National Hardwood Magazine - June 2022

HMA UPDATE Continued from page 14
Bottom Line: The College is a wonderful resource
that’s providing us a means to help ourselves.
So, if there is a promising employee within your
organization, wanting to grow and looking for more,
but lacking the industry training to do so, take a
close look at the programs being offered at NTC.
Remember, “Good luck is the result of good
planning.” I can’t recall who said that or where I
read it, but for sure, words to live by. n
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AHEC REPORT Continued from page 16
The next design generation
Nine young designers were hand-picked by a selection
panel comprising their university tutors, the
project’s manufacturing partner, German workshop
Holzfreude, three professional mentors – Hanne
Willmann, Sebastian Herkner and Garth Roberts –
and the AHEC team:
• Maximilian Beck • Clémence Buytaert • Simon
Gehring • Hansil Heo • Sarah Hossli & Lorenz Noelle
• Anna Koppmann • Haus
Otto (Nils Körner and Patrick
Henry Nagel) • Theo Luvisotto •
Maximilian Rohregger.
From one or more of four Hardwoods
– American Red Oak,
Cherry, and Hard and Soft Maple
– each designer has created an
object that reflects their approach
towards the theme ‘slow design
for fast change’. The result is a
wide range of products, including
bowls, chairs, benches, shelving
systems, tables and modular
furniture elements. This variety
reflects the diverse voices and
ideas that define the design industry
today, united by an emphasis
on sustainability, longevity
and a focus on quality.
Produced by Holzfreude, the
finished objects embody the value
of perfect craftsmanship as
well as presenting a selection of
the best emerging design talents
in a unique historical context.
The shift to sustainability
Across the world, the throwaway
culture of fast consumption
is coming to an end. Consumers
are becoming more and more
conscious of the stories behind
the products they spend their
money on, favoring products that
will last longer – possibly even
for multiple generations. Objects
that are durable, timeless in design
and quality are increasingly a focus of consumers,
individual designers and corporations alike.
Slow design is fast becoming an economic mindset.
In this context, wood is becoming increasingly
preferable as a design material, thanks to its natural
look and texture and to its inherent sustainability –
the perfect choice for ‘slow’ design.
“Strong, tactile and visually appealing, wood is
essential in an era of plastics, over-consumption
and climate change, because of its low impact on
the environment and the fact that
it can be easily recycled. As well
as being a material for making,
it is also a low-impact fuel and a
carbon store. This project presents
four underused timbers and
questions the assumption that
the most well-known varieties of
wood are always the only ‘right’
woods to use,” said David Venables,
AHEC Europe.
Designers today have an enormous
influence on how products
are made and where, with what
and how they are manufactured.
The future of this shift lies within
the next generation of designers
– the students and recent graduates
who are likely to shape the
industry for decades to come.
Thus far, the global pandemic
has largely robbed this generation
of opportunities to showcase
their ideas and products to
international audiences. Thanks
to AHEC and SLOW, they have
both a platform to demonstrate
their talents and an incentive to
rise to the challenge and come
up with innovative products, objects
and ideas that reflect and
accelerate the transition towards
slow design.
Find out more: slowdesignfor
fastchange.org. n
À travers la scierie. À travers le monde.
Follow us on
@millerwoodtradepub
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