Furniture Books

I found that this book has alot of information to take in. It has been helpful to me as a lot of old chair that I get need fixing and I am now more able to do it correctly.
Thanks

I stumbled upon this book while touring the MCA in Chicago last month. I was very suprised. Not only had i never heard of Robin & Lucienne Day, but I didnt even know Britain had a real modernism movement that could have spawned these two pioneers. It was amazing to me especially because of the parallels with Charles & Ray Eames. In both cases the women (Lucienne Day & Ray Eames) were the more playful and abstract thinkers, often using their vision to tackle fabric design, textiles, sculpture, home accessories. The men (Robin Day & Charles Eames), often inspired by their wives' intuitive and playful sense of design, used their engineering knowledge and a keen sense of the modern aesthetic to change how the 20th Century viewed furniture design. Along with the American and other European design modernists, the Day's also began to experiment in bold and minimal uses of basic materials, such as plywood, aluminum, steel, fiberglass, and plastics. Their early designs from the late 1930s/early 1940s are some of the most startling and beautiful pieces of furniture I've seen, easily comparing to many other minimalists such as Eames and George Nelson, particularly. They were also one of the first designers of compatible storage units (a la Eames/Nelson), which helped to revolutionize living rooms all over Europe. Upon fingering through the book, it is easy to tell that all of the designers of the time were aware of each others work, as many pieces of Lucienne and Robin Day look very similar to other designers of the time. But I think that kind of mutual admiration was one of the reasons that period of design (1930s-1960s) was so important. It helped to further the ideas and aesthtics of the modernism movement into daily life, the middle class, and the history books. Check out Lucienne Day's textile designs especially close...you will see how much her designs impacted the funky 1950s fabrics that were in every post-war home in the US. Some of them are really out there, and some are just really minimal and beautiful. If you are at all interested in mid-century design, this book is a MUST. It provides a more global understanding of how design impacted society in the mid-century, and how many of these modernists are regaining their influence after all these years.

Roman Woodworking by Roger B. Ulrich is a comprehensive and fascinating work on Roman woodworking, aimed at classicists, historians, and modern woodworkers. However, it is a great source too for ordinary folk with an enquiring mind and interested in the Ancient Roman world. And fiction writers looking for background information should take note.

The book is written in an easy prose, and the illustrations are photographs from museums and other institutions as well as models and drawings by the author himself, plus the occasional chart or table. There are in all 205 black & white illustrations. The 400-page figure is deceptive, as the book is printed in the rather narrow Quadraat font, which takes a bit of adjustment to aging eyes.

The author draws heavily on ancient historians, among them Pliny's Natural History, Vitruvius' On Architecture, Isidore's Origins, Strabo's Geography, and Cato's de re rustica. Archaeological data include tools of all imaginable kinds, other artifacts, paintings from Herculaneum, scenes from Trajan's Column, the latter frequently referenced, and even a gilt decorated glass vessel in the Vatican Museum; and dedicatory and funerary monuments, which show many tools and working scenes. The paintings and the Column present mainly architectural structures, but not exclusively. In addition, Mr. Ulrich references a number of modern authors, beginning with Technologie und Terminologie der Gewerbe und Künste bei Griechen und Römern (Hugo Blümner, 1884). Until now, this topic had been mainly addressed by European scholars.

he cross-referenced Glossary of Roman Woodworking Terms, set in small font type, takes up 67 pages. There is also an Appendix: Archaeological Evidence of Roman Woodworking Tools, and of course a bibliography.

Ron Arad : Restless Furniture

The combination of beautifully arranged flowers in incredible surroundings photographed so exquisitely leaves the reader breathless with joyful feelings. Paul Bott was brilliant in his selection of Kit Latham, photographer, and Shelley Latham, site locator. This is a book you will return to many times a year to renew the visual beauty in your life.

Dan Mack's Rustic Furniture Workshop is a superbly presented compendium of do-it-yourself woodworking, furniture making projects using a variety of "found" materials including simple sticks, twigs, and branches. From tables and stools to a bookcase or room divider, clear instructions are provided for each project, along with detailed "how-to" photos and inspiring examples. The required tools are explained and fundamental techniques such as drilling and simple mortise-and-tenon joinery are carefully explained. If you are a woodworker looking for unique, challenging, and inspiring projects for a weekend, browse through the pages of Dan Mack's Rustic Furniture Workshop!

If you like gardens and nature you will enjoy this book. My girl friend gave it to me and now I am buying a copy for a friend. I have already made one bench from ideas in the book. A must have for the creative gardener

Great ideas and tips with 144 pages of color photos and tinted drawings.
The cover is not my favorite example of the variety of styles of natural
wood applications illustrated inside.

Sam is very generous in his shaing of some of his thoughts and techniques on working with wood.

Though few of us woodworkers will ever manage to produce pieces with the same level of design, structural and practical integrity that Sam has done, it is still inspiring to see how he works, and what can be done.

As a long term hobby woodworker, this is the type of DVD that you can watch every few years and learn new technques from as your own understanding and experience increase.

The strongest feeling I had after watching this DVD was one of gratitude and appreciation to Sam and Taunton Press for making this available.

Highly recommend for anyone who has an interest in working with wood, or as a gift for any woodworker.

I love Scandinavian architecture and have read every book I can find on the subject. As does this book, the best of them have excellent photography. Scandinavian Country also has excellent writing. It is a history of each Scandinavian countries decorating style. The author devotes a section of the book to each of the four Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland) decorating styles.

For example the author tells how the Finnish have a very simple, rustic decorating style, while the Swedish have a much more ornate style. The Fins like secluded living. The Norwegians are excellent wookworkers, which they use to advantage in all of houselhold funishings and kitchen utensils. Of all the Scandinavian countries Norway has been the most resistant to changing their traditional decorating style. Denmark gives us Danish modern furniture, which I love. Danish modern features natural fabrics and woods, eloquent yet simple design and practicality, which make it a standout. Our Danish modern dining room table has the extension boards built right into it. Leave it to the Scandinavians to think of this.