CONCEPT BLACK LEÓN

Jonathan Blanco is the creator of Concept Black Leon.  

Jonathan was born from hard working immigrant parents.  Humility, ethics, hard work, and a grounded spirit were instilled in him from his parents at an early age.  His parents and his family have played a great role in molding who he is today.

Spending his early youth in Jersey City, New Jersey before moving out to the suburbs, Jonathan attained a lot of street smarts needed to survive in today’s world.  It was with this mindset that set the groundwork for his love of exploring and learning things around him.

From an early age, Jonathan exhibited advance sketching abilities as well as the ability to grasp even the most intricate 3-dimensional objects in his mind.  As his abilities matured during his early teens, it was then that Jonathan fell in love with the show “This Old House”.  He vividly recalls the early years with Bob Villa, Tom Silva, and Norm Abram.  The content of the show was truly impactful in Jonathan’s life, for it set the groundwork for his love and interest in designing and building.  Hearing the opening This Old House theme always brings memories of the show as well as recollections of cool crisp autumn New Jersey days and visions of the yellow and burgundy foliage in the trees and on the ground.  These were truly good memories for Jonathan and it was at this point that he made the decision that he wanted to work with designing or building in some manner.  

Gaining acceptance into the Architecture Program at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, Jonathan honed his skills as a designer.  To his surprise and disappointment, Jonathan got his first exposure to formal design and found it to be based on extremely subjective, unscientific, and haphazard things.  It was to his misfortune that he entered higher learning amidst the Deconstruction Period of design.  Along with the Post Modern Era, these were truly the dark years of design.  Ironically, it was to his fortune that even amongst all the adoration of “illegitimate design” studies, and almost to his benefit that his education occurred during this period, in that it was like a shining beacon to discover and learn under Vittorio Giorgini and Haresh Lalvani; two very great Pratt Professors.   Jonathan considered Vittorio his mentor.  It was under Vittorio that Jonathan learned and understood the concepts of true modern design and not haphazard forms that were NOT based on science, art, and space, but only forms to satisfy a predetermined image in one’s head, then figure out the spaces within as an afterthought.  Realizing the gems he had come across in these professors, he dove headfirst in his studies with them and decided not to waste anymore time and money with the 90% of other professors in Pratt (and most of the other universities throughout the world).  Studying under these men was a true beneficial gain for Jonathan even amidst the era of design that he attended college.  Through this, he had an epiphany that he needed to learn from the true master like Mies Van Der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Santiago Calatrava, and Antoni Gaudi, and not waste his time with the passing fashions of decorative designs of many of today’s so called architects and designers.

After graduating college, Jonathan worked several years in architecture firms throughout the New York area.  Eventually, he moved to the construction end of the business by working both for consulting firms and then eventually as a project manager for a New York based builder.  At this same time, he pursued his love of modern cabinetry and spatial design in many projects he undertook for various clients.  

Unlike most carpenters and cabinet makers, Jonathan offers design abilities based on years of studying, refining, and training under his mentors and with his peers.  Additionally, Jonathan has a solid understanding of true design and spatial layout far above and beyond what most decorators would know or grasp.  

Conversely, Jonathan has an intense understanding of building skills beyond the grasps of most designers who are unwilling to learn the nuts and bolts of what it is he or she has drawn.  His knowledge of carpentry and cabinetry is truly at a very high level.  

Ultimately all these factors have contributed to Jonathan in his designing and building abilities.  Adopting the concepts of the Bauhaus philosophy, these are the framework of how he systematically analyzes, addresses, and attacks any design issue, whether designing a spatial layout or designing and building a fine piece of furniture.