WOOD AND CRAFT
by Antonio Eraso

A personal perspective on timber

Timber is an essential aesthetic and structural component of construction. Not many materials can match its versatility or warmth. In the past, most architects were craftsmen; today, not so. I am an architect by profession but an apprentice craftsman at heart. Most people find it surprising that timber can be as malleable as clay, once it is given the dignity it deserves. Its malleability is proportional to the understanding of the nature of timber and the level of craft involved. In all my projects using timber, it is the level of craft that 'elevates' timber to its proper place in time; the wood and the craftsman share a union.

Craft is being increasingly revived again, as a backlash of sorts to industrial overproduction and to the inherent obsolescence of each 'overdesigned' trend. But the art of craft is essentially not subjected to fads or trends. Craft is about a tradition of knowledge passed down from master to apprentice, not easily accessible to many. It comes from being constantly at one with the medium involved. Just like stonemasons, wood craftsmen are a dying breed, literally and figuratively. The former because the craftsmen are getting old and the latter because it is demanding work, requiring intense mental concentration, physical labour and self-belief with little reward in return other than the personal pleasure of creation. One other final point on craft is that it has strict limits on the creation process. This means that craft cannot be reproduced at a whim or at the press of a button. Every craftsman can only produce a certain number of pieces without compromising the quality and value of each piece.

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Antonio Eraso has immense design experience drawn from a repertoire of international and domestic projects as well as product and furniture design. After graduation, he won the Le Corbusier award for the best designed project in a competition organised to commemorate the centennial celebration held in memory of Le Corbusier. In 1990, he joined Tsao and McKown Architects in New York City. As a senior associate at the firm for over a decade, he had his hand in an extensive scope of projects. Antonio first arrived in Singapore in 1991 to oversee the development of Suntec City. He founded his design firm in 2003, sought after for its aesthetic sense of instinct, uncompromising craftsmanship and a grounded sensitivity. The firm is also highly involved in merging the craftsmanship of furniture and fabrics together with their assemblage/manufacture process, which it oversees.

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