In my living room, got a lamp and wine rack I made years ago. I like them.

With every project, once it's done all I see are ways to do it better and production flaws. But I think with both of these, it's about seeing how to make them simpler. They work well enough - especially the lamp as a lighting piece that isn't hardwired that can plug it into the wall outlet - but while I like the Fibonacci spiral motif, you can use fewer bulbs and less math and still make something that looks good.

Same with the wine rack. This really is a bit too Keebler Elf. But I do like the idea of wine on the wall and plan to revisit the idea and play around with that more in the coming months, with simpler, more elegant designs. Just less.

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All this MCL stuff here is part of a previous project that started with the Media Rack and Kitchen Work Table in 2004, and ended with the Wine Rack in 2006. There were a few other pieces in between.

The Kitchen Work Table and Media Rack were personal projects since I couldn't find what I wanted, and the Wine Rack was the last project that sort of ushered in the current GFC aesthetic.  Learned that it is difficult to scale up when making them all by hand on one's roof.

All of the old content from www.manhattancleanline.com is now on here.]]>

**From the old Manhattan Clean Line days...

First time working with a big piece of wood. So much sanding, so much planing. Danish oil, lemon oil, more sanding. Drilled all the holes with a handheld drill on my roof. Quite pleased with how it came out. I love the look of copper and cherry together. That is also the signature look up a number of upcoming Gowanus Furniture Co. pieces - all about copper inlaid in cherry. This piece to me though is a little too "Keebler Elf" - fond of it, but it could say more with less.

**Built summer 2006. Not for sale.

(aka Vino) [mcl - WRa - CC12]:

Is it too country for the city, or too city for the country? Neither! It's just fine for both. In this case, the copper and cherry pair beautifully, though it is also available as aluminum and birch. Each style has it's place, as some prefer Rioja and others Vouvray. Blending a modern sensibility with a warmer, more organic aesthetic, this wine rack lets you show your friends that your design sense has as much (if not more) finesse, balance, poise, and refinement as the Romanée-Conti you have in this rack. It takes cues from the likes of Bauhaus design, while infused with the likes of something a bit more mid-century and a bit more West Coast. This isn't a soulless piece of furniture that one would find in, say, an airport. This is something to live with. In vino veritas, and the truth is that you need something like this.

*Other arrangements available with other wood and metal combinations in a range of sizes. [starting at $299.00, $475.00 as shown]

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**From the old Manhattan Clean Line days...

An imminently rational - yet creative and clever - table, much like its namesake.

**Built Fall 2005. Not for sale.

(aka Jefferson) [mcl - CTj - 4x1]:

Narrow tables work well in, er, compact apartments. They're all the more charming when rational and enlightened and understand important natural proportions (though this table is not without its contradictions - "natural" though it is, it probably wouldn't care much for the agrarian lifestyle). The bottom shelf illustrates the the Fibonacci sequence, but is more than just graph paper.... (Yeah, it holds your magazines!) No, really! it illustrates the sequence and its recursive properties. The unpainted rods illustrate the sequence, while the black rods illustrate the recursion. A great gift for your nerdy friends.

Carrots not included. (Wait - you want carrots? Buy the table and carrots will be included....)

*Other sizes available [4'x1' shown], with glass or plexi. [$399.00 as shown (with glass)]

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**From the old Manhattan Clean Line days...

Built for a client in Chelsea. By far the most popular piece I built, the problem is that it's a tough thing to arrange in such a way that it's easy to assemble by the customer. It's also heavy to ship. Am fond of it, though - if interested in making your own, let me know...

**Built Spring 2005. Not for sale.

(aka Zeez) [mcl - Bz - FS]:

Get your mattress off the floor (or worse, off that press-board frame you got from some giant Scandanavian furniture-jobber)! Here's a sturdy bed frame that will hold your mattress, give you a place to keep your shoes, and help you foster a warren of dust bunnies. It's ever so sturdy and will stand up to nearly anything. Say more with less.

*Available for any size mattress. [$475.00 as shown (Full Size)]

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**From the old Manhattan Clean Line days...

Built for a couple in the East Village who had the glass but wanted a new frame. Simple and effective, my contribution to the design was having the glass rest on the sort of butyl rubber stoppers you surely remember from chemistry class. You notice the black rubber under the glass just as you notice the aluminum fittings. Can't miss either. I don't think van der Rohe would have cared for this much at all .
You've also surely seen a Barcelona Table?

**Built Spring 2005. Not for sale.

(aka Barco) [mcl - CTb - 4x4]:

You need tables where you live. The powers that be would tell you you need these tables especially for coffee. You are welcome to use this table for that purpose, or in any other way you see fit. There's a lot to be said about tables, especially ones roughly 4'x4' with an "X" shaped frame, and plenty more will likely be said (some perhaps about this one, in your living room, with your dog nearby...).

*Any size available (so long as the length and width are the same - i.e. it's a square), with glass or plexi. [$349.00 as shown (with glass)]

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**From the old Manhattan Clean Line days...

Built for a client in Cobble Hill with a great porch. Funny story though about assembling it on my roof and then trying to get it inside. Actually, not that funny at all. No, not funny...

**Built Fall 2004. Not for sale.

(aka Fresco) [mcl - BTa - 2.5x2.5]:

Nice to eat out, but nicer to eat outside.... Perfect for four diners, some homemade sausage, a nice london broil, a bit of kielbasa, a few hamburgers, and wild boar ribs. Ok - with maybe a bell pepper stuffed with your leftover rice (they'll never know!) from last night for the vegetarian. Gosh, that sounds tasty (the meat, that is). This table is quite the homage to the square.Albers would be pleased. Who'd have thought a cube could be so accomadating?

*Other arrangements available (glass instead of plexi). [starting at $325.00, $325.00 as shown]

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