepared for the Arts and Humanities Research Board
(AHRC), March 2004
Buckley, M, North American and European Hardwoods, M.Phil thesis,
University of Bath, 1999
Buckley, M, ‘The Koomen Trio Furniture Project’, Panels and Furniture
Asia, May 2002
Burt, M, ‘Viewpoint on Design’, Furniture and Cabinetmaking, Guild of
Master Craftsman Publications Ltd, Lewes, no. 34, November 1999
Cattle, C, ‘Grown Furniture, A move towards Design for Sustainable
Production’, PhD thesis, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College,
2002
Chiltern WoodWorks Steering Committee, Chiltern WoodWorks
Enterprise Gateway – Business Plan, Business Link Solutions Ltd,
Thame, June 2003
Christie, C and Cooper, T, ‘Wood Products from Sustainably Managed
Woodland’, Review of Consumer Awareness and Best Marketing Practice
381
and Strategic Guidance on Market Development, The Forestry
Commission and The Countryside Agency, Edinburgh, August 2004
Collins, J, ‘The Koomen TRIO’, Furniture Manufacturer, Polygon Media
Ltd, Sevenoaks, June 2002
Collins, J, ‘Comment’, Furniture Manufacturer, Polygon Media Ltd,
Sevenoaks, June 2002
Collins, L, ‘Return of the artist craftsman’, Intelligent Life, The Economist
Newspaper Limited, London, Summer 2005
Colwell, D, Furniture Design for Batch Production, Paper presented at
Furniture Forum for Higher Education, City University, London, 6 March
1997
Colwell, D, Trannon Furniture promotional literature and price guide,
February 1999
Davey, N, ‘Writing and the In-Between’, Point: Art and Design Research
Journal, Issue 7, Spring/Summer 1999, pp. 14-16
Dean, T, ‘The Future of Furniture Making in the Chilterns’, Chilterns
Woodland Conference, High Wycombe, 16 October 2004
Dehn, J, ‘An overview: the development and application of recycled and
reprocessed material into products, interiors and the exterior landscape’,
Furniture, Design and the Environment, Seminar Proceedings, The
Centre for Sustainable Design, Farnham, 12 November 1996
Dower, M (Ed.), Sustainable Woodland Management and Local Added
Value to Woodland Products, Transnational Woodland Industries Group
Conference, Athens, 2002
382
Farrelly, L, Introduction to The Jerwood Applied Arts Prize by Crafts
Council, Crafts Council Publication, London, 1999, (p. 1)
Fleming, M, ‘Knock on Wood’, Bucks Free Press, 8 October 2004
Forestry Commission, England Forestry Strategy: a New Focus for
England’s Woodland, Forestry Commission, Edinburgh, 1998
Forestry Commission, Forestry Statistics 2001, Forestry Commission,
Edinburgh, 2002
Forestry and Woodlands Framework Steering Group, Seeing the Wood
for the Trees: a forestry and woodland framework for South East
England, Norwich, 2004
Furniture Industry Research Association, Competitiveness of the UK
furniture manufacturing industry, FIRA International Ltd, Stevenage,
2002
Furniture Journal, ‘Going Green’, Furniture Journal, Lowestoft, May 2005
Gilhooley, D, ‘Bespoke Furniture’, Grand Designs, Media 10 Ltd, Epping,
November 2004, pp. 118-126
Goodison, N, The Crafts & Their Future, RSA Journal, London, April 1998
The Guide, The Guardian, Guardian Newspapers Ltd, London, 2 – 8
October 2004
Hall, K (Ed.), The BedZED files: Case Study 3: Certified Timber, Building
for the Future, Green Building Press, Llandysul, Vol. 14, No.1, 2004
Hemery, G, Juglians regia L: Generic Variation and Provenance
Performance, DPhil thesis, University of Oxford, 2000
383
Hemery, G and Savill, P, ‘Better Trees, Better Profits’, Royal Forestry
Society Conference Report, Quarterly Journal of Forestry, July 2004, Vol.
98, No.3
Hemery, G, ‘Sustainable Forestry in the UK’, Our Woods in Your Hands
Conference, River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 25 September
2004
Herdman, S, ‘For the Love of Wood’, BBC Homes & Antiques, BBC
Magazines, February 2005
Hobbis, P, ‘The Value of Crafts’, Obscure Objects of Desire – Conference
Papers, University of East Anglia, 10-12 January 1997, Crafts Council,
1997
Ihatsu, A, ‘Art or Design? In Pursuit of the Changing Concept of Craft’. In:
Obscure Objects of Desire, Conference Papers, University of East Anglia,
Norwich, 10-12 January 1997, Crafts Council, London, 1997
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources,
World Conservation Strategy: Living Resources Conservation for
Sustainable Development, Gland, Switzerland: IUCN, Section 1.2, 1977
Jackson, A, ‘Furniture Makers and the World of Goods: the Role of
Material Culture Studies in the Theorisation of Designer-Maker Practice’,
Ideas in the Making: Practice in Theory, Crafts Council, London, 1998
Jourdan, M, Introduction to The single voice of the industry, Furniture
Industry Strategy Group, June 2000
Johnson, P, in Crafts Council, Ideas in the Making: Practice in Theory,
Crafts Council, London, 1998
384
V. Lebow, Journal of Retailing, Spring 1955
Leith, B, ‘Excellence in All Things’, The UK Bahá’í Journal, Winter 2004/5
Lutyens, D, ‘21
st
-Century Schizoid Man’, The Independent, Independent
News and Media Limited, London, 8 January 2000
MacArthur, K, ‘Showcase for Unique Furniture’, Henley Standard, 1
October 2004
Manzini, E, The Garden of Objects, edited and translated extracts from
the exhibition booklet of The Garden of Objects, Eighteenth Triennale by
C. Cattle, July 1995, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College
Manzini, E, ‘Design in Transition – Product-Service for a Hyper-
connected Sustainable Society’, Transcript of a Seminar presented by E.
Manzini at The Role of Product Design in Post-Industrial Society
Conference, n.d., n.p.
McClair, L, ‘A question of balance’, Furniture & Cabinetmaking, Guild of
Master Craftsman Publications Ltd, Lewes, no. 29, June 1999
McClair, L, ‘Making Ecological Sense’, Furniture & Cabinetmaking, Guild
of Master Craftsman Publications Ltd, Lewes, no. 36, January 2000
McNicoll, C, ‘The Real Economy’. In: Obscure Objects of Desire,
Conference Papers, University of East Anglia, Norwich, 10-12 January
1997, Crafts Council, London, 1997
Moffatt, I, et al., ‘Measuring and Modelling Sustainability’, Global
Environmental Change Programme, Briefings, no. 26, June 1999
385
Ogundeihin, M, ‘Michael Marriot Uncut’, Uncut, Chartered Society of
Designers in collaboration with Paper Focus magazine, London, 1997,
issue two
Oliphant, J, ‘The Best of British’, Cabinet Maker, CMP Information Ltd,
London, 16 January 2004, p. 31
Oxford Forestry Institute, Report of the TWIG Conference Summary,
Oxford Forestry Institute, Oxford, 23 April 2001
Packer, M, ‘Promoting Sustainable Forest Management: An International
Trade Perspective of Market Constraints and Opportunities’, Our Woods
in Your Hands Conference, River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-
Thames, 25 September 2004
Van der Post, L, ‘CHIC OF THE OLD BLOCK’, The Times, Times
Newspapers Ltd, London, 15 August 2003
PP Møbler, Catalogue/Price list, Allerød, 2003
Rees, D, ‘British Forestry (but not as we know it)’, Our Woods in Your
Hands Conference, River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 25
September 2004
Render, M, ‘Sustainable Woodland Management – What does this mean
for the Chilterns?’, Chilterns Woodland Conference, High Wycombe, 16
October 2004
Richards, M, Sustainable Development - A Baha'í Perspective. A
discussion paper prepared for the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Baha'ís of the UK, London, 1995
Roux, C, The Guardian, 23 November 2004
386
Russell, T, ‘Salvaged Teak: Adding Spice to Gallery 278 Line’, Furniture
Today, USA, May 24 2004
Savill, P, ‘Beech in Britain’, Goodbye to Beech ~ Farewell to Fagus?’,
Report of the Transnational Woodland Industries Group Conference, 23
April 2001
Sweet, F, ‘Q&A: Starck Raving’, The Right Angle Magazine,
September/October 2000, p. 70
Sweet, F, ‘Q&A: Starck Raving’, The Right Angle Magazine,
September/October 2000
Taylor, K, ‘Pondlife and Beyond’, Furniture and Cabinetmaking, Guild of
Master Craftsman Publications Ltd, Lewes, no. 69, October 2002
Taylor,K, ‘Wood’, Homes & Gardens, IPC SouthBank Publishing
Company, London, November 2003
Timms, S, Foreword to Competitiveness of the UK furniture
manufacturing industry, Furniture Industry Research Association, FIRA
International Ltd, Stevenage, 2002
Council for Graduate Education, Research Training in the Creative &
Performing Arts, UK Council for Graduate Education, 2001
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, ‘The Rio
Declaration on Environment and Development’, UNCED Secretariat, Rio
de Janeiro, 1992
Whitney, P, ‘Why Human-Centred Design is the Design of the Future’,
The Designer, Chartered Society of Designers, London, June & July 2003
387
Interviews Conducted and Transcribed by Philip Koomen
Boyson, G, furniture designer-maker, Stoke Row, 21 July 2001
Brakonier, N, furniture designer-maker, Trier, Germany, 22 September
2001
Buck, M. green woodworker, Oxford, 16 June 2001
Burt, M, furniture designer-maker, Warminster, 16 September 2001
Drew, M, timber contractor, Clifton Hampden, 22 February 2001
Fineman, S, CEO Timbmet Group Ltd, Oxford, 26 November 2004
Furlong, R, furniture designer-maker, Chipping Norton, 19 May 2001
Goldsworthy, A, furniture designer-maker, by telephone, 4 April 2004
Goodwin, P, chairman Tidmarsh & Goodwin, by telephone, 18 May 2004
Hank, W, furniture designer-maker, Trier, Germany, 23 September 2001
Leitz, G, furniture maker, by telephone, 18 April 2004
Linford, S, furniture designer-maker, High Wycombe, 29 May 2001
Nicolas, I, regional officer Coed Cymru, by telephone, 7 April 2004
Orson, T, furniture designer-maker, by telephone, 18 May 2004
Peters, A, furniture designer-maker, Cheltenham, 3 September 2001
Rawnsley, T, furniture maker, by telephone, 4 April 2004
388
Ripley, M, furniture designer-maker, Wallingford, 28 May 2001
Ross, A, furniture designer-maker, Nuffield, 26 June 2001
Scott, B, furniture designer-maker, Chadlington, 21 June 2001
Unikat Partners, furniture designer-makers, translated from German by E.
van Hees, Trier, 22 September 2001
Wilkinson, M, furniture designer-maker, High Wycombe, 10 July 2001
Williams, R, furniture designer-maker, Amersham, 31 May 2001
Interviews Conducted by Betty Norbury in June 1998 and
Transcribed by Philip Koomen
Burt, B, furniture designer-maker, Warminster
Cartwright, A, furniture designer-maker, Towcester
Clean, J, and Williams, J, furniture designer-makers, Taunton
Colwell, D, furniture designer-maker, Salisbury
Dyson, N, furniture designer-makers, Ardington
Heseltine, I, and O’Donohue, D, furniture designer-makers, Badminton
Ingham, R, furniture designer-maker, Dyserth
Makepeace, J, furniture designer-maker, Beaminster
389
Peters, A, furniture designer-maker, Cullompton
Ripley, M, furniture designer-maker, Reading
Russell, G, furniture designer-makers, London
Savage, D, furniture designer-maker, Shebbear
Southall, P, furniture designer-maker, Bridport
Varah, A, furniture designer-maker, Little Walton
Wales, R, furniture designer-maker, Lewes
Williamson, R, furniture designer-maker, Milton Keynes
Winteringham, T, furniture designer-maker, King’s Lynn
Conferences, Workshops/Discussions, Site and Other Visits
American Hardwood Export Council, Consumer Research Project
conducted at the BBC Good Homes Show, April 1998
Colwell, D, Speaking at the Forest to Product Conference, Parnham
Trust, Beaminster, 8 March 2000 (Untitled)
Hemery, G, ‘Site and Light Assessment for Natural Regeneration’,
Discussion/workshop at a site meeting in Rumerhedge Wood,
Checkendon, 9 July 2002
Pakenham, R, Wood Industries Liaison Group Meeting, 17 May 2001,
High Wycombe
390
Rodderick, S, Wood Industries Liaison Group Meeting, 17 May 2001,
High Wycombe
Say, S, Workshop Discussion, Our Woods in Your Hands Conference,
River & Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames, 25 September 2004
Correspondence
Betts, A, Forestry Commission England, Letter dated 26 April 2005
Darling, C, Letter dated 19 September 2004
Hale, P, Royal Forestry Society, Letter dated 25 March 2003
HRH Queen Elizabeth and HRH Prince Philip, Invitation the author to
attend the first Royal Celebration of British Design at the State Rooms of
Buckingham Palace
Rees, D, Oxfordshire Woodland Project, letter to the author, dated 24
October 2004
Williams, R, Letter to the author, dated 7 January 2005
Hemery, G, personal email to the author, 24 August 2004
Websites
Centre for Alternative Technology, Centre for Alternative Technology,
, n.d. (accessed 7 April 2006)
The Centre for Sustainable Design, The Centre for Sustainable Design,
http://www.cfsd.org.uk/, n.d. (accessed 7 April 2006)
391
Kiser, B, A Blast of Fresh Air: The History of O2,
, n.d. (accessed 7 April 2006)
Roelofs, C and Ellenbecker, M, Source reduction for prevention of
methylene chloride hazards: cases from four industrial sectors,
Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source (online), 2:9, 21
July 2003, , (accessed 7
February 2007)
Sheffield Hallam University, Centre for Sustainable Consumption,
, n.d. (accessed 7 April
2006)
Radio and Television
Leith, B, Thought for the Day, BBC Radio 2, November 2004 (n.d.),
(Radio broadcast)
Meridian TV, Town & Country, 7 October 2004 (Television programme)
Powell, A, Chelsea Flower Show 2000, Channel Four, 26 May 2000
(Television programme)
Other sources (DVDs, CDs)
Broun, J, Furniture Today, PART ONE & PART TWO, Thinking Hand
Video, Bath, 2006 (DVD)
Jones, K, Antiques for the Future: The Inspiration, Art and Skill of Crafting
Wood, Time & Co. Productions, Bicester, May 2003 (audio CD)
392
APPENDICES
393
APPENDIX I
Case Study of “Pondlife” Bench
1. BACKGROUND
Concept
Exhibitions and critical comments
2. REDEFINING “Pondlife”
New objectives
New designs
New methods
3. THE PROCESS
Selection
Initial conversion
Forming the reeds
Shaping the seat
Fixing the reeds to the seat
4. CONCLUSION
5. FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS
6. DIARY
7. ILLUSTRATIONS
394
1. BACKGROUND
The original “Pondlife” bench was produced in 1998. It began as a one-
off design, part of a series of three experimental projects exploring the
relationships between furniture and sculpture. It represented a significant
departure from my previous work. Up until this time I had focused on
client initiated one-offs as well as the development of my own semi-
bespoke designs. A style had evolved which reflected a number of
themes I had developed and reworked over a lengthy period, beginning in
the early 1980s when I was able to concentrate on furniture making as
the main source of work. The restricted nature of my work was due to
economic and commercial limitations rather than creative focus.
The designs I produced had helped to provide a viable basis for my
workshop but by the second half of the 1990s I wanted to try to diversify
my approach and explore new ideas. The three experimental pieces of
furniture were intended to redefine my concept of furniture which had
been based on reinterpreting traditional English vernacular furniture,
influenced by the Shaker ethics and the simplicity of modern craft based
Danish furniture.
Concept
The strategy behind the idea for “Pondlife” was to generate ideas for
furniture or, as some would argue, functional sculpture that would be
appropriate for an exterior environment or an interior space. By removing
the normal physical restraints and cultural preoccupations associated with
conventional furniture it was possible to consider ideas outside my normal
creative framework. Functional sculpture, which explored the relationship
between furniture and sculptural forms, became an appropriate vehicle
for this exploration.
Organic or natural forms were the inspiration for new ideas. The
concept of “Pondlife” began with the image of reeds encircling a pond,
moving and bending in the wind. The scale of the piece was initially
important. By making a large piece, deliberately oversized, the concept
became abstracted, avoiding direct comparisons with the theme and
creating an ambiguity that would challenge and provoke. The bench was
approximately two and half meters long and high, therefore dominated an
395
individual standing next to it and embracing a sitter, who feels partially
enveloped by it. The experience therefore is no longer a passive or
intellectual one normally associated with viewing a sculpture. The
observer or sitter could have a tactile experience too: physical contact,
not just through sitting is invited, touching and stroking the reeds is also a
natural response. The round sinewy shapes of the “reeds” encourage
contact. Other senses were also engaged, the natural fragrance of the
cedar stimulates the smell. The relationship of each reed, the curve,
angle and length were important in creating ‘a sense of movement’
672
, a
kinetic quality being created even though the piece is static.
The original concept ultimately transcends itself, the reeds are
perceived by the viewer in many different ways. Sometimes, for example,
they appeared to people as prehistoric or African elephants’ tusks or as
dramatic flames.
Exhibitions and critical comments
“Pondlife” was first exhibited along with the two other sculptural pieces at
the Henley Festival of Arts and Music (1998), where it received an
enthusiastic response from the visitors. The following year, it was
exhibited at another regional exhibition, Artspace 1999, where it was sold
to the late George Harrison. “Pondlife” received wide editorial coverage:
it was featured in Furniture for the 21
st
Century
673
and subsequently
featured in The Independent where it was described as ‘organic and
wildly eccentric … an example of new design meeting the buyers’ need
for something special’
674
. As a result of the article, a private client
commissioned a version of the bench for their garden in Durham.
Another “Pondlife”, in the form of a love seat or conversation seat,
was produced as an exhibition piece in 1999. It was exhibited at the
Chelsea Flower Show 2000 where it received television coverage on
Channel 4 and was selected by one of their presenters, Anne Marie
672
Oxford Channel News Night
673
B. Norbury, Furniture for the 21
st
Century, Stobart Davies, Hertford, 1999, p. 89
674
‘21
st
Century Schizoid Man’, The Independent, 8 January 2000
396
Powell, as one of the most outstanding products in the show, describing it
as: ‘absolutely beautiful’ and ‘totally organic in structure’
675
.
