Furniture Today
watch online or download
Fred Baier Prism Chair
Parts One, Two and Three
Collection with bonus videos
‘Furniture, like architecture serves as a barometer to social, economic and spiritual change and tells much of the story of civilization’.
This fascinating presentation by Jeremy Broun uniquely documents the British Designer Maker revolution since the 1970's to the first two decades of this century. It is set against a historical backcloth of furniture dating back to the Magna Carta, highlighting milestones of design such as the Bauhaus, Art Nouveau and the Arts & Crafts movement.
Taking several years in the making, Furniture Today started as a series of lectures and then became documented on DVD and now as an online video collection - providing a valuable archive of a world leading revolution that future historians will likely call the second Golden Age and the one that has paved the way for the innovative work of today.
Of interest to cultural societies, students, furniture designer makers, interior designers, architects, colleges, libraries, galleries - for individual connoisseurs or group audiences and repeat viewings.
What they said about the lectures
Inspirational’, ‘Extremely interesting’
’Very comprehensive and informative’,
What they said about the DVDs
FT1 & 2 ‘Not a boring moment’, ‘Superb’
‘Would make a good TV series’
FT3 ‘This film is an absolute must for anyone interested in modern furniture..’
Jeremy Broun was part of The 1970s British Craft Furniture Revival, pushing the
boundaries of this craft over three decades. He is also an award-winning author.
This award winning book by Jeremy Broun (updated in 2018) contains a unique 'Themes' section showcasing over 75 of the best examples of furniture being created today that Jeremy has selected.
Thomas Whittingham Katie Walker Christine Meyer-Eagleston Jolyon Yates Alice Blogg
Furniture Today Part One 51 mins
In 2006 Jeremy Broun gives a personal appraisal of Furniture Today ‘in context’ demonstrating that it is no ‘here today gone tomorrow fashion thing’ but a quiet and solid underground movement that has been going on for the past 30 years or so, since the 1970s British Craft Furniture Revival, with its roots and influences deep in history. He challenges such prejudices that 'old is better than new' or that 'old and new cannot be mixed'.
Topics:
From Magna Carta to Victoriana a snapshot of English period furniture. Twentieth Century Design Milestones Major movements such as The Arts & Crafts, Bauhaus, Memphis,
A history of designer makers an inside story.
John Makepeace OBE,
Alan Peters OBE both major influences.
Furniture Today Part two 55 mins
With a brief recap on topics covered in Part One Jeremy Broun showcases the diverse furniture being created from the 1980s to the first decade of the Twentieth Century.
Topics:
Eighties Makers a culmination in interest of the designer maker movement Unsung hero Andrew Whately was chief cabinetmaker to John Makepeace for 11 years.
Nineties and 2K bespoke furniture.
The Furniture Group and Cheltenham exhibitions run by Betty Norbury, Peta Levi at Bonhams, Jeremy Broun presents furniture on regional TV, Fred Baier punk furniture maker, Irish Create event 2006,
Green Woodwork.
Furniture Today Part Three 79 mins
The Golden Age of Design and Craftsmanship that Jeremy wrote about in 1990 continues and still there is great public ignorance about this asppect of our culture! This update (2012) gives a representative glimpse of some of the diverse work being created andincludes several interviews with makers and public.
Topics
Part One & Part Two overview A history of furniture dating back to the Magna Carta highlighting the British Designer Maker (or Studio Furniture movement). Furniture Snapshot a musical slideshow of iconic and other distinctive furniture designs picked by Jeremy Broun.
The Father of 20th Century British Furniture Design An interview with Ray Leigh who was part of the Gordon Russell story. Russell successfully embraced hand work with the machine
The Art of the Machine - Waywood Furniture workshop at the forefront of bespoke British furniture design, embracing computer technology with hand skill. Enriching the Language of Furniture John Makepeace discusses some of his major work in 2011.
Made to Sit an exhibition of chairs during the 2010 London Design Week. Whilst stewarding the show Jeremy Broun hijacked television celebrity Dame Esther Rantzen to come inside the gallery and sit on some of the chairs.
The Pewsey Boys An impromtu interview with Fred Bair and his longstanding pal Johnny Hawkes still at the cutting edge of innovation and enthusiasm.
From Silver Wire to Sailing cord Jeremy Broun discusses the importance of ‘method’ and his inspiration from Finnish woodworking.
