A place I have not noticed before.

1. Record observations about the place:

Ogrady Place, Carlton, Victoria, Australia is situated at the rear of Royal Melbourne Institute of Tafe (RMIT) Building 71. Eight years ago I studied Furniture Design at Building 71. Ogrady Place was completely different then. It had no barbeque or seating. The paving was tired and old and students perched on a log during breaks smoking and eating there lunch. It has been a joy to revisit this area, see its transformation and witness the place for the first time through the eyes of site analysis.

Ogrady Place is a space set aside as a public meeting area. In my observations Ogrady Place is utilized consistently throughout the day by the public, particularly by RMIT students. It is a space where people meet, have breaks during class and eat lunch. Tables, chairs and a retaining wall are used for seating. The space provides shade from the sun and a barbeque area for social functions. This barbeque area can be booked on the RMIT website.

Surrounded on three sides by industrial buildings this urban site is off set by a native garden backdrop.

The second story of Building 71 has on display, homage to some of the great designers from around the world. Twelve windows each with a transparent picture featuring a world class designer. These serve as inspiration to the students who study within this building. Other than these images there is no other reference to place in the area. People could walk past, and do each day, not knowing the standard of practice undertaken within the walls of Building 71.

2. Present a concept for an artwork in response to this site. This proposal should have a written description and a visual interpretation.

- Working Title: ‘Four cubes in Fibonnaci.’

In response to this site I would like to offer the students and faculty of Building 71 a sculpture.

It is my intention to provide a landmark to the students and further there sense of place, ownership and inspiration. To members of the public not aware of the activities in Building 71, I invisage that ‘Five cubes in Fibonacci’ will simply be seen as a thing of beauty. This sculpture has a potential to encourage dialogue surrounding Arts and Craft. This work also reflects and the activities and potential of RMIT students. Having studied at Building 71, undergoing a Diploma of Furniture Design, I would like to provide students with evidence of a high standard finished work. A work that embraces critical design theory and built on knowledge of Craft, Arts and Design movement.

The proposed sculpture will be hand crafted, referencing from such great makers as George Nakashima and the Romanian/Australian Cabinetmaker, Schulim Krimper. These craftspeople approach woodworking with discipline and patience, striving for perfection in every stage of construction. It is there intimate knowledge of materials and a resulting finish of highest degree that ‘Five cubes in Fibonacci’ will capture.

SCHULIM KRIMPER, Writing Desk.
New Guinea Wallnut, Plate glass
745 x 1720 x 780mm
Made 1960 Design 1955
National Gallery of Victoria collection


SCHULIM KRIMPER
Schulim Krimper was born in 1893 in what is now Ukraine. The son of a rabbi, he completed his apprenticeship as a cabinet maker and worked mainly in Berlin before fleeing to Melbourne in 1939 to escape the Nazis.

Krimper set up shop on the old High Street in St Kilda and attracted a clientele from the local Jewish community. Such was his reputation that some architects would design houses with his furniture in mind.
The Krimper style was part post-war modernism but there are also references to the Biedermeier style and folk furniture. There's also an Australian flavour: he loved to use indigenous timbers, particularly Queensland blackbean. He was also known for his artistic temperament and would not hand over completed work if his clients were critical in any way and would make them a new piece. He insisted on making unique pieces on a commission basis. Buying a Krimper was easy: customers would simply walk into his workshop, place an order, then wait patiently until he had finished. The pieces were worth waiting for.
Krimper was a master of traditional techniques such as the dovetail joint and the drawers, which all fit perfectly, glide in and out with fingertip pressure. He also liked to experiment with the unconventional.
Last year's National Gallery of Victoria acquisition is a typical example. It's a combination bookcase and chest that features another Krimper trademark, the use of handcrafted copper for the latch on the cabinet doors, finger pulls on the drawers and ferrules on the legs.
The use of Queensland blackbean is also typical and he used the timber until the early '60s because of its beauty, incorporating variations in the grain into his designs.
Temperamental or not, the work of Schulim Krimper was widely appreciated in its day. He first exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1959 and was celebrated with a second, posthumous, exhibition in 1975.

GEORGE NAKASHIMA, Double Sliding Door Cabinet
American black walnut, Cherry.
1524 x 546 x813mm
1949

GEORGE NAKASHIMA
George Katsutoshi Nakashima was born in 1905 in Spokane, WA. Trained as an architect at the University of Washington and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he first began furniture-making ventures in India, Japan, and Seattle, WA. Through the sponsorship of Antonin Raymond, he was released from the internment camps in the Idaho desert and founded his workshop in Bucks County about 1945.

Believing in the integration of a personal and professional life, Nakashima began his business as a one-man shop and continued to operate on this principle throughout his career. He developed an international reputation and received many important commissions for buildings and furnishings for churches, corporate headquarters and private homes. A master craftsman, he created a distinctive style of furniture that gave "a second life" to the trees he loved so much. Nakashima received numerous awards, including the Gold Craftsmanship Medal of the American Institute of Architects (1952).

At any given time, the Nakashima Workshop employs a dozen or so workers, including family members. Nakashima's daughter, Mira, who received degrees in architecture from Harvard University and Waseda University in Tokyo, worked as his assistant designer for 20 years and took over the task of producing backlogged orders after his death in 1990. Since then, as head of the Nakashima Studio, she has experimented with new forms, collaborating with other architects and developing new work such as the "Keisho" group.

CONCEPT

My concept is to design and build a collection of four cubes. These cubes will be scattered in amongst the native garden which beds along the eastern wall of Ogrady Place. These cubes measure 2@ 200³mm, 1@ 400³mm and 1@600³mm. These proportions are critical and based on Fibonacci theory, a mathematical sequence of numbers used to derive pattern.

Fibonnaci spiral

These four cubes will convey a minimalist aesthetic. As with traditional minimalism they will be simple autonomous objects. The use of native Australian Timber will contrast to the sharpness and sterility of minimalist form and inject these objects with narrative.

DONALD JUDD, untitled
a foremost example of minimalist sculpture

Sustainability and environmental awareness are key concerns for any contemporary furniture designer. This work responds to these issues with the use of recycled materials and timber species indigenous to the area.

Adler Suite

Adler Suite, 2006.
This suite was a private commission made from a single tree, a Cooba tree. The Cooba trees (Acacia stenophylla) are small wattle trees found north of the Murray River. Just past the River Red Gums. This tree was salvaged from agricultural lands as wind fallen timber . It came to me slab cut in four pieces. It was the perfect size for the commission.