For Enrico König, the man behind Kurve Studio Furniture, the path that led him to where he is today has as many curves as his handmade studio furniture, yet ends up looking surprisingly direct in retrospect.
First, while much in his background points to him doing exactly what he’s doing — his father is a carpenter, he apprenticed as a carpenter, and he supported his travels in Europe by making custom furniture in Switzerland —Enrico had other aspirations and headed off to Dalhousie University to get a degree with the intention of being a writer.
Back in Vancouver, though, chance led Enrico back into the fold soon enough when he ran into a friend who had a makeshift woodworking shop in a single-car garage in Strathcona. As he describes it, “You could run the table saw and the one overhead light, or the light and the electric heater, but not all three at once.” A simple request to use the shop to make a Christmas present led to Enrico spending much of his time there and to a frenzy of tool buying. “Before I knew it, I had $50,000 worth of equipment and a shop in Richmond,” he says.
