George Nakashima: A Response
Oliver Chauhan s3601356 rmit
George Nakashima was a renowned American born Japanese furniture maker whose distinctive style was characterised by the his use of wood and his embrace of 'live edges'. This folio will explore Nakashima's life and work, analysing key elements and stylistic qualities of his work as well as documenting my own response to his collection, and my own ensuing designs.
''Trees with this character should have a special meaning and special use.''
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Index Prologue
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Biography
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Style and Key Elements
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Response 1 - Stool
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Response 2 - Chair
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Response 3 - Coffee Table
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Response 4 - Lighting
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Refinement - Coffee Table
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Reflection
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References
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Desk With File Drawer
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George Nakashima was born in Spokane, Washington, in 1905 to first generation Japanese immigrants. Growing up with a fascination with nature, Nakashima spent much of his spare time exploring the forests around his home, something that would transpire to be a major influence on his work.
Biography
In 1930, Nakashima graduated as an architect from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Having already received a number of awards whilst a student, he began his global travels, spending time in Europe, Paris in particular, movingwas on born to Asia. Nakashima spent two inyears monk in Georgebefore Nakashima in Spokane, Washington, 1905asto a first angeneration Indian monastery, his exploration of spirituality came towith a head. Japanese where immigrants. Growing up with a fascination In nature, 1937, Nakashima began an internship in Tokyo Antonin Raymond; spent much of his spare timebeneath exploring the forests it around was here he something began to explore Japanese techniques aesthetics his that home, that would transpire to be a and major influfurther, taking up interest in the sophisticated joinery practises handed down ence on his work. over thousands of years. In 1930, Nakashima graduated as an architect from the Massachusetts AtInstitute the outbreak of World Having War Two, Nakashima wasa forced to Amerof Technology. already received numbertoofreturn awards ica, where he soon he found himself interned in Camp Minodoka the Amerwhilst a student, began his global travels, spending time by in Euican government due to his Japanese descent. Whilst in Minodoka, Nakashirope, Paris in particular, before moving on to Asia. Nakashima spent ma exposed a number of other architectswhere and furniture designers twowas years as a to monk in an Indian monastery, his exploration of who had fledcame Nazi to Germany find Nakashima themselves began in a similar predicament spirituality a head.onlyInto1937, an internin ship America. Nakashima Gentaro, it a was master quicklytoset in Tokyo beneathbefriended Antonin Raymond; herejoiner that and he began about learning Japanese carpentry himself.further, taking up interest explore Japanese techniques and for aesthetics in the sophisticated joinery practises handed down over thousands of In years. 1943, Antonin Raymond sponsored Nakashima’s release from Minodoka and he took up residence in New Hope, Pennsylvania. This location proved to be the centre of Nakashima’s work practice for the rest of his life, as he set up his workshop in his own home. Using his newly acquired carpentry skills, Nakashima began an intense focus on creating furniture using traditional techniques, shunning the industrial manufacturing route that many of his contemporaries had moved towards. Instead, Nakashima chose to return to his childhood fascination, and chose to work with timber.
At the outbreak of World War Two, Nakashima was forced to return to America, where he soon found himself interned in Camp Minodoka by the American government due to his Japanese descent. Whilst in Minodoka, Nakashima was exposed to a number of other architects and furniture designers who had fled Nazi Germany only to find themselves in a similar predicament in America. Nakashima befriended Gentaro, a master joiner and quickly set about learning Japanese carpentry for himself.
Nakashima quickly established himself as a prominent 20th century furniture maker with his distinctive style departing from that of his contemporaries. Throughout his career he received a number of awards and notably built 200 pieces for Nelson Rockefeller’s personal home in 1973. Right up until his death in 1990, Nakashima’s work proved to be incredibly popular and was in constant demand. In 1943, Antonin Raymond sponsored Nakashima’s release from Minodoka and he took up residence in New Hope, Pennsylvania. This location proved to be the centre of Nakashima'ws work practice for the rest of his life, as he set up his workshop in his own home. Using his newly acquired carpentry skills, Nakashima began an intense focus on creating furniture using traditional techniques, shunning the industrial manufacturing route that many of his contemporaries had moved towards. Instead, Nakashima chose to return to his childhood fascination, and chose to work with timber. Nakashima quickly established himself as a prominent 20th century furniture maker with his distinctive style departing from that of his contemporaries. Throughout his career he received a number of awards and notably built 200 pieces for Nelson Rockefeller's personal home in 1973. Right up until his death in 1990, Nakashima's work proved to be incredibly popular and was in constant demand. 4
Style and Key elements Having adopted traditional Japanese carpentry methods as his primary mode of construction, Nakashima's work subsequently reflects many of the ideologies and philosophies of the traditional Japanese culture. Using wood as his main medium, Nakashima's work embraced the confluence of the organic and the structured. Many of his pieces, particularly tables, featured two key parts: firstly, the calculated and balanced struts and supports, as seen in the close up of his joins below; and secondly the fluid, organic surfaces that became a defining feature of his collection. Nakashima himself had an avid interest in, what he saw to be, the character and personality of a tree; including its grain, knots and surface finish. Where many carpenters may have turned pieces of wood away due to blemishes and knots, Nakashima sought to celebrate these features, leaving them in the furniture creating a focal point and defining feature using their 'live edge'. Examples of how Nakashima has embraced this aesthetic are particularly evident in his table tops and desk surfaces (pictured opposite), where the organic form of each unique piece of timber is at the fore.
