Trunk Show Preview: Jake Wright's Repurposed Ammunition Lamps

Friendly Fire by Jake Wright. Photo: Peter DomorakLovers of amazing, beautiful and locally-made objects, you are invited to our first 3rd Ward Member Trunk Show on March 15 from 7-10pm.

You'll have a chance to peruse an amazing selection of sculpture, jewelry, furniture, fashion, textiles and purchase works straight from hands the amazing and talented members that created them. 

One member whose work will literally be lighting up the show is Jake Wright, whose Stockpile Designs lamps you may have seen in our Handmade Holiday Craft Fair. Wright will be presenting an array of his illuminating creations, which he forges out of old ammunition from World Ward II, the Vietnam War and the Korean War.

To the right is one of our favorites, Friendly Fire, which "is made from a recoilless rifle shell used as an anti-tank weapon during the Korean War. Turned walnut finishes the bullet, and a 12" long incandescent bulb casts light through the perforated steel case. Approx. 21" tall, 4.25" in diameter, with a 6' cord. Switch on cord; bulb included."

Check out a few more of Wright's lamps after the jump, and click here for more on his work and the story behind it.

The Beacon is made from Vietnam War cluster bomblets. Six spring-loaded stabilizing fins are nickel-plated for a durable, bright shine. These support the highly-polished shell, which holds a standard light socket. Included is a "squirrel cage" 30W bulb (on the left in the first two photos), which gives off beautiful warm light. Base is 5 5/8" tall (9" with bulb), and approximately 7" across; 8' cord with switch. Photo: Liz Clayman

Made from a recovered WWII bomb casing, the Blitz table lamp showcases the classic "teardrop" bomb shape. The surface has an orange-peel texture, with two serial numbers stamped on opposite sides. Each is burnished to a bright shine, and sealed to protect against rust. Cast iron base, 7' cloth-wrapped cord with vintage-style plug, nickel-plated socket. Approximately 10.25" high (14" with shade), 2.25" in diameter, and 3.2 lbs. Shade included - natural linen, 7" high, 7" base diameter. Photo: JR Delia

-- John Ruscher

Call For Entries // 12 x 12 Gives A Dozen Designers A Chance To Create Furniture Out Of Reclaimed NYC Wood

Want to build a desk out of Brazilian Ipe, Cumaru and Greenheart from the old Coney Island Boardwalk? Maybe a bookshelf made from Eastern Spruce and Vintage Yellow Pine salvaged from the recently demolished East Village dive Mars Bar? Or how about using the Oak and Cypress vats from Queen's Stock Distillery Co. to craft a nice coffee table? If so, you'll want to throw your hat (or portfolio, in this case) into the ring for 12 x 12, a contemporary furniture design competition organized by the Sawkill Lumber Co. 

12 x 12 will supply twelve furniture designers with reclaimed wood from twelve historical New York City sites. Since we are always professing our love for wood, design, reclaimed materials and NYC, we're excited to be co-sponsoring the competition along with Brooklyn Woods, which provides woodworking and cabinet making training for low-income New Yorkers, and Build-It-Green!, the only NYC nonprofit retail outlet for salvaged and surplus building materials.

The winning designers' furniture pieces will be featured in an exhibition during Design Week in the spring and auctioned off to benefit Brooklyn Woods' woodworking education and job training programs.

You have until January 31 to submit your portfolio. If you're one of the twelve lucky designers, part of NYC history could be arriving on your doorstep by mid-February.

--John Ruscher

Required Reading // The New Sincerity: Fortnight Journal On Rethinking Industry In America

At 3rd Ward, we're always thrilled to encounter people who share similar visions and passions. It's not surprising then that we were quite taken by this article published by Fortnight Journal back in December.

Written by Brooklyn-based furniture designer Timothy Aaron Huston, "A New Sincerity," reflects upon the burgeoning movement toward products and goods that are locally-sourced, hand-crafted and environmentally friendly. He explores the forces behind this shift, including a rejection of the globalism that has dominated the past few decades:

Many people close to my age are idealistic, and do not like the stifling office environments that economists and industry leaders expected them to inhabit. Not content with prefab cubicle culture—like the rebellious Generation X, yet rejecting sarcasm and irony—we love seeing how things are made. There is a sense of wonder in this for those of us raised on processed food, far away from the farms, workshops and factories that make things. You cannot see process in a McDonalds, Wal-Mart or IKEA. My generation wants to see the plants grown, feed the animals, knit the socks, and sand the wood. We desire to get as close to the process as possible.

He also talks about the many benefits of opting for such a local, hands-on approach to industry, from higher quality materials and service to the ability to meet LEED standards and the face-to-face relationships and interactions that that such an environment fosters.

Ultimately, Huston concludes, this growing movement revolves around one word:

"Respect" is a key word in the newer business model of my generation. We strive to be well respected, and to be respectful to those with whom we work, as well as the environment around us.

We celebrate how something is made, and that we can make good things! Honest materials are respectfully and ethically procured. Products are crafted for a receptive and engaged audience who experience resonance. This is our new sincerity.

Couldn't have said it better ourselves. Make sure to read the entire article and check out the rest of Fortnight, a daily online journal that "uses multimedia content to document the promise of the millennial generation."

-- John Ruscher

HANDMADE HOLIDAY GIFT IDEA #93 // Stockpile Designs Sheds Some Light On Vintage Military Equipment

And our preview of highlights from this Saturday's Handmade Holiday Craft Fair continues...

Stockpile Designs began with a bomb, but rather than triggering an explosion, it lit up a light bulb, both in the head of founder Jake Wright and in the lamp that he was inspired to create. "I saw a tail section of a bomb from the Korean War being sold as junk," Wright says. "Where it wasn't covered with rust it was encrusted with filth, but underneath the patina was this graceful form that reminded me of streamline deco lighting. It took a lot of sanding and polishing, but the finished piece was more striking than I had imagined."