The XX Factor Rachel Hutchinson draws some of her ideas using thin plywood from female corsetry. She pays tribute to other women woodworkers such as Jakki Dehn, Lucinda Leech and Karen Hansen.
The V & A Furniture Futures Symposium A brief snapshot focusing on extracts from the lecture by David Colwell - global waste, plastics toxicity, renewable sustainable wood products, team bending.
Cheltenham The ‘Ascot’ of bespoke furniture making and a fairly good barometer as to what is happening across the UK landscape although not cutting edge design. Interviews with a furniture shop owner, editor of ex magazine editor Nick Gibbs and some critique by artist and writer Michael Wainwright. Jeremy Broun gets the public talking.
A Tribute to Alan Peters OBE Jason Heap, organizer of ‘CCD’ launched the ‘Alan Peters Award for Excellence’ (now taken on by Jeremy Broun and Andrew Lawton) Andrew Lawton who worked with the great furniture maker talks about the last table that Alan worked on.
Forest Woods Jeremy Broun chills out with members of The Forest of Avon Wood Products Co-operative whose message is local sustainability.
Epilogue What future are we leaving our young people? Are we slow to throw away the throw away society?
over 400 Topic References:
Glenn Close, Jeremy Clarkson, Rolls Royce, Brabourne Great Hall, University of Bath, David Colwell, Ralph Hampton, The Bristol Architecture Cenrte, University of Third Age, Toby Winteringham, Joseph Walsh, Matthew Burt, Alan Peters OBE, John Makepeace OBE, Gareth Neal, Martin Grierson, IKEA, Porsche, Silver Lining, Magna Carta, Winston Churchill, Ford Escort, dug out chest, Age of Oak, Age of Walnut, Age of Mahogany, Rennaissance, early jointing methods, Tudor, box chair, linenfold panel, gateleg table, Elizabethan court cupboard, Cromwellian chair, barley twist turning, cabrioie leg, claw and ball foot, Windsor chair, Danish furniture, Age of the designer: Chippendale, Hepplewhite, Adam, Hepplewhite, Sheraton, Regency, Victoriana, Edward Joy, Industrial revolution, Age of the Machine. Gimson, Morris, Arts & Crafts, Ambrose Heal, Art Nouveau, Bauhaus, Marcel Breuer, de Stihl,Edward Barnsley, Crafts Council, Prestcote gallery, Ann Hartree, Rupert Williamson, plywood furniture, Ashley Cartwright, Fred Baier, Martin Grierson, David Field, Jon Coleman, veneered furniture, Sotheby's First Sale of British Contemporary Crafts, Jakki Dehn, Lucinda Leech, Andrew Varah, Create 2006, Declan O'Donoghue, Sir Terence Conran, Memphis. linenfold panel, David Savage, William Morris, Arts & Crafts, Gareth Neal, Studio Furniture movement, Nicholas Chandler, Prestcote Gallery, game of the name, Martin Grierson, Sotheby's First Sale of Contemporary British Crafts, Alan Peters, John Makepeace, Parnham school, Viscount Linley, Robert Williams (Pearl Dot) Jakki Dehn, Lucinda Leech, Toby Winteringham, London Coffee Information Centre, Johnny Hawkes, David Colwell (interview), steam bent furniture, Andrew Whately (shell box interview), heritage city of Bath, David Gregson (lecturn), Andrew Varah, Ashley Cartright, Waywood, Robert Ingham, Philip Koomen (pondlife bench), John Coleman, Rupert Williamson, Jeremy Broun (luminaires), Ramez & Jamila Ghazoul (Artizana gallery). Tim Stead MBE, Andrew Skelton, Walter Jack, Neil Henderson, Rycotewood college, Fred Baier (profile), Ian Heseltine, Ann Toplis, Martin Lane, Alan Tilbury, The Furniture Group, HTV West television (Amdy Shepherd show), chipboard filing cabinet, Peta Levi (interview at Decorative Arts Today (Bonhams), Des Ryan, Ron Arad, Tom Dixon, Edward Barnsley, Danny Lane, Cato (Tony Portus), Stephen Preisig, Amanda Brisbane, Jane Atfield (re-cycled), Ashley Hall, Roinald Emmett, Betty Norbury, Celebration of Craftsmanship and design, Matthew Burt, Nicholas Dyson, Jeremy Higson (Carlton desk), Andrew Cooper, satinwood, tulip wood, rosewood, Ian Norbury (interview), Sunday Telegraph British Crafts Awards, Gerrit Reitveld, Stephen Budd, Waywood, Richard Williams, Richard Jones, Karen Hansen, John Lee, Paul Steel, Sean Feeney, Edward Barnsley Workshop, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, (Hillhouse Centenary exhibition) Rod and Alison Wales, Shakers, Trannon, Richard Stump, Private Parts exhibition Michael Wainwright. Hugh Scriven, Richard Jones, Guy Martin, John Lee, Paul Steel, Sean Feeney, Barnsley Workshop, Theo Cook, Charles Rennie Mackintosh Centenary exhibition at the Hill House, Rod and Alison Wales, Matthew Burt, Trannon, Richard Stump, Richard Williams, Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers, Dave Tragen, Alastair Graham, Thomas Heatherwick, Benchmark, Jonathon Markovitch (secret mitred dovetail), Irish Create 2005, Joseph Walsh, David Davis, Sasha Sykes, John Lee, Michael Bell, Neil Lyons, Brian Murray, Neil and Ann McCarthy, Thomas Kay, Fiona O'Keefe, Emma Ferne, patronage, green woodworking, pole lathe, shaving horse, Chris Nangle, Karen Hansen, Roy Tam, Tom Redfern, Alun Heslop, Nick Sneller, Joe Cooper (Touchwood), Mike Abbott. Bob Slade, Tom Redfern, Forest of Avon Co-operative. Colin Clutterbuck, Nigel Howe, Jeremy Clarkson, Angus Ross, Joseph Walsh, Woodworking international, Arthur Negus, Katie Walker, Joseph Walsh, Karen Hansen, Jolyon Yates, Gareth Neal, Nick Langham, Simon Pengelly, Marc Fish, Ron Arad, KFC, Nicholas Chandler, Ron Arad,Rover chair, Katie Walker, Cato, Nick Langham, Waywood, Sir Terence Conran, IKEA, Jim Partridge, Michael Marriott, Karen Hansen, Thomas Heatherwick, Gordon Russell, Utility furniture, Murphy Radios, Design Council, Ray Leigh, Gimson, Arts & Crafts, machine (appraisal), Lygon Arms, Broadway, Sir Nicholas Pevsner, Barnaby Scott, CNC, Simon Smith, Clive Brooks, John Makepeace OBE, Somerset House, Colin Edon Eaden, Timothy Jeffrey, Made to sit, London Design Week, Alun Hislop, Dame Esther Rantzen, Matthew Burt, Jolyon Yates, Magnus Schofield, Toby Howes, Simon Austen, Fred Baier, Johnny Hawkes, V & A, Crafts Study Centre, Libby Purvis, Post modernist, Noughties. digital age, House of Lords, Tron, sphelix, organic forms, Jeremy Broun, Finland, Arctic Circle, furniture factory experience, router, reclaimed wood, batch production, Hill House, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Rachel Hutchinson, bent plywood, female form, High Wycombe, Trannon, Gareth Neal, Miranda Salmon, Jakki Dehn, Lucinda Leech, Sue Hyslop, Natasha Gowdy, Sarah Kay, Furniture Futures, Jo Banham, Mark Jones, Thomas Heatherwick, John Croft, Caroline Roux, Nigel Bates, Glen Adamson, David Colwell, climate, waste, pollution, sustainability, Cheltenham (exhibition), Jen Carruthers, Nick Gibbs (magazine editor), Alan Mitchell (magazine editor). Jason Heap, Michael Wainwright, Frank Perrins, Alan PetersOBE, Award for excellence, Keith Newton, Andrew Lawton, Laura Peters, The Alan Peters Furniture Award, Forest of Avon Products Co-operative, Oliver Drake, Tom Redfern, Nick Sneller, Festival of Wood, Westonbirt Arboretum, Joe Cooper, Touchwood, FOA millionth tree, Nigel Howe, timber milling, Chelvey Designer Makers, Geoff Uren, Marc Newsom, Biedermeyer, Alvar Aalto, Cromwell, furniture makers forum, Angus Ross, Jonathan Markovitz, Stephen Skolnik, Cato, Simon Yates, Simon Pirie, Toby Winteringham, Nicholas Dyson, Wales & Wales, Robert Ingham, David Savage, Andrew Varah, Tom Kealey,