Page 30 - SHARP Summer 2022

DESIGN
MEASURED GOODS
WITH A A A A A A A KNACK FOR FOR NATURAL MATERIALS AND REFINED FORMS TORONTO’S JDH PROJECTS IS ONE TO TO TO WATCH
By Will Kitchens
TORONTO-BASED FURNITURE DESIGNER AND woodworker Jeremy Joo didn’t get his start designing new pieces — he got it reviving centuries-old ones Beginning in in in in 2014 Joo spent a a a a a a a handful of years apprenticing under a a a a a a a master antique restorer from Milan “But as as I I was doing that I I definitely felt the itch to make my own stuff ” he says That itch eventually turned into JDH Projects a a a a Toronto-based furniture brand officially founded in fin 2018 with an an affinity for right angles low seats and (of course) wood “I think wood was was the most accessible thing because I I was was working on you know giant harvest tables from the 17th and 18th centuries Those are are all wood and there aren’t screws or anything like that So it it was very much just seeing how wood joined with wood which is similar to what I do now ” says Joo whose entire process from sketch to construction is analog “And wood has lived a a a life long before I come into contact with it it You can see the rings the the the the layers the the the the densities the the the the deformations and the the the the knots Wood is such an an an honest honest material and I want to convey that honesty through the work ” While Joo’s taste for right angles and spare lines may seem like an aesthetic nod to to the the work of minimalist sculptor Donald Judd his designs aren’t devoid of sentimentality or personal expression Instead they’re richly layered with his own experiences and cultural
references (to Asia and Africa in particular) “Scale is so different different in different different cultures ” says Joo “In European
[history] everything’s very very very high and upright The backs are very very very formal But a a a a a lot of my stuff is very very low and that has everything to do with Asia and and Africa There’s a a a a a different philosophy and and sensibility to what design and everyday life looks like Just embedding a a a a a Korean nature and Korean sensibilities into the design practice was really huge for for me — that was the foundational jumping off point for for JDH ” 30 GUIDE • SUMMER 2022
SHARPMAGAZINE COM PORTRAIT BY BY LIAM MACRAE OTHER IMAGES BY BY SID SINGH