Wood Shop for Grownups
Bushwick arts collective 3rd Ward is getting its hands dirty this weekend with a two-day workshop devoted to the art of woodworking. Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, an heirloom-quality hand-tool manufacturer from Maine, headlines the event as part of a tour across the U.S. Its staff will be on hand with the full line of hand planes, chisels, and joint-making tools and teaching a full range of lessons, from tool-sharpening to joinery techniques. They’ll be joined by a handful of local woodworkers and toolmakers, including Matthew Mullen and renowned Gramercy Tools, as well as nationally recognized craftsmen from Daed Toolworks and Ron Brese of Brese Plane. Best of all, the event is free and open to everyone from the almost professional to the just curious (195 Morgan Ave., at Stagg St., Brooklyn; F 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sa 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; 3rdward.com; RSVP required).
The Shapes of Things 2012
The American Institute of Graphic Arts of New York will co-host a lecture tomorrow with the Museum of Arts and Design on the place and potential of materials in design today. Dr. Andrew Dent of the material design firm Material ConneXion will lead the talk, along with Randy Herbertson, president of Wonder Group and a leader in the field of package design. The event is part of a series, and should you be unable to attend this week’s, look ahead to March, when AIGA/NY will present a talk by world-traveling graphic designer Garth Walker and a conversation with Greg Foley, creative director of the thrice-annual art journal Visionaire (2 Columbus Cir., nr. Eighth Ave.; 6:30-8 p.m.; $30, $20 AIGA members, $10 AIGA student members; aigany.org).
Book Club Goes Global
Urbanist scholar David Grahame Shane will give this month’s Oculus Book Talk at the Center for Architecture, discussing his book Urban Design Since 1945: A Global Perspective. Shane’s model places the origin of the “global megacity” with the need to rebuild Europe following World War II. The book then describes the city’s evolution from the state-planned settlements behind the Iron Curtain to the wealth and growth associated with the rise of global corporations, to the towering skyscrapers and vast slums of Latin America and Asia. Shane will present the book this Monday, followed by a signing (536 La Guardia Pl., nr. W. 3rd St.; 6-8 p.m.; $10, free for AIA members; cfa.aiany.org).
Reclaiming Time
Strawser & Smith is holding a sale starting today to clear out its stock for the New Year, including the majority of its in-store showroom pieces, at up to 60 percent off normal prices. The shop crafts and sells pieces made of vintage parts, in keeping with the style and quality of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century industrial design. Pieces in the sale include a steel-top table with turnbuckle base, reduced to $4,000 from $5,800, and a reclaimed factory bench, marked down to $975 from $1,275 (487 Driggs Ave., nr. N. 9th St.; 718-388-7600; this W-Su; strawserandsmith.com).