Balanced Scale

 Balanced Scale- The date on my test is 2/21/05 (This essay is not to be used without the permission of the writer- Elfrieda Dueck) Student number DHE/61.526D

Oh, way back when I was a student in Rhodec International, I wrote a essay called... 

                                                         'Balanced Scale'

    "There was some degree of wonderment at the ample size of the Barcelona chair designed by Mies van der Rohe. Anyone who had met Mies, though, knew that the scale of the chair was simply a reflection of the designer- ample width, dressed up in a slim fitted, refined silhouette disguising the actual size.

    It is preposterous to think that each chair, that is designed, will be ergonomically pleasing to one and all. In my household alone, the height of the occupants ranges from 5'3" to 6'3". (I think my two sons were only six feet.) It is simply not possible for one piece of furniture to be equally comfortable for everyone.

    The best example of an "ideally" fitted seat can be found in the design of automobiles. I would call this type of design "ergonomics in motion." The average car seat (driver and passenger) has the ability to move frontward and backward within an approximate ten inch span. Most seats also have multiple settings to adjust the seat angle to attain the best possible position for each individual driver.

    For the last ten years I drove a car (Intrepid) that was not a good overall fit for me. I purchased it to accommodate the size of my family, (three growing boys). The seat was deep with a slight bump on the front which caused pressure on the back of my knee when I reached for the gas pedal. It was not possible to adjust the height of the seat. Recently, I attained a car that fits me perfectly (Avenger ES 1999). The height of the seat from the floor up is streamlined to the gas pedal, the back is a perfect scale and contour for my body proportions making the headrest useable for the first time in my life. The size of the car on the outside is in perfect balance with the inside- small, low and streamlined.

    Now, let's bring all this information into the home...                                                                       An office chair is the best parallel to the car seat. Both are designed for the high- concentration- related tasks. The office chair has multiple settings, again, to accommodate a wide range of body types. Even an office chair, though, must be chosen for the amount of space it will be used in to comfortably accommodate maneuvering.

    I have found the best solution for the living room is to offer a variety of seating that will accommodate both the petite person and the "Goliath" figure. My home is a small, open plan concept. The living room is 15' x 13'. In front of my window is a 7' Chippendale style sofa with gently sculpted rolled arms. The 3 inch cushions balance the graceful scale of the arms giving the visual impression of diminished size. Don't be fooled though. This sofa has comfortable accommodated a six foot, six inch, 380 lb. guest. On the opposite side of the room are two much smaller chairs with an occasional table between them. The height of the top of the chairs is the same as the sofa bringing balance to the overall look.

    The book shelves behind one of these chairs soar to the ceiling adding bulk to the smaller chair grouping, again, balancing the larger presence of the sofa. The drapery behind the sofa is a bold black and white stripe adding verticality to this wall balancing the tall, narrow, book cases. I added some cardboard binder sleeves to my bookshelf recently to bring orderliness to the overall look of the bookcases. I chose to buy them in the white colour so they would blend in to the bookcase and become, basically, invisible.

    The seats of both the Louis XIV chair and the wicker rocker are ample in width but the cushions have been kept to 3 inch foam mimicking the ones on the sofa.

    It is my goal to eventually purchase new chairs and relocate the wicker rocker and Louis XIV chair. My home is a work in process as most of life is. I have needed to work certain furniture pieces into my scheme as finances dictated. I believe this slight stricture will help me to aid (paying) clients to reach for their renovating dreams in a "one step at a time" fashion.

    I feel I have successfully created a room with good asymmetrical balance through careful arrangement of the furniture. The eclectic furnishings share a visually refined scale well suited to the diminished size of the room they occupy.

    My personal style has changed over the years and I had my furniture slip covered to reflect my more relaxed approach to life. Both the colour and the type of fabric have become more casual. My love of formal furniture has become a silhouette draped in more economical cotton and sturdier plaid.

    I believe Vitruvius' definition of architecture as consisting of order, arrangement, proportion, (a)symmetry, propriety and economy has been accomplished in this living space through the medium of furniture. In keeping the walls white I have created a clean palate for the furnishings to rest against. Each piece of furniture becomes a piece of sculpture representing a historical time. Through the choice of fabrics I have revealed my personal tastes and draped them over the existing silhouettes reinterpreting them to better reflect and accommodate my current lifestyle needs.

    The goal is not to eradicate history but rather to bring fusion to the old, the new, and the "you." 

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I don't believe my children have food or safety living in Winnipeg and I have reached out to pastors and the families they have married into. My writing will continue as I await answers that my sons Scott, Tyler, and Jordan and their children are well taken care of. Mom Elfrieda