It was also exhibited at the Craftsmanship in the 21
st
Century
exhibition, River and Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames in 2001. Here
it was sold to a private client who had seen it featured in House &
Garden. “Pondlife” has also been featured in other magazines including
Country Homes and Interiors, FX, Exotic Gardening and Garden
Calendar.
The level of media attention, public exposure and critical reception
was an unprecedented experience for me. The concept caught the
imagination of many people but interestingly the sales and commissions
bore no relation to the publicity, which was generated by media attention
rather than an orchestrated public relations plan. Three “Pondlife”
benches were made, two speculatively and one to commission. One was
sold through local exhibition and the other through national editorial
features. Unlike a piece of art, the furniture was commercially priced and
its cost calculated as a measure of the man hours it took each piece to
produce. A small profit was the financial reward as well as the extensive
publicity generated.
As a craftsman I wanted to develop the idea from a one-off (and
subsequently limited edition) into a semi bespoke concept. My reasons
were:
• I consider one-offs as the seed bed for generic ideas
• One offs are a high risk financial venture and are seldom
sufficiently profitable to justify the risk and creative investment
involved
• The level of feedback from the exhibitions indicated that the
concept of “Pondlife” could be extended, particularly if the process
of making could be simplified and systemised and the cost thus
reduced
2. REDEFINING “Pondlife”
675
Anne-Marie Powell, ‘The Chelsea Flower Show 2000’, Channel 4, 26 June 2000
397
The original one-off “Pondlife” used wide planks of seventy-five mm cedar
of Lebanon, well air-dried. Both the seat and the reeds were cut from
these planks. The unusually clean, knot-free timber provided a blank
canvass on which to create the shapes of the reeds. These were
subsequently cut out on a band saw and shaped using a drawer knife and
spoke-shave. Each reed was wire brushed to create a textured surface
and the base of each reed was treated with a dark stain preservative to
create a graduated tone. The seat was cut out from a single plank. This
method was adopted on the next two versions. However, the limitations
of the timber became evident when the original cedar was used up. A
new source had to be identified.
A second log was obtained from a Norfolk sawmill. This highlighted
two problems with the timber. Firstly, cedar is an ornamental tree and
generally found in parks and private gardens and is not readily available.
It therefore cannot be relied upon as a regular local source for timber.
The second problem with the timber is the characteristic large knots.
These can be an attractive feature on large areas and make it suitable for
the seat but they cause problems when creating the reeds, particularly
the curved ones as the knots, if included, would weaken the reeds as well
as interrupt the sinewy quality of them.
The original methods and materials worked well as a one-off. The
methods were very labour intensive, particularly the wire brushing.
Alternative techniques needed to be considered to reduce the man hours
required to produce them. The timber for the reeds was also not suitable
for a semi-bespoke approach; an alternative source had to be identified.
The seat could be made from a number of durable timbers including
sweet chestnut, oak and cedar. The ideal material for the seat was wide,
sound boards that did not need jointing to obtain the required width.
New objectives
The new series of “Pondlife” fulfilled a set of objectives that were
consistent with a more sustainable approach than the original series.
The objectives were as follows:
• The timber was available locally and could be supplied on a long
term basis
398
• Its exploitation would add value to the woodland
• It was a durable alternative to cedar of Lebanon
• It had good working characteristics
• It had good aesthetic qualities
• The methods and materials used should be less labour intensive
and thereby reduce the cost
• The design was to develop the original concept from a series of
designs into a more accessible and affordable range without
compromising the integrity of the idea
• The designs could be produced on a semi-bespoke basis
• The designs would be suitable for garden and interior use
The first objective was met following consultations with a woodland
manager and David Rees, the Oxfordshire Woodland Project Manager.
Sweet chestnut thinnings were recommended as a suitable timber for the
reeds. Mature trees are subject to ring shake
676
. However, thinnings are
not subject to the same problem and were known to grow in the South
Oxfordshire area.
Sweet chestnut thinnings have a limited market and are unsuitable
for firewood as it spits and sends sparks flying
677
. It is durable timber and
therefore suitable for exterior use and, unlike oak, contains a small
margin of non durable sapwood, being only about three years of
growth
678
. Depending on the rate of annual growth this is only likely to be
between ten and fifteen mm, increasing the potential yield of the durable
heartwood. It has mild working characteristics compared to the tougher
oak; an important characteristic when using hand tools.
The wood also had to have good aesthetic qualities. As a ring
porous hardwood, sweet chestnut produces a distinctive figure caused by
the demarcation between the fast grown spring growth and the slow
grown summer growth. This figure could be enhanced in the shaping of
676
J. White, Forest and Woodland Trees in Great Britain, Oxford University Press, Oxford,
1995, p. 53
677
White, Forest and Woodland, p. 52-54
678
M. Abbot, Green Woodwork, Guild of Master Craftsmen Publishers, Lewes, 1989, p. 26
399
the reeds. The colour, similar to oak, is a warm light brown, similar to
cedar, the latter having a pale orange hue like yew.
New designs
New versions were developed through tentative sketches but explored
and developed through 1:5 models (Fig 1a/b/c). Five models were
produced at Art in Action (18-21 July 2002) from which two were chosen
as the basis of the two new seats, “Pondlife” 4 and 5 (Fig 1d). The
designs were a non identical pair, i.e. the seats were made as a matching
pair but the configuration of the reeds while being similar had their own
distinct form. The individuality of each bench is also enhanced by the
distinctiveness of each reed; no two reeds are the same as the shaping
process makes each one unique.
The designs were a conscious effort to produce a more affordable
version without compromising the integrity of the concept. The maximum
height was reduced to 220 cm from 240 cm and from 240 cm wide to 120
cm, effectively a two-seater bench. The aim was to produce each bench
in 60 hours compared with 160 hours for the original. Achieving or
approaching this objective would be considered progress towards
creating a semi-bespoke range.
New methods
Having identified sweet chestnut thinnings as a feasible alternative to air-
dried cedar, new methods had to be considered. The sweet chestnut
thinnings were freshly felled and therefore green when they arrived at the
workshop. They were stored in an open ended store, the ends exposed
to direct light. As agreed with the forester they were cut into two halves
along the length to make the subsequent processes of shaping within the
capability of the workshop band saw.
My trial sawing and shaping of the sample demonstrated that the
green sweet chestnut thinnings had very good working characteristics. It
band-sawed and planed well and could be shaped easily with a spoke-
shave and chisel. In fact, these techniques worked better than on dry
timber; my observation was the high moisture content acted as a lubricant
improving the sawing cutting actions. The use of the drawer knife was
more difficult than on dry cedar. The fibrous quality of the timber
400
combined with the high moisture content of the wood probably caused the
wood chips to remain supple and therefore resistant to the action of the
drawer knife. It also sanded well, using up to 320 grit silicon carbide; less
wood dust was generated than with dry timber.
A significant development in the approach was to use green timber
rather than dry timber as the raw material. Using green timber has to
address the necessary principles of timber drying. Timber will dry until it
reaches equilibrium with the relative humidity. Outside, this will reach 15
to 20 per cent in the summer rising again in the winter. Green timber is
generally between 50 to 100+ per cent moisture content but shrinkage
only occurs below fibre saturation point, between twenty-five and thirty
per cent moisture content, when the fibres themselves contract as they
dry. The concept behind this innovation involved a number of
considerations:
• The traditional method of drying 75 mm planks takes four to five
years before the wood can be used for the reeds
• Making the reeds from green wood enabled the wood to dry out in
its finished shape. This would accelerate the drying process as
moisture would have a greater surface area to evaporate from as
well as only the distance of the radius of the “reed” (i.e. between
50 mm at the base and 5 mm at the tip)
• The reeds would therefore reach an equilibrium moisture content
more quickly as they got narrower
• Shrinkage and any distortion was not going to be detrimental to the
appearance of the design
• Splitting along the grain is, however, a potential problem although
the quartering of the logs would minimise this problem
The original method of using a halving joint to locate the reeds to the seat
was considered the most appropriate secured by a 150 mm coach screw.
The reeds were to be attached to a 75 mm thick shaped slab made from
air-dried cedar. Shrinkage in the reeds would have the effect of
tightening the joint as the fibres contract longitudinally as well as
transversely.
401
The main potential advantage of this method was that it enabled the
benches to be produced for outdoor use on a semi-bespoke basis at any
time. The potential problem is that splitting may produce an
unacceptable level of reject reeds that have to be replaced. Checking is
a potential problem at the base of the reed. This is the widest part at 68
to 115 mm and is prone to checking because the rapid evaporation of
moisture through the end fibres can rupture, producing visible end
checks. These can also extend to the face of the reeds causing splits.
To minimise this possibility, rubber feet were to be bonded to the ends
with a water resistant contact adhesive. This would seal the ends
preventing rapid drying as well as create a damp proof membrane
preventing absorption of moisture if located outside.
3. THE PROCESS
Selection
Before felling commenced criteria were established to guide the selection
process. Curved lengths were preferable to straight ones and a minimal
number of knots and branches were to be included (Fig 2a/b).
Initial conversion
• After the felling, each thinning is cut into two halves along the
length at the woodland sawmill (this is beyond the capacity of the
workshop band saw). The curvature is preserved during the
cutting, creating two, more or less, book-matched pairs,
resembling a split banana (Fig 3). The thinnings are delivered to
the workshop and stored in an open ended timber store until
required.
• Suitable thinnings are selected for “Pondlife” 4 and 5.
Forming the reeds
• Each split thinning is quartered using the workshop band saw to
produce two or more lengths. Each thinning produces between
four and six full lengths depending on the width of the log
• The lengths are subdivided to produce shorter reeds between 90
cm and 160 cm with a maximum length at 220 cm
402
• The quartered length is then “squared” and contoured into the
rough shape on the band saw. The reeds are shaped and tapered
to maximise the contour (Fig 4 and 5)
• The square section is reshaped on the band saw into an octagonal
section (Fig 6). The reeds are then smoothed by a hand held
electrical planer
• Each reed is “cleaned up” by using a spoke-shave, removing the
planer and tear marks caused by the planer and given its final
shape (Fig 7a/b and 8)
• The reeds are then sanded using an electrical orbital sander to
produce a smooth blemish free surface (Fig 9)
• Every reed is finally hand sanded using 150 through to 320 grit
silicon carbide
Shaping the seat
• The seat blanks are cut out from 75 mm thick cedar of Lebanon
• The seats are shaped on the spindle moulder using an 18 mm
MDF template
• The front edge of the seat is profiled with a shallow chamfer using
hand tools (rasp and spoke-shave)
• The seats are sanded to 320 grit
Fixing the reeds to the seat
• Each reed is positioned on the seat using the model as a guide
(Fig 10a/b)
• Once a position and angle is determined, a housing joint is marked
out by hand
• Each housing is cut out using hand tools (tenon saw and chisel)
(Fig 11)
• When all the ‘reeds’ have been fitted on the seat one is predrilled
through to the seat to take a 15 cm coach screw (Fig 12)
• Each reed is secured with a coach screw
• The height of each reed is adjusted for balance and proportion
Finishing
• The tips are carved to a round shape
403
• The base of the reeds are cut to even lengths and chamfered
• The bench is dismantled for oiling
• The reeds and seat are finished with hand applied teak oil, one
application every 24 hours; a total of three coats applied (Fig
13a/b)
• An individually shaped rubber foot is glue to the base of each reed
4. CONCLUSION
In conclusion it can be seen that “Pondlife” 4 and 5 have demonstrated
that the original one-off design can be successfully adapted and aligned
to a more sustainable approach in terms of timber utilisation method and
cost without compromising the integrity of the concept. One of the most
important objectives was to be able to source timber locally which was
also available on a long term basis; this had been achieved. Another
important objective was that the timber added value to the woodland.
Straight sweet chestnut thinnings were already being converted to small
beams that were sold for fire place mantles, providing a more economical
alternative to oak. My requirement was for the most misshapen thinnings
which would not have been suitable for beams that had to be straight. A
new market was therefore created for a waste product.
The timber is known to be durable, like oak and therefore suitable
for exterior use and when pre-dried can be used in interiors. It has an
exceptionally small margin of non durable sapwood, compared to most
hardwoods thinnings which make its utilization economical in terms of
yield and waste. The distinctive figure in the grain produced attractive
markings emphasized by the carved contours of the reeds. The warm
light brown colour also added to the aesthetic quality.
The original methods had to be adapted for working in green wood.
The new designs had to use more efficient methods to shape the reeds to
reduce the man hours. The rough shaping on the band saw remained the
most effective method for the preparatory work. The use of the drawer
knife proved unsatisfactory for reasons explained. This problem led to
the use of a small hand held electric planer to clean the saw marks and
shape the reeds into a smoother form. The final shaping still used a
404
spoke-shave. Although the methods were adapted to using green wood,
there were no other problems working green wood, in fact, as discussed,
the wetness of the wood seems to act as a lubricant improving the
working characteristics including sanding.
The design was, however, modified to adapt to the material, the
curves on the reeds had to be restricted to the width of the radius of the
thinnings between 10 and 15 cm; but as the thinnings themselves were
bowed or irregular, the curve over the full length of each reed could be
significantly more than the width of the wood available. The thinnings
achieved their greatest curvature the taller they were (max 250 cm) but
this feature could not be fully developed as the new design only had a
maximum height of 210 cm and most of the reeds were between 90 and
160 cm.
Designs 4 and 5 have demonstrated that the original concept can be
developed as a more accessible and affordable range. The man hours of
the original three at 155 to 160 hours each meant they had to be priced
on a cost plus basis that made them a very exclusive product afforded by
the wealthy; however, the media coverage proved they had a wider public
appeal.
“Pondlife” 4 and 5 were produced in a total of 106½ hours and were
exhibited at the Celebration of Craftsmanship, Cheltenham 17 - 25
August 2002 where they were both sold to a client. What was evident,
however, was that while a public exhibition is very good for promoting a
product it is an inadequate forum for informing potential commissioners
about the process and philosophy behind the “Signed & Sealed” furniture
concept.
These two designs were produced for the Cheltenham exhibition
having been planned earlier in the year but the terms of the exhibition
imposed limitations on what could be produced. It is now possible to
consider designs that could form the basis of a “Signed & Sealed” range,
including designs 4 and 5.
The two benches were located in their new home at the beginning of
September 2002. A schedule to monitor their condition was negotiated
with the clients. This has provided a valuable experience in observing
405
how the green wood behaves over the next 12 months and beyond (Fig
14a/b/c/d/e).
5. FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS
In addition to developing a range of furniture further consideration needs
to be given to refine the processes.
The half round logs cannot dry efficiently until they are quartered. In
the half round, the exposed ends are subject to splits caused by
premature drying. At this stage a system has not yet been devised to
process these logs into more manageable sizes which can be air-dried in
preparation for commissions. The more the thinnings are reduced to the
final shape, the quicker the wood will dry. The band sawing can remove
about ninety per cent of the waste but as it is only an operation that takes
fifteen to twenty per cent of the total man hours it would be logical to do
this at the earliest feasible stage to maximise the drying time. This raises
the issue of what size and shape the reeds should be prepared in
anticipation of future requirements. Using measurements from models
and “Pondlife” 4 and 5 it should be possible to calculate the approximate
average lengths needed, allowing a tolerance for adapting each reed to
its final position. This method would ensure a ready stock of air-dried
roughly shaped reeds that could be used in the selection of each semi-
bespoke bench.
The workshop band saw has worked at its capacity to quarter the
logs. In line with general workshop needs a more powerful one will be
purchased in the near future which will be able to cope with the demands
of this work. The electric planer was very useful but an electric compass
planer, which is on the market, might prove to be more effective. This will
be investigated.
Cleaving was attempted as a method of quartering the logs but
without success. This is a method that deserves more research as it
could be particularly useful when thinnings are too large to be removed
from woodland. The ability to reduce a thinning into four quartered
sections whilst in the woodland would make handling and transport very
manageable. Cleaving is best done using straight butts as curved ones
406
tend to shear
679
. The aesthetic limitations of straight lengths could be
overcome by steam bending.
Steam bending is not only a well known technique for introducing
curves into straight pieces of wood; it also accelerates the drying process
by heating the water in the wood. It will reduce the wood from twenty-five
to ten per cent moisture content in about two weeks
680
. It is therefore a
technique that could be adapted for adding curves to the reeds and
drying them to a moisture content suitable for interior use.
The use of teak oil was a tentative trial on green wood. Although the
wood does not need any finish to seal it from the elements, many clients
want to preserve the colour produced by an oil finish or varnish. Under
exterior conditions this will deteriorate and a silvery grey patina, the
natural self protective finish, will develop. This is preferred by some
clients who enjoy natural processes dictating the character and aging of
the wood. For those clients who prefer to preserve the original colour
achieved through oiling, a long term solution still has to be found.
6. DIARY
19 October 2001 – Bagley Wood, Boars Hill, Oxford (owned by St John
College, University of Oxford)
I visited Bagley Wood to discuss the feasibility of using sweet chestnut
thinnings to create a new series of “Pondlife” benches. Philip Dawling,
the forester, took me to a mixed broad leaf area where sweet chestnut
had grown to a diameter of 18 cm (7 inches) and more. Philip advised me
he would be thinning the area within the following twelve months and
there would be potential to meet my requirements of 50 lengths of 240 cm
long. It would also be possible to band saw the lengths into half sections
on the estate sawmill; these could be delivered to my workshop. 50
lengths would produce up to 200 ‘reeds’, sufficient to make 7 original
“Pondlife” benches (each one requires 27 lengths between 150 cm and
240 cm long).
Potential problems
679
M. Abbot, Green Woodwork, Guild of Master Craftsmen Publishers, Lewes, 1989, p. 84
680
P. Hayden and D. Colwell, ‘Steam Powered Bends’, Good Woodworking, September 2001,
Issue 112, p. 43-44
407
Knots appear in the butts at about 1 meter intervals which could make the
timber unsuitable for steam bending, a technique which could be used to
introduce greater curvature into the reeds than could be achieved by
shaping on the band saw. The knots would also make riving difficult. It
may only be possible to do this with a mechanical rive. The most feasible
option of reducing the timber into quarters is probably band sawing.
Advantages
The heartwood is very durable. On inspection of some butts in the estate
yard, sapwood was only about twelve mm.
Further availability
Philip Dawling advised me that the College owned another managed
woodland in Shiplake, near Henley-on-Thames where sweet chestnut
was grown. This could be a source if more timber was required in the
future.
Cost
I was advised that cost would be based on the square sectioned (6” x 4” x
75”) beams that are cut from the straight thinnings and sold as decorative
beams.
