Hasta La Ideas

Portland craftsmanship meets Parisian style in a sustainable tote

Setting out to make the perfect tote, Parisian design label Jardins Florian teamed up with the Portland-based craftsmen of The Good Flock. Together they have created a stylishly minimal bag that speaks through its quality materials and handsome detailing.

Made by hand from waxed cotton canvas and vegetable tanned leather, the tote reflects the conscious design approach of both makers, who share a desire to make beautiful functional products with the least environmental impact possible. As Florian Gonzalez, founder of Jardins Florian, explains, the design process was dedicated to the art of “keeping things simple.”

“We did not want to use any hardware or zips, so that the bag would be made of only two materials, both bio-degradable,” says Gonzalez about their effort to make a tote with a closure. “The design battle to find how to close the bag in an original and functional manner led us to months of prototyping and eventually to the beautiful leather flap one can see on the final model.”

Such rigor is evoked in The Good Flock’s three design principles: “Use wholesome materials, work with a conscience and design with minimal waste.” Marco Murillo, founder of The Good Flock, heralds their work as “products that can be buried in your backyard. They are made of wholesome things that won’t hurt the earth or trees or worms, even the mean ones.”

Gonzalez describes Jardins Florian as a “modern-day Maison” that designs and sells quality goods. With an exceptional eye for design, Gonzalez also benefits from a savvy approach to collaboration, so far working with luxury brands to create his products. Currently this includes an organic scented candle made with spa brand ila and a customized limited-edition Rolex Watch with Bamford Watch Department.

The Good Flock + Jardins Florian tote bag is available online for £250 (about $387) for a limited time (they indicate the next edition will come in different colors and at a higher price).

Likeminded artisans gather in a collaborative workspace in Portland

For some people, the constant rattling of trains outside their window might be irritating. But for Beam & Anchor co-founders Robert and Jocelyn Rahm, it sounded just right. “I grew up in a small town in Missouri,” said Robert. “The trains sound like home.”

For years the Rahms had dreamed of opening a collaborative workshop for a dedicated community of likeminded artisans. The first step was finding the appropriate space, which they did in a beloved, but neglected, warehouse in the heavily industrial north Portland neighborhood of Albina. Surrounded by the eerie echoes of bands practicing in nearby garages and puffs of steam from Widmer Brothers Brewing the next block down, the space was theirs after eight months of persuading the owner to hand over the keys. “The owner really loved the building and didn’t need the money,” says Robert. “We had to convince him that we were really using it, that we’d honor it and were trustworthy.”

Earlier this spring, Beam & Anchor finally opened its doors. Stepping inside is not unlike stepping inside the Rahms’ home, which is understandable given that their primary goal for the space was that it should feel like one in its decor and furnishings. The upstairs floor of the two-story building houses a half-dozen “makers” and their employees, like Taylor Ahlmark and Nori Gilbert of Maak Soap Lab and Wood & Faulk‘s Matt Pierce, where they painstakingly craft the richly detailed soaps, furniture, bags and other goods to sell in the retail store below. Robert accents their displays with interesting vintage finds like an antique gurney from the Korean War, among others.

To characterize the space as merely a workshop and store, however, would ignore the building’s animating spirit. Upstairs, an open kitchen with a large dining table serves as a gathering space, and most of the workshops are separated from each other with floor-to-ceiling curtains instead of walls—except for the wood shop, which is partitioned off because of sawdust and noise. However, even that wall has a glass viewing panel through which visitors to the building can see furniture coming together.

Some of the craftspeople, like Jocelyn’s brother Bren Reis, knew the couple beforehand; Reis is a woodworker who founded Earthbound Industries. Others sought them out once word of the project spread. “Community is so central to what we do here,” says Jocelyn. Robert adds, “We aimed to pick people that we would have over for dinner.”

That community spirit serves as a foundation for the Rahms’ plans to host community events like “maker networking” suppers and a summer music series, are underway, and there’s been some interest in setting up food carts in the parking lot.

