Furniture Designer draws ideas from nature
By Jo Werne
Herald Home Furnishings Writer
The round dining table looks as though it has stripes,
an illusion created by veneering strips of Hawaiian koa
wood from the middle of the table to the edges. A
half-moon buffet is crafted from bird’s eye maple, zebra
wood and stainless steel.
A massive armoire, made of sycamore, has cast bronze
panels and door pulls.
The pieces are the work of Michael Oguns, 43, a
Nigerian-born artist and craftsman who has called Miami
home since 1973.
They represent another shift in direction for Oguns, who
spent the past seven years focusing on metal designs
and the decade before that, making Lucite furniture.
Oguns completed his first 25-piece collection of wood
furniture in six months. It has intriguing details, such
as hidden drawers and seductive shapes on doors and
legs. The craftsmanship takes time. One armoire took 100
hours to make.
The prices also are impressive. The round Hawaiian koa
wood table is $12,500 retail, the sycamore armoire
is
$38,000, a desk made of burl
ash is $20,000
and upholstered
side chairs are $2,100 each.
They sit against a backdrop of fabric-draped walls in
his Michael O showroom at the Design Center of the
Americas in Dania. But you probably won’t find Oguns
there.
Most of the time, he is working at the steamy factory on
the edge of Miami's Little Haiti. With a half-dozen
employees, he labors at machines that shape flat sheets
of stainless steel for his sculptures or cut wood for
his new collection.
Taking ideas from nature
Designing also is done at the factory. Oguns looks to
nature for inspiration. A TV program showing the grace
of gazelles was the genesis for the legs of his
upholstered side chairs.
Once inspired, "I can design 10 to 20 pieces in a week,"
he said. "I’m a voracious sketcher. I may sketch
something 50 times before I’m pleased with it.
When the sketching process is exhausted, Oguns builds a
model one-fifth the scale of the finishedpiece. That
way he can make adjustments in the design before
starting the full-scale piece.
"I control all of the manufacturing process," he said on
a hot, rainy afternoon at his factory. "I have to get
the quality I want. I even stand over my upholsterer as
he completes my chairs. I’m like a pain in the neck
sometimes, but I’m a perfectionist."
Oguns’ story is one of entrepreneurship, hard work and saving pennies to build his business.
He was born in Akure, Nigeria, where his late father
was
a farmer and his 82-year old mother still works as a
trader. She buys and sells from village to village.
"She’s a workaholic; guess I take after her," he said.
An early start
Oguns was 12 when he started making wood bikes and bird
cages to sell to friends. Yet it was years and a couple
of other careers before he formally put his design and
business sense together in Miami.
Oguns studied structural engineering at Nigerian
Polytechnic and came to the United States in 1972.
"I wanted to come here," he said. "it's the dream of
everybody to come to this country."
He lived in Washington, D.C., for three months, but
because it was "freezing cold, I decided to come to
Miami."
He enrolled at Miami-Dade Community College to study
architectural technology. Oguns also took MDCC’s two
year practical nursing course and became a licensed
practical nurse for five years.
Buys two buildings
When he had enough money to start his business, Oguns
rented a building in Miami and began shopping at
auctions and liquidation sales for machinery.
After renting for 16 years, Oguns bought two buildings
20 months ago on Northeast Fourth Avenue.
He envisions
the area as a furniture industry hub.
That’s not his only vision. He also designs all the
hardware for his cabinetry, first making his own molds,
then sending them to local foundry to have the pieces
cast in bronze. He's designing a line of hardware he
hopes to market.
And in his spare time, he spends time with his two
children and visits Metrozoo, from where he draws
inspiration for his sculptures.
"I try not to be influenced by other designers, but I
study the works of Henry Moore and Picasso,’ he said.
