fairs – DesignApplause

expo chicago 2023 discovers artists that embrace architecture and design.

Apr 14, 2023

above> self-portrait / zanele muholi / southern guild (cape town) booth #217

note: this post in ‘in-progress’ as we await more details…

more than 140 leading art galleries from 65 cities in 25 countries show off their stable of talent at expo chicago 2022 which is the perfect confabulation and launchpad to contemplate what inspires the art. in this instance, DesignApplause submits that architecture, design, and engineering are one and the same and art is not.

> “what is the difference between art and design? as it applies to graphic design, i will say that the difference between art and design or artist and designers, is expression vs communication. … expression is about the artist and their view, design is about the audience and viewer. expression can be abstract and intangible but design has to be clear for the most part.” ~ anonymous

> “when one attempts to define art, there will be an artist to prove it wrong. ‘art is beautiful’ art becomes ugly. ‘art is emotional’ art becomes emotionless. ‘art is form’ art becomes idea. that’s the problem, art will always shatter definitions.

having said that, i will ignore my own advice and take a crack. i think it comes down to function. design can have many functions, whereas art has one single function. the function of art. digging deeper, the art concept can be portrayed in many different ways. the function of art isn’t singular, its endless.

so design is applied art? or maybe an eames chair is a design object when you’re trying to sell it or sit in it, and an art object when you’re observing it, etc. ~ anonymous

DesignApplause asked galleries if their artists in this show pursued any architectural or design studies in their background. 15 of 30 (50%) galleries point out the following:

southern guild will exhibit at expo chicago for the first time this april, presenting ceramics, sculpture, paintings and wall reliefs by leading artists from across the african continent. these include zanele muholi (south africa), zizipho poswa (south africa), andile dyalvane (south africa), oluseye (nigeria/canada), kamyar bineshtarigh (iran/south africa), patrick bongoy (drc), dominique zinkpè (benin) and stanislaw trzebinski (kenya). rich in materiality and divergent in form, the works in southern guild’s presentation speak of the ingenuity of the human hand and the labour-intensive processes that elevate the prosaic to the sublime.

a highlight of the gallery’s booth will be a large bronze self-portrait by acclaimed artist and visual activist zanele muholi, whose solo exhibition opens at southern guild’s cape town gallery in may 2023. the sculpture represents the artist’s departure from an exclusively photographic oeuvre into a broader, multidisciplinary practice. the booth will also feature two large-scale ceramic and bronze sculptures from zizipho poswa’s critically acclaimed recent solo, ubuhle bokhokho, inspired by the hairstyles traditionally worn by black women across the continent, as well as recent works by andile dyalvane, madoda fani and chuma maweni – all regarded as foremost ceramicists in africa.

anchoring the booth will be an expansive and tactile palimpsest by iranian artist kamyar bineshtarigh effaced from the wall of his studio building – a layering of marks, traces and textures accumulated over two years. central to the artist’s visual lexicon is the explorative use of farsi script and calligraphy that pivots around memory and place, revealing the intricacies of transliteration. southern guild’s booth will also include new paintings by cape town-based artist manyaku mashilo that draw inspiration from historical photographic archives to build self-determined mythological scenes where imagined embodiments of blackness migrate through abstract liminal spaces. in addition, the gallery will present bronze and hand-blown glass sculptures from kenyan artist stanislaw trzebinski’s 2022 solo, solastalgia, that imagine the potent and surreal future of a decimated earth after the extinction of humans.

what makes this gallery unusual but all artists of have studied design.