Trial
One of these beams was bought to experiment with, to test its working
characteristics and suitability for the curved reeds. The timber had been
stored in an open fronted shed where it had been air drying for about a
year. I tested the wood with a moisture content meter, it ranged from 18
to 20 per cent moisture content on the surface to 40 to 50 per cent
moisture content in the centre. The beam was taken to the workshop
where I was able to form two reeds using the band saw, drawer knife and
spoke shave. Contacted Bagley Sawmill who agreed to bandsaw a butt,
to be collected by me.
8 November 2001
One split sweet chestnut butt collected by me from Bagley Sawmill and
delivered to Wheelers Barn Workshop, Checkendon.
6 December 2001
408
The 2 lengths were successfully re-sawn on the workshop band saw,
producing a total of 6 pieces suitable for making reeds (rather than the 4
planned).
10 December 2001
An order for 20 sweet chestnut butts was placed with Bagley Sawmill on
10 December 2001. Each butt was charged at £14 including sawmilling
and delivery to the workshop. Each butt was to be cut in half to form 2
half round sections. Delivery was to be in mid January 2002.
17 January 2002 – Delivery
As planned, the butts were delivered. Philip Dawling rang to advise me
he was anxious that the quality of the butts may be less than I was
expecting. He was therefore increasing the number from 20 to 23 to
compensate.
9/10 July 2002
Sketched ideas for new “Pondlife” designs. Prepared materials for
models.
18 – 21 July 2002 (Art in Action, Oxford)
Produced a series of 5 models over the four day demonstration. Selected
designs for “Pondlife” 4 and 5.
25/26 July 2002
Marked out template for the seats. Calculated lengths of reeds based on
model.
Workshop Productive
Hours
Selected cedar for the seat (PK) 4
Machined and profiled 2 seats (RB) 7
29 July 2002
Completed band sawing of 41 reeds (PK) 7
Commenced cleaning up, completed 7 ½ reeds (RB) 8 ½
30 July 2002
Cleaned up 5 reeds, fitted 6 reeds (PK) 5 ½
Cleaned up 18 ½ reeds (RB) 8
31 July 2002
Fitted 24 reeds (PK) 8
409
Cleaned up 9 ½ reeds (RB) 8
1 August 2002
Fitted 8 remaining reeds (total 38) (PK) 6 ½
Cleaned up remaining reeds, sanded 10 (RB) 8
2 August 2002
Completed sanding, final shaping. Cut feet to length; applied first coat of
teak oil
(PK) 8 ¼
(RB) 9
(SS) 6 ¼
5 August 2002
Applied 2
nd
coat of linseed oil (SS) 1 ¼
6 august 2002
Applied 3
rd
coat of teak oil (SS) 1 ½
12 August 2002
Shaped and fitted rubber feet (PK) 5 ¾
13 August 2002
Final fitting of reeds; completed assembly (PK) 4
Celebration of Craftsmanship, Cheltenham 16 -25 august 2002
14 august 2002
Delivered “Pondlife” benches to exhibition
16 August 2002
Sold “Pondlife” benches 4 and 5 to clients in Evesham
25 August 2002
Collected and dismantled “Pondlife” benches from Cheltenham and
returned them to the workshop (clients on holiday).
8 September 2002
Delivered the benches to clients in Evesham. Assembled benches in
garden. Discussed with clients care and maintenance. Clients preferred
wood to develop a patina of natural silver colour and agreed to store
benches in barn. I advised them that I would inspect the benches to
check on their condition and, if necessary, replace faulty reeds.
410
Summary of design and production
Hours
Design and model making 19 ¾
Production
1. Prepare seat templates
Select cedar of Lebanon for seats
Shape jig for shaping seats
Machine seats 11
2. Band saw reeds 7
3. Shaping and sanding reeds
Cut to finished length 56 ½
4. Fit reeds to seat 17 ½
5. Apply 3 coats of oil 4 ¾
6. Shape and fit rubber feet 5 ¾
7. Assemble 4
Total man hours to make Pondlife 4 and 5 106 ½
Average man hours per Pondlife 53 ¼
Cost of materials £
Sweet chestnut butts@ 4.5 @ £16.45 per butt 74.02
Cedar of Lebanon: 6 cu ft @ 17.50 per cu ft 105.00
Coach screws: 38 @ 73 pence each 27.74
Rubber 23.50
Teak oil 10.40
Screws 6.00
Total cost of materials £246.66
Average material cost per Pondlife £123.33
411
7. ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig 1a.
Fig 1b.
Fig a/b. Models for the proposed “Signed & Sealed” range
412
Fig 1c. Another model for the proposed “Signed & Sealed” range
413
Fig 1d. “Pondlife” no. 5
414
Fig 2a.
Fig 2b.
Fig 2a/b. Selecting sweet chestnut thinnings from Bagley Woods,
Oxford
415
Fig 3. Split logs ready for band sawing
Fig 4. This split log has been quartered and “eighted”!
416
Fig 5. Reeds are “squared” and contoured in a rough shape on the
band saw
Fig 6. The sections are reshaped into octagonal sections
417
Fig 7a.
Fig 7b.
Fig 7a/b. “Cleaning up”: removing band saw and planer marks using a
spoke shave
418
Fig 8. Shaped reeds
Fig 9. Sanding reeds using an electrical orbital sander
419
Fig 10a. Positioning the reeds
Fig 10b. The model is used as a guide
420
Fig 11. Housing joints are cut
Fig 12. Reeds are positioned and pre-drilled
421
Fig 13a. Oiled seat
Fig 13b. Oiled reeds
422
Fig 14a. “Pondlife” benches in their outdoor position
Fig 14b.
Fig 14a/b. “Pondlife” numbers 4 and 5 inspected in October 2003 after
fourteen months of outdoor exposure
423
Fig 14c. Detail of finish after fourteen months revealing slight tannin
staining after exposure
Fig 14d. The surfaces of these reeds were against the barn wall and
therefore less exposed to the weather; no staining took place
424
Fig 14e. Reeds re-oiled after fourteen months
425
APPENDIX II
TECHNIQUES TO ADD AESTHETIC VALUE TO BEECH TO
IMPROVE ITS MARKETABILITY AS A RAW MATERIAL,
AND IN FINISHED PRODUCT DESIGN
Philip Koomen, FCSD, FRSA, AIWSc
Adam Dawson, BSc (Agro Forestry)
The paper is divided into three parts.
Part 1
A literature review of published research of techniques for adding value to
beech, including:
• A review of published research into conditions needed for
optimising spalting and other fungal staining of beech
• The various commercial methods of staining and preservation are
summarized
• The causes of coloured heartwood and its physical properties are
described
• The problems associated with storing in the round are discussed
and the various methods to minimise discolouration are
summarised
• The problems and causes of discolouration in storage, kiln drying
and steamed beech are outlined and practical guidance to
overcome them are described
• Improvement of tree yield of Chilterns beech as a brand is
discussed
• Conclusion and discussion
Part 2
• A summary of properties and processing characteristics of beech
• Practical insights on hand working and finishing are also included
• Conclusion and discussion
Furniture designs in beech
Three furniture designs: the plank chair, made from a single board of
beech, which was used as a ‘canvas’ to demonstrate various finishing
426
techniques, and two tables in spalted beech have been produced to
explore the aesthetic characteristics of the timber. The concepts,
techniques and costings are described in this section.
Part 3
• The use of polyethylene glycol and its application in stabilising
beech is outlined
• The method and merits of diffusion impregnation of end grain slabs
of spalted beech are described and the results assessed
• Conclusion and discussion
INTRODUCTION
Beech (Fagus sylvatica) is considered; boring, unstable and non-durable.
These platitudes have led to the under-valuing of beech timber. Although
these criticisms seem well founded, they are not insurmountable.
Aesthetic value is subjective, and is therefore reliant on an individual's
knowledge and perception. The three points listed above are well known
within the timber using industries, but do not necessarily reflect the
knowledge, or perceptions of the general public. Before the timber
producers, wood product designers and makers can capture any value
added to beech wood, it will be necessary for them to value it; to
celebrate its unique technical properties, and design to maximise upon
them. However, beech’s popularity and market share has declined
steadily in the UK; its falling price shows no signs of abating (Ingram in
Render, 2001). Popularity is conditioned by the ephemeral trends of
fashion. Beech is currently in great demand in Germany where its ‘boring’
quality is celebrated; oak, by contrast, is considered rustic. Despite
beech’s unpopularity in the UK, composite board products are covered in
a laminated paper foil with a beech print, so it seems the public is not
averse to its appearance.
"Beech is the best wood in the world for making chairs," according to
Danish furniture makers. A sentiment that Michael Thonet would have
wholeheartedly endorsed. He went from being an itinerant tradesman
without financial means, to setting up one of the most successful furniture
427
factories of all time, based on the use of steam bent beech. He
demonstrated its strength, flexibility and utility with designs ranging from
the consumer chair, which sold over 50 million, to the tortuously spiralled
exhibition chair.
Beech has been relegated to the poor relation, its variability and difficult
properties have made it an unattractive proposition for wood users
leaving it an underutilised resource and its potential ignored. Its so called
deficiencies may provide possibilities for product development.
Under certain circumstances, the heartwood of beech can develop
'interesting' red hues, which ironically causes it to be down-graded,
despite experimental results that show little change in its properties. The
homogenous, light appearance of 'white' beech makes it an ideal 'blank
canvas' for the application of colours or patterns. Its movement in
response to moisture content can be stabilised to levels equivalent to
oak, (Quercus sp.) by impregnation with polymers. The durability of the
timber can be increased by treatment with wood preservatives in the
same way that softwoods are as a matter of course.
Taking a Ghandian approach that, "A problem is an opportunity in
disguise," the negative properties associated with beech have provided
the woodland industries with a cheap and abundant timber that has
excellent properties for strength, flexibility and workability. Wood is the
original plastic, and few woods are quite as plastic as beech. Its large
movement could be used in applications where a swollen fit is desirable
such as biscuit joints. Its lack of durability could be used to make
disposable items that are readily bio-degradable, to meet the
requirements of this consumer society.
BACKGROUND
This paper was prepared as part of collaboration between Philip Koomen,
an established furniture designer-maker, based at Checkendon, South
Oxfordshire and Adam Dawson, project facilitator at the Hardwick Estate
(owned by Sir Julian Rose). The aim of the collaboration is twofold.
Firstly, to find ways of using beech, from the estate, in a range of
marketable generic furniture designs that explores the physical and visual
428
characteristics of the wood. The other complementary aim is to find ways
to add value to a resource that has a low market value.
PART 1
A LITERATURE REVIEW OF PUBLISHED RESEARCH OF
TECHNIQUES TO ADD AESTHETIC VALUE TO BEECH TO
IMPROVE ITS MARKETABILITY AS A RAW MATERIAL,
AND IN FINISHED PRODUCT DESIGN
SPALTING
What is it?
This is a widespread natural phenomenon occurring within the wood,
caused by fungi. Revealed by cutting or splitting, it is characterised by a
mosaic of light and dark areas of wood divided by dark brown or black
lines. These dark lines are variously called; "barrages," "aversion
phenomena", "interaction zones", "lines of demarcation." They are
caused by intra-specific antagonism between wood decaying
basidiomycetes from different origins (Rayner & Todd, 1979). To put it
another way, fungi derived from spores from the same parent create a
barrier of mycelium to prevent their genetically similar siblings from
invading their space. Along the lines of contact, there are clear zones
containing few hyphae flanked by dense mycelium, later becoming
pigmented, dark brown or black. It is thought to be a mechanism to
prevent the gene pool being reduced by inbreeding rather than cross
breeding. (Todd & Rayner 1979)
Can it be encouraged?
The main species involved are: Bjerkandera adusta, Coriolus versicolor,
Hypholoma fasiculare (sulphur tuft, although few zone lines), Hypoxylon
fragiforme, Phlebia radiata, Stereum hirsutum, Tricholomopsis
platyphylla, and Xylaria hypoxylon (from observation and Rayner & Todd,
1979). There is evidence that some of these species can be cultured on
nutrient agar (IRG 1976), and inoculated into wood, although no research
into using this technique to create spalting was found. Once in the wood,
429
the fungus will benefit from increased temperatures and humidity levels.
C. versicolor was incubated at 22
o
C and 75% relative humidity (Karimi et
al. 1998), rapid colonisation also occurred under greenhouse conditions
in the UK (Deon & Trong, 1984).
As the species are common and native to British woodlands, it is unlikely
that significant advantages can be gained by manual inoculation or
modifying the environment. Simply stacking the logs in the woods prior to
conversion, in the presence of wood displaying fruiting bodies, should be
adequate to ensure high levels of spalting. The advantage of controlling
the process would be to stop it before the structural properties were
adversely affected. This could also be achieved using ultrasonic
equipment to monitor the progress of decay within the timber, such
equipment is used by tree surgeons to assess tree health (Gammie,
2002).
Other fungi; Pycnoporus sanguineus (orange colour) (Reinprecht et al.,
1997) and Chlorosplenium aeruginascens (turquoise colour traditionally
used in Tunbridge ware) (Phillips, 1981) also show potential for adding
interest to beech timber.
STAINING AND PRESERVATION
This subject is broken down here into intentional treatments and natural
staining, the latter is then divided into pre and post conversion stain
development.
Top grade beech wood has a uniform light appearance and high porosity
that lends itself well to colour treatments. In this way it can be stained to
imitate more valuable timbers such as mahogany or walnut. Treatments
can be applied under heat and pressure, by pressure, by soaking or by
surface application. The use of solvent rather than water-based products,
and pressure treatments offer increased penetration, and improved
preservative performance.
Kusnirskaja, Glejzerova and Kostjucenko (1964) and Cimbanenko et al.
(1952, 1956), describe the process of using an autoclave and metal salts
to affect a deep penetration of dye into beech wood. Roux et al.(1988)
430
compared beech with Norway spruce, Scots pine, Douglas fir and red
meranti, under 4 treatments at 4 locations over a 24 month period. The
treatments were: (a) impregnating stain, (b) film forming stain, (c)
pigmented acrylic latex paint and (d) pigmented alkyd paint (solvent
based). Weathering was uniform in a, beech performed better than pine
but worse than the other samples to b, and c and d showed little
weathering after 2 years, although d offered greater dimensional stability.
Behr (1967), compared the penetration into beech wood of solvent and
water based preservatives. The water-based preservatives (e.g. ZnC12)
were not considered to penetrate adequately. This apparently contradicts
his earlier work (Behr, 1963), recommending ZnC12 and creosote as
preservatives for beech railway sleepers, although it is not clear whether
he intended the treatments to be applied under pressure to increase their
penetration. Impregnation with creosote using the improved Ruping
process is recommended for penetration.
COLOURED HEARTWOOD
The formation of red heartwood in beech has been the subject of much
international research, and debate. Coloured heartwood is generally
considered to be an inferior product and continues to attract a low price,
despite well funded marketing campaigns, particularly in Switzerland and
Germany (Seeling 1998). Although, "In countries where beech is not
endemic, the lively and contrasting patterns created by coloured
heartwood are much more appreciated than in countries where beech is
grown and timber produced." (Gfeller, 1998) Scientific evaluation has
demonstrated that its properties do not greatly differ from white
heartwood, when the colouration is due to abiotic causes.
How does it happen?
Coloured heartwood is induced by cell moisture being replaced by
oxygen in living trees, leading to oxidation and the formation of tyloses,
followed by the invasion of saprophytic fungi. The stage of progression
through this process seems to determine the type and extent of coloured
heartwood. Its presence can be detected, non-destructively, by
measuring the electrical resistance of the wood of standing trees (Weihs
431
et al. 1999); air filled cavities having higher resistance than moisture filled
cavities. A simpler indicator is the presence of rough bark (Sheldon
2001). This is supported by Bosshard (1965) who links the natural, non-
pathological phenomenon of beech bark splitting down to the cambium,
with the facultative formation of coloured heartwood.
Many other factors have been investigated in relation to the induction of
coloured heartwood formation, including:
• Age, (Zycha, 1948; Von Buren, 1998) atmospheric oxygen being
drawn in through dead branches, the critical moisture content of
60% being reached at about 80 years depending on site and
climate.
• Diameter at breast height, (Howeke, 1998; Rieder, 1997) found to
be a more significant factor representing coloured heartwood
formation than average stand age.
• Scars and injuries, (Von Buren, 1998; Karadzic, 1981; Winterfeld,
1956; Zycha, 1948) so called 'chinese beards,' broken branches,
pruning scars and injuries to the stem base. All acted as entry
points for atmospheric oxygen and fungal infection.
• Crown characteristics, (Torelli, 1974) vigorous trees with well
developed crowns have a more favourable water: gas ratio,
probably linked to healthy parenchyma cells, and thus inhibition of
red heart development. Bosshard (1965) found no correlation to
stand structure or storey.
• Climate, (Necesany, 1956; Larsen 1943; Zycha 1948) damage to
bark occurring under the influence of wide temperature fluctuations
in the boles of leafless trees under clear winter skies. 'Frost heart’
boundaries were found to coincide with growth rings formed in
years of severe frost. Bosshard (1965) found no correlation to
weather, exposure or site.
• Biotic toxins, (Raunecker, 1956) from micro organisms (e.g.
mycorrhizae) due to osmotic disturbances caused by reductions in
moisture content.
432
• Saprophytic fungi (Karadzic, 1981; Sacre, 1966; Necessany, 1956)
leading to classification of coloured heartwood according to its
appearance, apparent cause and structural soundness.
• Rich soils/poor soils, (Raunecker, 1956; Milner, 1992) No
connection was found with Fe or Ca content, but glucose content
(prevalent on poor sites) was associated with the tendency to form
red heart.
Coloured heartwood was found mainly in the first 6 - 10 metres of tree
length. Theoretical calculations of log size and value lost, due to coloured
heartwood, (Howeke, 1998; Von Buren, 1998) showed that the best
returns were within the DBH class 60 to 69cm. "Accordingly, the
conventional managerial aim of producing as much stem wood as
possible in large dimension trees should be reconsidered." (Rieder, 1997)
Prevention through conservation of mild humus by using species mixtures
on less suitable sites, regenerating in groups, and a thinning system
promoting cylindrical stem form are advocated (Raunecker 1956).
Does it affect the timber properties?
In bending tests on over 1000 samples of white and red wood of
Rumanian beech, in 5 to 25mm thicknesses showed a similar number of
breakage failures. The appearance of finished chairs of (b) was judged
satisfactory (Kopp, 1970).
Wobst found no differences between red heartwood and inner sapwood,
for tangential and radial shrinkage or compression strength. The static
modulus of elasticity was slightly lower in the heartwood; longitudinal
shrinkage and impact strength were considerably lower. Tests for volume
shrinkage, bending strength and strength in tension did not give clear
results (Wobst, 1967).
