Interview with architect, artist, dancer, furmiture maker & more Fredrick H. Zal
Hi Fredrick it’s been awhile since we talked.
What’s new with you on a personal and professional level?
Yes, It has been a while.
The other evening you met my wife Juniper Lunasri along First Thursday. She and I married on the Winter Solstice in 2010. We had a lovely private ritual on Mt. Hood at the Silcox Hut; 1,000 feet above Timberline Lodge. Then, the next evening we had a raging celebration open to the public with 108 performance artists, and 750 people dancing the night away.
http://www.fhzal.com/wedding
This was a way to not only celebrate our wedding with our community, but also a way to patron the artists in the community that inspire us so greatly!
Professionally, I have been focusing my work towards crafting with my hands again, as I enjoyed managing staff / pushing paper, but it was not my core passion.
I am mostly crafting furniture these days, but greatly enjoy architectural commissions for artistic clients:
http://www.fhzal.com/works
What does traditional mean to you and which traditions have you developed for yourself?
For the intent of having an artistic dialogue, I will choose do define ‘traditional’ within the context of craft. The art of making, which is handed down from Master to Apprentice with words and action, from generation to generation.
I grew up helping my Grandfather, whom was a plumber by trade, and an inventor of passion. We would make things in his workshop, learning as apprentice to his Drosselmeyer, I became filled with the ability to envision how to make dreams form into reality.
What are you working on?
Currently I am working on some custom furniture pieces and soon will begin construction on a wood / metal shop with a yoga / dance studio above it for an arts foundation that I have envisioned for years. It will be a big step towards creating the international artistic dialogue that I have always desired for Portland.
Once our 501(c)3 status is defined, I will let you know how to contribute towards making it flourish.
I see also that your body as in physical appearance has changed a lot. Do you see it as a piece of architecture to be redesigned?
Yes, I cut off my fu-man-chu and long blue hair a while ago, decided to re-emerge and show my face to the world again. It was a healthy transition in my life, when I also started my yoga practice, and dancing a few time a week again.
A year before our marriage, I asked Juniper to pierce my ears, which was something that I had wanted to do since the 1980’s, but let societal pressures preclude my doing such until then. I am grateful for her, and for the permission she allowed me to feel to simply be myself.
I have been known to use clothes as a metaphor for architecture and how it relates to the body.
I imagine that it would also be wise to consider modifying the body, as one would transform structure within space.
But, even though I greatly appreciate body modifications and ink upon other people, I prefer to gaze upon it with my eyes than to bring it to my own skin. Juniper is much more of the ‘modern primitive’ than I, which is one of the many reasons that I love her deeply.
What attracts you to furniture?
I suppose that it is your last question that begins this one.
I started off in bio-physics, where I was fascinated with prosthetics. The ability to not simply copy the human form, but rather the art of enhancing the body with Edward Scissorhand-like abilities.
Furniture is a way for your body to be held in space. A way for you to engage others during a meal. A way to relax or become exhilarated.
So, the original idea with all pieces of furniture is how may the body engage actively, and what manners of craft will allow that vision to exist beautifully!
This piece entitled “Cat’s Tail” embodies that process:
http://www.fhzal.com/Works/101013
Are you making them yourself and what is the process?
Yes, I am thrilled to be crafting with my hands again.
I mostly work in metals and wood, but as I love found objects, I sometime give new life to found glass, bone, fabric, and animal skins.
Each piece is unique.
There is a dialogue with the found objects and the ‘intent’ of the piece.
Shall it enhance motion, be soft or hard, exhilarate or calm the person[s] that it engages…
From here, the choreography unfolds, and a process of Russian Constructivist mechanics begins.
http://www.fhzal.com/theoros/BTES-fzal-Materiality.pdf
What is at the core of good design?
“Good” for me means that a piece or space captures the imagination time and again. If one can digest it all in a single moment, then there is nothing worth patronage.
I also believe that a piece, be that furniture or a home, should be worthy of being an heirloom. All heirlooms started as a new purchase or act of making. When the narratives of time are layered upon this piece [or space] due to their worthiness of love, than something is truly valuable! It is something that you want to share with others.
What tricks of the trade do you apply to speak to the human psyche?
I studied Gestalt Psychology and Ergonomics in great depth, so I suppose that you could call these tricks. But, it is simply the ability to empathetically cast yourself into a space to understand how another will feel, and make your design and crafting decisions upon those emotions.
