Sam Maloof is “America’s most widely admired contemporary furniture craftsman.” He’s 93 and still going strong. Here’s a slideshow of his work.
He doesn’t take measurements before he starts a project.
I do not feel that it is possible to make a working drawing with all the intricate and fine details that go into a chair or stool, particularly. Many times I do not know how a certain area is to be done until I start working with a chisel, rasp, or whatever tool is needed for that particular job.
For him, functionality trumps aesthetics.
My goal is to make furniture that people can be comfortable living with. If you’re not preoccupied with making an impact with your designs, chances are something that looks good today will look good tomorrow…
I try to make my things aesthetically pleasing; but, if it isn’t functional, people will ‘oo’ and ‘aah’ over it in an exhibit but they won’t buy it. … My feeling is a chair has to be functional and comfortable for tall and short alike.
“Carved Success: Sam Maloof’s Handmade Life” (NPR) explains how he got started. He had an empty tract house which had no furniture. So he started making some.
Maloof taught himself how to woodwork after serving in World War II and marrying his wife, Alfreda…
“She bought a little tract house for $4,200, which now is probably worth about $400,000,” Maloof chuckles. “It didn’t have a lot of furniture in it. Plywood floors, no carpeting or anything. And so I put rugs down, and then I found a lot of scrap wood, and I made furniture out of it for the house.”
He’s always made everything by hand and has turned down offers to mass-produce his furniture.
When Maloof was still struggling to support his family, he turned down several lucrative offers to mass-produce his furniture — on principle. The black sheep of the family who never went to college now has three honorary degrees…
Maloof has said that when making furniture, start with the legs: They’re like values, principles, beliefs. Choosing the arms is like choosing friends. And the seat keeps you upright, steady and looking ahead to your goals and your future.
Related: Video: Sam Maloof, A Woodworking Experience [Woodworking Channel]
Stratton
on 11 May 09He’s a singularly unique American craftsman… one of the few, perhaps only, in his field to be awarded a MacArthur Award.
charly
on 11 May 09great artist, great stuff, some kind of KISS approach. simplicity can look so good.
joe larson
on 11 May 09This guy is awesome.
I am going to meta on this post. I love Getting Real and the general philosophy 37s espouses. But I sometimes can’t help feeling that this craftsman-like approach only works for the naturally very-talented. And possibly only for small, niche projects/products.
If all furniture was produced in the Sam Maloof method, as was essentially the case a few hundred years ago, then only rich people would have furniture because it would be extremely scarce. The plain fact is that there simply aren’t enough amazingly gifted furniture makers like this fellow to make furniture for all of us.
Software is a quite a lot different because the same creation can be used by an essentially unlimited number of people. But I still can’t help feeling there is a parallel. Especially because, as we all know, almost all software developers are and will remain mediocre at best (I may be one of them!).
Yes, it is awesome this guy produces furniture without making detailed plans/measurements. And I am sure forcing him to would probably degrade the end product significantly. But thank goodness there are methods for BDUF designing and mass producing furniture so that, until the day there are thousands of master-furniture-crafts-people, we can all buy a chair to sit on while we write controversial comments on blogs.
Hantra
on 11 May 09And our president has to give the queen an iPod.
Sharing Matters
on 12 May 09Joe, I get your point! You are right – we can’t all deal with niche projects. There need to be a mass production out there so we can afford furniture, cars, planes etc. But that is not the point about Sam Maloof.
When I read Sam’s story and I think what is so great about him is his passion and humility. He didn’t complain when he was short of money, he stuck to his principles and he put even more heart into what he did.
You can be a mediocre developer but you can create some small diamond like a “lightbox” that is a simple js functionality that ads a third dimension to many websites with galleries.
Or you can be a mediocre designer that will put a lot of heart and create usability of a Basecamp application. I showed Basecamp to my boss a few days ago. He was skeptical – another TODO app that will take ages to manage. Today he is amazed. The app is very easy to use and saves a lot of time.
I believe that everybody is born with huge potential to change the world around. Creativity is the gate to this hidden resources in us. Think about your daily job and become a craftsman not a mediocre developer. The way you think about yourself affects they way you live. Everybody is talented, Joe. Everybody.
Dean Cruse
on 12 May 09Glad to see you pick this up. Maloof is a hero of mine and the reason I got into making furniture (even it’s it only a weekend hobby) when I’m not doing software.
His products are special, and inspire the aspiring craftsman in us all.
This discussion is closed.