It is this use of a tree's characteristics, particularly 'live edge' that I will reflect in my own designs, where possible. On top of this, Nakashima's contrast of the organic forms of the timber he used and the more geometric structures he needed to support his designs will be a point that I attempt to reflect.
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response 1 - Stool
response 2 - Chair
Of the stools that Nakashima produced, an underlying theme within them is a sense of balance. This is created by the thin, but carely measured geometric struts that hold up the organic set. My piece attempted to echo this style, as well as embracing some elments of 'live edge'. Isometric View
Top View Isometric View Cushion - Isometric View
Side VIew
THe cushion above is a small homage to the bespoke cushions that accompanied some of Nakashima's pieces. The cusions themselves were very minimalist, adopting simple geometries and subtle grey hues to ensure that the timber within the piece remained the focal point. My cushion has a small slice taken out of it, where the 'live edge' within the piece is. I have done this so that one of the essential elements of the piece is kept integral.
Nakashima's chairs are immediately identifiable by their use of dowell and a supportive cross-timber in the backrest. Very few of Nakashima's chair have legs that portrude perpendicularly from the seat surface, and so I have used this in my own design as well. With the material of wood in mind, I added further ergonomics by creating grooves and ridges on the seat's base to guide the user in their positioning in the chair. Front View
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response 3 - Coffee table Nakashima prduced a number of coffee tables throughout his career. Much of the focus in the piece that I developed is in encorporating the 'live edge' of a unique piece of wood. To an extent, designing the 'live edge' goes against Nakashima's belief of shaping his work to the piece of timber he comes across
response 4 - Lighting Nakashima never produced any specific lighting pieces, instead working with arpentry. Here I have tried to imagine how his 'live edge' aestetic could have been transferred into a lighting setting. Isometric View In this down lamp on the left, I imagine the lamp to be made completely from wood, preferably a single piece, This could be achieved through steam bending or through CNC milling a large slab.
Isometric View
This second response is different in the sense that the 'live edges' exist in the fabric as opposed to in the timber. THe spherical base is wooden, but the lamp shade is far more traditional and mass-producable, unlike much of Nakashima's own designs. The sketches are a visualisation of the texture created within the 'live edge'.
Isometric View
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Refinement coffee table I believed the coffee table that I designed to be the strongest piece and also one that I was capable of producing in a CAD model. THe grey photo below is a screenshot of the production process on Solidworks.
Creating the 3D model of my coffee table proved to be challenging as i strove to include and effective and intricate 'live edge'. As it turns out, I am extremely happy with the result. I feel that the detailed ssection that I managed to create is realistic and carries the visual interest that I had hoped for. The final render was created on Solidworks, where I schose a medium-dark wood, a similar colour to the finish of a number of Nakashima's pieces. Unfortunately, I was not able to create the changes in tone, hue and texture in the detailed 'live edge' part of the table, due to lack of flexibility within the program. The idea of designing a 'live edge' is an interesting one. Nakashima himself allowed the piece of timber to choose what happened to it, rather than preplanning the work. If I were to plan a piece before attaining the piece of timber, the live edge could be created using chisels and different treatmenets, including lightly burning the wood to create the deceased aesthetic that features in many such natural examples.
Solidworks Model
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150
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9 SolidWorks Student Edition. For Academic Use Only.
Final render - Solidworks
Dimension measurements
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reflection
references
I have thoroughly enjoyed studying Nakashima and allowing his work to influence mine. Nakashima's own philosophies surrounding materials and how they should be used are something that I find particularly interesting, particularly how he embraces the imperfections in a piece of timber. This creates an amazing sense of character within all of his works as well as proving his practice to be highly sustainable.
Saxon, W. (1990) George Nakashima is dead at 85; designer and master Woodworker. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/18/obituaries/george-nakashima-is-dead-at-85-designer-and-master-woodworker. html (Accessed: 23 September 2016).
Through looking at how Nakashima uses timber and also my own experiences in working with timber this semester at RMIT, I have developed a keen interest in the medium, with an eye on enrolling in the Japanese Joinery short course that the University offers. One thing that I found challenging in this journey was developing my own designs. I understood what elements made Nakashima's work distinctly his, and I tried to include those in my own pieces, however I have found that my pieces resemble his, a lot, and could even, obviously with some extensive refinement, be part of his catalogue. With this in mind, I feel that the designs I produced could have been more individual.
2015 (2009) Historic early Nakashima furniture exhibit at Philadelphia's Moderne gallery. Available at: http://www.prweb.com/releases/NakashimaFurniture/ModerneGallery/prweb2813014.htm (Accessed: 23 September 2016). George Nakashima Woodworker, S.A (2015) Available at: http://www.nakashimawoodworker.com (Accessed: 23 September 2016). Carvalho (2016) Wood furniture design by George Nakashima. Available at: http://iloboyou.com/wood-furniture-design-george-nakashima/ (Accessed: 23 September 2016). Girap, S. and Nakashima, G. (2014) George Nakashima. Available at: http://alchetron.com/George-Nakashima-1342352-W (Accessed: 23 September 2016).
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