Recently Core77 did a post on Kaare Klint's mid century modern Safari Chair and how it was based on campaign furniture. The post also mentions Christopher Schwarz, who actually wrote a book, "Campaign Furniture," that shows you how to build some designs yourself.

Enter a caption (optional)

Although this style of furniture, as covered in his book, is from the era of the British Empire, it is almost bizarrely relevant today. That's because our relationship with furniture has changed. Buying furniture in previous generations was about the momentous acknowledgement that you were setting up a household. These days, with a far more informal society, most furniture is just another disposable household commodity.

Another reason campaign furniture—which breaks down quickly, sets up quickly and is relatively lightweight for hauling—is more relevant today is because we move a lot more frequently than we used to, and moving furniture is a pain. Campaign furniture fits well into our transient lifestyles.

Enter a caption (optional)

Enter a caption (optional)

Let's say you're finishing college and moving to a tiny apartment in a new city. How useful would a campaign secretary desk, which comes apart into easily moveable sections for transport, and then reassembles into a solid desk, be? It might not be the baronial ship of executive state, but it's exactly the right size for someone who really wants a comfortable place to park their laptop and get stuff done.

Enter a caption (optional)

I'm not going to repeat what I wrote in the book's product description. But I do want to mention that the projects it contains seem to be at the same skill level as your average Shaker pieces, with the main difference being that the woods are fancier, and hardware is integral to the project.

Enter a caption (optional)

Chris' book has a lot of interesting historical information and his designs are all reflective of the original construction methods. I'm guessing that eventually Chris or someone else will write another book on campaign furniture using more modern materials but keeping with the same concept of design: Proper furniture for life on the go. This to me is where modern furniture needs to go, and Chris gets full marks and applause on kicking off what I hope will be a revival of this genre.

___________________

This "Tools & Craft" section is provided courtesy of Joel Moskowitz, founder of Tools for Working Wood, the Brooklyn-based catalog retailer of everything from hand tools to Festool; check out their online shop here. Joel also founded Gramercy Tools, the award-winning boutique manufacturer of hand tools made the old-fashioned way: Built to work and built to last.