craftsman 101

Craftsman Style 101Craftsman Style 101A Builder’s Guide to Recreating Craftsman in SL

Your Presenter: Troy Your Presenter: Troy VogelVogel Content creator,

architect since 2004 Architect of the

following projects:◦ Odaesan House

◦ Costa Del Mar House

◦ Texas State University Virtual Campus: Bobcat Village

◦ United Church of Christ of Koinonia

◦ Mission Home Store Island

Furniture builder for the Mission Home Store

Arts & Crafts in the UKArts & Crafts in the UK Arts & Crafts movement began in 1860s England with the ideas of

the philosopher John Ruskin and designer and poet William Morris.

Rebellion against Victorian industrialized production, poor working conditions and lack of respect for workmanship.

Classical and then current industrial designs were both disregarding function and needs of residents of the spaces. This required a return to a more human centric approach to design & architecture.

Advocated a return to the Gothic architectural style

Good products, and fine craftsmanship should be available to all – especially the working class. This will help them regain the dignity they lost.

Machines should not impose design rules, design rules should impose how machines are used – wisely: use machines for drudgery work and blend in handcrafting for fine work & finishing.

Craftsman Style in the USCraftsman Style in the US One school believes that Greene and Greene are the pioneers of Craftsman

in the US while another believes that A&C came over to the US around 1890-1920s titled as Craftsman by Gustav Stickley.

The movement later was also referred to as the Mission after an article published in a newspaper about Gustav where he referred to one of his designs “in a Spanish Mission in Southern California.”

Spanish Mission at the time meant Spanish Colonial and the juxtaposition of the Mission name used for Craftsman created much confusion then and even now amongst collectors.

Hand crafted furniture, vases, and goods but everything must have a function. NO Victorian clutter in the house!

Quarter sawn oak and best natural materials used.

Embellishments and decorations are restrained and/or functional (contrast to Victorian).

Elaborate wood joinery: mortise & tenons.

Master Architects of the Master Architects of the Craftsman StyleCraftsman Style Gustav Stickley

Frank Lloyd Wright

Greene & Greene

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Gustav Stickley (1858-Gustav Stickley (1858-1942)1942) Stickley brought A&C style to the

US and named it “Craftsman” to differentiate from the UK A&C.

Later it was also called Mission Style: “furniture must fill its mission of usefulness as we as it possibly can”

Stickley published the “Craftsman” magazine that had detailed drawings meant to inspire people to build their own pieces.

Stickley designed at least 241 homes and published over 221 plans between 1901 and 1916.

There are two Stickley companies today both descendents of the original Gustav Stickley.

Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright(1867-(1867-1959)1959) Took the A&C and Craftsman

styles to the next level by transforming them into the Prairie style.

Inherited the basic principles of the A&C and Craftsman movements and took them to extremes while making them his own.

Houses adorned with Asian, Mayan influenced touches.

Experimented with building materials.

Charles Sumner Greene (1868-Charles Sumner Greene (1868-1957) 1957) Henry Mathers Greene(1870-Henry Mathers Greene(1870-1954)1954) Hailed by the American

Institute of Architects as “formulators of a new and native architecture.”

Greene & Greene designed houses and furnishings a century ago that established a new paradigm for the art of architecture in the United States.

Characteristics of their work:◦ Drawing on the skills of outstanding

craftsmen,

◦ High art aesthetics,

◦ Beautiful and functional spaces.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928)(1868-1928) Leader of the Glasgow style that

evolved from A&C roots. His influences were Industrial

Modernism and Asian. However his work was far from

most of the modernists of his era and reflected a level of ornament that was more reminiscent of Art Nouveau.

Margaret Macdonald, his wife’s, contribution to interior decors of his building should not be overlooked.

The principles that guided A&C and Craftsman also guided CRM:◦ Importance for family space◦ Local materials & labor◦ Quality furnishings◦ Windows & light very important◦ Art should be in everything, it

should surround people◦ Furnishings should be sparse

and functional, homes should be uncluttered.

Characteristics of Craftsman Characteristics of Craftsman House IHouse I Craftsman Home has

refinement of design and quality of construction and finish.

It is often site related and placed to advantage using the site.

The house is built with materials found on the site, and/or natural materials native to the region.

The house designs rely on exposed structural elements for decorative details. The variety of natural materials provide textures for light to play on.

Voids, in the form of recessed porches and entrance ways, and terraces and pergolas, create visual interest.

Characteristics of Craftsman Characteristics of Craftsman House IIHouse II Interiors emphasize form

and function. Space is conservatively and creatively used for living, with design elements utilizing wood and built-in spaces such as inglenooks, benches and cabinets.

