A Weekend in NYC for ICFF 2024
Over the course of two days, The Furniture Society explored Manhattan and Brooklyn studios, galleries, fabrication studios, and the energetic hub that is the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF).
![Monica Hampton and Zeke Leonard at Toad Hall](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261614/Monica_Zeke_Toad-Hall_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261614/Monica_Zeke_Toad-Hall_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![Monica Hampton and Zeke Leonard at Toad Hall](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261614/Monica_Zeke_Toad-Hall_43899247e8.jpeg)
Monica Hampton and Zeke Leonard at Toad Hall
![TFS Group at Toad Hall](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261616/TFS-Group-at-Toad-Hall_3fe5a4b47d.jpg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261616/TFS-Group-at-Toad-Hall_25afb2ffff.jpg 375w)
![TFS Group at Toad Hall](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261616/TFS-Group-at-Toad-Hall_43899247e8.jpg)
TFS Group at Toad Hall
![John Kelsey and Robyn Mierzwa at Toad Hall](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261613/John-and-Robyn-Toad-Hall_3fe5a4b47d.jpg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261613/John-and-Robyn-Toad-Hall_25afb2ffff.jpg 375w)
![John Kelsey and Robyn Mierzwa at Toad Hall](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261613/John-and-Robyn-Toad-Hall_43899247e8.jpg)
John Kelsey and Robyn Mierzwa at Toad Hall
Zeke Leonard
“New York is one of those cities that you sort of have to deal with in chunks. Like any big city that I visit regularly, I have the places I tend to go and the places that I think “oh, yeah, sometime I’ll have to venture over there,” but never quite seem to make the time to do it. The nice thing about going somewhere with a different set of people is that I get forced to turn aside from my beaten track, and ICFF weekend was exactly that.
We had a fairly packed schedule that ended up being able to be flexible in all of the best ways. It started in a venerable Soho dive with a small group of Board members and our AOD recipient this year John Kelsey. I came to this field a little later in my life, and as is true for many, Fine Woodworking was my map and companion as I started to figure out how to work with wood and to make functional objects, so it was a real treat to meet John and talk about furniture and beer.
Unlike most of Canal Street, Toad Hall had not changed since I lived in the City, which was comforting. As the first evening developed we shared stories and news, catching up in person in ways that can’t happen on Zoom, and generally launched the weekend with just the right amount of likelihood that we would need a strong cup of coffee and an egg and cheese sandwich in the morning.
![Ottra Studio Brooklyn](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261619/Ottra-Studio-Brooklyn_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261619/Ottra-Studio-Brooklyn_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![Ottra Studio Brooklyn](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261619/Ottra-Studio-Brooklyn_43899247e8.jpeg)
Ottra Studio Brooklyn
![Ottra Workshop](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261621/Ottra-Workshop_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261621/Ottra-Workshop_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![Ottra Workshop](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261621/Ottra-Workshop_43899247e8.jpeg)
Ottra Workshop
![Ottra Studio CNC](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261620/Ottra-Studio-CNC_3fe5a4b47d.jpg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261620/Ottra-Studio-CNC_25afb2ffff.jpg 375w)
![Ottra Studio CNC](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261620/Ottra-Studio-CNC_43899247e8.jpg)
Ottra Studio CNC
Saturday was scheduled for us to wander Red Hook in Brooklyn visiting shops and showrooms of furniture makers and designers. Red Hook (established in 1636 by the Dutch as “Roode Hoek”) was for a long time an important shipping port, but after Robert Moses dug “The Trench” for the Brooklyn Queens Expressway this neighborhood was cut off from the rest of Brooklyn in a strange way and has faced a number of challenges. Lately, though, the preponderance of empty warehouses has drawn makers and artists and designers, who of course have drawn bars and restaurants and shops, to the point that Red Hook now is a pretty hip joint. We gathered at the ferry in southern Manhattan and hopped over to the County of Kings where we began our walk.
We accidentally passed a coffee shop that Monica Hampton (TFS Executive Director) knew, so we stopped there to gather a few more members before we headed to our first stop, Ottra Studios (@ottraxzw). Sofia and Adam Zimmerman have a shop and a showroom there, where we saw the huge, sculptural furniture objects and architectural components that they make. They stack laminate layers and CNC carve them to a rough shape before assembling them into the finished object and completing the carving work by hand. The final result is stunning and surprising, almost as surprising as how clean the shop was. John looked at me and said “you could eat off this floor!”
