Pierré Yves Refalo
Feature: Furniture Fair
May 1, 2007
"If you look at contemporary design, at the real forefront are
London’s Royal College of Art (RCA) and the Design Academy Eindhoven," where
many of Amsterdam’s finest furniture makers were schooled, says Marc Benda,
former director of the Barry Friedman gallery—which offers Dutch design,
including that of Marcel Wanders. "Marcel Wanders is one of the most famous
people on the design circuit but he has never exhibited on a limited-edition
basis," says Benda, who explains how Wanders took a single piece of crocheted
cloth, coated it in epoxy resin for strength and durability, then molded it into
the shape of an armchair. Another Dutchman, Joris Laarman, crafted an aluminum
Bone chair whose design mimics the way bones develop, growing at the seat, back
and base of legs where strength is needed, and shrinking where it is not.
Top: Amsterdam-based Joris Laarman referenced
human bones in his Bone chair. Bottom: Dutchman Marcel Wanders’ epoxied-cloth
Crochet chair. (Click images to enlarge); function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
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"Laarman, who is only 27 years old, took a sciencebased approach to furniture design,"
says Benda. "Basically he wanted to create the perfect chair with the help of an
algorithm that determines how bones grow. And by applying this algorithm to
furniture he was able to design pieces with minimal material input." Because
Laarman’s aluminum chair was so complex and had no center point from which to
start to build, Benda says "he had to find a supplier to the European airspace
industry to cast it." The designer used the same algorithm to create his
complementary Bone chaise—this time cast from clear polyurethane-based resin for
a completely different look.
Among U.S.-based furniture makers, African-born Hughes
N’cho-Allepot and Daniel Omondi share a similar heritage. Nevertheless, the two
are polar opposites in terms of their approach to design. N’cho-Allepot, whose
family moved to Paris when he was five, has an obvious affinity for Art Déco.
But the designer, who relocated to the U.S. in 1999 and recently took up
residence in Oak Park, Ill., added his own boxy, platform-style simplicity to
the familiar design style. N’cho-Allepot’s Lagos daybed, for instance, is a
long, leather-upholstered platform with boxy, white-oak arms, legs and base,
while his low-lying African padauk wood bench incorporates square
cushions upholstered in antique silk velvet.
Top: The Lagos daybed by African-born,
Illinois-based Hughes N’cho-Allepot. Bottom: His silk-cushioned padauk wood Milos
bench. (Click images to enlarge); function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
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By comparison, Daniel Omondi, who learned his woodworking skills in his
father’s workshop as a child growing up in Mombasa, Kenya, works in a style that
is more complex and clearly an amalgam of his African heritage and American citizenry. Having lived and
worked in Brattleboro, Vt., since 2001, Omondi mixes exotic bambakofe and
mvole woods from Kenya with more conventional cherry, walnut and maple from
the U.S., which he combines in Shaker-inspired furnishings infused with
elaborate East African carvings.
Omondi’s console table combines African wood and the Shaker
sensibilities of his Vermont home base. Photography by Jeff Bird. (Click images to enlarge); function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
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"Most of the carving I do is Bajun, which is a type of door
carving that was introduced in the 16th century at a time when there was a lot
of trading, and influence, between the Indians, Arabs, Portuguese and the local
people of East Africa," says Omondi, who studied original Oman and Indian door
designs on actual homes in the town of Lamu, where many of the 500-year-old
doors are still in use. The style is different than typical American "chip
carving," he says, "because chip carving is done with a knife, mostly on soft
woods, whereas I work with different chisels on hardwood." The carvings, which
are either geometric or floral-inspired, are also unique, as is the way Omondi
combines the two, such as a coffee table with floral carved legs and a
geometric-edged top or a mahogany four-poster bed with richly detailed head- and
footboards.
Top: A carved hall table by Daniel Omondi. Bottom: Omondi created a mahogany four-poster with
unexpected details such as a sloping headboard and hand-carved ball
finials. Photography by Jeff Bird. (Click images to enlarge); function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
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Unlike Brazil’s Hugo França, Omondi has never had to carve one
of his designs from a tree stump the size of a house. Most of his hardwoods come
from lumber mills that source from the rich woodlands of New England.
Nevertheless, he insists he can sometimes see one of his ornately carved
consoles or coffee tables locked within a particular piece of lumber.
"Instinctively I know I have to design something to work around it, not the
other way around," says Omondi, who recently carved a demi console from a rare
piece of Brazilian ambaya. "When you have something
special like that, it’s important to keep it as natural as possible."
Hugo França through r 20th Century, 212.343.7979, www.r20thcentury.com
Julia Krantz, Paulo Alves, Sergio Fahrer through Sampa Design, +55.11.3062.1223,
www.sampadesign.com.br
Niels van Eijk, Miriam van der Lubbe, Marcel Wanders, Joris
Laarman through Barry Friedman Ltd., 212.794.8950,
www.barryfriedmanltd.com
Daniel Omondi Woodworks 802.254.5248 or 802.380.2633, www.omondiwood.com
Hughes N’cho-Allepot Home 708.660.9066, www.hughesncho-allepothome.com
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