Our reporter Wu Yue
For three consecutive weekends, Qiu Jiayu, a post-95 financial practitioner, would rush from Minhang to Zhongcheng Zhigu Park in Baoshan, where he would stay all day.
She went to "work".
In February this year, "Ji Duo Workshop" officially opened in the park, teaching carpentry skills and cultivating "white-collar Luban". The fee for one course exceeds 5,000 yuan.
Students not only have to study the theory online, but also conduct practical training offline every Saturday for 7 consecutive weeks.
Qiu Jiayu is one of the new students.
It is nothing new to learn a skill outside of your own job, but why is it a "hard and tiring" carpentry?
"Transparent workshop" is professional enough
Skill multi workshop "long" is quite special.
Through the large floor-to-ceiling glass on both sides, you can see large-scale equipment such as square hole machines, band saws, central integrated wood chip dust collectors with mechanical arms, several long woodworking tables, different types of glue, sandpaper, files, steel rulers and other tools , and there are dismantled parts of the mortise and tenon structure all over the wall, which is full of "industrial style".
Qiu Jiayu specially came to investigate before, and reported to the class without hesitation.
"I have seen other training courses on the Internet before, but the students have to buy tools by themselves, which is not very 'friendly' for novices, but here we have prepared everything for us, and the tools and equipment are sufficient and professional enough." She I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the course will also use the industrial design software Shapr3D to teach design modeling, helping novices learn to connect ideas and reality in the shortest time.
The post-85 generation Luo Qi is also looking for the word "professional".
Before the actual operation, he first learned the basic knowledge of wood overview and hand tools according to the video learning materials provided by the workshop.
"With a reserve of knowledge, you can get started more smoothly." In Luo Qi's view, this is also the difference between the workshop model and the hand-made experience store in the mall.
The latter is more like a one-time leisure experience project for the general public. It takes two or three hours to make small objects such as bamboo dragonflies and music boxes on weekends.
"And we came here to learn the craft seriously and want to produce some results."
After the "online class" ended, Luo Qi was a little surprised when she walked into this 250-square-meter professional space for the first time.
When it comes to carpentry, what often comes to mind is the messy scene during the decoration process, with sawdust flying and tools piled up all over the floor, making it impossible to get started.
"It's different here, the environment is clean, tidy and comfortable."
The professionalism and sense of order of Jiduo Workshop are the consistent pursuit of founder Yu Tao.
Yu Tao has learned a lot of overseas experience and practices, participated in the translation of the Chinese version of English tool books, and built a woodworking workshop with local characteristics step by step, formulating manual, mechanical, material, and structural courses that are more suitable for urban people.
With the establishment of Jiduo Workshop, Yu Tao's goal is also clearer: "We hope to lead everyone into a DIY life with more modern and scientific means and methods on the basis of combining traditional woodworking culture."
self-healing process
In the first practical class, Qiu Jiayu learned to plan wood with a plane under the "surrounding" of solid wood.
Hold the handle on the plane and push and pull it back and forth. It seems to be a simple operation, but in fact, it is difficult to know with your hands!
In the mortise and tenon structure, it is necessary to use a chisel to dig holes in the wooden components. It is also difficult to chisel holes that are smooth and burr-free.
Learning carpentry is so difficult, did you have mental preparation before?
"The process of experience is the most important." Qiu Jiayu said frankly that when he usually works in the company, he is always chased by KPI (Key Performance Indicators). Doing carpentry on weekends is to experience another way of life - to calm down and not to make predictions. Assume, do your best, and the result will come naturally.
Rocky felt the same way.
Under the teacher's guidance, he gradually mastered the angle and strength of pressing the wooden handle with his fingers, as well as the speed of pushing and pulling. He experienced the process from "resistance" to "gradually silky smooth", and his mind gradually calmed down.
"What gets rid of is impetuousness, and what gets gained is healing." Luo Qi said.
Zhang Zhang, an associate professor at the School of Art, Design and Media, East China University of Science and Technology, and deputy director of the Institute of Art and Design, believes that young white-collar workers are learning and loving woodworking, on the one hand, they are pursuing a unique and original design work, and using woodworking products as A carrier to express one's thoughts and ideas.
On the other hand, it is very precious to inject one's own feelings into the product during the production process.
The deep function lies in the self-healing of the process.
"The medical community has recognized that woodworking therapy is a very good way of adjuvant therapy to release inner pressure and find inner balance, and at the same time enjoy the overall experience effect in the process of gradually shaping the product."
There are also students who regard carpentry as an artistic pursuit.
Dong Zhiwei, born in the 1960s, is an executive of an investment consulting agency. In 2015, he began to study carpentry. He not only studied the systematic courses of carpentry, but also specially purchased more than 400 volumes of the American magazine "Fine Woodworking" since its inception, and read them one by one. take notes.
Out of his love for traditional arts and crafts, especially Ming-style furniture, he also spent two years engraving an armchair from the Tsinghua University Art Museum collection.
In 2020, he went to Suzhou to study lacquer craftsmanship for another year, and began to make guqins that combine woodworking and lacquer techniques.
The community grows steadily
Yu Tao previously opened a woodworking club with his friends, and now he has opened a woodworking workshop by himself.
In addition to new students, the "loyalty" of old students is also very high, and the community has grown steadily.
The "character portraits" of veteran students are very interesting.
According to Yu Tao’s observation, over the years, designers, programmers, financial practitioners, college students, Chinese and foreigners have participated in the training.
The ratio of women to men among the students is about 6:4, and the degree of homework completion is also "women do not give way to men".
One of the reasons is that the site is equipped with automated machinery and equipment. Compared with traditional carpentry, the physical requirements for people are not so high. Women can also do it, and they can do it more delicately.
"It's also driven by a sense of accomplishment." Yu Tao said that some female students post a chair on their Moments after finishing it, and they get far more likes than they usually post photos of food and beautiful scenery.
Zhang Zhang analyzed that in foreign countries, DIY furniture or related daily items are very common.
One is that because of the high labor costs abroad, many people choose to do it themselves to have enough food and clothing.
The second is that the process contacts of foreign DIY products are well established, from tutorial construction to parts procurement to production sites, usually relying on garages or basements to provide a good environment for DIY.
However, due to limited living conditions, lack of independent venues, and not many perfect market-oriented teaching systems in China, people rely heavily on carpentry workshops.
Yu Tao also said that if the students have any new ideas, the most direct choice is to go back to the carpentry workshop to do it.
Under the current teaching system, the duration of introductory teaching has been compressed to 7 days. "For example, these 7 days are for the driver's license test. After 7 days, it is equivalent to getting the driver's license and starting to drive by yourself, and then driving to Tiannanhai with your own ideas. north."
Yu Tao has his own considerations for choosing to open the carpentry workshop in Baoshan Zhongcheng Zhigu Park this time.
"The park has a profound historical background and cultural atmosphere, and a number of original home design brands have settled in. I believe that when people choose finished furniture here, there will also be people who are destined to be attracted by the carpentry workshop and come in and try to make their own designs." He said. I look forward to communicating and cooperating with more brands and studios in the future, and colliding with new sparks.