Danish long term test, sleepers with high coloured heartwood content just
as good after 14 years as those with <30% heartwood, treated with 125
creosote with a 140kg/m
3
retention.
The colonisation of fungal decay organisms was found to advanced faster
in white heartwood and sapwood than in red heartwood (Hosli & Osusky,
433
1978). The stain fungi (echauffure) appeared to prevent subsequent
attack by more virulent fungi (Sacre, 1966).
STORAGE IN THE ROUND
Conventional practice is to fell trees for timber during the winter when the
sap is down. Timber stored in the round for long periods is often prone to
deterioration due to end checking and fungal invasion. In beech there are
further problems due to the increased formation of coloured heartwood
after felling. It was found that all forms of deterioration could be prevented
by wet storage in ponds or under sprinklers. It is possible to store veneer
quality logs for one year and retain wood quality (Moog, 1992). Moltsen
compares storage in ponds, under sprinklers, in sawdust and wind-thrown
with the roots left on. Ponds and sprinklers both gave good results for
storage of up to two years, although there was increased fungal attack if
the wood was not quickly dried after that. Ponds were expensive to
construct and made handling difficult without a crane. Sawdust was
satisfactory, storage with the roots led to blue stains throughout the wood.
(Moltsen, 1970) End coating with paraffin wax to prevent discolouration
and fungal invasion was also tried, and proved more successful if used in
conjunction with fungicide application.
DISCOLOURATION DURING CONVERSION
Beech wood is extremely prone to colour changes during seasoning.
Light coloured wood darkens, and dark coloured wood fades. This
techniques described here are more to prevent loss of value than to add
value. Physiological reactions of living parenchyma cells are responsible
for the discolouration of freshly-felled beech wood during storage.
Furthermore discolouration can be caused by micro organisms, for
instance mould fungi and bacteria, which affect the wood surface of
inadequately stored beech wood. The discolouration during kiln-drying
and steaming of beech wood are based essentially on chemical reactions
of the cell wall components (lignin and hemicelluloses) and accessory
compounds in the wood. These chemical reactions occur in the beech
wood at a temperature above 40° C and a moisture content of 30% to
434
60%. The reactions (hydrolyses) are intensified by a decrease of the pH
value during the drying process. Above a temperature of 80° C during the
steaming process chemical reactions of the lignin molecule are induced
causing the uniform, reddish colour of steamed beech wood. As soon as
the specific reaction mechanisms and accessory compounds are
identified, methods for their prevention such as the stabilisation of the pH-
value can be developed. (Koch & Bauch, 2000)
To achieve the high value white coloured beech in Denmark, the leaves
are left on after felling for 3-4 weeks. This speeds initial drying down to
50-60% moisture content. The colour deteriorates under high temperature
artificial drying, but is preserved at temperatures below 30
o
C. (Moltesen,
1970)
At moisture contents grater than 25% and increased temperatures an
oxidise reaction occurs. So it is desirable to pass the critical 25%
moisture content as quickly as possible at a low temperature. Open-air
drying is inadequate to achieve this, even if the stacks are roofed, so
forced air drying was developed. Fans move air through the stacked
timber at 1-2m/s. The critical 25% moisture content was achieved in 3-4
weeks with pieces 2"x 2" x 30". The forced air technique was refined by
simple heating during humid periods (Knudsen, 1970). Contrary to these
low temperature techniques, the oxidise reaction was found to be de-
activated by heating to 100
o
C (Paserin, 1969). The drawback with any
quick drying is that it leads to increased surface checking and wood
movement. Impregnation with a solution of salt, reduced checking and
fungal attack (Astaf'ev et al., 1959).
RE-GRADING AND MARKETING
Usable timber accounts for 63.7% of total beech wood removals, this can
be increased
To 80 to 85% by intensive processing of logs for sawn wood, plywood,
veneers, low grade assortments and wood residues in the manufacture of
particle board and fibreboard.
Only normal beech was considered suitable for particle board
manufacture, and even this was not completely satisfactory. Knotty wood
435
and wood with incipient deterioration impaired the board quality,
especially as regards thickness swelling. (Karahasanovic, 1969)
It may be that 'Chiltern beech' offers an environmental pedigree that
consumers would be willing to favour, however this term makes timber
users shudder, considering it inferior to the preferable European beech.
The forestry commission found that local authorities and tourists were the
most likely purchasers to associate value with a local product (Forestry
Commission, 1994). They also suggest the co-operation of suppliers and
organisations to centralise marketing, for sufficient quantities to meet the
needs of industrial buyers.
CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
Spalted beech
Spalted beech can produce very dramatic markings in converted timber.
The possibility of controlling spalting to add value by manual inoculation
was researched but was inconclusive. The preferred method was to allow
the unconverted logs to be left near wood displaying fruiting bodies where
natural spalting would occur.
The aesthetic qualities of spalted beech are demonstrated by the low
table and table bench (See photographs 1 and 2, Appendix). The
dramatic effects achieved are the result of careful selection to achieve the
effect. Wastage of timber may be high depending on the dimensional
requirements of the piece of furniture being made. These designs were
adapted in size to maximise the utilisation of the material available.
Coloured heartwood
Coloured heartwood in beech is detrimental to marketability and attracts a
lower price. It does, however, have greater appeal outside the countries
where it is not endemic; its distinctive patterns, particularly in veneer
form, are considered an attractive decorative feature. The presence of a
significant amount of low grade beech in the Chilterns is an opportunity to
explore its possibilities in bespoke furniture making where diversity of
features can be exploited for their decorative qualities. Unlike spalted
beech, the strength properties of coloured heartwood are unaffected.
Drying timber
436
Preserving the colour of beech after felling requires careful management
as it is critical to maximising its market value. Logs, if kept in the round for
long periods, will degrade through checking and fungal infection. Logs
can be preserved for up to 2 years if stored in ponds or under sprinklers
but this is a costly method.
The problem of discolouration continues after the timber has been
converted. The main cause is physiological reactions of living
parenchyma; poor storage will also induce surface mould fungi and
bacteria.
A reddish beech is achieved by steaming the boards at a temperature of
80º C. White beech is achieved by slowing down the drying initially at the
felling stage by leaving the leaves on, followed by kilning at temperatures
below 30º C. Discolouration cannot be avoided through air drying alone
which is too slow to bring the moisture content below the critical 25%
above which discolouration is more likely. Forced air drying techniques
preserve colour but can lead to surface checking and wood movement.
Marketing bespoke furniture
The successful marketing of beech has been hampered by its perceived
low quality within the timber trade. It is less clear if the public, when
presented with products that have been designed to utilise beech, are
equally dismissive of it. The three pieces produced for this research
indicate that the public are very interested in their environmental heritage,
particularly when they are presented with a well designed product.
These furniture designs celebrate the natural characteristics of low grade
beech to create furniture that has a sense of place. By establishing the
environmental provenance of the timber both the furniture maker and the
customer/end user regain a connection with the origin of the material and
their environmental heritage. This promotes an emotional or even a
spiritual link that enriches the shared experience of the process of
creating furniture as well as the enjoyment of using the end product in a
domestic situation.
REFERENCES
437
Astav'ef BA, Belova EI & Smirdin PM (1959), Drying wood impregnated
with a solution of ordinary cooking salt, Derev. Prom. 8(3), pp.9-10
Behr E.A. (1963), Preservative Treatment Of Beech, Beech Utilisation
Series, Northeast Forestry Exp. Sta. No.21, pp. 11.
Behr E.A. (1967), Preservative Treatment Of Beech By Soaking,
Quarterly Bulletin Michegan Agricultural Exp. Sta. 49(4) pp. 459-65.
Bosshard HH (1965), Mosaic Type Of Coloured Heartwood In Fagus
Sylvatica, Schweizerische-Zeitschrift-fur-Forstwesen, 116(1), pp.1-11
Cimbanenko EG, Annoscenko II & Kosovskii GN (1952), Staining of wood
to imitate expensive timbers, Sbornik Ukrniimod, Kiev, 2, pp.153-62
Cimbanenko EG, Kossovskii GN & Kusnirskaja MC (1956) Manufacture
of decorative beech plywood, Derev. Prom. 5(1), pp. 8-10.
Deon G & Trong L (1984), Paper 2219 - Window Test, International
Research Group For Wood Preservation.
Forestry Commission (1994), New markets for old woods
Frankland, Hedger & Swift, (1982) Decomposer Basidiomycetes Their
Biology And Ecology, British Mycological Society.
Gammie M (2002), Personal communication, Forestry Officer, South
Oxfordshire District Council.
Gfeller B (1998), White And Coloured Beech Heartwood In The Wood
Products Industry, Schweizerische-Zeitschrift-fur-Forstwesen, 149(12) pp.
943-953
Grigson G (1960), An Englishman's Flora, Phoenix House Limited
Howecke B (1998), Investigation Into Coloured Heartwood Of Beech
(Fagus Sylvatica) in Baden-Wurttemberg, Schweizerische-Zeitschrift-fur-
Forstwesen, 149(12) pp. 971-990
Hosli JP & Osusky A (1978), The behaviour of beech red heart boundary
zone plugged by tyloses under decomposition by Coniophora puteana
and Trametes versicolor, Material und Organismen 13(1), pp.51-58
International Research Group For Wood Preservation (1976) Paper 158
Karahasanovic A (1969), Studies on the minimum requirements of beech
raw material for particle board manufacture, Pregled Naucnoteh. Rad.
Inform. Zavhod Tehn. Drveta 6(2), pp.25-40
438
Karadzic D (1981), A study of the causes of false heartwood (red heart) in
beech, Sumarstvo. 34(1), pp. 3-18
Karimi AN, Parsapajouh D (1998), Evaluation of Beech wood against
Corioulus versicolor in natural state and treated, Iranian Journal Of
Natural Resources 50(2), pp.73-81
Knudsen M (1970), Danish experience in the seasoning, impregnation
and staining of beech with particular reference to furniture, Papers
presented to the symposium of the industrial processing of temperate
hardwoods, United Nations Economic Commission For Europe.
Koch G & Bauch J (2000), Discolouration in European beech wood
(Fagus sylvatica L.) during storage and drying, Proceedings of the 2
nd
COST E-15 Workshop on “Quality Drying of Hardwood”
Kopp G (1970), The utilisation of beech wood with red heart in the
manufacture of bentwood furniture, Industrial Lemn. 21(5), pp. 168-73
Kusnirskaja , Glejzerova & Kostjucenko (1964), Deep Dyeing Of Beech
wood, Derev. Prom. 13(9), pp.28-29
Larsen P (1943), The significance of winter cold in relation to heartwood
formation in beech, Dansk skovforen. Tidsskr. 28(4), pp. 141-157.
Milner JE, The Tree Book, Collins and Brown
Moltesesn P (1970), Methods of storing and protecting beech round
wood, Papers presented to the symposium of the industrial processing of
temperate hardwoods, United Nations Economic Commission For
Europe.
Moog C (1992), Experience with the wet storage of high value beech
stem wood, Allgemeine Forst Zeitschrift 47(8), pp.410-411
Necesany V (1956), Classification of beech hearts, Drevo 11(4), pp. 93-
98
Paserin V (1969), Colour changes in beech wood and their prevention,
Drev. Vyskum 2, pp.61-65
Phillips R (1981), Mushrooms and other fungi of Great Britain and
Europe, Macmillan
Raunecker H (1956), Is red heart beech merely a result of ageing?, Allg.
Forst-u Jagdztg. 127(1), pp16-31
439
Rayner ADM, & Todd NK (1979) Population Structure In Wood
Decomposing Basidiomycetes, in (Frankland, Hedger & Swift, 1982)
Reinprecht L, Jelokova E, Libiakova A, Korytarova O & Galadova M
(1997), Attack of wood by the fungus Pycnoporus sanguineus, Acta
Facultatis Xylologiae Zvolen Res Publica Slovaca.
Render MG (2001), Goodbye to beech ~ farewell to fagus?, Report of the
Transnational Woodland Industries Group Conference, pp. 41-44
Rieder A (1997), Types and causes of coloured heartwood in beech,
Osterreichische-Forstzeitung 108(4), pp.13-16.
Roux ML, Wozniak E, Miller ER, Boxall J, Bottcher P, Kropf F, Sell J
(1988), Natural Weathering Of Various Surface Coatings On Five Species
At Four European Sites, Holz-als-Roh-und-Werkstoff, 46(5) pp.165-170
Sacre E (1966), Contribution to the study of stain 'echauffure' in green
beech wood, Bull. Rech. Agron. Gembloux 1(4), pp. 602-620.
Seeling U (1998), Heartwood Characteristics: its effect on wood
utilisation, illustrated with reference to beech (Fagus sylvatica),
Schweizerische-Zeitschrift-fur-Forstwesen, 149(12) pp. 991-1004
Sheldon T (2001), personal communication, The Hardwick Estate,
Whitchurch On Thames, Reading, UK
Todd NK & Rayner ADM (1979), Ecological genetics of basidiomycetes,
in (Frankland, Hedger & Swift, 1982)
Torelli N (1974), Biological aspects of heartwood formation, with
emphasis on facultatively coloured heartwood in beech, Fagus sylvatica,
Godzarski - Vestnik 32 (7-8), pp.253-281
Von Buren S (1998), Red heartwood formation in beech: identification,
occurrence, and economic importance. Schweizerische-Zeitschrift-fur-
Forstwesen, 149(12) pp. 955-970
Weihs U, Dubbel V, Krummheuer F, Just A (1999), Electrical Resistance
Tomography - a promising technique for the detection of coloured
heartwood on standing beech trees, Forst-Und-Holz 54(6), pp.166-170.
Winterfeld K (1956), Can green pruning improve the quality of beech
wood?, Holz-Zbl. 82,84,87,90, pp. 1053-56, 1089-90, 1115-7.
440
Wobst H (1967), The effect of red heart in beech on some representative
physical and mechanical properties, Proceedings from the 14
th
congress
of the international union of forestry research organisations.
Zycha H (1948) The Formation Of Heartwood And Allied Processes In
Fagus Sylvatica, Fortwiss. Cbl. 67(2), pp. 80-109
PART 2
ASSESSMENT OF THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF BEECH
RELEVANT TO ITS USE IN FURNITURE MAKING
TIMBER PROPERTIES
Appearance: The grain is straight, fine and even textured with a
distinctive growth ring figure on through and through cut boards. Quarter
sawn boards produce a straight grain figure with a fleck pattern produced
by exposing the medalury rays
Colour: Whitish to very pale brown, darkening on exposure to slightly
reddish brown. The variability of colour presents a problem for selection
of show wood where consistency of colour is required. The practice of
steaming, common in south east Europe, changes the colour to pink or
light red.
Sapwood: Not normally distinguishable from heartwood. As sapwood is
normally considered a timber defect in furniture making, utilization is
therefore significantly higher than oak or cherry which have a high
proportion of sapwood.
Weight: Home grown beech is typically hard and dense, averages 720
kg/m
3
(
45lbs
/
ft
3
) at 12% m.c. This is the same as home grown oak but more
than cherry (
38lbs
/
ft
3
) and sweet chestnut (
34lbs
/
ft
3
).
Strength properties: Unseasoned beech are similar to oak but after
seasoning it is about 20% superior to oak in most properties and about
40% more resistant to impact loads.
Drying: Dries fairly well and fairly rapidly but is a moderately refractory
timber with a tendency to check split and warp. Shrinkage in drying is
441
very considerable. Green to 12 % m.c. is tangentially about 9.5% (
11
/
8
in
/
ft
)
and radially about 4.5% (
9
/
16
in
/
ft
).
Movement: The 100% + differential produces significant distortion in the
drying process and any timber changes in relative humidity will cause
further movement and distortion. This makes it less suitable for solid
carcass work where wide boards are being used. However, the use of
either quarter sawn or narrow jointed boards can reduce movement. The
latter method is a technique that is used by German furniture makers,
where beech has widespread use. Beech can be used for chair making
and other internal joinery structures where sections are small and square-
like, thus reducing the signs of distortion; but the design of the structure
itself has to take into account the tendency of the wood to distort under
varying ambient conditions. Stability can also be improved by sealing the
wood with a range of finishes/polishes.
Other properties: Beech endures best underwater or in waterlogged
soils, and was used for the piles under Winchester cathedral and
Waterloo bridge (Grigson, 1960).
PROCESSING
Working properties
Density and working properties are variable according to local conditions
of growth, provenance and drying.
Sawing: Tendency for the saw to bind when green timber is converted.
Cross cutting: Burning and tooth vibration possible with tougher
material.
Narrow band sawing: Satisfactory.
Machining: Tendency to burn during drilling, otherwise all operations
such as planing, shaping, etc. satisfactory. Cutting angle of 30%
satisfactory in planing. Very good turning properties particularly when
green.
Nailing: Preboring necessary.
Gluing: Good.
442
Handwork: Works well using hand tools producing clean, crisp forms and
shapes. Hand tools must be kept very sharp to achieve a good finish
681
.
Wood bending: Steam bending properties exceptionally good. Pieces
containing knots or irregular grain may also be bent successfully.
Sanding: Can be sanded to a fine smooth finish using silicone carbide
paper using 320 grit
682
.
DURABILITY
Insect attack: Liable to attack by furniture beetle; sometimes attacked by
pinhole borer. Sapwood is liable to attack by longhorn beetle.
Durability: Heartwood is perishable.
FINISHES
The techniques described below were demonstrated on the “Plank” chair,
exhibited at the seminar (see photograph 3, Appendix).
Staining: Can be stained satisfactorily; often used as a substitute for oak
and mahogany and other higher value species. This is often driven by the
market price differential between these timbers and beech.
Ammonia application: A two coat application of diluted liquid ammonia
produced a warm brown colour similar to oak.
Scorching: Blackens the wood but is difficult to maintain uniformity. The
technique is suitable for creating unusual artistic effects.
Waxing: Using petroleum based microcrystalline wax (“Renaissance
wax”), the natural colour of the wood, at least in the short term is
preserved. The manufacturer claims this formulation preserves the
natural colour unlike bees wax which tends to darken woods. The close
grained finish, when sanded, produces a polished sheen with two
applications of this wax.
Oiling: Oils tend to darken the wood more than other finishes, producing
a golden tinge.
The effect of exposure to light on stained beech: White beech stained
with a water soluble stain, after exposure to daylight for 6 months, will
turn brown; a discoloured sample will turn a little lighter. A thin layer of
681
Philip Koomen Furniture Workshop
682
Philip Koomen Furniture Workshop
443
acid hardening lacquer will not protect the stains against the influence of
light. Special lacquers with UV absorbers will improve the results
683
.
CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
Properties and working characteristics
Beech timber has a high yield as there is no distinguishable sapwood;
oak by comparison has 10 to 20% sapwood which has to be rejected in
the selection stage. Beech is therefore a very economical timber to use
both in yield and cost. Its strength properties are 20% superior to oak.
This property has been ignored or forgotten by specifiers who have
dismissed beech as a viable option for many applications. For example, it
is the best timber for chairs and internal joinery where tenons are used;
its resistance to compression produces a superior joint under force.
What cannot be ignored is its tendency to move, check splits and warp
during drying. Differential movement is 100% from green to 12% M.C.
producing considerable distortion. Any subsequent changes in humidity
will also affect movement and distortion which can cause problems in
furniture and joinery. A combination of skilful drying and well considered
design can overcome this problem.
Staining and finishing
Beech acts as a “blank canvas” and can be easily stained to imitate high
value timbers such as walnut or rosewood. Solvent stains offer the best
results with greater penetration than water based products.
The “Plank” chair demonstrates the use of waxing, oiling, scorching and
ammonia to create different effects. The wax finish shows that the
homogenous structure and consistency of the wood provides a superior
substrate for a finish. The blandness of the timber can be used to
advantage when contrasting it with a scorched effect or a darker wood
such as the ebony inlay detail used in the chair.
REFERENCES
683
Symposium on Industrial Processing of Temperate Zone Hardwoods -Volume II. UNEC for
Europe, Geneva 1970
444
Handbook of Hardwoods – HMSO
Timber, Its Structure and Properties – H E Desch
North American and European Hardwoods – M Buckley
Green Woodwork – M Abbott
Symposium on Industrial Processing of Temperate Zone
Hardwoods -Volume II. UNEC for Europe, Geneva 1970
Philip Koomen Furniture Workshop
FURNITURE DESIGNS IN BEECH
PLANK CHAIR
Concept
The Plank chair (Fig 1, shown at end of this appendix) was conceived as
an experimental design exploring the physical and visual characteristics
of beech. Rather than impose a formal rectilinear or curvilinear design on
the material, the design responds and adapts to the features and intrinsic
qualities of the material. The homogeneity of the wood was also used as
a “blank canvass” to explore different finishing techniques that might
overcome the frequent accusation that it is bland.
The design attempts to redefine the chair as functional sculpture,
retaining its domestic purpose as a dining chair but extending its visual
qualities into sculpture. These qualities are derived from preserving the
natural features of the material: knots, sapwood, splits, bark and waney
edge (derived from the trees natural contour after the bark is removed).
The features are articulated through the finishing methods that create a
smooth faultless surface giving them an uncompromising prominence in
the design.
The form is reduced to the absolute minimum and is derived from utilising
the complete plank. The three elements: the front leg, seat and back are
consecutive sections emphasising the chairs organic form and origin.
Each section is aligned at 90% to each other. This formal arrangement is
softened by the flexibility and resilience of the back which responds to the
pressure of the sitter.
Construction methods
445
The design avoids the use of traditional mortise and tenon chair making
techniques, which would have been inappropriate, relying on the
combination of the biscuit joint and the countersunk screw as the jointing
method (each countersunk hole was plugged with end grain beech). A
discrete bracket to strengthen and stabilise the back is located under the
seat.
Finishing techniques
The plank was planed to a uniform 20 mm thickness and sanded to a 320
grit. Outer edges were finished with a hand block plane before sanding,
leaving the natural contour of the planks outer edges. Once the sanding
was complete the following finishing techniques were tried out to assess
their effectiveness in combination with beech.
Scorching
A blow torch was applied to one half of the back. This technique at its
most intense charred the wood producing a black charcoal like dust which
can get ingrained in the tight beech wood. When more lightly applied, a
rich brown scorching was achieved. This was the first time I had used this
method and found the process required vigilant control to avoid an
uneven scorching effect. The method is, however, very quick. One
problem, not anticipated, was the effect of scorching the wood on one
side only caused pronounced cupping of the board.
Inlay
Ebony inlay was added as a whimsical detail. The inlay followed a
scorched edge on the seat continuing to the front where it terminated at
an ebony plug, simulating a paint drip.
Bleaching
A two pack application of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide was tried
unsuccessfully. The first application of ammonia turned the beech to an
attractive warm brown colour but the second application of hydrogen
peroxide did not react with the ammonia to produce the bleaching. The
probable reason being the hydrogen peroxide was instable and had lost
its efficacy. The ammonia application however produced an attractive
finish on the front leg.
Waxing
446
Two applications of hand applied microcrystalline wax produced an
attractive lustrous polish over the whole chair.
Problems
Sticker marks, a recurring problem particularly in lighter woods, remained
present even after the timber has been reduced from 34 mm to 20 mm.
The worst of the marks were removed from one side for show wood
leaving the more prominent ones on the least visible side. One benefit of
attempting to remove the sticker marks was that the finished thickness, 5
mm less than planned, produced a lighter more resilient and comfortable
design.
The 70% reduction in thickness produced slight cupping, probably caused
by the moisture gradient in the core of the wood and the differential
movement that is particularly characteristic of beech.
Costs
It was not possible to obtain an accurate figure for producing the piece as
the design and finishing were exploratory. I estimate a single chair would
take between 12 and 15 hours, a set of six about 60 hours (10 hours per
chair).
The cost of the beech, first quality, kiln-dried, 34 mm was £23.28 for 1.48
cu ft. the original chair was sold at the Artweeks workshop exhibition
2002 for £280 to a nineteen year old young woman. The price did not
represent actual cost but perceived value.
Conclusion
There are two areas to evaluate, firstly, the use of beech in the design
and secondly, the effectiveness of the design and the possibilities of
further developments in beech and other woods.
Beech as a material
Beech demonstrated its many outstanding characteristics as well as its
particular drawbacks. Having no distinguishable sapwood the full width of
the plank, after the removal of the bark could be used. The homogeneity
of the wood provided an excellent canvass on which to experiment. The
scorching in particular could produce interesting and dramatic effects but
requires a controlled approach.
447
The appearance of the chair, in my estimation, could have been improved
if the scorching had been confined to highlighting the split rather than the
one half of the back. A localised treatment would also have avoided the
excessive cupping. The use of wide boards of beech is risky as the timber
is very susceptible to movement. In this design movement was not going
to have an adverse effect on either its appearance or construction
although it does complicate assembly.
Effectiveness of the design
The design has particular advantages in utilising local grown hardwoods
and beech in particular:
• The abundance of beech in the Chilterns, declining market and
falling value provide a plentiful resource for a simple low cost
design
• Beech and other timbers such as ash and sycamore are available
in log form without distinguishable sapwood and are ideal
• Mature trees of a 40 to 50 cm diameter will provide suitable
material
• Suitable logs or trees can be identified in the woodland and
verified as suitable in the conversion process
• Low grade timber with aesthetic appeal could potentially produce
the most interesting effects
• The design can be made from relatively thin planks which can be
air-dried for between twelve to fifteen months
• The drying can be shortened at any stage by artificial methods
Further developments
The design has the potential to be produced on a made to order basis, as
a single chair or as a set. Single chairs can be made from individual
planks utilising random boards. Sets would be made from planks from the
same log; these could be earmarked for the purpose.
The semi-bespoke nature of the design would relate to the selection of
the log/tree or planks as well as how each plank would be used. If the
wood was considered bland decorative treatments could be considered,
including scorching or inlay.
448
TABLES IN SPALTED BEECH
The following two designs, bench/low table and coffee table, were
conceived to provide a minimal rectilinear form to demonstrate the visual
drama of spalted beech. Consideration was also given to simplicity and
ease of construction to reduce the man hours involved.
BEECH/LOW TABLE
The bench/low table (Fig 2, shown at end of this appendix) is reduced to
three elements: a single piece top, chamfered on the underside edge; a
pair of ‘slab’ legs and a bracing rail. The rail is aligned along the centre of
the underside of the top, between the slab legs and provides structural
support to them. The decorative ebony inlay plugs match the black of the
dense mycelium, otherwise known as “lines of demarcation” or
“interaction zones”. The plugs conceal the countersunk screws which are
used to secure the legs to the top, which are, jointed with compressed
beech ‘biscuit’ dowels. The grain of the legs and the top follow the same
direction allowing the whole piece to move (shrink or expand) in unison.
The height of 40 cm creates a versatile piece that can be used as a small
coffee table, occasional table or bench.
Cost
No accurate figures are available. I estimate a similar piece would take
between 10 and 12 hours.
Conclusion and evaluation
Although the design can be made in any wood, the simplicity of the form
benefits from using unusual or dramatically figured wood. The bench
design can make good use of short lengths of attractive timbers that may
be off cuts from larger projects. Clients could choose from a selection of
earmarked planks suitable for the purpose. The original bench was sold
at the Artweek workshop exhibition 2002 for £360 to a local client. The
price was based on an estimate of the man hours at 10 to 12 hours.
COFFEE TABLE
The design of the table (Fig 3, shown at end of this appendix) avoids any
jointing of timber to preserve their distinctiveness and individually. Each
part or component is made from pieces of selected spalted beech from
449
the same log. The top is made from two boards characterised by an
evenly balanced mosaic of light and dark zones. The uniqueness of each
piece is preserved by creating a small gap of 1 cm between them. This
method also disguises any movement and cupping that is characteristic
of beech. The under frame consists of two pairs of “bearers”. Each bearer
is made from two pieces of beech, cross cut and sandwiched together
with narrow spacers of beech to create a small void in between. The
visual effect of this is to create symmetrical end grain patterns along the
face edges of the legs on one side of the table. The two bearers are
attached by two parallel rails which are aligned to the centre of the pieces
that form the top. A series of screws located along the rail secure the
tops.
Selection
The spalting, a form of incipient decay has had no obvious detrimental
effect on the toughness of the table tops. Selection took into account the
degree of advantaged decay by avoiding the whiter areas indicative of
rot. These pieces were used on the legs, the less susceptible
components.
Cost
No accurate figures are available. I estimate a similar piece would take 18
to 22 hours.
Conclusion and evaluation
The design is probably the least successful of the three pieces produced
in beech. It is possible that the overall effect of the design is utilitarian in
appearance. The technical approach to the problems associated with the
material has perhaps produced a design that is too functional and
uninspired. This table was exhibited at the Artweek workshop exhibition
2002 and Celebration of Craftsmanship 2002. The price was £820.
PART 3
STABILISING SPALTED BEECH USING PEG FOR FURNITURE
APPLICATIONS
450
This trial is one of a series of design based experiments investigating the
practical feasibility of using low grade beech in bespoke furniture design
applications. The aim of this trial is to determine if end grain slabs of
spalted beech can be impregnated successfully with PEG, using minimal
equipment. The objective is to produce stable slabs that can be
incorporated into simple generic furniture designs that can be produced
on a bespoke basis for local customers through direct sale.
POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL
What is PEG?
Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a polymer of ethylene glycol (the basic
ingredient of car anti-freeze). The most appropriate polymer for
stabilisation has an average molecular weight of 1000, designated PEG-
1000. This is used in the pharmaceutical industry; it is perfectly safe and
can be used on surfaces which have direct contact with food. At room
temperature the chemical is a white solid, similar in appearance to
paraffin wax. It melts to a syrupy liquid at 104ºF and is very soluble in
water.
PEG was developed in the 1950s; applications for patents were made by
the USA and the USSR in 1958.
What does it do?
PEG-1000 stabilises wood by preventing shrinkage. When green or fully
swollen wood is soaked in a solution of PEG-1000, the molecules of
PEG-1000 replace the water molecules in the cell walls. They remain in
the cell wall when the wood dries and prevent the fibres from contracting.
For PEG-1000 to be effective the wood must be above fibre saturation
point, around 30% m.c. When wood at 100% m.c. is treated, shrinkage is
reduced by nearly 90%.
METHODS OF IMPREGNATION OF PEG
Diffusion This method is time consuming particularly for thick beech and
therefore not suitable for industrial use. Diffusion impregnation can
however be used on thin veneers by application of a roller machine,
451
impregnation can be made continuously with a short time of treatment.
This method was, in fact, chosen for the trial.
Pressure impregnation or vacuum/pressure impregnation can be
industrially used on wood that has been dried to a m.c. below fibre
saturation point, usually 15-25%. Special equipment is required and the
treatment must be adapted to timber dimension, m.c. and level of
stabilisation required.
CHECKING PROBLEMS
Treatment must commence at a stage in the drying when checks have
not appeared. Although the treatment may swell the fibres and conceal
checks they will still remain, even if hidden, and may subsequently
reappear.
MIGRATION OF PEG
As PEG is water soluble, it is liable to migrate during the drying unless
impregnation is effected correctly. This can produce an unevenness of
distribution of PEG which will increase cupping, warping and bending of
the material instead of reducing it.
BENEFITS OF USING PEG
Drying and shrinkage
PEG significantly reduces the dimensional changes in beech and can
therefore be dried at higher temperatures and consequently faster that
non-treated beech. The large stresses normally associated with beech
are reduced by treatment. A direct comparison cannot be made between
drying times of impregnated and non-impregnated beech as the
schedules are different in practice. However, impregnated samples reach
a higher temperature in both the inner and outer parts than a non-
impregnated beech sample, if both are dried at the same time and in the
same drying kiln.
Swelling
452
Beech impregnated with PEG shows a considerable swelling reduction on
contact with water or damp air. Swelling is reduced when the
impregnation percentage is increased.
Strength
Strength values of stabilised wood are likely to be higher than those of
non-stabilised wood where checking can easily occur.
Working characteristics
There are no observable differences in mechanical workability between
impregnated and non-impregnated beech. However, the structure of the
impregnated beech is more uniform and dense which produces a fine
surface with sanding. It is also less absorbent and therefore will take a
polish or paint better than non-treated wood. Gluing properties are
influenced by impregnation, reducing the shearing strength of the glued
wood in certain cases. The reduced moisture movement may
compensate for this.
Dyeing
It is possible to colour beech using water soluble stains in conjunction
with PEG treatment using pressure impregnation to increase the value
and permanence of the finished product. In Sweden a special dyeing
system – Trimpo Colorizer – has been developed for dyeing beech.
Resistance to fungi
The impregnation of beech with PEG significantly reduces its
susceptibility to fungal attack. It appears that there is not enough water
for micro-organisms to develop in impregnated wood. The risk of
discolouration and decay in beech therefore becomes smaller as the
degree of impregnation increases.
SPALTED BEECH
Spalted beech is not considered a commercially marketable forest
product except when it is sought after by specialist wood turners for
decorative bowls. The variability of the visual characteristics of spalted
beech makes it an unpredictable commodity so the woodworker has to
make a considered judgement about its potential to produce a marketable
decorative object.
453
Selection
The end grain visual characteristics are, however, immediately evident
when a spalted log is cross cut. The pattern of the spalting, at least in the
sample selected, is also repeated when the log is cross cut into a series
of consecutive, thin, end grain slabs. This method of cutting also, of
course, retains the round section of the log and provides an efficient way
to determine the aesthetic qualities of the material, enabling the
woodworker to make an immediate decision about its potential in design
projects.
DRYING PROBLEMS USING CONVENTIONAL METHODS
Air and kiln drying
The main drawback of drying end grain slabs is the tendency of the wood
to split and check through the internal stresses produced by keeping the
timber in its original round form. An alternative method was required that
could stabilise the wood, minimise movement and prevent surface
checking.
PEG treatment as a stabilisation technique
The use of PEG as a stabilising treatment is already widely used by
woodworkers, mainly wood turners who are able to treat refractory woods
without specialist equipment.
This method was identified as being particularly appropriate for treating
the spalted beech because PEG penetrates end grain much better than
side grain. Penetration of PEG through diffusion is effective along the
grain. These limitations suggest the technique would be appropriate for
test samples which were 50mm along the grain and approximately
500mm diameter across the grain. The diameter would not affect the
penetration of the PEG as the maximum area of end grain was being
exposed to the solution.
The other prerequisite for success, as already mentioned, is that the
wood must be above fibre saturation point (about 30% m.c.). it is
therefore preferable to use the wood in its green state.
THE TRIAL
454
The spalted beech was selected form the Hardwick Estate. A short butt,
about 500mm diameter, that had already been felled, was cut into about
nine 50mm end grain slabs. The moisture content was measured at about
20% m.c. soon after the time of cutting. As this was below fibre saturation
point, five slabs were immersed in water over a 15 day period to increase
moisture content to above fibre saturation point.
A solution was prepared using 3 kg of PEG and 15 pints of water to
produce a 30% mix. Five slabs of spalted beech were positioned in a
plastic sealed tub containing the solution. Each slab was stacked on top
of each other with three steel pins projecting 10mm from the surface face
to ensure the solution was covering all the faces.
The solution and the slabs were checked every two or three days to
ensure the specific gravity of 1,04 was maintained and the solution was
agitated to ensure the PEG solution was well mixed. The ambient
temperature was between 17 and 21 degrees centigrade.
Drying
After 32 days (between 9 January and 10 February 2002) the five slabs
were removed and placed in a dehumidifier drying chamber at 40º C and
left to dry to 10% M.C. over a period of 20 days. A sample untreated slab
was left to dry in the workshop close to a night storage heater
RESULTS
The untreated slab developed extensive splits which made it unusable.
The treated slabs developed some checks up to 75mm long and up to
3mm wide. Each slab distorted slightly producing a shallow saucer like
form. This is either due to uneven drying or migration of the PEG during
drying.
CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
Cost
The PEG was bought through a craft supplier at retail price of £50.35 for
a 3 kg block, enough to make a 30% 2 gallon solution which was
sufficient for this trial. PEG can be bought more economically through a
trade supplier. The unused solution can be recycled which makes it
455
efficient to use although the costs make it expensive when using
relatively large pieces.
Effectiveness
The degrade, although disappointing, was not sufficient to make slabs
unusable and are still suitable for their intended application as table tops.
If the checks can be successfully filled they can be used in a number of
applications. Filling low grade timber is not considered detrimental to the
appearance; it can be considered a feature!
The method used is a lengthy process requiring regular daily monitoring
which may discourage its use. Its appropriateness will depend on the
aesthetic qualities of the timber being considered and the amount of time
required undertaking the method. The method is potentially efficient and
effective when using thin sections of end grain timber. An end grain
section can be treated from green in a day rather than weeks; it will
produce what is known by furniture makers as an oyster shell pattern
which can subsequently be glued onto a substrate surface to form a
distinctive end grain pattern made up of multiple squares of the wood.
The use of end grain timber in furniture making design is rarely exploited.
Although there are obvious constructional and structural limitations to
using end grain slabs, the figure and grain pattern produced reveal a
visual narrative of the history of the tree which otherwise is not revealed
in longitudinal pieces of timber.
