WILDETECT
November 8, 2012
Quinton J Damstra has been running
his own architectural design studio for 11 years, QJD design studio, designing over 100 new
homes and over 500 alterations and additions. The Wildetects main objective is to
create designs that are not static, but designs that are daring and unashamedly
vibrant and bold – capturing the blur representing movement in the comic strip.
We get close up and personal with Quinton who is passionate
about design and making a difference.
Where did you get
started?
Design aesthetic is
always for me the first point of departure. I know it’s not the analytical
designer’s first step. I design my furniture creations from an
emotional space. And admittedly emotion is not always reasonable and that is
why my furniture is a very personal exploration. It’s not for mass
market appeal and I found several years ago designing between the lines of
acceptability wasn’t exactly satisfying for me. So my furniture designs
are an expression of my own design journey and that’s what inspired me to get
started in furniture design.
What
is your style?
I follow an African
fauvistic design style – wildetecture – the fauna and flora of Africa is as
beautiful as it is wild – and exploring this dynamic African energy
concept has been rather exciting and produced some interesting end results.
Up and coming projects
I have been designing
a range of wildetect style skateboards and chess pieces – as well as several
homes now nearing completion.
The best
thing about being a furniture designer.
The experimentation of
form – to interact with your own design once its built is always exciting
– being brutally honest about mistakes and needed improvements keeps one
grounded and champing at the bit to create model 2 and then 3 etc.
Who inspires you?
People who are able to
support families and pay bills with limited means – they do this
without fanfare and they seem to enjoy the moments between the 9 to
5. architects who inspire me are Antoni Gaudi, Hundertwasser, Bart
Prince, Tadao Ando. Irving J Gill.
I am the happiest
when.
I’m with my wife
Mandy, Tayze and logan-hawke our kids and our 2 crazy sausage
dogs – Minky and Rory.
Best
furniture piece purchased.
I must say it’s our
Klooftique leather couch – we purchased the model called the fat boy – I love
my lazy Sunday afternoon time.
My
involvement with the WCFI.
I lecture design at
academy IDT – the WCFI has
been one of the most accessible design forums, initiatives for my students
to engage with in SA. The industry and client design arena can
be rather a daunting place for most students. However when
a design initiative can reach over the chasm of no confidence and not
much experience – and provide a solid platform and a clear
pathway for a design student to showcase individual talent to
industry, then it has achieved something very special. So my involvement
is to send as many of my design students to the wcfi as possible – to cut
their teeth in a kindly design environment before the acid test of the big
wide design world.
Quinton J Damstra qjdamstra@new.co.z Cell:
+27 82 458 2766 www.wildetecture.com