When I begin a project, I will often ask a few dozen questions that have nothing to do with the quantification or labeling of space / objects, but rather will allow for a dialogue with clients about the qualitative aspects that they desire…
Should a space be soft, or hard? Do you enjoy sunsets? What is your favorite scent, and how might it excite you at differing time of the day?
Can furniture be sexual? I guess I am just trying to throw in a question about sex and satisfaction and building furniture. Is there a thread one can follow?
Sensuality is certainly a core drive and emotion for all humans.
The desire to be desired, or for desire, has sculpted much of our economy.
But, if you are asking about some of the custom furniture that I have designed for people in the kink community, than the sensual nature tends to be more overt; well at least for those with a trained eye. Even when I am designing a piece that has sensual intent, it is the lifestyle of the patron that is most important, and not any particular action that might be performed upon or with it.
You also alter preexisting furniture can you elaborate on that?
My family is a medical family, composed of dozens of doctors and nurses. I grew-up in an annex of the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, where I became enamored with anatomy and medical prosthetics.
http://www.collegeofphysicians.org/mutter-museum
As one might splint a leg, I believe that you can find new life in an older piece of furniture, and allow it to rise again as a Phoenix, with even more life and fire!
What does fetish stand for in your vocabulary and where do furniture’s come into play?
Fetish is simply when one has an affinity for something.
You could say that I have a Russian Constructivist fetish, or a Carlo Scarpa fetish,…
But, I am not a fetishist so much myself. My life is not governed by my affinities, rather simply focused by the many things that I love and appreciate in our world.
When a client has a fetish, it does make things fun, because once that fetish is discovered, it become a pleasure to focus the work in that manner.
How important to our well being is what we surround ourselves with?
Today most of that has been lost.
I believe that most people surround themselves not with the things that they love, but rather with the things that they found on sale and could plop haphazardly into their environment.
This is why Feng Shui consultancies have sprung upon so strongly in the Pearl District, and in other communities that are filled with Target and Ikea purchases.
I would recommend, to have patience and focus.
Fill your life with the things that resonate with you.
Be that people, food, or things.
In time, you will have a full and meaningful life.
Just think of the dinner party in the movie “Chocolat”, and how you may surround yourself with love and delight!
http://youtu.be/evZBRsaMAIo
It is my intent to eventually craft or find every aspect of our home. When you next come over for tea or waffles, you will certainly see what I mean.
What does community mean to you and where do you find nurturing?
I grew up in Philadelphia, and transplanted myself to Oregon after living in a few other places around the world. Portland is an amazing place, and I am thrilled to consider it my home. My community is composed of people that love and inspire me. People that challenge themselves artistically and socially to make a better world, a lasting world, for all of us.
Tell us about your involvement with dance and what kind of you are engaging in?
I began doing theatrical set design when I was just 8 years old. I was shy, and preferred to be creative behind stage, instead of being in front of the audience. A decade ago, I was designing and building for Societas Insomnia, a fire / fetish circus in Portland. Before I knew it, instead of being behind the curtain, they were asking me to be on stage. One thing led to another, and now I perform as a dancer on stage a few times each year.
I am looking forward to my next scheduled booking for the Krampus Nacht Ball on Saturday, 1 December 2012. It is going to be a really fun show. Hope to see you there!
What belief system makes up your scaffolding?
My scaffolding is more about meta-physical empathic vectors than typical columns and beams. I would recommend reading my paper on the matter:
http://www.fhzal.com/theoros/fzal-BTES-EmpathicVectors-Proceedings.pdf
What is your relationship to Nature?
Mother Nature is my ‘church’. This is why Juniper and I married on Mt. Hood, and why I love to go in hikes and camp in the woods, along the oceans and mountains. I have a great respect for nature, and hope to create symbiotically with Her in every endeavor.
As I studied at the University of Pennsylvania, I was imbued with the philosophy of Ian McHarg and his treatise “Design with Nature”. It has been quite marketable to be ‘green’ for the last decade or so, but I am happy that the process of being as light upon the Earth as possible, and learning from both anatomy and natural forces has always inspired me.
What are your key experiences over the last few years and how does that inform your vision of the future?
Dreams and Patience.
