Art and Design Commons^™

Living In Nature & Design With Nature, Yuya Zhou

Masters Theses

“Each material has its own personality. What we need to do, as a co-worker, is to understand the material characteristics, negotiate with these materials and find a common space to create a beautiful design along with the materials.”------ Yuya Zhou

From the flexible use of biodegradable materials by the Yanomami people, to the brief introduction of the concept of biodesign, and to the organic combination of biodesign and furniture design, it is clear to see that furniture not only undertakes the functionalities as a product, but also plays an important role in constructing a harmonious environment and improving people’s mental …

Postindustrial Playbook++, Maxwell Fertik

Masters Theses

There is no such thing as an undisrupted ecosystem. Every inch of the planet is impacted by industrial development and its chemical legacy has mutated the soil and water. As a response, this thesis is designed to promote abundant over extractive resources and visualize a post-industrial reality. It consists of a series of objects, writing and design research on the relationship of industry and ecosystem.

In many ways it is a playbook++, laying out possible strategies or “plays’’ for making do with what exists around us amid collapse.

Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica)(ي'ڑ*), a plant that grows in the most degraded …

Sanctuary, Harsha Kejriwal

Masters Theses

When I first arrived in New England, I was accustomed to thinking of winters as short but pleasant periods. For me, winter was a break from the strong and relentless sunlight of summer in Central India. But the contrast between my childhood winters and the same months in the Northeastern United States was dramatic. Statistically, Providence has an average of five hours of sunlight a day whereas Central India enjoys 9.5 hours during its coldest months. This pronounced change in light piqued my interest. I was struck by the various phenomena created by natural light during these cold months. Sunlight, …

Conceptual Chair Designs: Study Of Materials & Craftsmanship, Aram Festekjian

Honors Theses

This thesis is a study of different chair concepts made with various techniques and

methods. Usually, when taking a seat, people do not take a moment to appreciate the architecture and design thinking incorporated into a chair. The objective of my project is to have the viewer take a moment to appreciate and feel a particular way before taking a seat. I am inspired by many different architects and designers who have created chairs within their artistic careers. The thesis work includes four different conceptual chair sculptures made from steel, plywood, expanding foam, bullet liner, and bungee. When bringing my …

Mama, Hannah Scott

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

“By writing herself, woman will return to the body which has been more than confiscated from her, which has been turned into the uncanny stranger on display” (Cixous, 1975). Through a depth of research into feminist perspectives on motherhood, I have created an art installation titled, "Mama". From my research, I have found many artists who make work about their experiences in raising children, women’s work and labor, and the trauma of giving birth. Louis Bourgeois, Natalie Loveless, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Mary Kelly, and Jenny Saville are a handful of artists whose work on motherhood has greatly inspired me to …

Living Space, Emily North

Art and Art History Honors Projects

The living room is a place where people can feel comfortable, interact with each other, and display some of their most prized possessions. This project uses five pieces of furniture to create a room; an armchair, chaise lounge, bookcase, coffee table, and lamp. These elements, combined with textiles, wall art, and knick knacks come together to make a warm and inviting space that I feel represents myself, and my love of nostalgia, heirlooms, and handmade items.

Negotiating Balance, Oscar Adolfo Soto

Graduate Theses

When we enter a room with a bed and dresser, we imagine that someone goes there to sleep. When we enter a larger room, with rows of uniform desks facing a whiteboard or lectern, we understand that people go there to learn. In most cases, the intention for the space and how we are to conduct ourselves in it is determined before the furniture is selected. When we are not privy to those intentions, the furniture itself can offer clues that help us understand what we are to do. As a contemplative device, I apply this framework to the world …

Waiting Room, Adam Lefebvre

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Waiting can be exasperating, but sometimes that helplessness, knowing there is nothing to do but wait, is a comfort.

I have come to understand the value of the handmade through using and living with thoughtfully crafted objects. I am attracted to goods made by people who give voice to their material. When this is done well, I slow down and pay more attention to the object and the task they are performing.

Attraction and distraction. What are the differences between objects meant to attract our attention and those meant to distract? I would much rather lead a life full …

Downey, John Michael, B. 1951 (Fa 1350), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1350. Folklife project titled "Antiques" by John Michael Downey for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University. Project includes an illustrated paper about the acquisition and use of antiques collected by friends and family members in DeKalb and Haralson counties in Georgia, Warren County, Kentucky and Rockingham County, Virginia. Survey sheets may include brief description of antique’s origin, use, sample of handwoven coverlet, color photo, illustration, text classification, and bibliographic source.

