The project.

I am designing a storage system for the home in China. I was originally going to design a storage system that was situated in the entry area. I wanted to create an interesting yet functional piece that was thought inspiring and elegant. I had chosen to do some sort of shoe storage. As i persued this direction i found myself doing things that were going against my basic philosophy for this project. The philosophy was as folows. That i would create a piece that maximised the efficient use of materials and spoke to the user about the basic value of an object. Some how i wanted to communicate a basic life of a product. At very least speak to the user about where this product came from. And i thought that one way to do this would be to use there timber. I also thought that the form of the furniture should speak about some of the timbers qualities. The problem with the shoe rack is that it was becoming over engineered due to the need to conceal and hide the shoes to keep the entry area clear clean and uncluttered. The message I was trying to convey would deffinatley be lost in this piece.

Inspiration From Chinese Mythology.

LIU-BEI: God of Shoes and Heroics. Although a shoemaker and weaver by trade, he was actually a distant relative of Han Dynasty Emperor Liu. In that troubled time of rebellion and civil war, friends in high places were of no avail. Still, he thought, at least everyone needs shoes. As all hell broke out across the country, with rebels and war all over the place, LIU-BEI swore a mighty oath to defend his Emperor. As told in Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, he joined forces with ZHANG-FEI and GUAN-YU and became an one of the Three Peach Orchard Brothers — and an instant hero. LIU-BEI was tall, extremely good-looking, and, thanks to the fortuitous positioning of his eyeballs, blessed with amazing eyesight. (Not only X-ray vision, but Y and Z-vision too.) But for such a mighty warrior, he was modest and kindly, which made him all the more popular.