why ...

So tonight J and I headed to Tacoma for the Art Walk event held every third Thursday of the month where all the museums and galleries downtown are open for free. I wanted to check out the Washington State History Museum's exhibit on the Arts and Crafts Movement that runs through November. Duh, of course I did. Oh, and there was a chess exhibit for Julian although it was really, really (no, really) small. As in sort of buried in a closet. But there was a cool German chess set that I liked a lot - really cool. And they had a couple of chess boards set out around the museum but we didn't sit down to play (he'd probably kick my butt anyway) cos after we finished up there we went over to the Glass Museum to sit in the Hot Shop and watch them blow and sculpt glass which J thought was really pretty cool.

But anyways - I have never said much about why it is I love Arts and Crafts bungalow style houses so much so this seemed like a good time to do so. In essence, the whole Arts and Crafts movement that started in England and found its way to America in the early twentieth century can be summed up in one word ... rebellion. Reform. Rebirth. Okay, that's three. But they're all important and essential. Basically, the movement was against the whole ornate and overdone materialism of the Victorian period. It was a movement to get back to the basics so-to-speak. It proposed social and economic reform and has essentially been seen as being wholly anti-industrial.

All good things then. Even better now. Enough with the materialism. The over-excessiveness plaguing our population mired in the notion we all need more shit to be happy. And I am writing this now in 2010 but rewind a century and the same sentence would apply. Sort of scary.

But beyond anti-materialism and anti-industrialism, the movement also promoted the use of local materials (so, in the Pacific Northwest, lots of fir used from the structural to the decorative along with cedar and stones and so forth found here in the Northwest) and honest craftsmanship. Both of which you would be hard-pressed to find in today's build-it-as-cheap-as-we-effing-can-so-the-developer-can-reap-the-biggest-profit construction industry. If you want honest craftsmanship you have to pay a fortune to buy a 'custom' home or something with some other lame nomenclature. There is even a pathetic magazine I have seen in the checkout aisles at the Home Depot called 'New Old House' or something stupid like that. Because in today's way of thinking everything is about maximizing profits. Cutting corners. Using cheap materials.

Not a century ago. Locally-found materials and true craftsmanship - beautiful details, trim, nooks, built-ins etc. etc. - were the name of the game. The norm. And people did not have to pay a fortune for it cos that's just how it was. Rather than the outlandish Victorian mansions dotting American suburbia, the Arts and Crafts movement epitomized the middle-class with its modesty both in architecture and size. You will be hard-pressed to find an Arts and Crafts bungalow larger than two thousand square feet. A true 'bungalow' by definition is only a single story dwelling. Their architecture and size are both what can honestly be considered 'tasteful.' The movement promoted simplicity. Simple but refined aesthetics, hoping to make individuals more rational and society more harmonious.

Truth to material, structure and function. Sounds like a page out of Apple's industrial design philosophy (well, the Apple maybe a decade or two ago at least). Or any company more intent on putting out quality over quantity. The Arts and Crafts movement was influenced by the social criticisms of the day, which sought to relate the moral and social health of a nation to the qualities of its architecture and design. Those behind the movement thought the machine and industrialization were at the root of many social ills and that a healthy society depended on skilled and creative workers. Like its founders, Arts and Crafts artists tended to oppose the division of labor and preferred craft production (i.e. assembly line production which turned people into essentially dumbed-down robots), in which the whole item was made and assembled by an individual or small group. Not only that, but they were concerned about the decline of rural handicrafts which accompanied the rise of industry, and they regretted the loss of traditional skills and creativity.

Sound familiar?

There is a resurgence a century later to these same ills and ideals. The idea of buying local. Of walking to the downtown farmer's market to get your produce and plants. To appreciate handicraft again which supercedes the shit that crowds our hypermarket aisles mass-produced and over-priced always at a social and/or environmental cost many are beginning to discover is too high. A return to simplicity. Of riding a bike instead of hopping in the car. Of breathing fresh air, an ideal of the movement evident in the enormous porches and extensive windows exhibited by most bungalows. Of the value of community and neighbors, again harking back to the architecture and design of the porches which were used as family gathering places and to welcome neighbors.

Basically the whole idea of the return to simplicity.

Why do we need all this shit? Why does everything need to be so big? Why do we need four, five, six etc. bedroom houses? Three car garages? All built with an eye only on the bottom line rather than the honest craftsmanship, design, style and materials used.

This ... this is why I love my little bungalow. This is why I set out to buy one when I went looking for my first house. I was very particular. There was a very astute reason for it all. The idea of Arts and Crafts falls completely in-line with my own ideals. I get a ton of satisfaction out of restoring its charm just covered up by a few decades' worth of wallpaper and bad paint. I am teaching Julian the value and meaning of taking something old but well-built, well-designed and to care for it and make it new again.

Restoring this old house makes me smile. For all it stands for.