Beam & Anchor’s early and enthusiastic reception belies the popular belief that creativity thrives in isolation. With support, encouragement and a constant infusion of new ideas, Portland makers have a haven in which to nurture their ideas. The best part is that the building, as a dynamic experiment, is not that difficult to duplicate. All you need is a germ of an idea and an empty building to see it grow.

A Portland collector’s antique imagery and artifacts add new depth to a Swedish workwear label’s NYC shop

The seemingly surprising collaboration between Portland’s Ampersand Gallery and Swedish workwear company Dunderdon came about in a wholly organic fashion. Les Szabo, a long-time Portland resident and the owner of Dunderdon USA, walked into Ampersand one day and simply liked the way it looked.

“We started talking about a collaboration back in October, but it wasn’t until this spring that we began to formalize what was going to happen,” says Ampersand owner Myles Haselhorst. Last week, Haselhorst traveled from Portland to install an exclusive collection of books, images and artifacts for Dunderdon’s New York outpost.

The original intent was to give customers an edited glimpse of Ampersand‘s extensive collections, as well as an excuse to linger over Dunderdon’s wares. In keeping with Dunderdon’s focus on menswear, Haselhorst used the opportunity to contemplate themes of masculinity. “We wanted to explore certain elements, historically and currently, of what it means to be a man,” said Haselhorst.

Judging from what Haselhorst has found, the fundamentals haven’t changed too radically over time. Enlarged photographs from the 1910s show men riding bicycles and wearing bandanas, similar to what might be found on any bohemian city street today. Haselhorst also draws a connection to the current obsession with the American frontier in the U.S.—seen in the profusion of heritage and workwear-inspired fashion—with vintage cowboy images. “The photographs weren’t of actual cowboys,” he explains. “They were men off the street dressed and posed in studio settings.”

Also unique to the store is a small book of antique erotic photos Haselhorst published for the collaboration, titled “Women I Never Knew No. 1”. The anonymous subjects and their actions seem startlingly contemporary, striking the fine balance between lewd and alluring that’s so expertly negotiated by many contemporary designers.

“Maybe a certain type of man collects this type of imagery,” speculates Haselhorst. “But in the end, we just wanted people to enjoy looking at it.” The installation is the first in an ongoing series of collaborations between Ampersand Gallery and Dunderdon. To check it out, visit New York’s Dunderdon store.

25 Howard Street

New York, NY

10013

Fifty artists design 50 coffins for the Portland leg of a traveling art show

by Hunter Hess

Seattle-based design firm Electric Coffin will be taking their annual show Boxes of Death on the road this year for the third time. What began with 20 artists exhibiting in the cramped basement of a hotel has quickly grown into a touring collection featuring more than 50 top artists, as well as lesser-known local designers and some very talented friends.

Creator Patrick “Duffy” De Armas, who runs Electric Coffin with his partner Justin Elder, describes the inspiration for the show as coming from two seemingly unlikely sources. “When I first moved to Seattle I went to a clock show,” he says. “Everyone’s clock was different, but they were all clocks. I was just so infatuated with the idea of the obvious comparison of different art styles on the same canvas. The second inspiration was studying Kane Quaye—who is most famous for his Mercedes Benz coffins.”

The show features 50 miniature coffins from artists all over the country including pieces by wood block artist Dennis McNett and ceramics designer Charles Krafft. While each individual piece follows a common theme, the personality and taste of each artist is vibrantly apparent. De Armas explains, “The idea of using the coffin as a personalized vessel to showcase who a person was as opposed just a box made me think, ‘Why not give other artists a chance to see what a coffin means to them?'”

The growth of Boxes of Death in just two years has De Armas and Elder looking forward to the future, and with a touring show and a book to be released later this year, they have plenty to be excited about. The Portland stop opens tonight, 6 April 2012, at Nemo Design and closes the following night. If you can’t make it catch the final showing at LA’s The Holding Company on 12 April 2012.

