Daniel Mack ( b.1947) American furniture designer

Handcrafted chair set designed by Daniel Mack

Reflections in Wood

Daniel Mack (b. 1947) is a New York-based furniture designer based in Rochester and Warwick. Daniel Mack creates fine custom furniture, architectural detail, and decoration from wood as close to its natural form and texture as possible, frequently incorporating glass, metal, or stone.

Biography

He went on to work in radio and television journalism, as well as teaching. He worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in the 1970s, was an interviewer on New York’s WRVR radio station, and produced documentaries for NBC’s Today program. He began making twig furniture in 1979 and eventually played a significant role in the revival of nineteenth-century rustic furniture. Though his chairs are composed of natural and found forms, their rectilinearity and high backs recall the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He authored Making Rustic Furniture (1991) and taught media studies at The New School for Social Research and furniture making at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts in Lake Placid, New York, from 1986 to 1990.

Style

Daniel Mack describes himself as an artisan and his work as “rustic.” He traces the rustic furniture movement back to the American Romantics, who saw Nature as a curative force like him. Mack’s work combines the Romantic belief in the healing properties of natural materials with the idea that furniture can also bear witness to our lives.

Sources

Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL

You may also be interested in

Reuben Cary (1845 – 1933) American furniture designer

Cary’s father moved to the Adirondacks area of New York State in the year 1845. In 1874, Brandreth asked Cary to make him 24 chairs with slatted backs, plain turned legs, and splint seats in a traditional style. Cary may have made some of the rustic furniture in the cottages at Brandreth Park.Read More →
John Mascheroni (b.1932), American furniture designer

John Mascheroni has been designing furniture for his entire career, recognized for his design acuity and modernism. LEARN MORERead More →
Francis H. Bacon (1856 – 1940) American Furniture Designer

He was a designer for furniture maker Herter Brothers, commissioned by the company to furnish the New York William H. Vanderbilt House, 1881-83. LEARN MORERead More →
Sam Maloof (1916 – 2009) American furniture designer

The furniture designed by Sam Maloof can be found in every imaginable place in the United States, from boardrooms to bungalows, from the White House to the Smithsonian. READ MORERead More →
Mission Furniture – Design Dictionary Term

The term mission furniture was first popularized by Joseph P. McHugh of New York, a furniture manufacturer and retailer. The word mission references the Spanish missions throughout colonial California. The style became increasingly popular following the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.Read More →
George Nelson (1907 – 1986) American voice on design

George Nelson (1907 – 1986) was an American industrial designer. His Storagewall shelf system, which he made in 1945, changed the way offices worked. The Marshmallow sofa from the 1950s is one of his best-known pieces.Read More →
One of America’s Most Historic Hotels – Mission Inn

Frank Miller built the Mission Inn for people passing through California in the 1800s. It’s a Spanish-colonial-style hotel, which has been remodelled many times over time, with plenty of onsite production – such as balconies, light fixtures, and door handles.Read More →
George Nakashima (1905 – 1990) American woodworker and designer

In 1934, he worked in the Indian office of American architect Antonin Raymond. In 1937, in the Tokyo office, he studied Japanese carpentry techniques. In 1941, he set up his first workshop in Seattle. In 1942 in Idaho, Nakashima studied with an old Japanese carpenter until Antonin Raymond arranged his release. Read More →
Emeco American Designer Furniture

Wilton C. Dinges founded the Electric Machine and Equipment Company (Emeco) in 1944 with $300 in savings and a used lathe for machine work. He started bidding on government manufacturing contracts out of a loft in Baltimore, Maryland, beginning with experimental antennas and jet engine parts. Read More →
Outdoor Seating & Table System for Moroso M’Afrique by Marc Thorpe

Eight years into their collaborative relationship, New York-based designer Marc Thorpe is launching his latest piece for Moroso for their outdoor collection called Moroso M’Afrique. DayTrip comprises various components that are used as low tables and benches that pay homage to the Italian brand’s multi-cultural ethos. The design allows the user to create a composition for…
Eames Chair Review: We Tested the Lounge Chair and Ottoman

First developed by lifelong couple and design partners Charles and Ray Eames in 1956, the lounge chair was the duo’s interpretation of a 19th-century club chair—designed to resemble a worn first baseman’s mitt and made of high-quality materials like supple leather, wood veneer, and cast aluminum.Read More →
Richard Schultz (1930 – 2021) American sculptor and furniture designer

In 1951, he became a member of Knoll’s design development group. Initially, he collaborated on the wire Diamond sitting collection with Harry Bertoia. Schultz designed the Petal table in 1960, steel-wire lounge chairs in 1961, and outdoor Leisure Collection seating and tables in 1966 for Knoll. He designed a 1981 collection of outdoor furniture while…
“Eames Office: 80 Years of Design” Exhibition

The event will follow in fashion with the first initial debut of the concept where one could find vintage products, reprints of Mr. and Mrs. Eames, special projects and collaborations. There will be four sections namely the “Eames House” which looks into the couple’s own residence, “Architecture & Interiors,” “Art & Technology” which introduces their…
Wharton Esherick (1887 – 1970) American Sculptor and Furniture Designer

As a result, his sculptural furniture and furnishings are his most well-known works. For his leadership in designing non-traditional designs and supporting and inspiring artists/craftspeople by example, Esherick was dubbed the “dean of American artisans” by his peers during his lifetime. Esherick’s impact can still be apparent in contemporary artisans’ work, especially in the Studio…
Lisa Krohn (b.1963) American Industrial Designer

Lisa Krohn studied three-dimensional form with Rowena Reed Kostello, New York, between 1985 and 1986. From 1985 to 1985, she studied art history and visual arts at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. From 1988 to 1988, she was a student at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.Read More →
Muffy VanderBear Portrait Chair

Barbara Isenberg of New York inspected store inventories of soft toys in the mid-1970s and found them deficient. Isenberg wanted a teddy bear for her small kid that had the same quality, charm, and cozy textures as the ones she remembered from her youth. Read More →
Edward Wormley (1907 – 1995) American furniture designer

He worked as a designer for Dunbar Furniture of Indiana in New York from 1931 to 1941, improving the company’s variety of wood and upholstered furniture to appeal to a wide range of interests.Read More →
Russel Wright (1904 – 1976) American Industrial Designer

Wright’s design philosophy was based on the idea that the table was the heart of the home. He developed everything from tableware to larger furniture, architecture to landscaping, all of which promote comfortable, informal living.Read More →
No. 22 Diamond Chair by Harry Bertoia

No. 22 Diamond Chair by Harry Bertoia. Many would argue that this is more of a sculpture than a chair. READ MORERead More →
Gustav Stickley (1858 – 1942) American furniture designer

His German name, Stoeckel, was anglicised to Stickley by his émigré parents. In Pennsylvania, he worked in his uncle’s chair manufacturing with his brothers. Stickley brothers Gustav, Charles, Albert, Leopold, and John George all worked in the furniture industry.Read More →