![Red Hook Studios Tour](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261626/KG-MacKinnon-Limen-Studio-Tour_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261626/KG-MacKinnon-Limen-Studio-Tour_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![Red Hook Studios Tour](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261626/KG-MacKinnon-Limen-Studio-Tour_43899247e8.jpeg)
Red Hook Studios Tour
![KG MacKinnon at Limen Studio](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261627/Limen-Studio-Red-Hook_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261627/Limen-Studio-Red-Hook_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![KG MacKinnon at Limen Studio](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261627/Limen-Studio-Red-Hook_43899247e8.jpeg)
KG MacKinnon at Limen Studio
![Steven Loftice of Recycled Brooklyn](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261625/Steven-Loftice-Recycled-Brooklyn_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261625/Steven-Loftice-Recycled-Brooklyn_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![Steven Loftice of Recycled Brooklyn](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261625/Steven-Loftice-Recycled-Brooklyn_43899247e8.jpeg)
Steven Loftice of Recycled Brooklyn
Our next stop was Liberty Studios, (@limen_studio, @recycledbrooklyn) a collective of about a dozen makers who work at a variety of scales, from experimental synthesizer cases to conference tables. As is common in this type of environment there is a central machine area with maker’s spaces adjacent to it where they have their own bench areas. A particularly nice feature was a giant spray booth, large enough for several furniture pieces to be finished at one time. Administration is always on my mind so I asked one of the makers there how they deal with maintenance, and they answered that they act as a collective, and that when cleaning or repair needs to happen they come together and work out who is able to do that work and it works out pretty well, which was so nice to hear. Mutual support always makes me feel so hopeful, and the idea that this group of makers could do that in an ongoing way was really impressive.
![Token Gallery Brooklyn](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261630/Token_Brooklyn_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261630/Token_Brooklyn_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![Token Gallery Brooklyn](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261630/Token_Brooklyn_43899247e8.jpeg)
Token Gallery Brooklyn
![Token Gallery](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261629/Token-Gallery-Red-Hook_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261629/Token-Gallery-Red-Hook_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![Token Gallery](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261629/Token-Gallery-Red-Hook_43899247e8.jpeg)
Token Gallery
![Furniture at Token Gallery](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261628/Token-Furniture_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261628/Token-Furniture_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![Furniture at Token Gallery](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261628/Token-Furniture_43899247e8.jpeg)
Furniture at Token Gallery
Our last stop before lunch was Token/Brightbound, designers and makers of lovely furniture with intricate CNC-cut marquetry (@tokennyc) and carefully designed and assembled lighting objects (@brightbound). The showroom was cool, but the real treat was the shop tour. They cut all of their veneer, and as an instrument-maker I was really interested in their process, which Will Kavesh described as “sort of a Frankenstein approach,” though it looked great to me and obviously works well for them. They also machine all of their hardware in house, and we got to see some of that equipment as well. Those old 1940’s Bridgeports are sculptural works of art in themselves, and the incredibly complex hardware that they were making by the piece was pretty stunning.
We were right across the street from Brooklyn Crab, so we finished our morning with a lunch up on the roof deck with beer and cocktails and general merriment, debriefing and chatting in the way that makes in-person events so important.
![TFS and JRA Gathering at ICFF](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261631/Gathering-at-ICFF2_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261631/Gathering-at-ICFF2_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![TFS and JRA Gathering at ICFF](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261631/Gathering-at-ICFF2_43899247e8.jpeg)
TFS and JRA Gathering at ICFF
![Odile Hainaut Talking to Group](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261632/Odile-Hainaut-Talking-to-Group_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261632/Odile-Hainaut-Talking-to-Group_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![Odile Hainaut Talking to Group](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261632/Odile-Hainaut-Talking-to-Group_43899247e8.jpeg)
Odile Hainaut Talking to Group
![ICFF Gallery Talk](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261633/ICFF-Gallery-Tour-Talk-2_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261633/ICFF-Gallery-Tour-Talk-2_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![ICFF Gallery Talk](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261633/ICFF-Gallery-Tour-Talk-2_43899247e8.jpeg)
ICFF Gallery Talk
Sunday was the main event, of course, and as Furniture Society members we got to enter the hall an hour early. In a former life I have designed booths for ICFF and remember well the last-minute scramble to get everything just so before people come in. This is what we walked through to get to the Oasis Lounge, representatives hanging drapes or straightening stacks of catalogs or changing the position of furniture to get the best angle facing out. There was a general energy of excitement in the air, and we were pretty jazzed too. We started with coffee and pastries where our group, combined with a tour group from The James Renwick Alliance, were welcomed by Monica, Kathryn Hall Asaro (TFS Board President), Adrien Madlener — NY based writer, curator, and artist, and Odile Hainaut — Brand Director for ICFF. With our bellies and our brains sated and primed, we headed out across the floor.
