Stories from the fair - From construction to furniture Arboritm

Cristian Tudor - Arboritm - I met him through Daniel Jolita (Lignum), a young, enthusiastic and voluble entrepreneur from Oradea, who came specially to our booth to meet us. Incidentally, this is one of the joys of attending the fair - meeting people who follow our work and can relate to the topics we discuss. Daniel noticed and appreciated the solid wood furniture that Cristian came to the fair with and returned to our stand to tell us about the shy young man at the far end of the pavilion. We hadn't noticed him - the fair was still in its infancy, we were very busy - and it would probably be a while before we met. Daniel rushed things along, making it easier for us to meet Cristian, but also to meet Mihai and Ayako, stories from the fair I've already told.

Participation in BIFE-SIM 2019

It's not the kind of furniture you'd expect to see at this fair. A piece of furniture where you could feel the love for wood, a piece of soulful furniture that reminded you of the past without necessarily being categorised as rustic furniture. The handcrafted wood had traditional classic joints and fine, elegant, even delicate lines. No waste, just enough wood to be strong enough, the furniture useful for its intended purpose.

Cristian is not the kind of producer who attends such fairs. You'd expect to meet him sooner at guild fairs in medieval fortresses, because he works mainly with chisels and hammers. Still, his furniture has delicacy and when he tells you he learned carpentry from Japanese books you realise where the simplicity and finesse of the lines come from.

He came to the fair with the help of the Chamber of Commerce. BIFE-SIM is an international trade fair since this year and so Cristian was able to benefit from a non-reimbursable grant for participating in an international trade fair. Through the agreement signed with the Chamber of Commerce he received the space for the exhibition, all expenses related to rent and participation fee were covered by this funding.

The transition from construction graduate to carpenter-designer

Cristian Tudor is a graduate of the Institute of Construction, but has never been drawn to such a path. He tells me he made college happen. He comes from a family of engineers and college was the natural follow-up after high school. Being in college, he got the idea to change the furniture in his house because he didn't like it. She had no knowledge of how to make furniture, but it was something she wanted to do.

The first object was a shoebox made of chipboard. But he didn't like it, he wanted to work with wood. In 2012 she finished college and started learning about wood and furniture. He worked in a few woodworking workshops, but didn't stay long because he wanted something else, he wanted something more creative. Then he decided to teach himself from books he ordered online and tutorials. Slowly he got the courage and started working on different objects.

"I started making furniture pieces only with hand tools and only from traditional joints. Tools taken from the fair, from ebay or inherited from my grandfather. I learned how to sharpen them, how to grind their geometry so that they work properly (I spent many, many hours doing this), I learned about the species of wood, about the peculiarities of each species."

To learn the art of carpentry he bought books such as Shoji making, The Complete Japanese Joineryby Toshio Odate or The fine art of cabinet makingKrenov's. From them he learned the secrets of wood, working with it becoming a way of expression.

Arboritm and the workshop in Blejoi

In the beginning it was very difficult because he didn't have his own space and the places where he worked didn't have the necessary facilities. It was hot in the summer and very cold in the winter and this made him stop working sometimes. In time he managed to build his own workshop in the village of Blejoi, near Ploiesti. There he makes solid wood furniture for those who love wood and see it as a means of expression, not just a material.

He found the name of the company long before he registered it. It felt like a union between the trees and the rhythm of life, of music, of the universe - Arboritm. He loves wood so much that he never wastes it. Objects are not stumpy, wood is not consumed unnecessarily. Just enough to make the furniture strong.

He works mainly with hand tools, which he likes to work with the most. He also has a lathe, a Minimax Fs 30 Genius abricht, a vertical circular saw and a few power tools in his workshop. He uses oak, frasin, paltin, cherry, nuc, ulm. Finish with oil and wax. He doesn't even want to hear about varnishes, he says it takes you away from the wood, you can't feel it. He makes his own finishing materials from beeswax, carnauba wax and oils. Sometimes he stains the wood by burning, creating contrasts between the deep black of the burnt fibre and the light colour of the wood. "Everything must be natural, so the presence of the piece of furniture will be natural".

Unique handmade furniture

He works both on furniture that he designs himself according to the project and the client's needs, and on projects that he has created in collaboration with clients, developing the design together.

"Sometimes the work I do doesn't have a clear definition from the beginning. I mean I don't necessarily start from a drawing, rather I imagine it. If I see a plank that I think is special, I put it away until I know what I'm going to do with it. I then build around that plank, following both well-defined principles of joining (a piece must be sturdy) and ideas that arise spontaneously as I work."

The aesthetics of Cristian's objects are inspired by nature, tradition and the desire for innovation. He works efficiently and with precision making solid wood furniture. Each piece is handcrafted, carefully choosing the wood and highlighting its peculiarities. He doesn't want to make things fast but to make them quality. He is guided by the saying "The good thing you like, you don't ask how long it takes".

Cristian Tudor is another new-age carpenter, as I like to call them. They are part of this young generation that chooses to do what they love, to follow their passion. Young people who fall prey love of wood, and thus ended up making very good quality things with pleasure. We have talked about them and will continue to talk about them because we consider them examples and inspirations for others. Daniel Jolța, the discoverer Cristian from the fair, told us that he had the courage to leave everything and start a wood business by reading his story Dragos and Costi. We hope that Cristian's passion for wood will be such an inspiration.

Good luck, Cristian!