In 1889, James & Helen Charnley hired Louis Sullivan to design a house for their Chicago family on the corner of Astor & Schiller. Louis Sullivan and his young employee Frank Lloyd Wright designed everything but the free-standing furniture.

117 years later, my IIT Architecture & Furniture students went back to pick up where Sullivan and Wright left off. Students were asked to individually design and fabricate furniture as part of a master plan developed collectively. Students were additionally asked to explore contemporary theory, materials and fabrication techniques as they relate to the innovations realized by Sullivan and Wright 117 years ago. Lectures and discussions focused on the relationship between furniture and architecture as a more than 500-year history.

I liked to work on a project in parallel with my students as part of my IIT Architecture & Furniture classes. Working on my own assignments gave me insight into the quality of the assignment and my never-ending debate between how defined or undefined an assignment should be.

I have a longstanding fascination with stereo systems and the design of stereo system components. My icharnley was an opportunity to explore the dual influences on my work of both Apple product design via Steve Jobs, Jonathan Ive & Dieter Rams and the stereo system designs of Canadian stereo company Clairtone.

The icharnley was designed to both coordinate w./and respond, over 100 years later, to Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright's Charnley House interior. My icharnley essentially explored the question of site specificity vs. time specificity.

My process began with a series of sketches that explored a variety of form factors that eventually narrowed to a single scheme which refined via 2d orthographically projected sketches and 3d freehand axonometrics.

The golden rectangle in the plan view was a final refinement of the amplifier component's dimensions. I can’t say with any certainty whether the golden rectangle proportion added to or subtracted from the overall performance of my icharnley stereo system, but at the time I was consistently looking for ways to translate seemingly aribitrary or subjective design decisions into measurable objective design decisions. The reality was that an amplifier housed in the hollowed-out white oak’s interior allowed for some flexibility in the wood housing's final dimensions.

Although used 3d software to develop my design, I remained a hybrid designer using 2d drawings to better understand how each elevation related one to another as well as how each elevation related back to its plan. 3d software was great for studying corners and intersections an area of study previously worked out using physical models. 3d software allowed for more rapid 3-dimensional studies including a variety of material combinations and shade/shadow studies which once refined, supplied the necessary parameters for a full-scale mock-up.

The main body of the icharnley was quarter-sawn white oak locally harvested, sawn into boards and kiln dried by Bruce Horigan of Horigan Urban Forest Products. The 8/4 material was glued and cut to allow three pieces to share continuous grain across their faces. Quarter-sawn white oak was fumigated w./ammonium to give it the same coloration as the quarter-sawn ammonium fumigated white oak used throughout the Charnley House. The quarter-sawn white oak was finished using a non-petroleum-based linseed oil & wax finish. The speakers were Gallo Acoustic Nucleus Micros and the music source was a 2nd generation ipod with a hand braided cable connecting the amplifier to the ipod via mini jack.

This rear view of my icharnley was really meant for fellow stereo geek/audiophile friends. The yellow and white braided wires are solid copper core Kimber Kable hookup wire. The gold-plated terminals are by Audio Quest. The heat generated by the small Sonic Impact 5066 15-watt portable class-T digital audio amplifier was vented through a pattern of holes finished w./stainless steel grommets. The T-amp was removed from its housing and mounted to allow for a Radio Shack supplied knob to fit onto the original potentiometer. The speaker mounts were made using band-sawed anodized aluminum bar-stock cut bent, sanded, and polished using a random orbital sander. Fasteners were square drive stainless steel wood screws, and machine screws w./washers and nuts. The feet were small rubber furniture feet from a local Ace Hardware.

My icharnley was exhibited at both the Charnley House and as part of a product designer's exhibition entitled "Objects In Space" at the Living Room Gallery Chicago. These days my icharnley is stored inside a glass fronted metal barrister bookcase along with its still working 2’nd generation ipod.