Wright's idea wasn't born out the blue, though. It owes much to his unique upbringing. "As an air-force brat, I grew up with strange décor - exotic furniture from the places my parents were stationed, excellent mid-century design picked up for pennies on-base, and model planes, rockets, and military antiques littering bookshelves and hung on the wall," he says.

"Military design has a reputation for being industrial and spartan, but out of context it can be strikingly refined and minimal," Wright explains. "With Stockpile, I take military equipment out of its aggressive context, concealing the function while highlighting the form." On Saturday Wright will be selling a range of lighting décor, from repurposed cluster bomblets to the tail of a 100 lb bomb, as well as a pair of end tables made from WWII naval ammo.

Check out more Stockpile Designs pieces after the jump.

-- John Ruscher

MEMBER SHOW PROFILE // Get Comfy With Avgo, Michael Zick Doherty's Digitally Fabricated Chair

Avgo is not a typical chair. Nor is it a typical piece of woodwork, or a typical digital design.

Inspired by Ovalia, the iconic 1968 egg-shaped chair by Danish designer Henrik Thor-Larsen, 3rd Ward's Michael Zick Doherty and collaborator Nik Psaroudakis didn't use any screws and glue in their design for Avgo, opting instead for digitally fabricated slices that fit together like a puzzle. "It was designed entirely in a 3D modeling program and then converted by software into commands that are used to tell a CNC Router how to cut the forms out," Doherty says. "We also challenged ourselves to use the curves and angle of the joints to create a form that gave a strong sense of volumetric presence from 2D sliceforms. It was exhilarating to create such a complex form while playing to the limitations of the CNC machine we were using."

Avgo has been featured in the ITP Spring Show at NYU and on Core77, and you can see if for yourself this Friday, November 18 at the 3rd Ward Member Show.

Hit the jump to learn about some of Doherty's other awesome projects and check out some more photos of Avgo.

Avgo is just one of a wide range of amazing projects that Doherty's had a hand in, from the Open Hardware Scholarship-winning Bitponics to Windowfarms to some incredible innovations in mobile technology, and 3rd Ward has helped him both diversify and hone his skills. "I've always been a bit all over the place in terms of my craft," he says. "Being in some of the classes has really been great in forcing me to focus on learning a new skill in a set period of time. It's also just incredible to have all the resources at your fingertips. I'm always wishing I had more time to take advantage of what 3rd Ward has to offer. Teaching the interactive media class has been really amazing as well in that you really get to take a look at what you know from another perspective."

We probably don't have enough fingers to count all of the amazing things that Doherty has in the works, but he gave us a heads up on a couple of particularly exciting ones. "On the digital fabrication front myself and a couple partners will be launching something extra special that I can't say to much about yet, but if you're into creating the physical from the digital you should definitely follow @FabGuild on Twitter for our launch," he says. "I'm also doing research and development with a lab at EuroRSCG which is an agency in the city. My job is to come up project ideas that showcase new technologies. If you're interested in pushing the limits of technology, it's definitely worth checking out (http://madscience.eurorscg.com or @EuroNyMadSci)."

And now for more shots of Avgo:

-- John Ruscher

TEACHER FEATURE // Buck Jackson's Rational Polyhedra

Buck Jackson is real, real busy. In addition to teaching at 3rd Ward, the designer teaches at CUNY, is opening his own design studio, and he’s a dad. Exhausts us thinking about one of those things.

About that design studio: it’s called Design Office Studio, and Buck says, “The primary focus of the studio is on furniture and skatepark architecture. The ultimate goal on the furniture end is: design, prototype, create finished piece and fabrication documentation, and sell designs to furniture companies. On the skatepark end, I’m working with skater, surfer, and documentary filmmaker Felipe Arias on a skatepark in his home country of Panama.”

Buck describes his design work as “rather rational,” saying, “I’ve been working with polyhedra and simple tension/compression systems in furniture. Right now I’m interested in wooden furniture that moves outside typical assemblages that are free of glue, screws or nails, and can be broken down and re-assembled.”

The Louisiana native had a humble entrance into the furniture design world, taking a job sanding and sweeping the floors of a cabinet shop when he was 18. But three years later, he began a series of assistantships for local artists and crafters, and went on to study at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and Georgia’s Savannah College of Art and Design, before moving to New York in 2005. Here, he worked for the mechanical engineering firm Hoberman Associates, and for a model and prototyping firm “which held denizens such as Frank Gehry, SOM, Calatrava, Sir Norman Foster and Richard Serra,” before beginning the process of opening his studio.

When asked about his run here so far: “The thing I like most about teaching at 3rd Ward is the diversity of the students; I can have a Harvard grad and a bus mechanic in the same class.” 

Meanwhile, make sure to keep up with Jackson's Design Office Studio in two very different incarnations; head on over here or here.

-- Anastasia Friscia 

(Re) Made at 3rd Ward // Upholstery Upcycling

Erin Hathaway saw our magazine in a coffee shop and knew she had to take the Upholstery Class.

A landscape architect by day, Erin has sewn her whole life and wanted to use this class as a way to collaborate with her boyfriend, a furniture designer. Until now, the chair (bought for $20 in Erin's homestate of Kentucky) has been a scratching post for her cat. Now her retro chair has a modern look, her roommate doesn't have an eyesore in the living room, and Erin has a newfound passion.

The Before Shot. A chair desperately in need of love.The chair is stripped, revealing the old, yellowing padding underneathNewm comfortable batting cushion is added.

The new fabric is fitted over the back and arms.Voila! From scratching post to living room centerpiece.