The Design District
One Hundred Mile Style
Here’s a new euphemism to file away: 100-mile style.
I first came across the term via Treehugger, and they saw it in this article the Globe and Mail. It’s akin to being a locavore with your food—just replace “food” with “furniture.”
I love it. But I think we might have to be a bit more realistic and expand it to maybe 500-mile style, which is a criteria for LEED certification.
When I pick out products for our Desirables pages in Spaces, it’s not mandatory pieces be made and sourced locally in Portland (or within 500 miles of here), but it’s an added bonus when they are.
And it is already important to local designers. Bill Fritts’ philosophy behind his SolidCore furniture collection is decentralized manufacturing: Instead of trucking parts and furniture around the country, he sends information through the Internet to local manufacturing hubs within 500 miles of the final destination, whether it’s in Tokyo, Chicago, or New Zealand. He’s shipping intelligence rather than product, he says.
From the Treehugger post: “Imagine if the 100-mile style became a meme like the 100-mile diet did. A high-design small-mart culture where you can look your chair-maker in the face like you do your farmer at the farmers’ market.”
We’re lucky here in Portland because there are dozens of local furniture companies, creating pieces out of locally and responsibly harvested wood and materials, so I definitely think 100-mile style is attainable here. Want to know more about these “locavores” of the design world? You’re in luck: Our July issue will be all about local craftspeople, so stay tuned.
