ARC 381R:
Design Exercises
Instructor:
Mark Macek
We will approach woodworking as a set of skills, strategies, and technical limits that promote design decision-making. We will approach furniture design as an expression of intention, materiality, and craft. I have noticed over many years of observation that designed objects fall short of my expectations if they do not convey the deliberate quality of craft, of well-made-ness. The expression of materials suffers if the designer does not understand the actual methods of construction. In other words, we are better designers when we know how to build. By the end of the semester, students will gain a sense of accomplishment in building with, and thinking about, the material of wood.
I emphasize joinery techniques using solid lumber. Students will learn traditional joinery with the option to pursue contemporary techniques such as bent lamination and CNC routing. In all operations, the role of handwork is indispensable. The maker’s hands connect design intentions to the finished product and leave a detailed imprint on the completed design. As the design progresses from the schematic phase, through development to final construction, our methods of building will inform our design intentions. This feedback between intention and construction demands us to revise and to adapt while we build.
During the first four weeks, students will perform hands-on exercises with a variety of power tools and hand tools. Safety is an ongoing focus throughout the semester. Students will be sharpening tools, lifting lumber, operating machines, and getting glue and dust on their clothes. For one week, we will experiment with the engineering properties of several wood species and compare their characteristics. The class will visit local wood and metal shops to meet the artisans who turn architectural drawings into functioning pieces and who help solve architects’ technical problems.
The remainder of the course will be taken up by the fabrication of final projects, with each student focusing on a single piece of furniture to be completed by the end of the semester. We will discuss program, the functional requirements of furniture. Students will use a variety of media – sketches, scaled drawings, models, 3-D renderings, and full-scale mock-ups – to study their designs. Students will look very closely at the medium of wood and will provide reasoning for design decisions and for choices of material and technique. We will have intermediate critiques with guest reviewers and participate in school-wide final reviews.