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above> memphis vase / ettore sottsass / alan koppel gallery (chicago) booth #245 / 1992

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above> untitled / alberto biasi / dep art gallery (milan) booth #400

alberto biasi is one of the protagonists of post-war italian art, as well as one of the founders of the historic gruppo n. after the loss of his mother, he spent part of his childhood with his paternal grandmother in carrara san giorgio, a small town in the province of padua. biasi returned to his hometown at the end of world war ii, and attended classical high school. he later enrolled in the department of architecture at the university of venice, as well as, in a top-level industrial design course. upon the completion of his studies, in 1958 he began teaching drawing and art history at a public school. from 1969 to 1988, biasi served as professor of advertising graphic arts at the professional institute in padua.

in 1959, he participated in various youthful artistic events and with some peers students of architecture formed the enne-a group. in 1960, he exhibited with enrico castellani, piero manzoni, agostino bonalumi and other european artists at the galleria azimut in milan. also in 1960, during a period characterized by the spirit of innovation and experimentation, he formed gruppo n in close collaboration with manfredo massironi. the following year, he joined the movement “nuove tendenze” (“new trends”). in 1962, as gruppo n, he exhibited with bruno munari, enzo mari and milan’s gruppo t in the first programmed art exhibition at the negozio olivetti in milan.

during this period, especially between 1959 and 1960, biasi created the trame, rectangular and permeable objects, where modularity has optical-kinetic implications in relationship between light and the shifting of a person’s gaze. shortly after the realization of the trame series came another important work: namely, rilievi ottico-dinamici, overlapping lamellar structures in contrasting colors that spark special visual effects. always during the 1960s, he produced the torsioni series with the use of mostly bicolor lamelle, used to generate optical dynamism through different observer viewpoints, and his ambienti pieces. he also realized light prisms, which he designed in 1962 and were transferred to environmental dimensions in 1969.

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above> various / rodrigo valensuela / asya geisber gallery (new york) booth #473

rodrigo valenzuela works across photography, video, and installation, merging his interest in art history, architecture, the concept of work, and the realities of laborers. valenzuela builds scenes in his studio, often working with simple building materials such as cinder blocks, pipes, wooden palettes, corrugated metal, and two-by-fours. the resulting monochrome photographs constantly shift between flatness and architectural space, and between documentary photography and fiction, encouraging an incessant yet pleasurable tension. his compositions resemble miniature ruins built from studio detritus, and are documentative of the artist’s performance in the studio. simultaneously, they clearly reference certain modernist masters – be it abstract-expressionist painters or minimalist sculptors – as well as latin-american brutalist architecture.

rodrigo valenzuela (b. santiago, chile 1982) lives and work in los angeles, ca, where he is an assistant professor and head of the photography department at ucla. valenzuela is the recipient of the 2021 guggenheim fellowship in photography and smithsonian artist research fellowship. he has received the joan mitchell award, art matters foundation grant, and artist trust innovators award. recent solo exhibitions include screen series at the new museum, ny (2019), lisa kandlhofer galerie, vienna, au (2018), work in its place, jordan schnitzer museum of art, eugene (2018); american-type, orange county museum (2018); labor standards, portland art museum (2018); future ruins, frye art museum, seattle (2015). recent residencies include the core fellowship at the museum of fine arts, houston, tx, skowhegan school of painting and sculpture, me, macdowell colony, nh, bemis center for contemporary arts, ne, lightwork, syracuse, ny, and the center for photography at woodstock, ny.

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above> lithostatic / farah salem / hyde park artcenter (chicago / lisbon) booth #453 / 2022

the hyde park art center is proud to present a micro-exhibition of works by regina agu and farah salem that reflect on the relationship between geography, the body, and the histories and traditions embedded in landscapes. salem’s most recent multimedia installations trace relationships between land and ancestral healing practices. informed by her profession as an art therapist and counselor applying somatic-based therapies for trauma healing, research and experiments with movement-based and musical traditions from the arabian peninsula, salem’s practice explores the potential erasure of socio-cultural conditioning that influences and distorts shared realities. salem studied graphic design.

