Cabinet for Walter Gropius

Materials: Besta, Varna, Stolmen components

Description: This is the first in a series of sculpture/furniture pieces that are based on the architecture of Walter Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus. Specifically, I am making IKEA models of all eight mid-century Modern Gropius buildings that are currently being demolished by the City of Chicago.

This piece is based on the 1953 Power Plant (pix, right).

First, I assembled the base using three Besta cabinet bases. Since they have paper cores, I inserted strips of pine inside the two plys of laminate to fasten them together.

Sides and doors are made of recut Varna doors. Original hinges are used, but new pocket holes needed to be made with a Forstner drill bit.

The top is made of two Varna doors. It is fastened to the cabinet using IKEA cam lock hardware, which again, needed to be redrilled with a 15mm Forstner bit.

A router and circle jig was used to cut smooth holes for the Stolmen poles to go through. The entire cabinet is supported by Stolmen brackets on the underside.

~ Jeff Carter, Chicago