Northshore Home

Spring 2016

Northshore Home magazine highlights the best in architectural design, new construction and renovations, interiors, and landscape design.

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46 SPRING 2016 products for both residential and commercial spaces. Since graduating from Andover High School, Rummel has been fielding a steady stream of small commission jobs. One client has always led to the next. Over the years, his work and mission have matured—and the scope of his skill set has broadened. "I try to expand upon my capabilities with every job," he says. "I try to push the envelope of what I can do, what I can design, what fits aesthetically with different environments." Describ- ing traditional New England blacksmithing as just one component of his work, he notes a desire to "push a more timeless, sort of transitional contemporary craftsman style that fits a wider spectrum of projects." Rummel works with architects, builders, and interior designers—at times at the ground-breaking level but more often mid to late stage in a project, when he comes in to "plunk a few cherries on top." Employing "Old World craftsmanship," Rummel manipulates metal into forms that reflect the natural world while complement- ing the built environment. Clients include the likes of Carly Simon, for whom he made a hanging pot rack for her kitchen on Martha's Vineyard. As with all of his works, the design was based on how she would be us- ing the space. "My specialty is site-specific design…. [I] design for usability and functionality," he explains. And Rummel's barn-rustic-meets-industrial-chic aesthetic fits with diverse architectural styles. He doesn't want to pigeonhole himself by referring to his work in restricted terms, as he is equally comfortable designing for timber-framed homes and highly modern spaces. "I am very open to various styles," he notes. No matter the genre, his work is "well-intentioned." He be- lieves people are most interested in finding something niche. "Everybody wants something specific, something well-thought-out and well-designed." Rummel prides himself on understanding how peo- ple interact with architecture and the environment—he views those relationships as a "holistic package" and notes the growing number of sustainability efforts made by many in the design-build industry. In support, he uses select reclaimed and locally harvested materi- als and natural finishes whenever possible. Among his wares are end tables, coat racks, sink stands and basins, rack systems, countertops, railings, brick oven doors, fireplace screens, candle stands, and the occasional sculpture piece—like the one currently traveling from one yoga studio to another. "They pro- mote the business by just being there," explains Rum- mel. Of a piece currently housed at Exhale Spa at the Battery Wharf Hotel in Boston, he says: "It is a religious sculpture—it feels a little weird to try to sell it, so I just let it float out there." Of his pieces in general, Rummel says, "They all have something special about them," though he calls inspire PHOTOGRAPHS BY JONATHAN RUMMEL

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