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Meet James Howe: the Adelaide-based, self-taught contemporary furniture designer. We caught up with James to chat about the simplicity of his work, how his previous life as a journalist impacts his craft, and how his best ideas come to him while he watches Netflix.

James Howe first fell in love with furniture after discovering Danish designer Børge Mogensen’s J39 shaker chair – the journalist-turned-award-winning furniture designer was trawling through the internet in search of dining chairs. It’s fair to say Mogensen changed his life.

Seven years later, James has won an international award for his work and is about to open a private studio. “I basically became obsessed with furniture overnight,” he says. “I’d never seen anything like [Børge Mogensen]. Something about it grabbed me and made me feel a weird mixture of serene and wildly excited.”

But, it was the pending arrival of his first child that actually spurred him to craft his first piece. With a new-found interest in furniture design and creation, he designed and built a change table and Moses basket stand. “I just went in deep,” he says. “I found it enthralling. To discover something out of the blue that really lights you up like that – it’s a real gift.”

In 2015, his wife encouraged him to enter both pieces in the internationally-recognised Etsy Design Awards, where he won the New Talent category. “I started receiving press, and [my career] began to snowball in a way that was just crazy exciting,” James says. Then came a coveted position in the Jam Factory’s associate program where he undertook a two-year funded position. “It gave me permission to make furniture all day, every day. It was huge.”

James describes his aesthetic as minimalistic, basing his work around a material or an image he’ll imagine. “It’ll usually pop into my head when I’m watching Netflix,” he quips. He’ll then strip back the various layers of the initial concept until he finds a distinctive element to focus on. “It’s an important part of my design process. Finding what the piece brings that other furniture doesn’t.

The Rushcutters Bench (pictured right) exemplifies James’ commitment to simple yet thoughtful design. The first draft of the hand-dyed Danish paper cord seat with stainless steel frame featured timber legs and a metal top. “What set it apart was the hand-woven weave with these tapered ends that I developed,” James explains. “Once I realised that I eliminated everything other than what was structurally required for the piece to exist.”

James says the Rushcutters Bench is one of his favourite designs to date. “I feel like it’s the most resolved in terms of stripping it back to its core thesis,” he says. “I know how much work went into resolving it, reducing it and boiling it down until it resembled what it is today.” The piece was named as a finalist in the 2017 Australian Furniture Design Awards.

Other pieces in James’ portfolio include a credenza with chevron-fluted doors (picture above), a softly curved side table and the ‘Hubble Lamp’ – a simple rock maple and Limoges porcelain diffuser structure that emits swirls of light from the impurities in the handmade glass.

He credits Adam Goodrum, Tom Faraday and Adelaide-based Khai Liew as some of his most influential role models, but says his early success also derives from his appreciation of the materials he works with. James calls himself a ‘material fiend’ who tries to emulate the emotional impact furniture and form have on him in the work he produces

James’ previous life as a freelance magazine journalist and photographer has also given him a unique perspective on design, saying the two fields feel “identical” to him. “My ability to know whether the words I write are good and the ability to know if what I’m designing looks good comes from the same place,” he says. “It’s the same skillset.” This, coupled with his natural aesthetic sense and ability to be a step ahead of the trends, means he’s quickly moved to a place where he’s becoming comfortable with his identity as a self-taught designer.

While he gets ready to open his studio, James has also started to inspire the next generation of Australian contemporary furniture designers by posting educational videos about his work on social media. “I want to see people like me, who don’t feel permission to design furniture, to decide to start and to have the same life-changing experience I did,” he says. “It takes guts to put something vulnerable into the world. I want to encourage other people to take that leap.”

jameshowe.com.au
@jameshowestudio

An award-winning holistic space you will want to live in

Words: Laura Mappas Images: David Sievers

It’s the way the straight lines and harsh materiality of the exterior meshes seamlessly with the meticulously planned and executed gardens that makes this unique home in Adelaide’s inner north award-winning.

Picking up a commendation at the recent SA Architecture Awards, the design is the work of local firm, RAD Studio. “The key design element of this home lies in its function,” says Creative Director Chris Rowlands, explaining  that the central aim was to create a “gallery” for the sensational gardens, which are the work of homeowner and horticulturalist Ngoc Dinh.

Five thoughtfully placed courtyards and a greenhouse-like space that connects the original 1950s home to the new build are central to the execution of this concept. Polished concrete flooring combine with warm natural timbers to create a modern, earthy vibe, while polycarbonate panel shave been used to provide a sense of calm, enabling the diffusion of natural and artificial light. Lush greenery decorates the area, with a collection of hanging planters and pots injecting colour and creating shadows.

To the left and right of this ‘connector’ are two of the five courtyards – each a private space servicing a bathroom on one side and an ensuite and robe on the other. RBW Dimple wall sconces soften these wet areas, offering ambient lighting, while custom walnut cabinetry adds another level of luxury.

The central courtyard, which sits alongside the kitchen to the east of the home, has been planted with Japanese Maples and mature Frangipanis. This space is also home to an elaborate outdoor kitchen, complete with oven and cooktop. Back inside, and perched above the kitchen, is a bright and breezy mezzanine area, which boasts views to the Maple garden below. To the west of this central courtyard lies another calming enclave featuring a dedicated reading nook and study looking out onto a pond filled with Water Lillies.

It’s this clever layering of greenery against the cold surface of concrete, the choice of textures and the influx of natural light that opens up the otherwise small spaces and gives this home it’s overall appeal. And it’s not just aesthetic– opening the home up to the north was essential for passive thermal performance. “We wanted to get as much natural light in winter as possible,” says Chris, explaining that the room sizes and window openings were designed purely off solar angles, so in the middle of winter the entire room is flushed with sun.

Likewise, the green elements and the materiality also has significance. “Early on in the design phase Ngoc shared with usher passion for architecture,” explains Chris, “in particular, she spoke of buildings she had grown up with. Ngoc presented Vietnamese Brutalist architecture – buildings that had this beautiful juxtaposition between rigid architectural forms and heavy plantings that engulf and soften the structure. The integration of garden and building Is something we wanted to celebrate.”