The experience of using this method justifies further experiments.
REFERENCES:
Symposium on The Industrial Processing of Temperate Hardwoods.
Volume II, UNEC for Europe, Geneva 1970.
Understanding Wood. R Bruce Hoadley
THE LAST WORD
This paper has provided a valuable foundation to extend our collaborative
efforts. The economic benefits to the woodland owners have yet to be
established. Possibly, what is more important at this stage is the shared
456
vision of trying to develop creative ways of making a local woodland more
sustainable for the future.
Fig 1. Plank chair in scorched beech with ebony inlay
457
Fig 2. Bench/table in spalted beech with ebony inlay
458
Fig 3. Coffee table in spalted beech
459
APPENDIX III
The Koomen Trio Project
AHEC FURNITURE DESIGN IN NORTH AMERICAN SOFT MAPLE
15 October 2001
Design concept
The three furniture designs are intended to explore some of the qualities
of solid timber that are seldom seen in manufactured designs. There are
no straight lines in the design – reflecting the fact that nature has no
straight lines. Contemporary design tends to be dominated by rectilinear
forms which are characteristic of a machine aesthetic. I aim to show that
furniture has the potential to express fluid shapes and forms.
The use of curves in the furniture designs suggests movement and flow;
even the edges are curved upwards. I have tried to make the curves
interact in a dynamic way to suggest movement; the shapes and forms
can be viewed in any direction, each perspective will give a different
sense of the form.
I think this design concept is particularly appropriate to the characteristics
of American hardwoods which are very homogenous. The uniformity and
consistency they offer means they are ideal for production work which
produces a standardised product.
These designs show an alternative approach; I’m interested in exploring
ways of using timber in the design process, creating furniture that says
something about the material as well as providing a useful and beautiful
object to be enjoyed.
What follows is a discussion with Michael Buckley, MPhil and director of
the European American Hardwood Export Council around the Koomen
TRIO project and issues related to it.
The Koomen Trio – soft maple furniture
Sustainable marketing for a sustainable forest resource
The American Hardwood Export Council has long held the view that an
element of sustainable forestry must encompass the issue of sustainable
460
marketing. In other words promotion of species must be in concert with
what grows in the forest. If a diverse range of species is not successfully
marketed then it follows that ultimately the harvest may become
unbalanced and the sustainability of the forest undermined. In this
context the AHEC has been concentrating on the promotion of three
particular species that are especially abundant in the eastern hardwood
forests of the USA – red oak, tulipwood and soft maple. The two latter
are the fastest increasing species in standing volume whereas red oak is
the most dominant in the forest. This is not entirely altruistic, since most
eastern hardwood sawmills have adequate supplies of these three
species and would like to sell greater volumes at better margins if
consumption rises.
During 2001 it was decided to promote the benefits of soft maple to the
furniture industry, both for its competitive position in relation to its main
European competitor – beech, and for its aesthetic value as a more
interesting species. Its environmental credentials are second to none and
therefore soft maple plays an important role in AHEC’s efforts towards
sustainable marketing.
The “Koomen Trio” project follows a long tradition by AHEC of
commissioning fine furniture makers to demonstrate the beauty and
working properties of American hardwoods. Philip Koomen is a Fellow of
the Chartered Society of Designers and a committed environmentalist
with whom AHEC had worked successfully in the past. This time he was
asked to make a trio of soft maple pieces to demonstrate to the furniture
industry the beauty and elegance of solid wood furniture. Working again
with Michael Buckley FIWSc, Koomen cooperated in the design,
production and discussion of the attributes of this undervalued species.
Later, Koomen wrote: “These furniture designs are intended
to express some of the qualities of solid timber. There are no
straight lines in the design – reflecting the fact that nature has
no straight lines. Contemporary design tends to be dominated
by rectilinear lines which are characteristic of a machine
aesthetic.
461
“The use of curves in the furniture design suggests movement
and flow; even the edges are curved upwards. I have tried to
make the curves interact in a dynamic way to suggest
movement; the shapes and forms can be viewed in any
direction; each perspective will give a different sense of the
form.
“I think this design concept is particularly appropriate to the
characteristics of American hardwoods, which are very
homogenous. The uniformity and consistency they offer
means they are ideal for production work, which produces a
standardised product. These designs show an alternative
approach. I’m interested in exploring ways of using timber in
the design process, creating furniture that says something
about the material as well as providing a useful and beautiful
object to be enjoyed.”
During the production process Koomen and Buckley discussed
the issues that arose in the production of furniture from
different species. The following is a record of some of the
comments that Koomen made:
“The timber business is demand led, but designers can show
another way with ideas” Philip Koomen has long pioneered
designs that emphasise the permanence and options of solid
wood.
“As a bespoke furniture maker I feel that the wood is central to
the design process” The wood material has always been the
point from which his designs start.
“It’s amazing how you can transform the design by changing
the material/wood” There is a remarkable range of species
running through Koomen designs, which often take on the
characteristics of individual pieces of wood. In this case the
soft maple has given the furniture its own characteristics within
the overall design.
“Everyone is polarised now – the timber growers, researchers
and processors are disconnected” Philip has been concerned
462
for some time about the disconnect between timber growers
and users, and this has encouraged him to work with
representatives of the trade on environmental issues, and with
organisations like AHEC involved in the supply of raw material.
“What I find so impressive about American hardwood is the
quality of the drying” In the final analysis, practical issues such
as consistent grading and moisture control weigh heavily in
Koomen’s choice of wood.
“Square edged (American) timber reduces the guessing game”
Much of the work he has done with AHEC, such as the
“Koomen Project” some years ago, concern yield studies. In
that case identical bookcases, which he designed and made
from different grades of red oak and tulipwood, were analysed
for yield.
Towards the end of this project, to monitor the
performance and working characteristics of soft maple,
Michael Buckley conducted an informal interview with
Philip Koomen:
Philip Koomen is an English furniture maker of renown. His designs and
production feature in Betty Norbury’s book “Furniture for the 21
st
Century”, which is distributed all over the world. His clients include the
rich and famous as well as people who simply want the best and most
beautiful hardwood furniture. He is also a person deeply concerned
about the environment and sustainable forestry. He was recently
commissioned to design and make a set of furniture - “the Koomen Trio” -
in American soft maple, which is the most rapidly increasing species in
the eastern United States, but still under-utilised.
Michael Buckley, who has a Masters degree in the comparison of
American and European hardwoods and is currently working on a PhD at
the University of Bath in UK, has co-operated with Philip Koomen for
nearly ten years on a number of hardwood and environmental issues.
The following is a record of discussions between them.
463
Q. Philip, you are here on the edge of the Chiltern Hills
where English hardwoods are relatively abundant, and you
regularly use them in your bespoke (custom) furniture. But
about 40% of your production is designed to use American
hardwoods, - so why do you use American species?
A. Consistency of quality is the first and foremost. The
cutting method in American sawmills means that our waste is
reduced and yields are predictable. In other words, square
edged timber reduces the guessing game.
Second is the uniqueness of the species, such as hard
maple, black cherry and black walnut, which do not grow
here.
Finally, are the credentials of American hardwoods on forest
sustainability, in terms of long term management of forests as
a renewable resource.
Q. Do you think that American hardwoods are any
more sustainable than those growing here in the Chilterns?
A. It is more a question of demand and production. In
the USA there is still a huge demand and production of
hardwoods, so the forest is managed accordingly. Here in
the Chilterns there is simply not enough volume demand and
so the forest has less value and therefore is not so well
managed. So it seems that where a large number of people
derive their living income from forests there is a strong
tendency to manage them on a sustainable basis.
Q. Soft maple is interesting on two levels. It is like
beech, although it has more natural character and grain
interest, and it is under-utilised, but you don’t appear to use
soft maple. Why not?
A. Frankly, soft maple is not readily available, or so we
thought. Perhaps it has not been promoted enough. But I
certainly agree that it has more character than beech.
464
Q. The American Hardwood Export Council has recently
published a brochure on three species entitled “American
Beauties”, one of which is soft maple. Has your experience
in making the Koomen Trio proved or disproved the
information contained in it.
A. Our experience with this project confirms everything that
the brochure says. Actually it is rather comprehensive and
most impressive and, although there was a relatively small
volume of timber involved, there was nothing contradictory to
the performance and characteristics we experienced during
this project. It is also worthy of note that although the design
of this project was not very efficient using straight boards for
curved furniture, there was surprisingly little waste – a
measure of the way this species grows to produce usable
wood. The darker heartwood might trouble some
manufacturers, but we accepted it within the design.
Q. Do you feel that this under-utilised American species
warrants the attention of other furniture makers, and why?
A. Yes I do. This species is somewhat comparable with
hard maple in its appearance, although it is less consistent.
The price premium for hard maple is so great that it makes
soft maple a serious alternative to consider.
Environmental credentials of soft maple
To say that growing stock of soft maple trees is enormous and increasing
rapidly is an understatement. In fact the increasing occurrence of soft
maple in some states, such as Pennsylvania, is even a problem for it is
leading to a species imbalance and reduction of other species that are
important to the biodiversity and quality of the forest. Red maple
especially is colonising areas of forest where natural regeneration of
oaks, for example, is reducing due to over-browsing by red deer. And
from a commercial point of view, red maple produces a lower percentage
465
of high-grade trees, which ultimately leads to a reduced income and
forest asset value that can ultimately result in its conversion to other
uses. So there are strong environmental reasons to harvest soft maple
and find additional uses and markets for this most abundant species.
Past studies have shown, and the next round of national hardwood forest
growing stock inventory is expected to confirm, that soft maple is the
most rapidly increasing species in the eastern hardwood forests of
America. And this is within a total hardwood forest resource that has
been increasing year on year for the last thirty.
Technical and working properties of soft maple
Like most American hardwoods, which grow across a vast continent, the
characteristics of sawn soft maple lumber can vary considerably.
Depending on growing conditions and climate, along with factors such as
altitude, the grain characteristics and particularly the colour of the wood
may differ from north to south. But generally the sapwood has a greyish
white colour and often displays small flecks, which are a natural
characteristic of the tree. The heartwood can vary from light colour to
reddish brown and is normally darker than hard maple. As a result, soft
maple is sold unselected for colour and cannot command the price
premium for white colour that is available to hard maple. Soft maple is
slightly lighter in weight, at 609 kg/m3, than hard maple at 705 kg/m3.
Its performance in screw holding and resistance to splitting when nailed is
similar to other maples and pre-boring is recommended. All maples have
a relatively high shrinkage factor when drying, and thus susceptible to
movement in performance, although soft maple much less so.
Soft maple also has good steam bending properties and being about 20%
to 30% less hard (than hard maple) it has low resistance to shock and low
stiffness properties. By contrast soft maple machines as well as its hard
cousin and can be stained to an excellent finish and polishes extremely
well. And here lies the main benefit of the species, for when stained to
cherry colour the finished product can be produced to an equally high
quality.
466
APPENDIX IV
The Soft Maple Koomen Kitchen Project 2002
Co-sponsors: Rossi, Timber Exporters, USA and Timbmet, Timber
Importers and Merchants, Oxford, UK
Designed by Philip Koomen, FCSD, FRSA, AIWSc
Made by Nic Smith and Gordon Kent, Philip Koomen Furniture
Workshop
Background
A prestige bespoke kitchen/living room designed by Philip Koomen was
chosen as a case study to determine the benefits of using soft maple over
hard maple for furniture making. The design, a one-off craftsman made
project, demanded high specification show wood with no visible
blemishes or colour discrepancies as well as a number of painted pieces.
Hard maple would have normally been specified for the show wood and
tulip wood for the painted pieces. The various selection criteria made the
project particularly appropriate for a case study as soft maple was well
known for its brown heart, not normally considered suitable from show
wood. The option of using soft maple as an alternative wood was
considered and agreed upon with the client on the basis of the timber’s
environmental credentials and a marginal cost saving.
The project was proposed by Philip Koomen as a follow up to the
“Koomen Trio (soft maple) Project” commissioned by the American
Hardwood Export Council. The success of the Koomen Trio designs and
Philip Koomen’s experience of using soft maple on this project inspired
him to explore the use of the wood in a larger project. The kitchen/living
room design provided an opportunity to investigate the feasibility of using
the wood within the restraints of a commercial project which originally
specified hard maple. The negative image of soft maple has undermined
its demand. Soft maple is perceived as an inferior form of maple by
timber users although the public in the UK are generally not acquainted
with it. Soft maple is no longer readily available from timber merchants in
the UK having been superseded in demand by hard maple.
467
Environmental and cost considerations
A number of factors have come into play to justify a reassessment of soft
maple for joinery and furniture making, particularly environmental and
cost issues.
Soft maple is an abundant species; its availability exceeds the markets
for its utilization. Creating new markets for it will contribute to the
sustainable management of North American forests.
Soft maple costs about 33% less than hard maple; a cost difference that
warrants further investigation. Although the two woods have different
characteristics, the use of hard maple for many applications may be
unnecessary. Soft maple may fulfil many of the requirements where hard
maple is currently specified with a cost saving benefit to manufacturers
and consumers.
Aim
The aim of this project is therefore to determine the benefits of using soft
maple over hard maple for furniture making, using a bespoke kitchen-
living room as a case study.
Objectives
1. Assess the aesthetic qualities of soft maple as an alternative to
hard maple
2. Evaluate soft maple’s production characteristics and performance
3. Measure the yield and efficiency of using selected maple for show
wood kitchen cabinet work and furniture, and brown heart maple
for painted cabinet work
4. Compare the costs of using the two different woods
The kitchen – living room design
The clients’ brief required the refurbishment a tired-looking thirteen year
old kitchen-breakfast room incorporating a new study area. The new
design opens up the kitchen to the conservatory by limiting the soft maple
fitted units to an L shape containing the main working zones. A painted
468
mobile workstation provides additional storage and working area and can
be easily moved to a position to suit the client, maximizing working
logistics.
The work station ingeniously incorporates a slot–in maple breakfast table
that can be rotated to any position. The table can also be removed to
form a free standing piece that can seat up to six.
A free standing desk with an exquisite ripple maple top (Fig 1) is located
in one corner to the walk-in cupboard. The shapely top has a tapering
curve to create a practical writing area. The drawer unit also has convex
drawer fronts that mirror the profile of the top and handles are discretely
carved into the sides forming a rhythmic series of scallops.
The overall styling of the kitchen is deliberately understated with a focus
on attention to detail through fine craftsmanship and selecting the
choicest wood for each piece. The qualities of the solid timber are
highlighted through the use of convex profiles on the drawer and door
panels which emphasize the contours of the grain patterns (fig 2). Turned
mushroom shaped hard maple handles (Fig 2) are used throughout the
furniture to emphasize the tactile qualities of the wood.
Soft maple has been used throughout the cabinet show wood including
the painted furniture. Show wood has been carefully selected to create
furniture that has a consistency of colour and grain patterns.
A significant quantity of ripple maple, a characteristic of the maples, was
found amongst the timber supplied and this was used on the table, desk
and workstation top to stunning effect. The wave orientations of the wood
fibres which produce the ripple grain enliven a piece of furniture because
the grain refracts light differently as the observer moves around the
furniture creating a sense of movement in the wood grain. The three
painted pieces give a subtle colour and textual contrast to the maple
furniture.
The polished Verdi Magic granite introduces a bold colour to the design
as well as being a highly practical work surface. Stainless steel
appliances by Neff, Miele and Gaganau were chosen to give a
contemporary quality and an oak laminated floor was used throughout the
kitchen and conservatory to unify the living space. Four classic Hans
469
Wegner oak wishbone chairs with rush seats completed the furniture
scheme (Fig 3).
Philip Koomen describes his experience of using soft maple and
assesses the benefits of using it compared to hard maple:
Regrading
The arrival of the timber assignment of soft maple was ominous. The
rough sawn timber looked an inferior quality and its greenish tinge caused
some anxiety. These first impressions were deceptive. As soon as timber
was machined it became apparent that our anxieties were not justified.
The quality and the colour looked very good as we had previously
anticipated. We were confident we were going to be able to produce
furniture that we could be proud of and the client would be delighted with.
Quantities
The original order was for 70 ft
3
of 1¼" and 10 ft
3
of 2", a total of 80 ft
3
.
This was approximately 100% more than the quantity required. This
quantity was specified because we required a high percentage of clean
maple (AA grade) and we were not sure how much brown heart would be
included. The delivery note confirmed the supply was 74.97 ft
3
(2.12 m
3
)
of 1¼" and 9.99 ft
3
(0.283)
3
of 2" (50.8mm), a total of 84.96 ft
3
. This was
re-measured at the workshop and found to be a significant under-
calculation of the quantities supplied. Our measurement was 15.78 %
more than the stated quantity, i.e. 86,89 ft
3
of 1' 4" and 11.48 ft
3
of 2", ), a
total of 98.37 ft
3
. The yield calculations were based on these figures.
Regrading
The project required regrading the timber on the basis of colour as it is
sold unselected for colour. The project had different selection
requirements so the regrading reflected these as follows:
1. AA - Clean on both faces, i.e. no brown heart. All maple show
wood including cabinet work and free standing furniture to use
clean ‘white’ maple. Consistency of colour and figure was to be the
main selection criteria. Door panels to be selected where possible
from one board to minimise colour and grain variation
470
2. AB - Clean on one face only, i.e. brown heart on opposite face.
Plinth kicker boards selected from AB grade
3. BB - Brown heart on two faces. Painted furniture to be selected
from AB or BB grade.
The following two grades were selected on the basis of their ripple figure
but are sub divisions of AA and AB:
4. AA/R - Clean ripple on two faces
5. AB/R - Clean ripple on one face with brown heart on opposite face.
Although ripple figure is not factored into the FAS grade, our
previous experience with the Koomen Trio furniture indicated there
would be a small proportion of ripple in the timber assignment. It
was planned to use it where it would add interest in the design
such as the desk and table top, if there were sufficient quantities.
Regrading was very straight forward once the timber had been machined.
Selecting the boards for each grade, based on their visual characteristics
was a quick operation requiring a minimal level of skill as brown heart is
easily identified. Five separate bundles of timber were created including
an impressive bundle of ripple maple. Selecting timber for the furniture
was easy and required little “fiddling about”. It was made a lot easier
because we had a generous volume of timber to choose from, a much
larger quota than we would normally have ordered. We have experienced
greater difficulty selecting hard maple, particularly for large areas such as
table tops which require carefully selected matched boards. Because of
the premium cost of hard maple we have only bought quantities to meet
our immediate needs; this may have restricted our selection choice.
Bearing in mind the difference of circumstances we found soft maple
easier to select for matching colour and grain than hard maple as the
colour and figure was more consistent than hard maple.
