plywood shelving system w./mobile storage units
June 1989 the artist Donald Judd exhibited at the Donald Young Gallery in Chicago. I had become intrigued with the sculptor Donald Judd after a guided tour of the sculpture galleries in the Art Institute one evening after work. My guide mentioned that Judd only designed his sculptures, he hired fabricators to build his ideas/projects. This troubled me at first, I thought that this was "cheating" on the part of the artist. Then it hit me that as an architect, I too "cheated/hired" somebody else to build my ideas/projects.
Donald Young Gallery, Chicago, IL, May 16 – June 24, 1989, I encountered Donald Judd sculpture that looked an awful lot like furniture. There was a series of chair like sculptures and inside the gallery owner’s office a sculpture that looked so much like a desk that the gallery owner actually used it as a desk.
Talking with the gallery owner, I found out that there was a new book about the work of Donald Judd called Architektur. If the furniture like sculptures hadn't hooked me, the architecture certainly did.
My parents had just moved to a new townhouse in Dearborn Park 2, a development in the South Loop area of Chicago. My parents had commissioned me to design both a garden and storage shelving for their new town home. (see dearborn park 2 garden & dearborn park 2 storage shelving)
The storage shelving commission was an excuse to buy some power tools and re-start a furniture design and fabrication interest that had begun as early as the summer of 1983 (see my design wonder years, my first stereo).
Circular saw, portable drill and random orbit sander in hand, I proceeded to explore the possibility of designing and fabricating furniture inspired by the sculpture work and writings of Donald Judd. My initial projects were a bit on the derivative side, but soon enough I started to find my own voice.
My plywood shelving system w./mobile storage units was both a distancing of myself from Donald Judd and one of my first site specific designs. These shelves were designed for a 1930's typical brick Chicago two-flat living room. Overall dimensions of the system were based on the width of the wall and the floor to ceiling height of the Living Room space. The individual unit width was determined by experimenting with the maximum non-deflecting shelf width possible using ¾" red oak veneered plywood when loaded with books. I was also seeking the most efficient material yield from 4' x 8' sheets of red oak veneered plywood. The shelf width ended up 22". Surprisingly, a dimension of 23 ¾" visibly deflected.
The rolling carts that acted as the "base" of the shelving units were meant to function as a library within a library. Carts could be loaded with topic specific books and rolled out when a particular topic was needed.
Eventually this system made its way to my first architectural office and was then given away to a former student in need of shelving.
Donald Young Gallery, Chicago, IL, May 16 – June 24, 1989, I encountered Donald Judd sculpture that looked an awful lot like furniture. There was a series of chair like sculptures and inside the gallery owner’s office a sculpture that looked so much like a desk that the gallery owner actually used it as a desk.
Talking with the gallery owner, I found out that there was a new book about the work of Donald Judd called Architektur. If the furniture like sculptures hadn't hooked me, the architecture certainly did.
My parents had just moved to a new townhouse in Dearborn Park 2, a development in the South Loop area of Chicago. My parents had commissioned me to design both a garden and storage shelving for their new town home. (see dearborn park 2 garden & dearborn park 2 storage shelving)
The storage shelving commission was an excuse to buy some power tools and re-start a furniture design and fabrication interest that had begun as early as the summer of 1983 (see my design wonder years, my first stereo).
Circular saw, portable drill and random orbit sander in hand, I proceeded to explore the possibility of designing and fabricating furniture inspired by the sculpture work and writings of Donald Judd. My initial projects were a bit on the derivative side, but soon enough I started to find my own voice.
My plywood shelving system w./mobile storage units was both a distancing of myself from Donald Judd and one of my first site specific designs. These shelves were designed for a 1930's typical brick Chicago two-flat living room. Overall dimensions of the system were based on the width of the wall and the floor to ceiling height of the Living Room space. The individual unit width was determined by experimenting with the maximum non-deflecting shelf width possible using ¾" red oak veneered plywood when loaded with books. I was also seeking the most efficient material yield from 4' x 8' sheets of red oak veneered plywood. The shelf width ended up 22". Surprisingly, a dimension of 23 ¾" visibly deflected.
The rolling carts that acted as the "base" of the shelving units were meant to function as a library within a library. Carts could be loaded with topic specific books and rolled out when a particular topic was needed.
Eventually this system made its way to my first architectural office and was then given away to a former student in need of shelving.