Contemplative Interiors: Ceramics And Furniture, Alla Myzelev, Kala Stein, James Johnson

Geneseo Authors

Exhibit Catalog for the show Contemplative Interiors exhibited at the Lockhart Gallery at SUNY Geneseo from February 6, 2019-March 15, 2019. Exhibit Curator: Alla Myzelev.

Rizer, Michael C. (Fa 1186), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1186. Student paper titled “Early Toy Making” in which Michael Rizer interviews two sets of couples, the Barnes and the McKees, regarding their crafting ability as it relatesto miniature, hand-carved furniture. Rizer offers a brief description of each toy maker and details the various types of materials, models, and carving techniques used in the creation of the miniatures. Included in the paper are color photographs of the craftsmen and women along with pictures of their wooden furniture pieces and one reel-to-reel audio tape of interviews conducted by Rizer.

Wood, Diane (Fa 1155), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1155. Student folk studies project titled “Folk Art and the Pennsylvania German” which includes survey sheets with a brief description of Pennsylvania German and other folk art collected in Burton, Ohio and Warren County, Kentucky. Sheets may include an item or representation of folk art, brief description, photograph, and origin.

Ido Posture Chair, Justin Grambor

Program of Industrial Design Capstones

Through movement, Ido seeks to engage and support the development of young children’s healthy work habits.

The Manhattan Collection: A Study On Furniture Design, Gabriel Anderson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

I have designed a series of pieces of furniture that all share some key similarities, not in form or even style (though my personal aesthetic will be seen in all of them), but rather in materials. All of my pieces use a combination of metal, wood, and stone. Obviously, this is not remarkable as these materials have been used to build furniture for as long as furniture has been built. However, I have endeavored to explore how these materials can interact with one another within a piece of furniture. My goal was to create furniture where the materials do not …

In The Living Room

SIGNED: The Magazine of The Hong Kong Design Institute

Salone del Mobile is the biggest event in Italy's furniture design calendar -- and now the world. We explore the great innovations from this April's packed-out fair in Milan and look forward to its exciting Shanghai debut.

Modernist Mastermind

SIGNED: The Magazine of The Hong Kong Design Institute

Hong Kongers will get a rare insight into the life and works of trailblazing designer George Nelson when an exhibition of his work arrives in March. Alex Price looks at what all the fuss is about.

Let The Chair Speak

SIGNED: The Magazine of The Hong Kong Design Institute

Boris Berlin co-founded Komplot Design in 1987 with Poul Christiansen and in 2010 he joined with Aleksej Iskos to launch Iskos-Berlin Design. Together the two companies have focused on creating inspirational works that act as an antidote to the excessive noise of modern culture, expressing a "philosophy of silence" that Berlin explained to Summer Cao.

Growth, Aria Elizabeth Smith

Senior Projects Fall 2016

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College.

My senior project installation, Growth, is an exploration in pushing the boundaries between domestic space and the natural world. It exists in a state of surreality; when the human desire to control, contrive, and conquer nature is met with the inevitable power of nature to overcome.

I have always been fascinated by nature and the creatures that inhabit it, and over time this passion has grown to become a large part of who I am. About four years ago, I began to keep aquarium fish and was immediately …

Ua1c11/46 Walter Nalbach Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Photographs of Walter Nalbach, Kentucky Industrial Education Association and his retirement dinner. Includes images of furniture made by Nalbach.

Universal Design Project St. Michael's House 2, Greta Usaite, Aisling Ni Cheallaigh, Bryoni Molloy, Dominic Walus

Students Learning with Communities

No abstract provided.

Baye Fadioul Niang: A Brief Biography Of An Ebeniste In Senegal, Katie J. Niang

Interior Design: Student Creative Activity

Baye Fadioul Niang described himself as a traditional European designer of wood furniture, doors, and trim. In 1945, at age 22, Fadioul began designing furniture as an apprentice in the state labor department of Kaolack. He settled in Dakar, where Fadioul not only designed and constructed furniture, but was a popular informal educator in the business. His furniture shop became a center for education in Menuserie and Ebenisterie, which is the art of furniture making. In 2005 Fadioul retired from furniture making because of deteriorating eyesight.

Includes photos taken in February 2013 in Dakar, Senegal.

