You can almost hear the first melodies already. Aleksandra Dimitrijevic’s apprenticeship project is more than just a piece of furniture – it is a stage for her keyboard. “I had already dedicated my previous furniture project to my hobby, painting, and built a painting table,” explains the 22-year-old, “and I’m now continuing this series with my apprenticeship project, having designed a piece of furniture for my keyboard.”
The piece of furniture is modelled on a piano – both visually and functionally. It features a clean-lined body made of oiled American walnut with a black powder-coated steel frame as its base. It also has a lid that can be opened, much like that of a piano. Inside, there is a cut-out for the keyboard cables and a music rest.
On the right is a space for a laptop, set apart from the rest of the piece by a black linoleum inlay. Beneath this is a drawer with dovetail joints and a lock, which again is reminiscent of a classic piano. “The mitre cuts were particularly challenging, as was ensuring the lid worked perfectly,” says Aleksandra, running her hand over the fine wood with its striking grain. The Friedrichshafen resident plans to furnish an entire hobby room – she already has two pieces of furniture.
In future, however, she intends to continue carpentry primarily as a hobby. Aleksandra is breaking new ground – and is set to complete a business apprenticeship. “Then I’ll have training in both the practical and business sides of things and can decide which path to take,” she says.
A few metres further on, Lennard Sauter stands in front of his Japanese floor lamp, made from dark, oiled smoked oak and light-coloured maple. “I wanted something really special, something extravagant, something that would stick in people’s minds,” he explains.
The result is a 1.95-metre-high lamp with a panel reminiscent of the Japanese art of kumiko carving. Is it a flower or even a star that Lennard has incorporated into the lamp? “It could be either,” he says with a laugh. The panel consists of four intricately crafted side panels made of maple wood, backed with fine rice paper – known as shoji paper – which lends it a high degree of transparency. The panels are held in place by magnets, so they can be removed to change the light bulb.
“I had to get creative with the lighting,” explains Lennard, “because normally these lamps only have a single light source, which I didn’t like.” That’s why he spent a long time looking for an elongated light source – and eventually built one himself from square steel tubing with a special LED strip attached. The lamp can therefore be controlled and dimmed via a mobile phone. The lampshade is supported by four struts, each milled to a radius of 36.5 metres. This gives them a beautifully simple appearance. At the lower end of the shade is a hand-jointed drawer resting on a stainless-steel groove rail.
Although Lennard is passionate about Japanese craftsmanship, his path will take him to the Canadian west coast for the time being. “I’ll either work there as a joiner or perhaps study interior design,” says the 23-year-old. At some point, however, he definitely wants to qualify as a master craftsman.
Inken Baumann has green fingers – and lots of plants at home. “That’s why I wanted to build a plant shelf to create more space,” says Inken. The result is a modular, adjustable shelf, 1.70 metres high, made from oiled walnut and steel tubes with a smoked chrome finish.
The shelves can be removed and repositioned, so it can quickly be converted into a sideboard. “That way, for example, I’ll have a sideboard if I ever need something for the TV,” explains Inken.
A particular challenge for her was milling the curves on the thick panels with the solid wood edge-gluing machines, as these tend to fray easily. The continuous handle design and the implementation of the modular system were also complex aspects of the construction.
For Inken, the journey will soon continue. She’ll be staying at KNOBLAUCH until October, and after that she plans to go abroad for a while.
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