An Elegant Craftsman: Looking at the Work of George Nakashima
Inspired by what he felt was “bad” architecture with too many design elements, George Nakashima turned to furniture making, and became a key figure in the American craft movement. Though he was a modernist he dedicated himself to wood, handwork, and simple technologies rather than embrace industrial materials or develop prototypes for mass production. As a leading innovator of twentieth century furniture design who was so in touch with his organic medium we wanted to take a look at the life and work of George Nakashima.
Nakashima was born in Spokane, Washington in 1905, growing up in the forests of the Olympic Peninsula. Originally interested in architecture, he received a Bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Washington and later a Master’s from MIT. After completing his degrees he travelled the world, touring Japan extensively to study the subtleties of the design and architecture. He returned to America in 1940 and settled in Seattle where he began making furniture and teaching woodworking. Because he was of Japanese descent he was interned during World War II. However, during his time there he met a man trained in traditional Japanese carpentry, and was able to learn from him and master traditional Japanese hand tools and joinery techniques. Through the sponsorship of his former employer Antonin Raymond he was able to leave the internment camp and move to New Hope, Pennsylvania where he would work for the rest of his life.
Deeply inspired by the folk carpentry of rural Japan, Nakashima strove to bring out the spirit of the tree in his work. He had immense respect for the natural forms of trees, and the inherent beauty of wood. He felt that every part of each tree had one perfect use and would search to find it. He would often choose pieces of wood traditionally rejected by other woodworkers because of their imperfections because to him those imperfections reflected true beauty. Nakashima believed that once a tree was mature it was fair and moral to cut it down for man’s use, since otherwise it would soon decay. It could be said that he was recycling the trees in a sense, and turning them into something beautiful and useful. He would carefully selected a slab, then plane the surface by hand, and if necessary insert a wooden butterfly joint here and there to control splitting. He would finish it carefully with many coats of oil but otherwise leave it alone. He held the craftsmen in his workshop to his exacting standards, and believed that the goal of a woodworker was to have direct, personal involvement with the wood and hand tools.
Nakashima’s work generally falls into two categories. His conoid chairs, stools, and settees feature an architectural character and geometric design that have a modern simplicity and sleek style. The other category are the tables and desks with tops made of slabs of highly finished wood with irregular, live edges. Sometimes the two combined, like in the benches with conoid legs and back but live-edged seat. The free-edge tables became Nakashima’s signature work in his time, but now both categories instantly bring his name to mind. He frequently worked in walnut, ash, and cherry due to their distinctive nature. If you’re looking to add organic touches to your interior you couldn’t ask for better than a Nakashima piece.
Nakashima wanted to create furniture that would keep the spirit of the tree alive. He could help the tree live on in this new form that people would hold onto in their homes. Today his daughter Mira and other craftspeople and designers keep his workshop going, following Nakashima’s philosophy towards wood and furniture. Nakashima was truly an innovator in his ability to combine the modern aesthetic that was heavily driven by industry and mass production, and traditional techniques to create pieces that were popular in their time and continue to be highly valued today.
