Popular Woodworking 2006-11 № 158, страница 60
Great Woodshops Modernica 21st-century beauty from Baltic birch and bent lamination. As I looked at the "Modern" furniture coming to life in the Modernica workshops of brothers Frank and Jay Novak in Los Angeles, Calif., I couldn't help comparing it to the work of another set of brothers, half a continent away, and a century ago. The Stickley brothers (all five of them) were the modernists of their era. Their Craftsman style rebelled against the ornate neoclassic and Victorian styles favored at the beginning of the 20th century. Their quartersawn oak furniture incorporated overt structural details such as corbels, stopped and through mortises, and exposed tenons. Their rectilinear shapes were free of any excess ornamentation except for what occurred naturally in the material, design and construction. The finished products revealed not only the craftsmanship that went into each piece, but also the beauty, simplicity and utility of the design. The Modernica storefront (above) on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles is one of the Novak's three retail outlets (Chicago and New York City are the others). The Los Angeles warehouse-district setting for their production facilities (right) offers proof that a sylvan setting is not a prerequisite for woodworking. What's old is new again, and at the beginning of the 21 st century, the Novaks continue to spread the gospel according to Modern. But they're not religious fanatics or martyrs to their cause. The skill level of their workers is matched to their tasks and the full spectrum of woodworking machines, from Computer Numeric Control (CNC) routers to card scrapers, is employed. The Novaks make no apologies for straying from a totally handcrafted product. Like the financially successful Leopold and John George Stickley brothers, they use the most efficient combination of people and tools to produce a quality product. Although they hold woodworking by John Hutchinson Brothers Frank and Jay Novak discuss the alchemy involved in translating a classic 1950s steel furniture leg into a modern bentwood lam ination for a bed they produce. John is an archictect and Popular Woodworking's technical illustrator. Comments or questions? John can be reached at jhutchi2@ columbus .rr.com. purists in the highest esteem, they are, after all, running a business. Gustav Stickley, the "purest" of the Stickley brothers, lacked his brothers' business acumen and eventually declared bankruptcy. Where the Stickleys used quartersawn oak, now almost an elitist material, Moder-nica furniture is all about Finnish or Baltic Birch plywood and bent laminations. Rather than relegating it to drawer interiors, Frank and Jay celebrate the inherent beauty and strength of the material. In a towering antique press, positioned just outside the workshops (this is sunny California), sheets of plywood are laminated into still thicker slabs on their way to becoming tabletops and legs. While I was there, orders for one of Modernica's latest 76 Popular Woodworking November 2006 |
