My keys have me recalling another example of beausage. That’s not leather you’re looking at, but cardboard. It’s been treated with seven years of sliding, rubbing, and the natural oil of little and medium-sized human hands.
Big Chair was inspired by the cardboard furniture of Frank Gehry and built with the help of my summer architecture class in July 2000. The goal was to emphasize the strength of the material by constructing a lightweight piece of “playful” and durable furniture for the classroom that could support enormous weight. Four months after completion it went through its only modification. Since then it gracefully withstood four years of abuse in my fifth grade classroom and another three at the hands and feet of my children and their friends after migrating to my home. In June of 2007, as we moved away from Pasadena for a year-long adventure / self-granted, creative sabbatical, it was left on the street with a “free” sign and was taken by a new, unknown owner.
