CCA Production Furniture

Design Reviews

rbaldon — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 22:29:51 +0000

We have had a few design reviews marking the progress of the designs. Matt Hollingsworth from Coalesse was one of many who have helped We have had a few design reviews marking the progress of the designs. Matt Hollingsworth from Coalesse was one of many who have helped us look at the projects.

Here Justin, Joseph, and Matt listen to a presentation.Meredith, Bodie, and Dean test a mock-up.

: Luke’s table

: Eric Pfeiffer of Pfeiffer Studios comments on a presentation as Courtney Skott and Kevin Owens of Coalesse look on.

: Jus’s Bendy prototype.

: Noah’s finely crafted models.

Noah Greer explains his proposal.

John Lewis Glass

rbaldon — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 05:33:25 +0000

John Lewis founded his studio in 1969. He was one of the first artists to open a hot glass studio in the Bay Area where, for 10 years, his focus was blowing glass. After receiving an NEA grant in 1980, he started experimenting with the possibilities of cast glass as a sculptural medium. He built a furnace specifically for casting, which melted and poured glass, and began exploring the various forms possible with different types of molds.

Through contacts made at shows and gallery exhibits, John’s work progressed into an architectural format. Artists and architects began asking him to collaborate on site-specific architectural projects and commissions, incorporating his castings into both immense sculptures and functional designs. Since then, the studio has completed a number of commissions for private and corporate clients.

The studio, with a staff of 11, is located in the industrial area of East Oakland. It has grown to include not only the hot shop, but mold and cold shops, and a showroom as well. The studio is located at 10229 Pearmain Street, Oakland, CA 94603.

We showed up the first day that the team started pouring tiles for a skylight / water feature that is to be installed in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The tiles themselves will number 350 pieces.

John discussing the production run with with one of his staff.

Library research

rbaldon — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:39:06 +0000

Everyone was asked to interview observe, and document not only libraries but how people read in public spaces in general. A detailed examination of the activities, environments, interactions, objects, and users were all brought together for a group discussion. Here’s an organizational charts that resulted from the gathered research:

research observations

Through process of interviewing several librarians a clear list of needs & wants was also developed:

needs and wants

From here, students were asked to sketch their first ideas and to begin to develop a thesis as to why they were pursuing the path that they had chosen.

Next week we’ll look at some full scale mock-ups.

Councel Design Studio Visit – Feburary 2, 2010

rbaldon — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:02:15 +0000

We were also able to tour Council Design‘s studios located just over Potrero Hill from our San Francisco campus.

Derek Chen talks about production in his shop.

Derek Chen is the founder of Council Design. A designer in his own right—by way of Engineering School and Silicon Valley—he is also the founder of Urbana Design, a company named after the Illinois city where he spent much of his childhood. Through Urbana Design, Chen produces sleek tabletop items and contemporary furniture. His work has been covered in media outlets including Wallpaper*, The New York Times, InStyle, and Plaza. Chen’s work reveals the engineer’s eye for the strategic application of technology as well as an awareness of the visual and tactile appeal of natural forms and materials—it is an easy blend of high-tech and hand-craftsmanship.

Our first visit to Lighthouse Community Charter School

rbaldon — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 01:59:50 +0000

Our client for this class is Lighthouse Community Charter School located at 444 Hegenberger Road in Oakland, CA. It is a K-12 public school that has just moved into a new building. The new building and adjoining yards designed for play and learning, create a new haven for teaching and learning in Oakland. The campus houses 70,000 square feet of classrooms and offices, a full-service K – 12 library, two state-of-the art media labs, art and music studios, a K – 12 multi-purpose space and kitchen, a family resource center, two internal learning courtyards, and a yard complete with a flex field, age-appropriate play structures, gardens, and community spaces.

Lighthouse Community Charter's new building

We were given a history of the school and the background of the fundraising that took place in order to move to their new building by school director Jenna Stauffer. The school itself ran out of funds to properly furnish the library and this is where we come in. Our challenge is to provided table / reading areas for their K-12 library.

Jenna Stauffer of Lighthouse Community Charter

Jenna Stauffer has been an educator for twelve years and was a member of the founding team of Lighthouse. In her position at Lighthouse, Ms. Stauffer is responsible for financial management, operations, facility development, community outreach, and fundraising. She was a Teach for America corps member in Los Angeles in 1995 where she taught middle school science and leadership after which she served as Lead Teacher at a start-up, parent-run private school in upstate New York. She received her M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2000 and then became the Lead Developer of the Lighthouse Community Charter School coordinating and managing the school’s start-up and charter approval process. “When we set out to start Lighthouse, we envisioned a community school where children and youth are known well and their needs are met, where they are pushed to great heights through a rigorous curriculum, where families are welcome and involved, and where teachers collaborate and learn. Our vision is being realized and our hope is that we make a positive impact on the future of children, Oakland, and even the world.”

Swerve

rbaldon — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 01:09:13 +0000

Michael Goldin of Swerve

Another production shop we visited was Michael Goldin’s Swerve Co. in Berkeley. Swerve is a furniture and product design and manufacturing company with a decided modern aesthetic.

Robot!

Uniting a long industrial tradition with innovative design and a modern factory, Swerve’s production trajectory pairs design and manufacturing staff with state of the art CNC equipment to agilely move through design, prototyping, fabrication, and mass production completely in house.

sample connection for a Swerve desk system

His business was recently featured in a New York Times story about small manufacturing businesses that have refused to outsource their production.

a prototype T6 chair