As the proud owner of a much-cherished Nakashima-inspired burlwood slab coffee table, I am determined to write an overview of the marvelous Japanese-American furniture maker's work at some point in the very near future.
In the meantime, I will leave you with this little "teaser" to whet your appetite.
george nakashima (1905-1990) was born in spokane, washington. the first son of a newspaper reporter of samurai lineage named katsuharu nakashima and his wife suzu. he graduated from the graduated from the university
of washington in 1929 and from the M.I.T. with a master's in architecture in 1930 and then worked as a mural painter and architectural designer in the new york area.
in 1933 he moved to paris, and the next year joined the tokyo architectural offices of antonin raymond. in 1937 he volunteered to design and supervise construction at a religious sanctuary in pondicherry, india. because of his deep transformation of consciousness at the sri aurobindo ashram 1937-39, - and was given the sanskrit name 'sundarananda' (one who delights in beauty) by sri aurobindo himself - his work thereafter was propelled by a religious fervor.
he believed that it is necessary to remove the desire to promote one's individual ego from the creative process and to devote work each day to the divine, a concept quite contrary to mainstream western culture.
Read more at designboom. Click here.
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