When Andrew Wagner was asked to moderate the MAKESHIFT panel conversation as part of New York Design Week 2012, he jokingly insisted that he be considered MC rather than moderator. That’s exactly the type of robust, experienced personality I look forward to sharing the stage with next week at the Standard Talks, as we discuss the intersection of design, fashion, craft, and DIY.

We’re happy to introduce Andrew on our blog and welcome his participation in MAKESHIFT. His long- running list of big DIY ideas and achievements makes him a veteran in that community. As “What You Make of It” columnist for the New York Times, he has recently delved instructions on how to turn an old rusty bicycle into a beautiful hanging lamp – Isamu Noguchi style- and how to repurpose egg carton trays into stunning and sturdy stools.

Here is more on Andrew’s accomplishments:

Andrew Wagner is the current Editorial Director of Krrb, a hyperlocal/mega-global marketplace run by design agency Area 17. He hails from California by way of Connecticut. After graduating from Connecticut College with a degree in environmental psychology he jumped headlong into his editorial career in San Francisco helping found Dodge City Journal, LIMN, and Dwell. In 2006 he headed back east, this time to New York City, to help reinvent the august publication, American Craft. Prior to joining Area 17 he served as the editor-in-chief/chief brand officer of ReadyMade.

He is the current “What You Make of It” columnist for the New York Times in which he digs through the refuse of New York with the goal of turning trash into treasure.

Andrew has also penned the forwards for Princeton Architectural Press’ Handmade Nation and Chronicle Books’ It’s Lonely in the Modern World: The Essential Guide to Form, Function, and Ennui from the Creators of Unhappy Hipsters as well as chapters for Phaidon’s Vitamin Green series. When he’s not working on Krrb’s global domination you can probably find him playing second base for the semi-professional baseball team, the Downtown Bulls.

We’d also like to thank Krrb for partnering with Alabama Chanin and Partners & Spade in CRAFTING DESIGN: A MAKESHIFT Chair Workshop. They will be supplying chairs for participants to craft and create.

xoNatalie