I continue to be inspired by the people around me whom have a dream that they desire to envision. I love to help make those dreams happen. Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon + Christo Vladimirov Javacheff taught me that sometimes, one must have great patience to have a dream manifest. Make sure that you are enjoying each day, even if you are waiting for that ‘big thing’. You cannot manifest a dream if you are living a hollow life.
Before I get too philosophical, I will simply refer you to some of my favorite quips:
http://www.fhzal.com/philosophy
How do you conceptualize architectural design?
My process of designing architecture starts with human feelings and perceptions. It is focused by the physical environment where the proposed actions shall occur, and is then crafted with materials artistically. With any luck, it will be worthy of appreciation, and over time it will be filled with the narratives from many personal stories.
Empathy – Morphology – Material Narrative
http://www.fhzal.com/theoros/fzal-BTES-EmpathicVectors-Proceedings.pdf
http://www.fhzal.com/theoros/fzal-NCBDS2003.pdf
http://www.fhzal.com/works/Otto-070308-MaterialWorth.asp
What are design truths and the lies you encounter?
I prefer to focus upon the truths, as then hold the keys to understand ourselves better as a human culture.
The truth is that each thing is done one piece at a time, one day at a time.
Do it well, and it will inspire you to do more tomorrow.
Continue doing things well, and you will not only inspire yourself, you will inspire others.
Also, fill your life with others that inspire you, as you may together create the world that you envision. Reality is what you make of it!
How do balance your material world with what techniques are available to you?
Things change over time. When Antonio Gaudi designed the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona, Spain he knew that it would taken a century or more to complete. He knew that technologies would change, and he needed to allow for those changes to affect the construction process.
For better or for worse, most of what we build is in a much quicker manner. A long project is 15 years in most modern construction, with most taking less than 3 years due to the affect of finance charges on constructions loans.
As such, technologies do improve, but rarely within the life-span of a single construction project.
It is our duty to stay alert and flexible, so that we may learn with each project, and integrate new wisdom into the following ones.
I have been a proponent for many digital and pre-fabrication techniques for 17 years, but very few of them are regularly implemented.
It makes me happy with every little step forward in the architectural industry.
I look forward to a day when the industry embraces progress fully.
Who are your inspirational sources in architecture or otherwise?
I have not been inspired by much recent architecture, but I still have a deep love for the early works of Morphosis, Coop Himmelb[l]au, Lebbeus Woods, Russian Constructivists, Carlo Scarpa, and am inspired by my colleague Bryan Cantley of Form-uLA.
These are some of my inspirations:
http://www.fhzal.com/advocacy/fhzal-inspiration.asp
How do you keep educating yourself and in what areas are you interested in?
I continue to educate myself by collaborating with others, researching both new and ancient texts, and following my interests.
Of late I have been learning quite a bit about natural environments, such as Swimming Ponds, Habitat Xeriscaping, and Bees.
I continue to learn more about prefabrication techniques, and one of my loves which is ‘Rosie the Riveter’ era sheet metal work. The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon can keep me in awe for hours.
What does power mean to you?
I do not worry much about ‘power’.
I simply do what I do to the best of my ability, and believe that I am respected in the community for whom I am.
Atelier Z offer what kind of services and what does it all incorporate?
Atelier Z is an architecture and industrial design studio that advocated dialogue in the fine and applied arts.
By striking a balance between practical experience and theoretical research we passionately engage our work with a focus upon empathy, morphology, and material narrative. These projects range in scale and typology from graphic and web design, to furniture, component design, remodels, single-family custom homes, multi-family mixed-use housing, retail environments, civic and institutional buildings, pedestrian bridges, urban design, and design competition management.
Simply put, I help people envision the dreams in their mind, refine them, and make them physical within the context of reality that they desire.
How is Portland as your home base?
I love Portland, as does my wife Juniper. We have a wonderful community of intelligent and artistic friends that continue to inspire us.
We love to travel, and are grateful to how beautiful the Pacific Northwest is every time that we come back home.
After we build the residency studio that I mentioned above, we are looking forward to traveling to a few sister cities around the world to create an international bridge between artist-in-residence programs.
What is next on the artistic horizon for you?
Cutting steel, carving wood, and dancing to exceptional music…
then enjoying a sumptuous meal of local seasonal foods with friends.
Ciao,
Fredrick H. Zal
Architecture | Furniture | Art
Atelier Z
www.fhzal.com
