A Stimulating Conversation About Furniture Design and Materials

Earlier this fall I was invited to be a guest on Harvest Dialogues, an internet talk-show focused on architecture, design and style. The show’s creator, Daniella Ohad, wanted to interview me on the growing interest and participation of reclaimed wood in contemporary design. In full disclosure, Daniella, who is a remarkable design historian is also a good friend of mine. While working on my book, Working Reclaimed Wood, she helped me locate and establish connections with a few designers of note who incorporate reclaimed wood, and whose work I featured in my book.

Daniella’s show is a treat for anyone who loves design. Her guests always have something interesting, bold or even provocative to say. Whether it is a designer, a maker, or an academic they fill up the relatively short segment of 5 to 7 minutes with plenty of quality knowledge, opinions, or both. Her previous episode (Harvest Dialogues on Architecture) was a fantastic opportunity for me to revisit and learn a few more things about the works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Otto Wagner. So I believe that the current episode about furniture will be an eye opener as well, as her guests shed light on subjects such as designer furniture, The Chippendale’s Tricentennial, and of course, reclaimed wood.

Here is what you’ll find in the Furniture episode of Harvest Dialogues:

• Robert Couturier, architect, designer and tastemaker, critiques a controversial chair by Zaha Hadid Architects.
• Alyce Perry Englund, curator of the American Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, explains the significance of Thomas Chippendale’s Tricentennial.
• Recently named Emerging Product Designer of the Year, Neal Aronowitz visits from Portland to talk about crafting furniture of concrete canvas.
• Architect-trained Yoav Liberman celebrates both the aesthetics and the sustainability of reclaimed wood.
• Gallerist Nicholas Kilner who analyzes a cabinet by the Dean of Italian Design, Gio Ponti, which was recently auctioned by Rago Arts.

Here is the whole episode. I am featured in the segment that begins in the 15th min.