Eastern Joinery Seminar - Theory and Application with Taeho Kwon 20-1

Eastern Joinery Seminar: Theory and Application With

This will be a ZOOM presentation. A link will be emailed the day before to all registrants.

As part of the Guild of Oregon Woodworkers program of presenting international masters of our craft, we are pleased to bring Taeho Kwon back to Portland for 2020. 

Taeho Kwon visited our Guild in April, 2019. He presented his journey into his discovery of how Eastern timber frame joinery is applied to solve specific construction issues and the techniques to successfully execute his designs. He also taught a workshop to build the coffee table/sitting bench shown in the image during his visit to Portland. His presentation and workshop were met with rave reviews.

Taeho Kwon attended East Carolina University and majored in Commercial Arts, studying Interior Design. His goal was to construct his own designs instead of hiring other builders. To achieve this, he applied for jobs outside of the field and started working on fine carpentry. He also learned everything he could from framing to exteriors, anything that would improve his skills to build his designs. After learning and practicing for 12 years, he decided to take a step further and extend his understanding of joinery. He then traveled to Korea and attended The School of Traditional Korean Architecture, earning a Certificate of Maintenance and Restoration for Korean traditional buildings. He learned to make Buddhist Temples and a “King's Palace.” Since then, he has spent numerous years gaining experience on the restoration and new construction of traditional Korean houses, as well as temple buildings. He focused on temples because he wanted to improve his knowledge of joinery and the secrets behind making it last for thousands of years. In a temple or a King's Palace building, there are about three times more types of joints involved than in fine furniture building. He has been utilizing this advanced joinery in his own furniture design. This seminar is a lecture and demonstration on how Eastern joinery is used to solve specific problems in the construction of buildings and furniture to last hundreds, even thousands, of years. Timber frame and furniture joinery will be discussed.

Please direct any questions to  Chip Webster at jdwebster3@comcast.net.  

Guild classes are for Member only classes. Not a member? Go to Join The Guild.

Note: The online invitation will be sent out 24 hours before the event to all registrants