When Thomas Jefferson penned his seminal manifesto on individual freedom in 1776, he did not list access to affordable, custom-made furniture among mankind's inalienable rights. The colonists had bigger fish to fry, for sure, but today, with the matters of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness firmly settled, a local husband-and-wife team is working to expand the tenants of a free society.
Their concept? Design democracy.
In the view of Kerry and Bryce Moore, the duo behind Detroit-based Context Furniture, the prohibitive costs of manufacturing have for too long kept small business, freelance designers, artists, and even hobbyists from penetrating the furniture market and offering their unique products to shoppers desiring an alternative to products spit out by the thousands by major companies (can anybody say IKEA? Crate and Barrel? Pottery Barn?). But that's about to change. In less than two years, the couple hope to bring about the opening of a local manufacturing center in the city, where anyone with a design in mind can make it a reality.
Mass customization
The goal is ambitious, but also highly attainable, say the Moores, who met at the University of Montana, Missoula, then moved to Detroit as Bryce finished off his degree at College For Creative Studies. The two are working with foundations, education centers, for- and nonprofits, manufacturers and designers to get funding, in-kind donations, and good old fashioned quid pro quos to get the center up and running by 2010. Kerry likens it to the "town oven" of pre-industrial societies, when residents of a village would bring their grain to a central location to bake their goods in an oven built and maintained by all, for all.
The analogy isn't quite perfect, because fire and brick are relatively cheap while the machines needed to design, cut, fasten and perfect furniture can cost up to half a million dollars. But Kerry says she's confident that manufacturers of the necessary equipment can be persuaded to place it in the center gratis in exchange for using the center as a training facility and showroom for prospective buyers and end users.
The concept isn't novel, as Bryce points out. Upstarts in the biomedical and nanotechnology fields frequently rely on equipment at universities and research facilities that they could never afford to buy themselves.
In the case of the manufacturing center, individuals would bring computer-developed plans to the center, use a materials library to pick the components, and have the item made on-site for about what it would cost them to buy a mass-produced item. Those with less developed plans can choose from a selection of available templates (which can be modified to their specifications) or be partnered with a designer for an hourly or project-based rate.
The project isn't merely a leap of faith. The Moores conducted an innovative test of the center's potential success early this year when they sponsored a Design Democracy competition, inviting designers to submit plans for custom furniture that could be manufactured at an affordable price. The Moores then selected the seven best designs, constructed them, and in May took them to the prestigious International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City. The public was invited to vote on the winner.
The people's choice? A domestic workstation made with laser-cut and bent sheet metal and CNCed wood by freelance designer Mike Devereaux, a graduate of Kendall College of Art and Design at Ferris State University in Grand Rapids and a resident of Shelby Township. Devereaux said his intent was to update the home-based workspace to accommodate new technology — and the jungle of cords that accompanies it — in a way that was graceful, sophisticated and affordable. The piece, which can be shipped flat, will now be a permanent Context Furniture offering.
The idea for the center is largely inspired by the Moore's own business paradigm at Context Furniture, which has captured the attention of design critics across the country. (A page on the company's Web site serves as a repository for articles on Context Furniture that have appeared in a host of national publications, including Newsweek, The New York Times, House Beautiful, Architectural Record, Metropolitan Home, Interior Design, Dwell. Each article is a nod to Context Furniture but also, by extension, to Detroit.) Unlike most manufacturing companies, which according to Bryce are essentially "marketing companies" for furniture made in Vietnam, China, Taiwan, and other bastions of lamentably cheap labor and government-subsidized industries, Context Furniture handles all its products. The company does partner with Michigan-based companies for materials or to have pieces cut, but all final assembly and packaging is done in Context Furniture's facility.
There are currently three lines available under the Context Furniture brand: the Narrative and William & Mary collections, designed by Kerry and Bryce (their signature look is predominantly blond furniture with a strip or strips of dark wood), and the Truss Collection, designed by Scott Klinker, who heads the graduate 3D design program at Cranbrook (where he received his master's in 1996). These branded pieces, many of which can be seen at Mezzanine on Grand River, are but a portion of the several thousands of units Context Furniture makes each year for hospitals, hotels restaurants, malls, and other buyers, who put their own design ideas into the pieces they order.
Locally, furniture from Context Furniture can be seen at Farmington's trendy The Emory and Bosco Lounge. Farther afield, it can be seen at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, FL, and Mills malls in Pittsburgh, Toronto, and San Diego.
The next stage in manufacturing?
It's powerful and fitting that the mass customization movement is gaining momentum in Detroit, says Kerry, noting that the city gave birth to the Industrial Age's revolutionary strategy — mass production — just a century ago. But it's not surprising, she adds, because the city understands manufacturing, even when the processes change. And the move to mass customization is truly an about-face.
"It's the opposite of the process made possible by the assembly line," she says. "Since the hundred years of mass manufacturing, technology has advanced where we can make things differently, and people can get exactly what they want, and the price can come down."
Another trial of the mass customization concept will take place Sept. 20-21 at the first annual DIY Street Fair in Ferndale. The event, which celebrates the "do it yourself spirit," coincides with the 2008 Ferndale Fine Arts Festival and will feature local artists, businesses, breweries, handmade crafters, locally produced food, film makers, record labels and live bands. Kerry, who sits on the DIY fair's steering committee, says Context Furniture will be inviting the public to make individualized birdhouses from multiple materials on-site to demonstrate the workability of mass customization.
One local artist who caught the mass customization bug from Concept Furniture is Matt Alexander, who worked with the Moores for two years while earning his master's in three-dimensional design at Cranbrook. Moore, who is now working as a freelance designer in Brooklyn, NY, developed for the Design Democracy competition a gourd-shaped light fixture using propriety technology developed in Detroit by Synergeering Group. The piece, notes Kerry, "could truly only have been made in Detroit" thanks to the laser-centering technology involved, which allows for the creation of complex, computer-modeled forms that traditional modes of sculptural casting can't achieve.
"I think where America can be important for art and design is if each area of the country can capture its own essence and put that into its work," says Alexander, who says he loves the "grittiness" of Detroit. "Detroit's is based on its very rich history in manufacturing and the automobile companies."
"Detroit's got a lot of character, and I think it's going to have a new renaissance," added Devereaux, whose work can be seen online. "I think a local manufacturing center could bring or keep young designers here."
Lucy Ament is a freelance writer living in Grosse Pointe. Her last article for Metromode was Nanotechnology: SE Michigan's Industrial Revolution
Photos:
Signature furniture design by Context Furniture for the Emory Bar & Grille - Ferndale
Kerry and Bryce Moore, the duo behind Detroit-based Context Furniture
The Morbidelli, an industry standard tool, allows for horizontal and vertical line boring
Bryce Moore on the planer
Context Design's nucleus
Kerry Bryce hard at work, proving "it's NOT a man's world"
Photographs by Marvin Shaouni
Marvin Shaouni is the managing photographer for Metromode & Model D.