I had not been to ICFF since about 2016, and it was interestingly different. The last time I attended it was a lot more about plastics, about blow-molded shapes or cast shapes. There was a lot of high-production stuff, and the makers were all sort of shoved over to one side of the hall. This year I am happy to report that the pendulum has swung back the other way: I saw a ton of booths that celebrated craft, a lot of hand-work in wood and metal, glass and concrete.
![ICFF Launch Pad](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261635/ICFF-Launch-Pad-2_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261635/ICFF-Launch-Pad-2_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![ICFF Launch Pad](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261635/ICFF-Launch-Pad-2_43899247e8.jpeg)
ICFF Launch Pad
![David Trubridge Lighting at ICFF](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261634/David-Trubridge-Lighting-at-ICFF_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261634/David-Trubridge-Lighting-at-ICFF_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![David Trubridge Lighting at ICFF](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261634/David-Trubridge-Lighting-at-ICFF_43899247e8.jpeg)
David Trubridge Lighting at ICFF
![Stick Bulb at ICFF](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261636/Stick-Bulb-at-ICFF_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261636/Stick-Bulb-at-ICFF_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![Stick Bulb at ICFF](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261636/Stick-Bulb-at-ICFF_43899247e8.jpeg)
Stick Bulb at ICFF
I met the designer from @9and19, who is making textural concrete and wood furniture, and the folks @studiokloak who are carving cypress into organic lamp shapes. Philadelphia-based artist @stephtrowbridge is carving and turning functional objects with a reliquary feel, and I got to chat with the folks over @stickbulb, who are working with the NYC Parks Department to make lumber out of the trees that the Parks Department cuts down in city parks and turn them into sleek, contemporary modular lighting objects.
In all, it was inspiring, illuminating (intend your puns, say I) and got me excited to get back into the studio to start making work. Like most makers I know, I spend a lot of time looking at work in a digital space. This has its strengths, as it means that I am in regular contact with metal artists in Poland, thatchers in the UK, and heroes of mine like Wendy Marayuma in San Diego. The drawback, of course, is that I still find conversations in the digital space to be stilted and inorganic. Spending time IRL with other members and makers of all types, from one-person shops to designer-led small-batch production outfits has an energy that I respond to with more verve and that allows for an interactive flow that I experience to be more fruitful”.
![TFS Group at Ottra with Sofia Zimmerman](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261645/Sofia-Zimmerman-and-TFS-Group_3fe5a4b47d.jpeg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261645/Sofia-Zimmerman-and-TFS-Group_25afb2ffff.jpeg 375w)
![TFS Group at Ottra with Sofia Zimmerman](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261645/Sofia-Zimmerman-and-TFS-Group_43899247e8.jpeg)
TFS Group at Ottra with Sofia Zimmerman
![ICFF Furniture Madness](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261644/Icff-madness-2_3fe5a4b47d.jpg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261644/Icff-madness-2_25afb2ffff.jpg 375w)
![ICFF Furniture Madness](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261644/Icff-madness-2_43899247e8.jpg)
ICFF Furniture Madness
![John Kelsey and Pam Robinson on the Ferry to Red Hook](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261646/John-and-Pam-on-the-Ferry-to-Red-Hook_3fe5a4b47d.jpg 700w, https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261646/John-and-Pam-on-the-Ferry-to-Red-Hook_25afb2ffff.jpg 375w)
![John Kelsey and Pam Robinson on the Ferry to Red Hook](https://furnsoc.org/media/sized/images/News/261646/John-and-Pam-on-the-Ferry-to-Red-Hook_43899247e8.jpg)
John Kelsey and Pam Robinson on the Ferry to Red Hook
John Kelsey
“Attending the ICFF weekend in NYC was a ton of fun for me. I met some old friends and made some new ones, and we got VIP entry to the show as it opened on Sunday morning. But for me the highlight was visiting furniture studios in Red Hook Brooklyn — a lot more of them then I ever would have imagined, evidently successful, producing high quality bespoke furniture one piece at a time the way we’ve always done it, with the recent addition of amazing CNC technology. One maker estimated that half or more of the work was now being done using these amazing machines, a fact that astonished me, until I saw the results in the workshops and at the fair. I never would have had this access without the tour organized by the Furniture Society.”