Moth Chair, aka Flutterby Chair. Mid Century, Modern Inspired steel and Canvas Sling Chair!

One day while staring at my vintage B.K.F. Hardoy (Butterfly) chairs that I'd owned for many years, I started to think about how I could cut them up, reconfigure them and make something new, yet that would still have a familiar vintage mid century vibe.
I sketched out the various configurations on paper, and eventually decided that the best way to truly know if it would work was to just start cutting! I didn't have the heart to cut up an original, but was able to find reproductions.



*Disclaimer: No real butterflies were harmed in the making of this chair!

The shape is a hyperbolic paraboloid, in which the user straddles the seat, almost like a
chopper motorcycle or vintage banana bicycle seat bicycle (which were major influences in the design) Anyone who's owned a BKF Hardoy butterfly chair can tell you that it's actually quite
comfortable to sit "crooked" in it. The pockets are great for storing books, magazines, newspapers, TV remotes, phones etc.

Check out a cool mpeg 360 view (Thanks Patrick!)
http://s26.photobucket.com/user/ollin_trujillo/media/Blog%20Posts/ollintujillo_moth_chair2_zps1a2479db.mp4.html

This chair is perfect for an industrial artist loft, Atomic mid-century house, outdoor lounge, or as a reading chair. Stay tuned for a matching lamp and a pillow attachment! Please let me know if you plan to use it outdoors, and we can do a powder coated finish and water resistant canvas.

I live in Los Angeles,CA near the garment district. I can basically make any color combo you would like. Please contact me and we can discuss it.

Available on Etsy, or contact me directly.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/156173513/moth-chair-aka-flutterby-chair-mid      

Strut Coffee Table, my take.

It's been a few weeks since I've posted, so I thought I would share this coffee table I made for a friend this last week. It's made of steel angle and square tubing with oil rubbed bronze painted finish, and walnut plywood with a clear satin finish. We were going for simple and clean, with a warm-modern feel.

Send an email if you want one built to suit you, thanks!

Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair

Repost from Daily Icon:


Wright has offered at auction several original drawings of the Barcelona Chair by Mies van der Rohe.
When Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair was introduced in 1929 it was critically acclaimed but the cost and difficulty of chrome plating the frames limited production. By the early 1950s technology had caught up to Mies van der Rohe’s progressive furniture designs and both Knoll Associates and Gerald Griffith were producing his forms. Chairs produced by Knoll and Gerald Griffith can be distinguished by looking at the intersection of the base; works made by Gerald Griffith feature a crisp hard-edged intersection while versions by Knoll have a reinforced curved intersection.
The Mies van der Rohe office found Gerald Griffith in 1949. The challenge of creating the Barcelona chair in stainless steel – something engineers said could not be done – appealed to Griffith’s tenacious personality. After much experimentation and exploration, Griffith completed the task and he produced Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona and Tugendhat designs in stainless steel for a number of years.
Provenance: The Office of Mies van der Rohe, Chicago | Edward A. Duckett, Bowling Green | David Bryant, Bowling Green In celebration of Mies van der Rohe’s 125th birthday, Wright’s senior specialist Michael Jefferson presented the history of the Barcelona chair to The Mies van der Rohe Society.
Blueprint and Elevation of the Barcelona chair, 1950, Auction at Wright

Wow, they went for a lot! Very, very cool...






These fabrication shots are amazing!

Abstract Organic Live Edge Burl Coffee Table-TAKE 2!

So after finishing the other table for my pal Glen, he nearly had to pry it from my hands. I had it in my living room for a while until we could finally find a time to meet up, and I really fell in love with it during that time.

It was a bit too big for my space though, so I've been keeping an eye out for another similar one ever since, and I finally found one at my super top secret thrift store location! I had to shoe away these two guys that were looking at it over my shoulder as I was looking at it, (poor thrifting etiquette tsk tsk). Even though I told them I was going to take it, those sneaky guys tried to go above my head and talk to the shop owner about buying it. Little did they know, I've been going there for over 15 years! So Ha! take that! Thrifting karma!

Since the owner hooked me up, I was in no position to haggle. Oh well! I still got a great deal though. A few weeks later, I dropped it off at my friend Fernando Garces' shop to have it refinished, I think it came out great!

Abstract Organic Live Edge Burl Coffee Table for Glen!

I finally finished this table for a good friend, and I thought I would post some pictures. He had this vintage burl wood slab that used to belong to his aunt, and he asked me to make a new base that would be more updated and that would compliment the shape of the table top. He had a lot of great memories attached to this table. He said he remebered playing with his hotwheels on it as a small child. I was honored to oblige him. I drew up the base on the computer and that helped me to figure out all the various angles. In the end, we decided to go with a Marine Varnish for the wood top, since he might be using it for his outside patio sometimes, and we went with an oil rubbed bronze powder coated finish on the base. I think It came out pretty cool. I haven't really seen anything else like it... enjoy!

 



Amazing Views, Killer art

Just thought I would share a couple of pictures of a house we designed at work. I really dug this open corner, we used sliding glass doors so that the whole corner opened up to the outside..

 

The owner had an amazing art collection as well. It was cool to see this famous Barbara Kruger painting so close! He also had a cool Baldassari painting, but I didn't a shot.

 

Upcycled/recycled Writer's desks

This was a project that I did back in March, 2012. I met Brendan and Priya through some good friends, and they commissioned me to build these 2 desks. Brendan is a writer, and the two had recently moved to a house in Silverlake, Ca. Brendan had a room staked out for his office with a window and a great view. We decided on building something super simple and modern, he also liked the worn/industrial look, and didnt mind if the desks looked "well worn". I sketched something up and we agreed on the dimensions. We agreed on 2 desks in an "L" shape. Brendan also hosted a weekly pocker night with his buddies, so we designed the desks so that they could be pushed together and used as a card table. After stewing on it for a little bit, i decided to check the local Habitat for humanity restore to see if they had anything I could use. Score! 2 matching Oak solid core doors!


I snatched up those doors, and hit my local scrap metal spot. I decided to use 1.25" square tubing. It felt right, and looked pretty good proportionally. Next, I fabbed up some frames.



Next, I started to cut the tops to size...



Getting closer...



Added some adjustable feet.

 

Here they are just before I delivered them. I still have 2 left over door pieces that we might eventually make into rolling carts that fit underneath the desks. I think they turned out nice.