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Thursday, June 26, 2014

The Nakashima legacy

Legendary furniture designer George Nakashima died in 1990, and his complex of home, studios and workshops in New Hope, Pennsylvania, were designated a National Historic Landmark. Nakashima's daughter, Mira Nakashima, took over the family business following her father's death.

Nakashima recalls living in a tent while her father built the family home and workshop. They used a cistern to collect rainwater, since they had no well. They got drinking water from neighbors and bathed where they swam.

Her father was trained as an architect, and she herself studied architecture at Harvard, but she has dedicated herself to the preservation of the complex and the furniture collections within the structures and to continuing the woodworking tradition her father started in the 20th century. She hopes her son Satoru will join the family business and carry it into the future.

From nowness.com


George Nakashima's home
nowness.com

Wood stored in the complex
nowness.com

Furniture stored in the complex
nowness.com

Current staff, with Mira Nakashima in the foreground
nowness.com

6 comments:

  1. What an extraordinary legacy. I love the pure simplicity of form and the way in which material and form are gracefully welded. Surely I see some Shaker influence in the tables and chairs?

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    1. I love that some of the families of these legendary midcentury designers are carrying on the family businesses.

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  2. What a wonderful place. As often as I have been to New Hope I have never know of this place.

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    1. I'd love go to there someday. Nakashima is one of my favorite designers.

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  3. What an excellent legacy to carry on.

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    1. It's a wonderful tribute to her amazing father. I hope the grandson joins the business.

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