Photography by Hunter Hess

Southeast Portland’s micro roaster and bean-to-beer experimenter

Portland has developed quite a name for itself over the years as a hub for coffee innovation. Whether it boils down to exotic beans, an experienced roaster, the espresso machine or the whole package, each boutique that opens up has a fresh spin on coffee that goes beyond gimmicks and instead delves into absolute coffee nerdery. One of the more recent shops to open up in Portland’s Southeast Industrial area is Water Avenue Coffee (WAC), a casual cafe serving up brews at its 50-foot long bar built from century-old reclaimed fir.

WAC is the brainchild of Barista Exchange founder Matt Milletto and former Stumptown roaster Brandon Smyth. Using their respective knowledge, the duo has created a coffee roasting plant and full-service bar that’s as experimental as it is straightforward. After tasting WAC for ourselves—you can pick up a bag online or at their shop—we checked in with Smyth to learn more about what makes this Portland outpost so unique.

What kind of roaster do you use at WAC?

I roast on a slightly modified 1974 SASA Samiac 20-kilo coffee roaster built in France. What makes these machines unique and sought after is they were handmade at the time, and customized for the purchaser. The one at Water Avenue was constructed for a lefty who evidently loved fire engine red. They also sport dedicated motors for the cooling tray, tray agitator and exhaust. So, with the addition of a Variable Frequency Drive to the exhaust motor, the roaster can have complete control over the airflow during the roast. This is a huge advantage for a micro-roaster like us with delicate and unusual coffee cultivars with vastly different flavor profiles and seed density. Changing the airspeed during certain times while roasting can bring out sweetness, acidity, or produce a super clean cup. For espresso roasts I can slow down the airspeed, creating a very sweet, balanced roasts perfect for shots, or speed it up to bring out the lemongrass notes in an Ethiopian single origin. We are stoked to have this 1,700-lb Frenchman as a part of our daily operation.

From where do you source your beans?

The beans are sourced through a nearby importer or, ideally, directly from the farmer. I’m heading to El Salvador in a couple of weeks to purchase some coffee for next year from some amazing farms: Finca Manzano, run by Emilio López Díaz, champions experimentation with production to create coffee that gets better with every crop, and Fincas de la Familia Menendez that grows the insanely delicious Pacamara hybrid varietal on the upper slopes of their Las Delicias farm. That Pacamara has consistently been my favorite coffee since I first sampled it, and we are really excited to bring in WAC’s own lot for 2012.

WAC is also sporting new, custom Tyvek bags that are 100% paper, compostable, tear-proof, watertight, reusable, and most importantly, white. We are dorking out over them and they are inspiring excitement with our design and engineering regulars.

You’re brewing a Northwest Pale Ale from coffee beans?

We have had a lot of success with our Oak Barrel Aged Sumatra experiments, and are planning on expanding our R&D super lab to tackle some other uncharted territory—like how to brew a real coffee beer. Not a Porter or Stout, but a bright, clean, Northwest Pale Ale. We are currently in the development phase, and enjoying the process immensely.

What does this process involve? What are some of the challenges it brings when compared to brewing coffee?

This process involves a huge amount of experimentation to get right. Right now we have been focusing on the synergism of a lighter roasted coffee with the bitterness of a pale ale. To date, this hasn’t worked well, but we are experimenting with roast levels and the timing of introducing the coffee into the mix. The biggest hurdle to overcome is how to find a coffee varietal at a specific roast level that will not overtake or compete with the flavors already present in the ale. We want the acidity and floral notes in the coffee to shine without becoming too astringent or not complimenting the already flowery nature of the hops.

It has been a real fun experiment thus far, but we haven’t had many batches come out worth celebrating over. It will take a while to get this right, and perhaps it is a doomed venture, but it is something that when perfected Portland will embrace wholeheartedly. This city loves exciting, daring flavors, and its three loves—children, coffee and beer.