reMADE RIVER RED GUM LECTERN

MATERIAL

Part of the red gum timber was originally purchased at a house clearance auction, the lot consisted of two railway sleepers sawn into 30 mm boards, this was bought on a whim as there was to little timber to make anything of substance, not having worked with red gum I was curious to machine the timber.

The remaining timber was purchased from Building Bitz recyclers Wonthaggi which consisted of 4/ 1800x150x150mm reclaimed house stumps, the copper foot rest and makers plate are made from recycled copper water pipe.

METHODS

The construction is based on traditional furniture techniques, the three main frames are mortise and tenon for grooved frame work, panels are chamfered on the rear side to slot into the grooved frame, and the assembly of the panels are carried out by a simple lap joint. The internal shelf is jointed by a common housing and the top is jointed with biscuits (the only exception to traditional methods), both top and middle rails are biscuit jointed, all joints are calculated to allow for seasonal movement, no pins, nails or screws have been used in any part of the construction. The finish is applied after finishing with 400 paper, 2 coats of tung oil are rubbed in and allowed to dry before the final finishing wax.

CONCEPT

The lectern design was conceived to allow the user to feel as relaxed as possible, the rear foot bar, shelf for additional notes, and the flattened top to allow for the user to have a drink at hand.

The design is as simple as possible so not to detract from the speaker, the body of the lectern is slightly tapered to drawer the viewer’s eye above the lectern. Yet at the same time the lectern is elegant, with a traditional solidity and a contemporary reference to twenty first century design.

Copyright Glyn Evans 2009

Conceptual design history of Splayed Blackwood Tables.

The Arts & Crafts movement, founded in 1868 by Charles L Eastlake, was based on the simplification of furniture design after the excesses of the Victorian period.
His influences stemmed from Tudor, Modern Gothic and Medieval periods, this is reflected in the design evolution of his quality utilitarian furniture. The Arts and Crafts movement diverged into the simplistic highly functional Shaker designs of the post 1900’s, and the more elaborate Art Nouveau movement of 1890 to1920, two of it most noted protagonists being the architect and designer Charles McIntosh, and the designer, craftsman and writer William Morris. Both of whom shared philosophy’s including the importance of design to both external architectural environments and internal décor and furniture.

By 1920’s the Bauhaus industrial design movement’s doctrine to reject tradition for modernism echoed an earlier desire seen in the Art Nouveau movement for total environmental design. The essence of these disciplines, although seemingly diametrically opposed are remarkably similar, given their products reflect design as the most important element. The main differences being the Bauhaus use of modern materials and mass production as apposed to the Arts and Crafts emphasis on individual craftsmanship.

The Bauhaus designs ultimately went on to influence the industrial Scandinavian design revolution of the 1930’s. Based largely around the mass production of architecturally designed timber products, these designs went on to inspire many designers and architects of the post 1940’s era such as the architect and designer Charles Eames.
The influences of the turn of the 20th century can now be seen in the modernist revival of the 21st century.

This design of the Splayed tables is a synthesis of all of these influences.

Splayed Blackwood dining table.

Dimensions 3060mm by 1095mm by 750mm.
Sale price $2990.00

Splayed Blackwood coffee table.

Dimensions 1200mm by 680mm by 428mm.
Sale Price $1500.00

Copyright Glyn Evans 2007