Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 16 to 30 of 43

Thread: Design Critiques 3: The coffee table, Noguchi

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,675
    I'm a fan of structure that works and this is an example of a three-point support structure that I have come to believe in. (Living in our house with its uneven floors of wood and brick would make anyone quickly embrace three-point designs!) This particular example is a very fluid, contemporary version, but it would be easy to duplicate in more or less extreme styling. It would be hard to pull off in motifs that depend upon that "four point symmetry", however. Aside from the practical aspects of this base design, it works with just about any shape of top, especially irregular ones and feels "grounded" no matter how simple or extreme. IMHO, of course!

    The Noguci sample also uses symmetry between the "two" members that make up the three-point base. This is a design that can also be repeatable in a room to tie together a number of objects in the right setting.

    Here is an example of using a three point base by Nakashima; slightly different in that all three points are not connected and not symmetrical. It still looks stable, but unlike the Noguci table, this one also visually feels like it's moving...your eye is drawn from one point to another by the shape and the base structure.



    There have been other examples of Nakashima's slab tables that also used the three point base...and I plan a version for our great room out of a nice big "platter" of cherry I have out in the shop. And yes, it will have a three-point base.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Baltimore, Md
    Posts
    1,785
    I have no issue with a 3 point base. I just don't like that interpretation of it. It is as stable as any other, but the design depicted doesn't call to me.



    Keith

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,675
    Quote Originally Posted by Keith Christopher
    I have no issue with a 3 point base. I just don't like that interpretation of it. It is as stable as any other, but the design depicted doesn't call to me.
    Keith, I also meant to say that the Noguci design wasn't something I'd covet...I much prefer Nakashima's work, but the use of symetry and stability is a good lesson regardless of the style.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Nanuet, NY
    Posts
    47
    To me the table is more a piece of art than a piece of furniture. As such, I don't look at its period style, constuction, thickness of wood, etc. I look at it as a piece of sculpture with flowing lines, balance, play of light, and meaning. And, for me there is no meaning. Just an interesting form pretending to be a piece of furniture.
    Ken

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Tampa, FL
    Posts
    937
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Singer
    Here is the classic Noguchi Coffee table . It is wood and glass.
    It has been made for years and is still in production.....comments?
    Other tables? It was designed in 1944, so it is around 60 years old.
    Cute as sculpture I guess -- -- but just doesn't spin my beanie as an example of woodworking. Yeah, I know, I'm a Philistine!

    BTW, I found a Noguchi Museum with an online collection of more than 270 pieces. Here's the link. http://www.noguchi.org/archive/gallery3.php
    ---------------------------------------
    James Krenov says that "the craftsman lives in a
    condition where the size of his public is almost in
    inverse proportion to the quality of his work."
    (James Krenov, A Cabinetmaker's Notebook, 1976.)

    I guess my public must be pretty huge then.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Baltimore, Md
    Posts
    1,785
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker
    Keith, I also meant to say that the Noguci design wasn't something I'd covet...I much prefer Nakashima's work, but the use of symetry and stability is a good lesson regardless of the style.
    As usual Jim, I have to agree with you completely.

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Delaware Valley, PA
    Posts
    476
    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Leshner
    To me the table is more a piece of art than a piece of furniture.
    Ken, would you mind elaborating on that? I'm not sure I understand the criteria that make an object more "art" than "furniture" or vice-versa. Is that based on the idea that furniture has a certain mix of utility and aesthetics, whereas art has predominantly aesthetic value with little or no utility value? Or is it based purely on a theory of aesthetics, i.e., "furniture is supposed to look like this, and art is supposed to look like that." Thanks in advance.

    More food for thought along these lines:
    • Is a carcase with pediments, fluted & carved columns, and proportions influenced by classical buildings more architecture than furniture?
    • When does a slab table become furniture rather than "a found object pretending to be furniture." (Compare Marcel Duchamp sculpture)
    I hope my questions don't seem pretentious or argumentative. I'm trying to teach myself design, and these are some of the issues I'm wrestling with.
    What this world needs is a good retreat.
    --Captain Beefheart

  8. #23
    Interesting story behind this table...it's actually a design from his orginal design that was copied!
    noguchi on the noguchi coffee table:
    'my first industrial design was, I suppose,
    some Italian sugar cake molds that I did when I was
    twenty. then there was 'measured time', a clock,
    and in 1937 the 'radio nurse'.
    there was the time I went to hawaii in 1939 to do an
    advertisement (with georgia o'keefe).
    as a result of this I had met robsjohn gibbings,
    the furniture designer, who had asked me to do a coffee
    table for him.
    ( I had already done a table for conger goodyear).
    I designed a small model in plastic and heard no further
    before I went west.
    while interned in poston I was surprised to see a
    variation of this published as a gibbings advertisement.
    when, on my return I remonstrated, he said anybody
    could make a three-legged table.
    in revenge, I made my own variant of my own table,
    articulated as the goodyear table, but reduced to
    rudiments. it illustrated an article by george nelson called
    how to make a table. '
    Glenn Clabo
    Michigan

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Laguna Beach , Ca.
    Posts
    7,201
    Glenn, That is interesting....where did you find that info?
    "All great work starts with love .... then it is no longer work"

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Laguna Beach , Ca.
    Posts
    7,201
    The idea behind this table is very pure and goes back to the definition of table.

    " an elevated horizontal surface supported by one or more legs"

    The word elevate suggests two opposing planes...the floor and the horizontal surface, in this case the glass
    The glass is handled as a "non element " in its lightness and is supported in a "tension" relationship above the floor...almost hovering.