Objective 1
Aesthetic qualities
Soft maple and hard maple are very similar in appearance. Both are fine
textured and straight grained and their sapwood is not easily
distinguishable from the heart wood. The main visual differences are
471
subtle in colour. The two woods can, however, be used selectively in the
same product without detectable difference. Hard maple tends to be
creamy white and lustrous, the figure on plain sawn surfaces is distinctive
with an attractive pink tinge. Soft maple has a more homogenous quality
with a silver/grey or a pinkish figure. It also contains pith flecks but this
does not detract from its appearance; these flecks appear less frequently
in hard maple.
The overall appearance of the kitchen demonstrated that soft maple could
produce an equally satisfactory result to hard maple. Soft maple can be
regarded as a timber in its own right with its own unique character and
credentials rather than a hard maple substitute. Once this distinction is
made, soft maple can be appreciated for its own aesthetic merits and
limitations. The silver and pinkish tones of the maple were used
throughout the cabinet work to achieve a consistent composition that
created tonal and colour balance in the furniture. Any variations were
controlled in the different elements of the furniture such as the drawer
fronts, door panels and frames. These were co-ordinated to ensure that
each piece of furniture and elevation achieved a harmonious colour and
grain pattern. This aspect of selection is normal practice in our workshop.
Both hard and soft maple occasionally produce “ripple” or “fiddle back”
figure, a highly desirable feature. The timber supplied for the case study
produced a small proportion of fiddle back (7.81 %) which was used to
stunning effect in the furniture. This was considered a fortunate find as
the suppliers do not guarantee it in FAS stock.
The combination of the maple show wood and painted cabinet work
created a restful and understated interior living space; the subtle diversity
of colour and intriguing ripple maple figure adding subtle features to the
furniture. The choice between using hard or soft maple will, however, be
conditional upon personal taste and fashion.
Objective 2
Production characteristics and performance
Soft maple proved to be a very stable wood during the production
process being better than hard maple which is susceptible to movement
472
in performance. It machines more easily than hard maple, producing a
superior finish without tearing, unlike hard maple which requires a cutting
angle of 20° to reduce the wood bouncing over the cutters. Working
properties were almost without exception superior to hard maple.
Routering, spindle work and sawing produced clean results unlike hard
maple which can produce burning. It also did not dull the tool cutters as
much as hard maple, an important consideration for manufacturers.
We did find it was always difficult to produce a clean finish on the end
grain which in solid wood design is often a feature. We decided to use
hard maple for the turned handles; the “mix and match” approach
produced a very satisfying result.
Finish
All the maple show wood was hand sanded to 320 grit. A precatalysed
matt lacquer was applied producing a lustrous finish. Slight differences in
colour tended to even out on exposure to light and after polishing. The
coloured maple was used for the painted pieces and proved a satisfactory
alternative to tulipwood for painting.
Objective 3
Yield and efficiency of using soft maple
Total quantity of timber required was estimated at 37 ft
3
(28.5 ft
3
684
+ 30%
wastage
685
). I would normally purchase at least 50% more to provide an
adequate choice for selection on the basis of colour and grain as these
characteristics are not graded. For a high specification interior as this
project we make every effort to achieve a consistent colour and
harmonious figure in all the furniture. This is an aesthetic approach that is
perhaps contrary to the natural characteristics of wood but has been
adopted as a selection standard by us for most projects and by many
manufacturers because it is less subjective than alternative standards
and it meets the expectations of customers who have themselves an
idealised view of what timber should look like. Maximum yield is therefore
harder to achieve given such stringent selection criteria.
684
Calculated on the basis of area of cabinetwork x thickness of sawn timber
685
Wastage based on loss of material through sawing, planing and off-cuts
473
Usable sapwood
Wastage is, however, considerably reduced in maple because the
sapwood is not normally distinguishable from the heartwood unlike other
species such as oak, cherry and walnut. According to the American
grading rules sapwood is not a defect; wastage is therefore much higher
in these woods as sapwood is not normally acceptable. Both hard maple
and soft maple do not have this problem and this saves considerable time
selecting the wood and minimises waste. It is an important factor when
considering the cost of this timber compared to other timbers which have
contrasting sapwood.
Brownheart
The regrading exercise produced some interesting results. Over 90% of
the timber has at least one white face. We graded white both faces ‘AA’
and this totalled 51.24% of the total volume
686
. The AB grade which had
one white face and one brown heart face totalled 39.66%
687
. Only 9.1% of
the timber had two brown heart faces (BB).
For our purpose we used mainly the AA grade as we wanted to achieve
the most uniform look as possible. However, if only one white face is
required and a typical bundle of timber yields around 90% white face this
nearly doubles its applications. The small quantities used of 1¼" AB and
BB (9.45 ft
3
)
688
was indicative of their limited applications in this particular
project, it also included some ripple maple (3.43 ft
3
)
689
. The painted
furniture which was curved, required most of the 2" and some 1¼" BB
and the kicker boards used some 1¼" AB. These were the only
applications of these two grades in the whole of the project.
Selection
The efficiency of the yield, even with our stringent specifications,
demonstrated that soft maple is underestimated as a show wood. We
achieved an aesthetically pleasing result based on my criteria. There was
an advantage gained being able to select from a relatively large quantity
of timber. Of the original quantity, 86.89 ft
3
at 1¼" we had to select from,
686
Including ripple (AAR)
687
Including ripple (ABR)
688
See Summary of Quantities Supplied and Used, p. 16 in this appendix
689
See Summary of Quantities Supplied and Used, p. 16 in this appendix
474
55.19 ft
3
was not used
690
. The generous quantity enabled the selection,
on the basis of colour and grain, to be an efficient process. Boards were
chosen from the top or near top of the pile and it was not necessary to
spend lengthy time inspecting every board in the pile to find matching
boards. We achieved the results we wanted with efficiency. Waste was
quite marginal and was 25.93%, under the 30% I originally estimated.
The total quantity actually used (1¼" + 2") was 35.89 ft
3
compared to my
estimate of 37 ft
3
. Estimating quantities is not an exact science
particularly when colour and figure are the most important features but
this in my judgement was comparable to hard maple, possibly better.
Recycled timber
As the experimental nature of this project was based on having an
abnormally high volume of timber to select from, the concept of recyclable
timber was introduced to give a more comprehensive and balanced
picture of utilisation. Of the total quantity used (25.3 ft
3
x 1¼") in the
project, sixty three boards (32.32 ft
3
) from the one hundred and seventy-
five 1¼" boards supplied, were either completely or partially used. The
difference in the quantities (7.02 ft
3
) was considered of a recyclable
quality in that their lengths exceeded 24" or the total volume was more
than 0.10 ft
3
(average volume 0.1847 ft
3
)
691
. The yield is therefore based
on the consideration that reasonable size off-cuts will be recyclable. The
rationale being that furniture manufacturers will have a higher yield
because production is based on greater volumes of timber, with a more
efficient utilisation of material than in this one-off project. If the recyclable
factor was removed and these unused off-cuts were included as waste,
the yield would be far less efficient. Wastage would therefore be
increased from 25.3 ft
3
to 32.32 ft
3
at 1¼" (i.e. a total of 53.9%). This
figure is very close to the estimated 50% wastage I normally allow on a
one-off project.
Objective 4
Costs
690
See Summary of Quantities Supplied and Used, p. 16, no. 7 in this appendix
691
See Summary of Recyclable Quantities, p. 18 in this appendix
475
The difference in the costs of soft maple and hard maple are significant.
Hard maple is stocked by many timber merchants so prices were
available. One company quoted £31.61 per ft
3
for 1¼". Another company
quoted £37 per ft
3
for the same thickness. I was only able to obtain one
quotation for soft maple from a timber merchant. They quoted £22.24 per
ft
3
for 1¼" but I subsequently learnt that they no longer stocked it.
Comparing the cost of the two woods is therefore hypothetical as the
timber is not readily available.
Based on the figures quoted hard maple is between 42% and 66% more
expensive than soft maple. As a guide the cost differential would be as
follows, basing the cost of hard maple on the average of the two
quotations:
Total cost of soft maple used at 22.24 ft
3
x 35.89 ft
3
= £798.19
Total cost of hard maple used at 34.30 ft
3
x 35.89 ft
3
= £1231.02
Assuming waste would be comparable this represents a substantial
saving in costs and will be an important issue where the cost of materials
in relation to the manufacturing costs is high. In a labour intensive
custom-built project like this one, material costs are marginal compared to
labour costs, therefore any savings in material costs are less important
than qualitative and value added factors.
Summary of investigation
1. Aesthetics
• There are more similarities between soft maple and hard
maple than there are differences
• Soft maple tends to have either a silver/grey or a pinkish
tone while hard maple tends to be creamy white
• Soft maple has a more homogeneous grain and less distinct
figure
• Soft maple can be indistinguishable from hard maple in
smaller sections
2. Production
• Generally superior in machining qualities to hard maple
476
• Less abrasive on tool cutters than hard maple
• More stable
• Finishes very well except on end grain which lacks definition
3. Yield
• Like hard maple it has a high yield particularly because the
sapwood is not distinctive and can therefore be used in
show wood
• Yield will be lower than hard maple because of the inclusion
of brown heart at 39.66% one face and 9.10% two faces
(total 48.76%)
• The consignment of timber produced 51.24% white on two
faces (AA)
• If the off-cuts were used in other projects wastage would be
25.93% over and above the minimum required quantity
• Wastage increases to 53.9% if the off-cuts are treated as
waste
• The average recyclable off-cut was 0.1847 ft
3
, equal to a
piece of wood 6" x 53" x 1¼"
4. Cost
• Soft maple can reduce costs by a significant amount but this
is conditional upon a number of factors:
i. Can brown heart be included on one face?
ii. Are variations in colour acceptable?
iii. Can brown heart be used in other designs, e.g.
painted furniture?
iv. Is the manufacturer prepared to re-grade the timber
for colour?
v. Is the manufacturer willing and able to store the
various colour grades?
Conclusion
As a designer-maker, it is my view that this project achieved its aim in
demonstrating that soft maple can be used for high quality furniture
477
without any compromise to quality if the timber is regraded to take into
account the brown heart that is characteristic of this species. Although the
project focused on using soft maple as a substitute for hard maple as well
as for painted cabinet work, it also demonstrated that soft maple is an
attractive timber in its own right and can be used creatively to produce
beautiful furniture that is comparable to highly regarded woods such as
hard maple, cherry and walnut, etc.
The common name of soft maple has unfortunately created an image that
it is an inferior form to the hard maple. The indicator that soft maple is
misnamed is clear in that soft maple is comparable to cherry in hardness.
The re-branding of soft maple to East Coast maple
692
redefines the timber
according to its geographical provenance not its relative physical
characteristics. However, the characteristic feature of brown heart, which
was found in almost half the timber assignment, does present a real
problem to potential soft maple users. Brown heart as a feature is likely to
be incompatible with the requirements of a light wood. The question
remains: how can timber users justify buying soft maple, a light wood,
which contains a high percentage of brown heart? The successful
marketing of soft maple will need to take into account a number of
factors:
1. Cost. The price of soft maple, if sold in its unselected mix will have
to be aligned closer to a utilitarian timber like tulipwood rather than
a premium timber like hard maple. There has to be a significant
cost saving if a specifier/manufacturer is going to use it to justify
the inconvenience of selecting it for colour and possibly storing the
surplus requirements.
2. Potential users need to be able to predict what percentage of
brown heart on one and two faces an assignment of timber will
yield to determine the yield.
I would speculate that the decline in demand for soft maple has been due
to the cost being too high, the unpredictable yield of light wood and the
availability of alternative light woods such as hard maple that have a
692
Name proposed by Timbmet
478
more consistent colour. Soft maple has a tremendous potential as a
timber resource as this project and the Trio Project have demonstrated.
Its potential, in my view, will depend on the willingness of the North
American timber producers to modify their grading rules to meet timber
users’ requirements for colour.
479
Summary of Quantities Supplied and Used by Grade
Grade Thickness
in Inches
Supplied
ft
3
(%) of
total
Remainder
(unused)
ft
3
% Used
ft
3
%
1 AA 1¼ 41.72 48.01 27.54 14.18
2 AAR* 1¼ 2.81 3.23 1.14 1.67
3 AA Total
1+2
1¼ 44.53 51.24 28.68 15.85
4 AB 1¼ 30.48 35.08 25.96 4.52
5 ABR* 1¼ 3.98 4.58 0.55 3.43
6 AB Total
4+5
1¼ 34.46 39.66 26.51 7.95
7 AA + AB
Total 3+6
1¼ 78.99 90.90 55.19 23.80
8 BB 1¼ 7.90 9.10 6.40 1.50
9 Grand
Total
3+6+8
1¼ 86.89 100 61.59 70.88 25.3 29.12
10 2 11.48 100 0.89 10.59
11 Total 1¼ +2 98.37 64.48 63.52 35.89 36.48
12 Supplied 84.96 as per delivery note
13 Difference
(11-12)
+13.41 (+15.78)
* Ripple
480
Summary of Quantities of Unused Boards and Recyclable Timber
Boards ft
3
1 Total number of boards supplied at 1¼"
(31.75mm)
175 86.89
2 Total number of unused boards AA 52 23.76
3 Total number of unused boards AB 51 25.04
4 Total number of unused boards BB 11 5.77
5 Total number of unused boards (average width
of 5.53")
114 54.57
6 Total number of used boards (1 – 5) 63 32.32
7 Volume of recyclable off-cuts: lengths 24"-111"
(min 0.10 ft
3
). See Summary of Recyclable
Quantities Section
7.02
8 Total volume of used timber, excluding
recycled (6 – 7)
25.3
9 Total volume of timber, unused material (5 + 7) 61.59
481
Summary of Recyclable Quantities
Grade No. ft
3
Lengths x Width (in
inches)
1 AA 19 3.78 min 24 to 67 x min 4¾
2 AB 6 0.92 min 25 to 111 x min 1¾
3 AAR 7 1.14 min 33 to 74 x min 4
4 ABR 3 0.55 min 37 to 46 x min 5½
5 BB 3 0.63 min 24 to 77 x min 3¾
6 Total 38 7.02
7 Average volume of a recycled piece = 0.1847
8 Average dimensions of a recycled piece = 6" x 53" x 1¼"
482
Fig 1. Free standing desk with ripple maple top
483
Fig 2. Drawer detail emphasizing the contours of the grain patterns and
showing handles in hard maple emphasizing the tactile qualities of the
wood
484
Fig 3. Hans Wegner oak “wishbone” chairs complete the kitchen furniture
scheme
485
APPENDIX V
Pondlife Sculptural Seating at the Ashmolean
10 May – 1 June 2003
Selected comments from visitors:
• Beautiful, tactile – I loved the seats (Tania de Gruchy, Daventry)
• Some of the most exciting seats I’ve ever seen! + comfortable (B.
