it was all a dream.

Honestly, I’m not concerned about what people think of the chair bed in the Norris House. For me it was about the process. Claire and I worked hard on the design and completion of the furniture and managed to make a chair that works, but we struggled. Only through collaboration with Professor Stuth, Levi Hooten, Matt Hall, Sam Bouck, Chris Melander and Professor Rose was this possible. We all thought to make a chair that worked and looked good. We did it. We had a hard time doing it, but we did it.

Something I've discovered this semester is the art of working collaboratively. More importantly, working collaboratively on a design build project. A lot of my peers building the actual house could speak much more knowledgeably on the subject, but I was able to take a small part in the process. Designing this chair and subsequently building it has taught me that the most important thing to do is just that: do something. Oftentimes Claire and I would be talking about possibilities for the chair and throwing out ideas and were advised to try them. And we did. Mock ups of the give of plywood, hardware details and stain options. It all seems obvious now, and eventually, halfway through the semester we got it. Just do something.

So here’s to you, Norris, for dooming me to never want to work solely behind a computer screen again, for enjoying collaborative work, and for allowing me to learn more than I have to date in my college career.Thanks to Professor French, Professor Stuth, Sam, Levi, Matt, and everyone else who contributed to making the project possible, because sincerely, I’m grateful to have been a part, albeit small, of the project.

photo courtesy of ken mccown