Purple Magazine
— S/S 2009 issue 11
Hudson Furniture
text by JEFF RIAN
Barlas baylar grew up running around his family’s factories, which created machinery. He later focused his attention on modern design; this he took further in his studies in Brazil and London, eventually bringing the seeds planted in his childhood surroundings to fruition in his East Williamsburg, Brooklyn-based company, Hudson Furniture, Inc., established in 2004. His furnishings are very much influenced by the line of thinking that emerged in the late sixties — witness the sleek, primary-shaped minimalism, and raw organic materials that he synthesizes into painstakingly handcrafted slab tables, consoles, beds, side-tables, mirrors, sofas, and elegantly drooping nickel-chain chandeliers. His preferred materials are claro walnut, acacia, and petrified wood, and molded steel, silver, and bronze. Using state-of-the-art hand-craftsmanship, he reveals the grain and contours of the wood and the natural textures and densities of the graphite steel handles that hang from panels, the solid-cast silver feet for his couches, and the silicone bronze joints that hinge pieces together.
One of his influences was the Japanese-American furniture designer, George Nakashima, who is known for tables cut transversally across large slabs of (often rare) wood, burnished down to perfection while retaining the shape of their contours and exposing their grains. Baylar employs related techniques in his own style, employing local craftsman experienced in the delicate geometries of dovetail joints and butterfly inlays, not to mention sophisticated surfaces and natural and architectural contours. He doesn’t just sand surfaces down, but often hand-burnishes them with broken glass to reveal honey-like patinas that highlight a sense of mass and permanence. Most significantly, not only is Baylar dedicated to maintaining vigilance to his craftsmanship, he’s also committed to the preservation of nature and uses ecology-conscious felled wood, salvaged dead wood, and leftover cuttings of every irregularity that can be transformed into intricate, clockwork designs, such as the ones for his Enigma Round and Square mirrors. Nothing goes to waste. And with his worldwide connections to such precious materials, the environment will be preserved in beautiful pieces that will last for generations to come.