Ceilings are lower than Victorian though not as low as Prairie style that followed.

Light fixtures and hardware relate as design elements.

Asian influence is felt in many of the details such as the pitch of the roofline being quite low.

Characteristics of the Craftsman House Exterior

PORCH

A wide, unenclosed front porch with overhanging eaves spanning the full or partial width of the home is a recognizable feature of the craftsman style. Porches are often framed by substantial columns, often square or tapered and extending all the way to the ground.


FRONT DOORS

Glazing – Fitting glass into windows and doors.Paneled door – A door with one or more recessed panels.Batten door – A door constructed by nailing boards together in various ways.


ROOFLINE

Craftsman homes have lower pitch gables. Frequently the brackets supporting the roof are visible. Decorative Beams & rafters real or false are exposed. Multiple roof planes were common. Tile and slate as well as shingles were favored.


CHIMNEYS

Stone exterior chimneys were present in almost every single Craftsman home. Some of the earlier versions used mix of materials such as: stone at bottom becoming brick toward the top.


FOUNDATION

Sloping Foundation


WINDOWS

Windows of craftsman style homes are often grouped together in horizontal sets. Windows typically have noticeable frames and may be double-hung or fixed, with some homes adorned with a stained glass window.


SIDING

Common siding materials used are horizontal wood boards and wood shingles or shakes. Ground floor and upper floors often had different materials: clapboard/shingle over stone. Stucco was also commonly used.


LANDSCAPING

A Craftsman home should be surrounded by planters, plant beds, and carefully selected location appropriate plants native to the area. The house should appear in harmony with its surroundings.

Craftsman Interiors & Craftsman Interiors & FurnitureFurniture

Victorian Vs. Craftsman Victorian Vs. Craftsman InteriorsInteriors

Victorian Craftsman Interiors

Mission Furniture Mission Furniture CharacteristicsCharacteristicsCarpentry

◦ Quartersawn Solid Oak

◦ Quadralinear Posts◦ Joinery:

Mortise & Tenons Tongue & Groove

Joints Blind Dovetailed

Crossrails

◦ Book Matched Door Panels

Use of Art GlassCeramics

Craftsman Furniture Craftsman Furniture DetailsDetailsQuartersawn OakA method of sawing oak so

the cut is made parallel to the wood's medullar rays instead of across. This special cut yields a limited quantity of top grade boards featuring ray flake, the decorative wavy pattern prominent in quartersawn wood.

Joinery: Mortise & TenonsJoinery: Mortise & Tenons A signature element of

Craftsman construction is tenons – boards whose ends have been cut for insertion into a mortise.

A blind tenon is concealed within the mortise. A through tenon projects beyond the depth of the mortise.

A keyed tenon projects beyond the mortise and is slotted with a wedge-shaped block.

BookmatchingBookmatching Resawing is a process

of splitting thick lumber into thinner boards. Once split, the halves are opened like a book revealing identical grain. This time consuming and labor intensive process assures beautifully grained door panels on all pieces.

Glass Panels In FurnitureGlass Panels In Furniture Glass is incorporated

into the furniture to create a sense of lightness and visual impact.

Art glass is used in windows to play with light and give interiors additional color / design without cluttering the space.

Examples of Stickley Examples of Stickley CraftsmanCraftsman

1914 Denver Craftsman Home Craftsman Bungalow Style

Example of PrairieExample of Prairie

Dana Thomas Houseby Frank Lloyd Wright

Dana Thomas Houseby Frank Lloyd Wright

Example of BungalowExample of Bungalow

The Gamble Houseby Greene & Greene

Blacker House Entry HallBy Greene & Greene

Example of Glasgow Example of Glasgow StyleStyle

Hill HouseBy Charles Rennie Mackintosh

House For An Art LoverBy Charles Rennie Mackintosh

References & ResourcesReferences & ResourcesOnline Resources Gustav Stickley and the Arts and Crafts Movement Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms Stickley Furniture Company Blog Post: What’s up with this Mission vs. Craftsman vs. Arts &

Crafts Stuff? Excellent Mortise & Tenon Article on Wikipedia Craftsman Style Guide (must read)

Books Robert Rust and Kitty Turgeon, Arts & Crafts, (New York, NY:

Sterling Publishing, 1997) ISBN: 1-56799-363-X Robert W Lang, Shop Drawing for Craftsman Interiors, (Bethel

CT: Cambium Press, 2004) ISBN 1-892836-16-5 Robin Langley and David Rago, The Arts & Crafts Movement,

(New York,NY: Barnes & Noble) 2003 ISBN: 0-7607-4222-7

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