Richardson, Laura Elizabeth (Ferguson), 1908-1986 (Sc 2546), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2546. Laura Elizabeth Richardson’s notebook containing holographic notes about the history of quilting. Notebook includes hand executed quilt pattern images in ink, poems, definitions of quilting terms, and textile descriptions. Includes notes about the provenance of Richardson’s quilt collectionand her furniture.

The Presence Of The Past: Conference Proceedings, Barry Sheehan

Books/Book Chapters

Is architecture design? Where does it begin? Where does it end? With every iconic architect comes an iconic chair. Mies Van Der Rohe's Barcelona Chair, Aalto's Artek stool. Where is the furniture by Irish Architects? As Irish architecture has become internationally recognised what has happened to our furniture? Is furniture design oflittle interest to current Irish architects and will this change with the current market conditions?

Mods: Collaboration And Play In Design, Margaret O'Saben

Theses and Dissertations

Located in Richmond, Virginia, MO Design is a small design/build company founded by Molly O’Saben. Ms. O’Saben received her bachelor’s degree in Craft & Material Studies and her master’s in Interior Environments from Virginia Commonwealth University. MO Design was founded in 2010 with a team of fellow alumni from VCU.

We make objects that inspire inventiveness. Our reconfigurable components offer our clients the unique ability to adapt their environments to life’s ever-changing needs.

We make MODs: Make your Own Designs.

Our products are for people who appreciate efficient spaces, are open to exploring possibilities, and like to play. Just as …

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 42, No. 2, Wendell R. Zercher, Charles Greg Kelley, Robert P. Stevenson, Henry J. Kauffman, John W. Parsons, Roy Christman, Elwood Christman, Greg Huber

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• Charles E. Starry, Adams County Chair Maker
• Lewis Miller's Chronicle of York: A Picture of Life in Early America
• Family Anecdotes from a Georges Creek Home
• The Pennsylvania-German Schrank
• The Barns of Towamensing Township
• A Review of Robert F. Ensminger's The Pennsylvania Barn

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 42, No. 1, Marion Lois Huffines, Amos Long Jr., Robert P. Stevenson, Robert L. Leight

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• The Trunk in the Attic was a Window
• The Rural Pennsylvania-German Home and Family
• The Happy Story of Georges Creek
• Duties of a Rural School Board at the Turn of the Century
• Aldes un Neies (Old and New)

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 40, No. 2, Amos Long Jr., Henry J. Kauffman, Robert P. Stevenson, Mark D. Howell, Hilda Adam Kring

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• Some Early Rural and Domestic Industries in Pennsylvania
• Jacob Dickert, Rifle Maker
• Several Early Woolen Mills of Western Pennsylvania
• A Rural Craftsman in Present-Day Pennsylvania
• Who is in the Kitchen?
• Aldes un Neies (Old and New)

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 32, No. 2, Peter C. Merrill, Theodore Graham Corbett, Cynthia Arps Corbett, Robert C. Williamson, Lee C. Hopple

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• Pennsylvania German Folk Crafts: The Living Tradition
• Europeans on the Frontier: Scotch-Irish Burial Stones in Pennsylvania
• The Survival of Pennsylvania German: A Survey of Berks and Lehigh Counties
• Germanic European Origins and Geographical History of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Schwenkfelders
• Aldes un Neies

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 23, No. 2, Jane Spencer Edwards, Carol Kessler, Ronald L. Michael, Heinrich Rembe

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• Wills and Inventories of the First Purchasers of the Welsh Tract
• Ten Tulpehocken Inventories: What Do They Reveal About a Pennsylvania German Community?
• Wagon Taverns as Seen Through Local Source Material
• Emigration Materials From Lambsheim in the Palatinate
• Household Furnishings: Folk-Cultural Questionnaire No. 32

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 20, No. 2, Carroll Hopf, Gregory Gizelis, Mac E. Barrick, Susan Dwyer Shick, Amos Long Jr., William S. Troxell, Ruth K. Hagy

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• Decorated Folk Furniture
• Foodways Acculturation in the Greek Community of Philadelphia
• David Stoner: Notes on a Neglected Craftsman
• Baptist Autobiography as a Folklife Source
• Bank (Multi-Level) Structures in Rural Pennsylvania
• Der Census Enumerator
• Leisure Time Activities in West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1800-1850
• Local Characters and Originals: Folk-Cultural Questionnaire No. 18