If there is a theme that unites the creative minds featured in this week's Design Focus, it might be to do what feels good.

Photographer Burton Machen and Twentieth owner, Stefan Lawrence, may have had other plans for themselves but intuitively changed course based on what they enjoyed doing. Similarly, Brendan Sowersby and John Ford, the designers behind A Single Tree describe their switch from fine art to furniture, explaining, "It almost immediately felt more comfortable and natural on every level." Kind of hard to argue with that...

A SINGLE TREE

Furniture designers Sowersby and Ford came upon the name for their company through a process of distillation. A Single Tree, as John explains, seemed to be the perfect signifier, "If you think of a tree, and all its qualities, that is how we see our business model - a main structure with many branches, as well as having very deep roots."

The name also references one of their favorite materials: solid wood. Spare and restrained, A Single Tree's designs highlight their sensitivity to materials. Surfaces are thoughtfully finished and joints are beautifully resolved in subtle but surprising ways. Negative spaces also seem to be a preoccupation, evidenced by a long credenza with a large L-shaped opening. It's a kind of geometric yin-yang, simultaneously sturdy and light.

Additionally, A Single Tree has a very particular take on what it means to be a "green" designer. As John explains, "A piece of furniture can be made from the greenest materials, and be eco friendly in every way, but if the design is inherently trendy or 'exciting' it ultimately becomes boring or out of fashion - which equals land fill." Instead of following trends, A Single Tree is focused on uniting materials that are worth maintaining with timeless design you will want keep around.

THE DETAILS: A Single Tree
www.asingletree.com

BURTON MACHEN

Some things though, are not meant to last, and those are the things that inspire Los Angeles based photographer Burton Machen. Machen's photographs rarely include any people (surprisingly - in light of his 20+ year career as a hairstylist - hardly a job for a misanthrope). Instead, he zeros in on what they leave in their wake - the evidence of their passing through.

This is perhaps most poetically captured in Machen's series, Urban Evolution, New Orleans. During a trip to the city after Hurricane Katrina, Machen photographed the accidental collages created by constant pasting and stapling of posters onto telephone poles. The images are quiet and ghostly, subdued in silvery grays, with bits of text petering out like unfinished sentences.

These easily overlooked works of art excite Machen both visually and emotionally. "People putting those posters up weren't thinking about how they were contributing to a collage.....[My work] is about realizing the effect we have on the world."

THE DETAILS: Burton Machen
www.burtonmachen.com

TWENTIETH

Around seven years ago, Stefan Lawrence, owner of designer furnishings showroom Twentieth, had an opportunity to double his 5,000 square foot space. "A lot of people thought I was insane. They said, ‘You'll never make it,' they were sure I would go out of business." Luckily, they all turned out to be wrong.

In a way, the sheer size of Twentieth is part of what makes it so exciting. With enough square footage to create spaces within the space, individual pieces have room to breath, but also function as part of a contained story. Though Stefan began with vintage, mostly everything on the floor these days is from contemporary designers. There is however a "gray area" with pieces that are technically new but designed many years ago. A sumptuous Sergio Rodrigues leather sofa is a good example. Old? New? Who cares? It begs to be sat upon, either way.

Other temptations include a Wrongwoods dresser with faux bois-esque silkscreened surface in a palette of greens and yellows, Ladislav Czernek's limited edition rosewood Swerve table and the famously playful Chest of Drawers from Droog designer, Tejo Remy - a staple of many a museum collection.

As evidenced, by the inclusion of Burton Machen's Urban Evolution, New Orleans series, contemporary art and decorative objects also have their place in Twentieth. Of particular note are Daniele Albright's ethereal multi-panel photographs (separate images, pieced together to form one) and Mattia Biagi's comically macabre sculptures dripping with black tar.

THE DETAILS: Twentieth
8057 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323.904.1200
www.twentieth.net

Story by Gwen Barba.

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