BURL BURLINGAME / BBURLINGAME@STARBULLETIN.COM
Leighton Liu stands surrounded by students' works in the Haigo and Irene Shen Architecture Gallery. In the foreground is Douglas Herbert's bamboo folding recliner and behind Liu is a zigzag floor lamp by Derek Tsutomi, made of particle board, plastic laminate and rice paper.
Building Blocks
UH architecture students
create furniture to learn
the intricacies of design
The thing about architecture -- you're always looking up. Look at those rafters! Check out that clerestory! Ooh-aah over those sconces! Try looking down sometime -- try admiring a foundation or baseboards.
And while you're at it, check out what's parked under your butt.
Great buildings take great imagination, prodigious attention to detail and meticulous craftsmanship to succeed, and all just to manipulate the physical environment. Well and good, but this is a lot for a student to absorb over a single semester. Better to attempt something manageable, like a piece of furniture. Although all the same skills are honed, a piece of furniture -- no matter how fancy -- isn't a cathedral. It's doable.
"Furniture & Lighting"
Where: UH Haigo and Irene Shen Architecture GalleryWhen: Open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through Feb. 27
Admission: Free
Call: 956-8311
That's pretty much what Leighton Liu was thinking. An associate professor of the School of Architecture at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Liu gambled on an experimental course he called "Special Topics: Furniture/Product Design & Construction" this last semester, and the initial results were striking enough to merit an exhibition at the school's Haigo and Irene Shen Architecture Gallery.
THE WORKS include Douglas Hebert's fold-up chair made of caramelized-bamboo flooring; Shirley Lum's sturdy stool of bird's-eye maple and Plexiglas; Clifford Kanda's playful fold-up chairs-and-table combo of Baltic birch plywood; and a gorgeously balanced cantilever table by Yvonne Choi. Tetsuaki Yoshida, from Japan, created an illuminated ashtray that turns each pillar of smoke into a writhing, ephemeral artwork; Amber Vierra made a bouncy bench using exercise balls as supports; Casey Benito created a sturdy study table of stained Baltic birch -- there are dozens of way-cool, clever boutique pieces, all made with a high degree of craftsmanship.
"I start them with simple boxes, so they can learn joinery," said Liu. "Some of these kids are absolute beginners in the shop, so even simple projects have a hands-on learning curve."
Oh, one important thing: The students get to keep and use their pieces when the semester's over. "Some spend hundreds of dollars on themselves and spend more time when they know it's theirs to keep," said Liu.
BURL BURLINGAME / BBURLINGAME@STARBULLETIN.COM
Leighton Liu demonstrates the form and function of the furniture designs by sitting on Amber Vierra's bouncy chair.
It's not a wood shop, however. The design is the thing. Everything else -- blood, sweat and aching fingers -- is just the path one takes to achieve the design. The boxes have to be innovative in use, and the student's work ranges from puzzle-like contraptions to an elegant gift box made to hold a single bottle of wine. "It had better be a expensive wine to deserve a box this beautiful," laughs Liu.
Student Brian Chappel made an old-fashioned box camera that actually works. He has the fuzzy pictures to prove it.
Another good idea: "slant storage," Liu points out. "Keep CDs and books on slanted shelves, and they automatically stack neatly. And here -- look at this! -- Christine Sanpei's shelf system uses golf balls to lock the units together."
Any interest from corporations in licensing the kids' designs?
"Nope, probably because there's too much labor involved in making each piece," Liu said. "Our idea of corporate interest is getting the kids a discount at local hardware stores."
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII
More student works.
IN THE WOOD SHOP downstairs, student Christopher King is carefully joining two pieces of maple. He and Liu conferred on the best way of gluing.
Liu turned away and said: "The great thing about this course is seeing the joy of building something in their eyes, particularly those who have never been in a shop before. They're learning design but also an appreciation of manufacturing techniques and craftsmanship. It's exciting."
"This," said King, nodding at the maple blocks, "will be a chessboard, and since I get to keep it forever, I want it to be nice. It's not just for a grade."
BURL BURLINGAME / BBURLINGAME@STARBULLETIN.COM
Leighton Liu, left, gives student Christopher King direction in starting a maple chessboard project. Liu is an associate professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa who teaches the finer points of architecture by having students work on smaller projects, such as furniture.
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