John Makepeace on his love affair with wood

This Saturday, renowned furniture maker John Makepeace opens his first-ever solo, which will tour the UK showcasing his 50 years at the forefront of British design.

Makepeace's career began in the 60s following the death of his father. He went onto gain a name for his work at Liberty's and Heals. In the 70s, he was a founder trustee of the Crafts Council and gained international renown for setting up Parnham College, where he integrated the teaching of fine craftsmanship in wood with design and entrepreneurship.

He went onto develop Hooke Park, which explored the improved utilisation of indigenous timber and resulted in a series of award-winning buildings. In 1998, Makepeace was awarded an OBE for services to furniture designer. Today, he lives in Beaminster, Dorset with his wife and continues to pursue his love of furniture, wood and design. We caught up with him to find out more.

As a child… we had a few piece of furniture around the house, which were made by my paternal grandfather. They always struck me as being rather special, and indeed they were.

My first interest was in wood… I don't think I recognised at the time that it was going to be my career though. Throughout secondary school, I was still likely to go to Oxford and then the Church and then my father died and I re-thought.

At school… I was always called industrious and I'm certainly perfectly happy to be working.

After my father died… I went to Holland, Sweden and Denmark. Finn Juhl stood out for me, but there was a whole raft of them. It was the freedom of form and their response to human need, which they didn't allow to compromise the design.

Following my training… Heals and Liberty's were natural targets for a range of retail products, which were very, very simply made. They gained me recognition and I began to receive more commissions.

When I went to America… I found that it had this wonderful magic. They were so positive and made lots of design. They just had a can-do attitude.

After winning a kitchen design competition in The Observer… I went to Morocco and Nigeria to study the mud buildings, which are wonderful. They're made of one material, very beautiful and circular, which makes good sense because they look as though they belong in the landscape.

One of the best pieces of advice I've ever been given… was from John Craig, an architectural practitioner at Aldington, Craig & Collinge, who also taught at Parnham College. He always tried to analyse briefs in verbs, so he understood the activity. It's the verb that matters.

The school at Parnham… offered a course combining design, making and business management as a single discipline. Usually artists/craftsmen are taught to be bad at business.

Parnham House… had 80 rooms, 14 acres, had been unoccupied for eight years and sold five times subject to contract. When I saw it for the first time, I just thought, "yes."

We ended up… conserving the oldest Tudor part of the house as a house open to the public, giving the 18th century middle section for student accommodation and using the stables and coachhouses for workshops.

What was so amazing was that… it just seemed to be so blessed from the start. There was an extraordinary mix of people and they all seemed to be getting what they wanted out of it. It was charmed in a way, a charmed existence.

Hooke Park only ceased to exist… after the new director took over. As director of the trustees, he was very effective at silencing me - forcing contracts and so on. I was really torn up about it when it closed having spent so long raising the money. It was quite a happy thing when the Architectural Association took it over.

Since moving to Beaminster… I have my own life back. I'm working on commissions abroad. I love working with clients and seeing their reaction after creating something which has gone beyond what was articulated in the brief.

Because of my interest in forestry… I'm trying to add value at source. If we want trees in the landscape, we need to learn to use what is in our landscape. On the other hand, that needs the best forestry: trees don't grow well unless they're managed.

Design has become… very much affected by the media, in that if something becomes fashionable, it clearly assists its success. This means that things which are novel or wacky get attention.

Chairs are such an expression of humanity… They're really about people in that they have to interact with them. But then, I love tables, the elevated surface. And cabinets? You put things you treasure in these, that's the nature of storage.

Nature has been a big influence in my work because… I just think that nature designs things so well. How can we as designers ignore it? It's a very powerful thing and intriguing to see how evolution selects things.

John Makepeace: Enriching the Language of Furniture will show at:

The Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Devon 18 Sep-29 Oct 10
Harley Gallery, Welbeck, Nottinghamshire 7 Nov-24 Dec 10
Collins Gallery, Glasgow 15 Jan-5 March 11
Somerset House, London 16 March-15 April 11
Crafts Study Centre, Farnham, Hampshire 26 April-16 July 11
Lotherton Hall, Aberford, Leeds, Yorkshire 23 Sept-20 Nov 11

Emily Jenkinson

16 September 2010