Photographer Dana Lixenberg captures the serene stillness of structures, studios and workshops built by American Craft Movement pioneer George Nakashima on the banks of a wooded valley. Designated a National Historic Landmark, the complex at New Hope, Pennsylvania is presided over by Nakashima’s daughter Mira Nakashima following her father’s death in 1990, and the family’s legacy draws inspiration from the arboreal surroundings of their work. “I could not imagine being creative without a window to the outdoors,” says Nakashima, a Harvard-trained architect who continues the woodworking tradition taught by Nakashima throughout the second half of the 20th century. “Our design principles follow the precedent of my father’s work as faithfully as possible, but to also be inspired by the wood itself.”
   
What was it like to grow up on the estate?
Mira Nakashima: We lived in a tent while my Dad built the shop and house. We had no well, but a cistern to collect rainwater. We borrowed drinking water from friends, and bathed in a swimming hole. It was fun watching the process of building not only furniture, but architecture, from the ground up.

What is your favorite season here and why?
MN: The best is the fall. It’s interesting to watch the changing landscape as the leaves fall from their branches and crunch crisply underfoot as we go from building to building, doing our work. The angle of the sun brings more sunshine indoors, the shadows lengthen as the days grow shorter.

Do you have any future plans for the estate?
MN: My father established the Nakashima Foundation for Peace in 1984 for the purpose of constructing peace altars for the world, but we have expanded its mission to include the preservation of the Nakashima buildings and the furniture collections within them. I also hope that my oldest son Satoru will soon return to help us continue into the future as a family business.

Nakashima Woodworkers: An Evolving Legacy at the Moderne Gallery, Philadelphia runs through November 2.