A few years ago, Toronto musician and writer Maggie MacDonald gave a lecture entitled "A bling is not a thing." MacDonald proposed that the answer to the negative aspects of consumerism -- overconsumption, waste, overflowing landfill sites, the social desperation to keep up with the Joneses -- was, in fact, consumerism itself. If we could just love material things more, if we could really treat them as precious, we wouldn't make and buy so much junk and our planet would thank us for it.

Retailers like MADE on Dundas Street West, which just hosted its annual Radiant Dark exhibit, celebrate local designers who produce objects with a care that's shared by their admirers. But when designers and manufacturers use reclaimed objects in their work, they're taking MacDonald's ethos even further, acknowledging the integrity of the original material -- wood, glass, metal or whatever -- and the power of the original design in order to infuse their creations with context and meaning.

The downtown West Side, in particular, has become something of a hub for craftspeople and artisans who work with reclaimed materials, including bag-maker Mariclaro on Roncesvalles Avenue, furniture-makers Brothers Dressler on Sterling Road and furniture-maker Lubo Brezina on Dundas Street West.

Brezina opened his shop in 2000 and has attracted a following for his rough-hewn treatment of reclaimed wood that is transformed into sturdy furniture and elegant interiors. "I don't have too many repeat customers," says Brezina, "because once they have it, they have it forever."

Paul Gallant: Where did you get the fantastic mahogany cupboard doors in your kitchen?

Lubo Brezina: From one of the bank buildings in the downtown core. A law firm was renovating and tossing everything, including all the wood trim. I got it just before it went into the dumpster. You don't find mahogany every day.

How did you get into the furniture-making business?

After I finished architecture school I was interested in learning how to make things, so I started taking orders for things. When I started making furniture, wood became the material I loved working with. Furniture design is like designing a building, but the scale is great because I have complete control over the whole project, whereas in architecture you're just one small unit out of many.

Were you always interested in using reclaimed materials?

One of my first pieces was a dining room table. I had met somebody whose business it is to reclaim materials, who has amazing sources. The wood came from the Candy Factory Lofts when they were renovating. I never thought, "Wow, this is reclaimed wood." I just thought, "This is available." Then I realized that old wood is much nicer than new wood. The fact that it's environmentally friendly; of course it's a conscious thing. But it comes naturally with the materials. I don't push it as the first quality but it's inherent in the work. Reduce, reuse, recycle. It's all there.

When you're dealing with materials that have had an earlier life, the shapes can be odd. You can see holes or wear. Is that an obstacle or an advantage?

I used to cut out the defects to get to the pristine wood. If I saw a board with a whole bunch of nail holes, I would try to get rid of them. But lately I've accepted the fact that those things are part of the history of the piece. It's got its own beauty and its own story. I try to put information onto the pieces about where the wood came from, even the building that it came from. In architecture, you have an idea and then you do it, but I learned when you use reclaimed wood, you have to use the wood as a starting point for a design and let it do its own thing without forcing it. The outcome is much better.

Do you have a key influence in your approach?

Japanese wood-working, especially temple-building, where parts are fitted together with interlocking wood joinery. It creates this whole that looks very simple but is very complicated.

Does it pain you to use newly made things on a project?

I still do buy hardware. I've used old hardware on a few projects but I haven't figured out to ideally marry those things together. I have a big bucket of square nails out of some timbers I'd love to use. Lately I've been trying to use more hand tools, which is time consuming, but it gives a certain quality to the wood. I have a big crosscutting saw a friend of mine gave me. It was in his father's garage forever, probably 100 years old. I spent a whole day shining it up and getting it working. It's a beautiful thing to use. It's a two-person saw and you can feel your whole body using it.

What are your customers looking for in a piece of furniture?
 
My customer looks for something unique, something you can't buy anywhere else. It's the relationship, too. I try to bring my clients into the shop, show them the woods that I have and use the ones they like. They can see the raw material first and then the outcome of the process between us.

What's been the most interesting project you've done?

A piece I had in the Radiant Dark show. It wasn't furniture, it wasn't architecture, it was in-between: a shrine to the memory of barns. It's a miniature barn, basically. You can enter it and get a sense of the space of what a real barn would be, made exactly the same as a barn in terms of how the wood is joined. It's not a practical piece but at a different scale it could be a pavilion.

As a member of the Dundas West Business Improvement Area, how would you characterize the area?

For the past three or four years we've been pushing to improve the area and the streetscape. It's been a real challenge, but I'm positive about the future. There's a lot of business that are moving in and a lot of young people. It's still kinda raw and old-school and real. It's not a very pretentious neighbourhood.