Five Minutes With... Rolf Barfoed
Rolf Barfoed and JamFactory Head of Furniture Studio Andrew Carvolth. Photo: Daniel Marks
Earlier this year, furniture maker and jam collection contributor Rolf Barfoed held a Skills Intensive in the JamFactory Furniture Studio. We spend five minutes getting to know the designer and the inspirations behind his work.
Tell us a bit about your background. What drew you to designing and making furniture?
I was drawn to designing and making furniture from a young age, facilitated by my parents setting up a small woodworking bench with tools and timber scraps in our backyard. I thrived in the hands-on classes at school, and this led to pursuing a cabinetmaking apprenticeship after finishing year 12.
For my first ten years in cabinetmaking, I worked for a few small studios and large commercial cabinetmakers. I naturally gravitated towards the smaller craft scene where innate knowledge for materials is fundamental to design and making.
Can you walk us through your approach to design, from concept through to the final product?
For both product development and bespoke commissions, I still reference and arrange in varying order, the four basic principles of design that I learned as an apprentice. These are function, aesthetics, materials and cost.
With these principles in mind, it’s a case of working with the client until we’ve gone through the stages of R&D to the final product.
The design process is a collaboration between designer, maker and client. I try to put myself in the shoes of all three, even when wearing the hat of only one.
In addition to making our own work, we often develop products for other designers. The abilities of my team of cabinetmakers and the nature of our workshop equipment often influences these designs.
Rolf Barfoed in the JamFactory Furniture Studio. Photo: Daniel Marks.
Details of joinery work on the Gather Table and Bench Seats, designed by Rolf for jam’s latest collection. Photo: JamFactory.
The pieces fit together seamlessly, highlighting the exceptional craftsmanship and design.
Photo: JamFactory.
The Gather Table and Bench Seats at JamFactory’s Morphett Street store. Photo: JamFactory.
How has your aesthetic or style of making evolved over the years? Where do you hope to take it in the future?
I established my studio in 2014, ten years after beginning my cabinetmaking apprenticeship. I’d been absorbed in the techniques for woodworking up to that point and my style was a little self-indulgent, with prowess as a craftsman domineering other design principals.
In my recent work, I’ve focused on designing furniture that’s easy to live with and care for, with functionality at its core while still showing the skill of the craftsman and attaining heirloom quality. My style has a distinct cabinetmaker’s aesthetic, with timber the primary material and my knowledge and skill for the material showing through in subtle details.
In the future I hope to continue designing work that my clients enjoy using, that my team of cabinetmakers enjoy making, and where my design style shows through in original ways.
You recently spent some time at JamFactory’s Furniture Studio. Tell us about your week with our Associates and Studio Tenants.
I was first introduced to Andrew Carvolth, newly appointed Head of Studio at JamFactory Furniture, about ten years ago. We both have roots in the Canberra furniture scene and a keen awareness of the influence the ANU Furniture Workshop has had in this region and nationally over the last four decades. A former set-project from the ANU workshop was the Ian Guthridge sawhorse. We both thought this would be the perfect project for an introduction to production woodworking, in particular, from my perspective as a manufacturer.
I knew it was going to be a great week when the Associates and Studio Tenants showed up on the first day wearing Rolf’s Wood Sawing Emporium themed T-shirts. The course was based on my usual approach to making (using a resolved design), beginning with a full-scale drawing and predicting as many steps ahead as possible. We worked methodically in the workshop and with each stage, found ourselves discussing related skills, equipment capabilities and maintenance, personal experiences and subjective views about design. By the end of the course, everyone had earned their pair of sawhorses.
Personally, I learnt a lot from the week. From using the world class facilities at JamFactory, to gaining new perspectives from the enthusiastic group at the Furniture Studio. I’m truly grateful for the opportunity.
Rolf Barfoed
Rolf Barfoed is a designer and furniture maker based in Canberra. As a contributor to jam, Rolf designed and manufactures the Gather Table and Bench Seats and manufactures the Pebble Tables, Cusp Dining and Lounge Chairs and the timber tops for the AG Table.
The Ian Guthridge Sawhorse, as created by the JamFactory Furniture Associates, Studio Tenants and Rolf. Photo: Calum Hurley.