    The wood elements that support the glass are 2 planes as well...splayed to create a base and dependent on each other....the angles and relationships can be changed slightly and still perform their task of supporting. They are in a sense like a couple dependent on what the other provides and helpless by themselves as most of us are without our spouses

    It is a design so pure that anything added would detract and anything take away ....and it couldn't function....It may not be your favorite table and I don't expect to change that...it does go beyond what amost all tables do to provide the definition of elevating a horizontal plane above the floor...that cannot be disputed
    "All great work starts with love .... then it is no longer work"

  11. #26
    At designboom.com
    Glenn Clabo
    Michigan

  12. #27
    I still have the scar in my eyebrow from running into a glass table top when I was young. Having broken one in my teens, I feel glass table tops present a number of liabilities. Needless to say, there are none in my house.

    From a design standpoint, I think the glass is nice in that it allows me see the base. The shape of top has me envisioning the long edge toward a couch with lots of space put things down while the far lobe offers a spot to locate chips, dip, snacks, plants, etc. out of the way.

    The very modern looking base isn't really my taste but I do find it generally attractive. The symmetry of the two pieces is appealing as is that fact that inverting the bottom piece allows it to be the top piece. The pieces seem to be made out of several smaller pieces of wood which I would guess lets it be made out of smaller boards more efficiently. That may have been more important 60 years ago. Tastes change and today I would rather see them made from single pieces of highly figured wood.

    It does seem to have some timeless appeal that make things classics.
    I know my father would loved it.
    Last edited by David Fried; 01-12-2005 at 1:40 PM.

  13. #28

    Thumbs up

    There are not always words to describe pieces. this is about a language of form and what is spoken are the relationship to the ground and what is above, "sky" or glass top. this is a very sculptural piece. both curvilinear and straight. first off, I notice alot of triangulation in this piece. yes, there is 3 elements, 1 which is clear "invisible" and 2 of which are the same solid form, but inverted. the structure is based on triangles. even the top is basically a rounded triangle. the negative space or silloette of the table is as interesting as the positive space. the form on the bottom is like stalagtites growing from the ground and the other side seems to grow from the sky, hanging down. the way they scissor or pivot gives the idea of rotation. as these 2 identical forms "kiss" around the pivot, they support a space between the upper plane and the ground plane. what's profoundly interesting about this configuration is the point and line rest on the ground are aligned but different than the point and line which support the glass

    I think this piece is very interesting and the relationship between these 2 legs is something that you could keep on looking at for a while and your mind wouldn't get tired of it. visually, it creates non static ideas in the mind. so many of the things we see in our daily lives are basic and conforming. this piece is not about conformity. there is enough complexity/ simplicity to it that it will always remain a paradoxical sculpture. what's kind of cool about this piece is that it's kinda like a cross between a mobeus strips and a tetrahedron. it hints at more than what we know and see. what we are witnessing is more than just a table. it's something that speaks to our subconscious and either you like it or you don't. kinda like wine or music. this one is more sophisticated and not everyone's cup of tea. it's great because it is a departure from the traditional yet, it's a totally functional piece which invites lots of conversation
    love makes life happen

  14. #29
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Seattle, Wasington
    Posts
    51

    Thumbs up

    I'm a minimalist first and foremost, and I generally don't favor designs that incorporate too many (if any) decorative elements. My modernist tendencies on the other hand tips me to favor design that are more rectilinear in nature. So you can say that someone along the line of Donald Judd is a personal favorite.

    But I have to say that I do like Noguchi coffee table. The curves in the table is so pared down, so reduced, that it's scupltural yet minimal. The 3 pointed support, the minimal table top, and the symmetry of the "legs" are all very satisfying at an intellectual level. Though the table has gotten so mainstream now with the revival of the mid-century designs, I still find the design very engaging and fresh.

    The only negative of this particular image is the use of jointed boards to make the legs. It does detract a bit from the purity of form to have the jointed edges so prominent. But that's probably just an issue of the reproduction of the piece (or is it?)
    Last edited by William Lai; 01-15-2005 at 1:22 AM.

  15. #30
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Collin County Texas
    Posts
    2,417

    Thumbs up I like it

    First off, what I know about art and design you could write on the head of a pin with a cold chisel. With that in mind, here are my plebeian comments.

    One: It is NOT mission.

    Two: It is NOT arts and crafts.

    Three: I like it as it is, and feel that it could be scaled to meet the needs of the room. Without too much imagination, I could see it as an end table with an extended vertical leg section. I like the smooth lines of the base, but I agree that the glass, while necessary, is not for a home with children. OTOH, a house with children probably can't afford this piece....

    Just my penny's worth, and you get what you pay.
    Best Regards, Ken

Similar Threads

  1. Coffee table design
    By Dan Mages in forum Design Forum
    Replies: 20
    Last Post: 01-02-2005, 2:26 PM
  2. SMC Design Critiques
    By Aaron Koehl in forum Design Forum
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 12-22-2004, 3:45 PM
  3. Out Feed Roller Table Review
    By Ted Shrader in forum General Woodworking and Power Tools
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 12-07-2004, 2:13 PM
  4. Router Table Quest
    By Maurice Ungaro in forum General Woodworking and Power Tools
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 09-17-2004, 12:23 PM
  5. looking for a simple coffee table and end table design
    By Dan Mages in forum Design Forum
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 06-23-2004, 10:26 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •