| Johnson's Austin roots run deep. His | | | | furniture store in Austin's Second Street District. Along |
| great-great-grandfather immigrated to Austin in the | | | | with building benches for Whole Foods in Austin, |
| 1850s from Sweden, and his family still remains. After | | | | Johnson has spent the past couple of years building |
| several years of working with carpenters and a fine | | | | the majority of cabinets and built-ins for the Tortuga |
| woodworker, Johnson has gained the knowledge and | | | | residence on Lake Austin (a massive remodel run by |
| experience to create fine heirloom pieces with all the | | | | Austin's design/build firm Bercy Chen Studio, and |
| handmade precision of his forefathers. | | | | recently featured in the Design Vanguard issue of |
| Johnson started with small creations, such as wood | | | | Architectural Record magazine). |
| veneered lamps, and quickly began building several | | | | Though Brian David Johnson is kept busy meeting |
| different pieces, working against the old adage of, | | | | clients, building furniture, and working from the office, he |
| "form follows function." Johnson's technique relies more | | | | also finds time for his duties with the Architectural |
| on his creative side, and how he wants a piece to | | | | Artisans Collaborative, for which he is the president. As |
| work, then concentrates on the nuts and bolts of the | | | | their website states, the Collaborative is, "An |
| project. | | | | organization of professional, highly skilled artisans, |
| In 2002, Johnson established Brian David Johnson Fine | | | | architects, and artists dedicated to the renaissance of |
| Craft and Design, and now works out of the Splinter | | | | architectural craft in buildings constructed in Austin and |
| Group Cooperative workspace in east Austin. The | | | | central Texas." |
| Splinter Group houses other self-employed | | | | At the recent East Austin Studio Tour, Johnson had |
| woodcraftsmen, each with his own design niche. | | | | pieces of his work on display, and explained his |
| Johnson defines his work as contemporary with | | | | different methods. In the corner of the workshop stood |
| organic sensibility. | | | | a purchase he had made a week earlier at the |
| After originally designing a coffee table for a client, | | | | Settlement Home Charity Sale. It was a chair created |
| Johnson entered a revamped version of the table into | | | | by mid century furniture designer Hans Wegner, |
| Design Within Reach's Floating Chair show, which | | | | known simply as The Chair, that he picked up for a |
| featured contemporary handmade furniture from local | | | | few hundred dollars- a better deal than the four |
| designers. Now known as the Yama coffee table, this | | | | thousand dollar price tag The Chair goes for fresh out |
| massive curved piece of wood is sold through IF+D, a | | | | of the factory. |