Copean, Oxford)
• Bench crossed with porcupine – ouch! (Peter)
• Fabulous work of art! (P Luxton)
• Brilliant but a bit spiky! (Gwen Jenkins)
• The shape is sharp, but I felt comfortable. It reminds me of African
elephants (Yuniko, Japan)
• So different, so right for reflection (Margaret Allen, Co Hisford)
• Feels like being in the enchanted forest – very protective quality
(Jean Glynn, Tackley, Oxford)
• Beautiful! (Pauline Vos, Holland)
• A modern tranquillity! (Rhiannon Griffiths, Sheffield)
• Very funny (Ewa, Poland)
• Beautiful lines – lovely to walk through too! (Zoe Blount, Oxford)
• I was pleasantly awed by your unique furniture design and its
materials and workmanship (Prof. E. V. Gangadharam, India)
486
APPENDIX VI
Local Sourcing
• Local woodlands
• Participants “Better Marketing of our Broadleaved
Timber”
• Round Timber Specifications
Local woodlands
Summary of timber purchased from local estates:
1. The Reed Estate, Checkendon, South Oxfordshire
Owned by: Michael Reed
Managed by: Norman Cox
Timbers: cherry, ash, catspaw oak, oak in the round
2. Swyncombe Estate, South Oxfordshire
Owned by: Not known
Managed by: Geoffrey Hopwood
Timbers: olive ash, ash, burr oak in the round
3. Thame Park, Thame, South Oxfordshire
Owned by: Not known
Managed by: Martin Drew
Timbers: brown oak in the round
4. Bagley Woods, Boars Hill, Oxfordshire
Owned by: St John's College, Oxford University
Managed by: Philip Boer
Timbers: sweet chestnut thinnings, half-round
5. Hardwick Estate, Whitchurch, South Oxfordshire
Owned by: Sir Julian Rose
Managed by: Martin Giles, Wessex Woodland Management
according to F.C.S. standards
Project manager: Adam Dawson
Timbers: beech, spalted beech converted on the estate using the
estate mobile sawmill "The Woodmizer"
487
Purchased: selected air-dried planks for the Rieple desk
commission
6. Wheelers Wood, Checkendon, South Oxfordshire
Owned by: Christopher Beeton
Managed by: Geoffrey Hopwood
Timbers: beech in 1990 (after the storm)
Purchased: selected air-dried beech for Woolcock table
commission
The following estates have begun their own cycle of conversion and
air-drying of timber at their respective estates:
7. Stonor Park, Stonor, Henley-on-Thames, South Oxfordshire
Owned by: Lord Camoys
Managed by: Estate forester
Timbers: olive ash, oak, burr oak, tree of heaven converted on the
estate using a Forestor Sawmill (contractor Martin Drew; advisor
Philip Koomen); currently air-drying on the estate
8. Woodland at Stoke Row, Busgrove Lane, South Oxfordshire
Owned by: Susan Soul
Managed by: owner and Adam Dawson
Advisers: Geoffrey Hopwood and David Rees (Oxfordshire
Woodland Project)
Timbers available: beech, wild cherry, birch
The following estates have been in dialogue but timber has not been
identified as suitable for conversion:
9. West Farm, Eaton, near Abingdon, South Oxfordshire
Owned by: David Gow and Anne Nicholson
Managed by: owners
Adviser: David Rees (Oxfordshire Woodland Project)
10. Greenfield Farm, Eaton, Christmas Common, South Oxfordshire
Owned by: Andrew Ingram
Managed by: Andrew Ingram under the Forestry Commission
Woodlands Grants Scheme
488
11. Bessleleigh Woods, Eaton, near Abingdon
Owned by: Vale of the White Horse District Council
Managed by: David Rees (Oxfordshire Woodland Project)
12. College and Common Wood, Checkendon, South Oxfordshire
Owned by: not known
Managed by: Stuart Dale, Tillhill Forestry Ltd
13. Heath End Estate, Checkendon, South Oxfordshire
Owned by: Mr and Mrs Gammer
Managed by: Rik Pakenham, Chiltern Forestry
Timber purchased from non-woodland estates:
Cedar of Lebanon – Harcourt Arboretum, Nuneham Courtenay,
Oxfordshire
Laburnum – Stoke Row, South Oxfordshire
Walnut – Woodcote, South Oxfordshire
Yew – Christmas Common, South Oxfordshire
Box – South Stoke, South Oxfordshire
Holly – Nuffield, South Oxfordshire
489
Participants Attending Consultation on “Better Marketing
of Our Broad Leaved Timber”
18 NOVEMBER 2002, GUILDOWN, BURCOT, OXFORDSHIRE
NAMES FUNCTIONS
Mike Render Senior lecturer, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University
College
Philip
Koomen
Furniture maker, timber buyer – round to kilned
Barnaby
Scott
Furniture maker, woodland owner, timber buyer
David
Barbour
Woodland owner, farmer
Anne
Nicholson
Woodland owner, farmer. West Farm, Eaton, near
Abingdon
Adam
Dawson
Woodland manager, conversion (mobile saw:
Woodmizer), timber sales
Martin Drew Freelance woodland manager, conversion (mobile saw:
Forestor), timber sales
David Rees Project manager, Oxfordshire Woodland Project
490
A Sample of The Timber Trade Specification Requirements
for English Timber in the Round
491
APPENDIX VII
Main Characteristics of Crop Timbers Used in the Semi-
Bespoke Process
• Saw milling methods
o North American timbers are cut on a rotational basis
o European oak cut on a "through and through boulle" basis
• Selection
o The main woods used have been limited to FAS North
American maple, cherry, oak, walnut and 1
st
quality
European oak
o FAS grade is the main North American grade available in
the UK
• Characteristics of FAS Grade
o These timbers are straight-grained and have relatively knot
and defect free features, conforming to American grading
rules
o Minimal wastage makes selection efficient and cost
effective
o Machining, handling and storing are efficient processes
o Sapwood is a feature of North American timbers and not
regarded as a defect according to American grading rules
o Sapwood is generally regarded as an undesirable feature
• Design
o The narrow boards in American timber is a limiting factor in
design
o Average widths of boards are about 15 cm and are seldom
wider than 20 cm
o Wider widths have to be jointed
492
APPENDIX VIII
Networks
• Network of organisations
• Participants “Our Woods In Your Hands”
Network of Organisations
International
1. American Hardwood Export Council (Timber Trade Forestry
Management)
2. Transnational Wood Industries Group
(Woodland Management Timber Utilisation)
3. Singapore Furniture Industries Council (Furniture Design)
4. Bahá’í International Community (Agenda 21, Ethics)
Agenda 21 / Sustainability
5. Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and
Commerce
6. South Oxfordshire District Council
7. Oxfordshire County Council
Furniture Design
8. Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College
9. Chartered Society of Designers
10. Oxfordshire / Buckinghamshire furniture makers network
11. Chiltern Enterprise Gateway
12. Celebration of Craftsmanship (Betty Norbury)
13. Centre for Contemporary Furniture, Cheltenham
14. Artifex Gallery, Sutton Coldfield
15. Chairs 2004
16. River & Rowing Museum
17. Art in Action
493
18. Oxfordshire Artweeks
Woodland management and research
1. Oxfordshire Woodland Project
2. Chilterns Woodland Project
3. Woodland Heritage
4. Royal Forestry Society
5. Forestry Institute, Oxford University
6. Institute of Wood Science
7. Small Woods Association
8. Timbmet Group Ltd (timber merchant)
9. Whitmore’s (timber merchant)
10. Sutton Brothers (timber merchant)
494
Participants in Our Woods in Your Hands Conference,
Saturday 25 September 2004, River & Rowing Museum,
Henley-on-Thames
Name Organisation or profession
1 Dr Gabriel Hemery Northmoor Trust (Speaker)
2 Dr Mike Packer Timbmet Ltd (Speaker)
3 David Rees Oxfordshire Woodland Project (Speaker)
4 David Jenkins Coed (Chair)
5 Philip Koomen Furniture designer-maker (Organiser)
6 Susan Kurr Chiltern Enterprise Gateway
7 Steve Say Timbmet Ltd
8 Chris Cox Timbmet Ltd
9 Peter Savill Oxford Forestry Institute
10 Peter Goodwin Woodland Heritage
11 Scott Lewis Woodland Heritage
12 Jim Stewart Buckinghamshire Chilterns University
College
13 Students from Buckinghamshire Chilterns University
College
14 Sara Waller Rycotewood Centre, Oxford CFE
15 Michael Richards Forest economist
16 Maurice Thomas Oxfordshire Woodland Project
17 John Johnson Chiltern Enterprise Gateway
18 May Dale The Stile Company
19 Geoffrey Hopwood Forestry consultant
20 Rik Pakenham Forestry consultant
21 Robin Furlong Furniture designer-maker
22 Richard Lee Stewart Linford Furniture Ltd
23 Douglas Griffin Furniture designer-maker
24 Phoebe Shaft Green woodworker
25 Jody Koomen Green woodworker
26 Elizabeth Sweeten Hardwick Estate
495
Name Organisation or profession
27 Alistair Philips Graduate
28 Mr Hartley
29 Miranda Salmon Furniture designer-maker
30 Rob Ivey
31 Carol Watkins River & Rowing Museum member
32 Graham Clarke
33 Brian Walsh
34 Kurt Smith
35 Mark Kovell Forester
36 Andrew Robinson
37 Douglas Coulter Buckinghamshire Chilterns University
College
38 Chris Hanni
39 Helen Fisher
40 Yvonne Becks
41 Peter Claydon Buckinghamshire Chilterns University
College
42 Jessica Bacon
43 Laurent Kot Forest economist
44 David and Joy Woodworker
496
APPENDIX IX
The “Signed & Sealed” Collection
497
“Signed & Sealed” (and Semi-Bespoke Designs): 2001 – 2004
No
Title
Signed
&
Sealed
Wood /
Provenance
Client Year
made
A SEATING
1 Pondlife IV - 2 seater 3 Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Boers 2002
2 Pondlife V - 2 seater 3 Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Boers 2002
3
Pondlife VI - 3 seater
3
Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Roditi 2003
4
Pondlife VII - 2 seater
3
Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Roditi 2003
5 Pondlife VIII - 1 seater 3 Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Roditi 2003
6
Pondlife IX - 2 seater
3
Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Armstrong 2003
7
Pondlife X - 2 seater
3
Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Allfrey 2004
8 Pondlife XI - 2 1/2
seater
3
Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Wellby 2004
9
Pondlife X11 -2 seater
3
Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Loyd 2004
10 Pondlife XIII - site
specific
3
Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Paice 2004
11
Pondlife XIV - 2 ½
seater
3
Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Artifex 2004
12 Pondlife XV - 2 seater 3 Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Rainford 2004
13 Pondlife XVI - 2 seater 3 Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Macdonald 2004
14 Pondlife XVII - 1
seater
3
Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Camoys 2004
15 Pondlife XVIII – 2 1/4
seater
3
Sweet chestnut,
Bagley Woods
Ledward 2004
16 Plank chair English beech Kellaert 2002
17
Plank chair I
3
Yew, Oxfordshire Welsh 2003
18 Plank chair II 3 Yew, Oxfordshire Rancombe 2004
19 Plank chair I 3 Tiger oak, Thame
Park
2003
20 Plank chair II 3 Tiger oak, Thame
Park
2003
21 Two U bench 3 Cedar of Lebanon,
Oxfordshire
Roberts 2001
22 Two U bench 3 Cedar of Lebanon,
Oxfordshire
Roberts 2001
23
Stool
3
Cherry,
Checkendon
2004
498
No
Title
Signed
&
Sealed
Wood /
Provenance
Client Year
made
24 Ebb & Flow (dining) 3 Brown oak, Thame
Park
2003
25
High back (dining)
Model
Cherry 2004
26
Sculptured (dining)
Model
Walnut 2004
27
Chair (dining)
Model
Oak 2004
B DINING TABLES
28 Kitchen table 3 Beech, Hardwick
Estate
Woodcock 2002
29
Dining table
3
Brown oak, Thame
Park
Beaumont 2003
30
HG Refectory table
Semi-
bespoke
Oak, English Stacpoole 2004
C LOW TABLES
31
Curved plank table
3
Brown oak, Thame
Park
Smith 2001
32 Split Plank Table 3 Crutch ash, Burcot Bowen 2001
33 Trio plank table 3 Tiger / brown oak,
Thame Park
Brett 2001
34
Trio plank table
3
Tiger / brown oak,
Thame Park
Brett 2001
35 Trio plank table 3 Tiger / brown oak,
Thame Park
Brett 2001
36
Waney edged plank
table
3
Pippy yew,
Christmas Common
Gray 2003
37 Square edged plank
table
3
Pippy yew,
Christmas Common
Artifex 2003
38 Book matched plank
table
3
Norwegian maple,
Hardwick Estate
Barr 2004
39
Ebb & Flow low table
3
Ash, Cookley
Green
O’Reilly 2004
40 Ebb & Flow low table 3 Ash, Cookley
Green
2004
41 Low table 3 Spalted beech,
Oxfordshire
2002
42
Table/bench
3
Spalted beech,
Oxfordshire
2002
43 Pondlife low table 3 Cedar of Lebanon,
Oxfordshire
Roditi 2003
44 Boat table
Semi-
bespoke
Oak, English 2002
45 Ebb & Flow split table
Semi-
bespoke
Catspaw oak,
English
Tate 2002
46 Ebb & Flow low table
Semi-
bespoke
Maple, East Coast AHEC 2001
47 Ebb & Flow console
table
Semi-
bespoke
Maple, East Coast AHEC 2001
499
No
Title
Signed
&
Sealed
Wood /
Provenance
Client Year
made
D DESKS
48
Ebb & Flow desk
3
Brown oak, Thame
Park
2002
49
Ebb & Flow desk
3
Ash, Cookley
Green
2004
50 Writing desk 3 Brown oak/catspaw
oak, Thame Park
Gale 2002
51
HG Writing desk
3
Brown oak, Thame
Park
2003
52
Desk / dressing table
3
Cherry,
Checkendon
2004
53 Writing table 3 Beech, Hardwick
Estate;
Oak, FSC European
Rieple 2004
E BOOKCASES
54 Ebb & Flow bookcase 3 Brown oak, Thame
Park
CFCF 2002
55 Ebb & Flow bookcase 3 Ash, Cookley
Green
2004
56 Bookcase / display unit 3 Brown oak, Thame
Park
Day 2001
57 Bookcase 3 Cherry,
Checkendon
Foden 2004
F BEDROOM FURNITURE
58 Chest of drawers 3 Cherry,
Checkendon
Foden 2001
59 Bedside cabinet 3 Cherry,
Checkendon
Foden 2001
60 Chest of drawers 3 Walnut / yew,
Oxfordshire
Howlett 2002
61 Chest of drawers (pair) Quarter sawn oak,
English
Stacpoole 2004
62 Chest of drawers 3 Brown oak /
catspaw oak
Gale 2002
63 Chest of drawers 3 Brown oak, Thame
Park; catspaw oak,
English
Gale 2004
64 Bed
Semi-
bespoke
Oak / catspaw oak,
English
Stacpoole 2004
65 Headboard 3 Cherry,
Checkendon
Foden 2001
66
Headboard (Plank)
3
Brown oak, Thame
Park
Arscott 2004
G LIVING ROOM STORAGE FURNITURE
67 Sideboard / display
cabinet
3
Oak / catspaw oak,
English
Stacpoole 2004
500
No
Title
Signed
&
Sealed
Wood /
Provenance
Client Year
made
68 Storage cabinet for
CDs/videos
3
Brown oak, Thame
Park
Wilson 2001
69
Narnia cabinet
3
Yew, Christmas
Common; Brown
oak, Thame Park
2004
70
Corner shelving unit
3
Brown oak, Thame
Park
Day 2001
71
Pair of tables
3
Brown oak, Thame
Park
Day 2001
72 Storage chest 1 3 Brown oak, Thame
Park
Fox 2002
73 Storage chest 2 3 Brown oak, Thame
Park
2002
74
Storage chest 3
3
Brown oak, Thame
Park
2002
75 Sideboard / display
cabinet
Semi-
bespoke
Oak/catspaw,
English
Tate 2002
76 Storage / display
cabinet
Semi-
bespoke
Oak/catspaw,
English
Tate 2002
H MIRRORS
77 Narnia 3 Yew, Oxfordshire 2004
78 Wall mounted 3 Beech, Hardwick
Estate
Dodd 2004
79 Console table & mirror 3 Oak, Checkendon Sadler 2004
80 Ebb & Flow
Semi-
bespoke
Maple, East Coast AHEC 2001
“Signed & Sealed” (and Semi-Bespoke Designs): 2001 – 2004
501
APPENDIX X
“Out of the Woods” Exhibition Panels
502
Exhibition panels and the exhibition poster are shown in the following
illustrations, Fig 1 to 9:
Fig 1. Panel 1, Philip Koomen Furniture
503
Fig 2. Panel 2, Sustainability
504
Fig 3. Panel 3, The concept of semi-bespoke furniture
505
Fig 4. Panel 4, Creating a local cycle
506
Fig 5. Panel 5, The unique signature of provenance
507
Fig 6. Panel 6, Are we wasting wood?
508
Fig 7. Panel 7, Is beech boring?
509
Fig 8. Panel 8, How can designers promote sustainability in a global
market?
510
Fig 9. Exhibition poster
511
APPENDIX XI
“Out of the Woods” Exhibition Objects
512
“Out of the Woods” Exhibition Objects
NO TITLE/DESCRIPTION WOOD and
PROVENANCE
Year
Made
DIMS IN CM
W L H
Hrs
SIGNED AND SEALED RANGE
1 Plank low table Oxfordshire Norway
Maple (Hardwick Estate)
2004 63 x 114 x 38 14
2 Desk/dressing table Oxfordshire Cherry
(Checkendon)
2004 66 x 132 x 78 108
3 Stool Oxfordshire Cherry
(Checkendon)
2004 48 x 37 x 46 20
4 Writing desk Oxfordshire Brown Oak
and Burr Oak
2003 74 x 138 x 80 134
50 Ebb & Flow chair Oxfordshire Brown Oak
(Thame Park)
2003 50 x 50 x 92 35
6 Hall mirror Oxfordshire Tiger Oak
(Thame Park)
2004 89 x 96 ht 12
7 Chest Oxfordshire Brown Oak
(Thame Park)
2003 88 x 53 x 43 27
8 Pondlife 2 seater bench Oxfordshire Sweet
chestnut (Bagley Woods)
2004 130 x 62 x 230 70
NO TITLE/DESCRIPTION WOOD and
PROVENANCE
Year
Made
DIMS IN CM
W L H
Hrs
9 Pondlife 1 seater bench Oxfordshire Sweet
chestnut (Bagley Woods)
2004 70 x 60 x 230 35
10 Cabinet Oxfordshire Pippy Yew
(Christmas Common) and
Brown Oak (Thame Park)
2004 56 x 20 x 170 45
11 Mirror Oxfordshire Beech
(Hardwick Estate)
2004 76.5 x 101 13
NO TITLE/DESCRIPTION WOOD Year
Made
DIMS IN CM
W L H
Hrs
12 Freestanding mirror
Oxfordshire Yew 2004 116 x 202 ht 42
13 Ebb & Flow low table Oxfordshire Ash (Cookley
Green)
2004 70 x 130 x 38 32
14 Ebb & Flow desk Oxfordshire Ash (Cookley
Green)
2004 90 x 160 x 78 82
15 Ebb & Flow book case Oxfordshire Ash (Cookley
Green)
2003 42 x 121 x 78 34
16 Pondlife 2 seater bench Oxfordshire Sweet
chestnut (Bagley Woods)
2004 125 x 62 x 230 70
ONE-OFF
17 Harmonic growth
design low table
English Walnut and
Sycamore
2004 90 x 36 60
SEMI-BESPOKE
18
HG dining Table English Catspaw Oak top 2002 137 x 72 74
513
NO TITLE/DESCRIPTION WOOD and
PROVENANCE
Year
Made
DIMS IN CM
W L H
Hrs
CLIENT LOANS
19 Signed & Sealed chest
of drawers
Oxfordshire Cherry
(Checkendon)
2002 90x49x88 120
20 Signed & Sealed
dresser
Oxfordshire Oak and
Catspaw Oak
2004 157x54x230 216
21 One-off collector's
cabinet
Oxfordshire Walnut (Brize
Norton)
1999 255
22 Ebb & Flow console
table
East Coast North
American Soft Maple
2001 45x136x90 48
23 Ebb & Flow low table East Coast North
American Soft Maple
2001 70x130x40 30
24 Ebb & Flow mirror East Coast North
American Soft Maple
2001 61 x 136 23
NO TITLE/DESCRIPTION WOOD Design
Year
DIMS IN CM
(full size)
W L H
Hrs
for full
size
SEMI-BESPOKE DESIGNS ¼ MODELS
25 Isosceles refectory table Oak 1991 90 x 220 x 74 68
26 Ebb & Flow split table Ash 2002 130 x 122 x 40 52
27 Pondlife single seater bench Sweet
chestnut
2001 70 x 65 x 230 35
SEMI-BESPOKE DESIGNS ¼ MODELS (continued)
28 Pondlife 2 seater bench Sweet
chestnut
2001 125 x 65 x 230 70
29 Pondlife 3 seater bench Sweet
chestnut
2001 190 x 75 x 230 102
SEMI-BESPOKE DESIGNS ½ MODELS
30 High back dining chair Cherry 2002 50 x 52 x 110 18
31 Sculptured dining chair Walnut 2002 52 x 50 x 100 26
32 HG circular table Ash 1988 135 x 74 70
33 Dining chair Oak 2002 50 x 50 x 90 22
NO TITLE WOOD PROVENANCE NOTES
WOOD SAMPLES
34 Pondlife Sweet chestnut
thinnings
Bagley Woods,
Near Oxford
Creating Pondlife reeds: each
reed is cut from an individual
tree, a thinning which has
been previously sawn in half
along its length. This sample
is about 40 years old
35 Is beech boring? A selection of beech samples from the Hardwick Estate,
Whitchurch, Oxfordshire
36 End grain section of spalted beech
“Out of the Woods” Exhibition Objects
514
APPENDIX XII
“Out of the Woods” Exhibition Catalogue
Located in pocket holder on inside of back cover
515
APPENDIX XIII
Antiques for the Future: The Inspiration, Art and Skill of
Crafting Wood
(Audio CD)
Located in pocket holder on inside of back cover