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above> karen knorr / sundaram tagore gallery (new york) booth #209

american/british artist and activist karen knorr (b. 1954) is known for her sumptuous, conceptually driven photographs that employ opulent palaces, museums and temples of western europe and asia to frame issues of power rooted in cultural heritage.

knorr was born to american parents in frankfurt, germany, and raised in san juan, puerto rico. she studied art in paris and london, where she eventually settled in 1976 and still lives today. her multi-cultural upbringing was deeply influential, especially in the formative years of her career when she used photography to make sense of her world as a young puerto rican american assimilating to life in london. her experience as an outsider is part of what sparked her longtime interest in exploring issues surrounding culture and society.

knorr was also inspired by the artistic practices of friends and contemporaries, including photographers bill brandt, bill owens and diane arbus, as well as conceptual artists michael asher, martha rosler, andrea fraser and hans haacke, one of the leading proponents of institutional critique. in the 1970s, knorr studied under noted photographer eileen cowin and artist victor burgin, who opened her eyes to new ways of critically engaging with photography and its relationship to institutions and heritage.

over the course of her career, knorr has used video and photography as a method of critical inquest. her work has consistently examined the meaning of place, often drawing from folklore, myths and allegories to express contemporary ideas. more recently, her titles reference historic works of literature, such as aesop’s fables, the poems of ovid and ancient epics from india, including the rāmāyana, the mahābhārata and the panchatantra.

knorr uses this layered storytelling approach to distance herself from more literal documentary photography. lush, playful and spectacularly colorful, her images of exotic animals digitally fused into grand architectural settings are as aesthetically thrilling as they are thought-provoking. knorr’s work resides almost exclusively in place and space.

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above> pimba agida lll / remy jungerman / fridman gallery (new york) booth #276 / 2020

in his work, remy jungerman explores the intersection of pattern and symbol in surinamese maroon culture, the larger african diaspora, and 20th century “modernism.” in bringing seemingly disparate visual languages into conversation, jungerman’s work challenges the established art historical canon. as art and culture critic greg tate has remarked “jungerman’s work leaps boldly and adroitly into the epistemological gap between culturally confident maroon self-knowledge and the dutch learning curve around all things jungerman, afropean and eurocentric.”

born and raised in suriname, he is a descendant, on his mother’s side, of the surinamese maroons who escaped enslavement on dutch plantations to establish self-governed communities in the surinamese rainforest. within their rich culture, many west-african influences are preserved including the prominent use of abstract geometrical patterns. placing fragments of maroon textiles, as well other materials found in the african diaspora such as the kaolin clay used in many african religious traditions or the nails featured in nkisi nkondi power sculpture, in direct contact with materials and imagery drawn from more “established” art traditions, jungerman presents a peripheral vision that can enrich and inform our perspective on art history.

jungerman attended the academy for higher arts and cultural studies in paramaribo, suriname, before moving to amsterdam where he studied at the gerrit rietveld academy. jungerman studied architecture.

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entering its tenth year as a leading international art fair, expo chicago, the international exposition of contemporary and modern art will host more than 140 leading international exhibitors at expo chicago 2023 in navy pier’s festival hall, presented alongside one of the highest quality platforms for global contemporary art and culture. the exposition draws upon the city’s rich history as a vibrant international cultural destination, while engaging the region’s contemporary art community and collector base. the 2023 edition of expo chicago will present various programs and events throughout chicago during expo art week (april 10–16, 2023).

vernissage:
thursday, april 13 | 12:00noon – 6:00pm
by invitation only.

general admission:
friday, april 14 | 11:00am – 7:00pm
saturday, april 15 | 11:00am – 7:00pm
sunday, april 16 | 11:00am – 6:00pm

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what’s the difference between art and design? expo chicago 2022.

Apr 8, 2022

above > collectors enjoying video art by a former graphic designer gregory scott / catherine edelman gallery booth 169

note: this post in ‘in-progress’ as we await more details…

more than 140 leading art galleries from 65 cities in 25 countries show off their stable of talent at expo chicago 2022 which is the perfect confabulation and launchpad to contemplate what inspires the art. in this instance, DesignApplause submits that architecture, design, and engineering are one and the same and art is not.

> “what is the difference between art and design? as it applies to graphic design, i will say that the difference between art and design or artist and designers, is expression vs communication. … expression is about the artist and their view, design is about the audience and viewer. expression can be abstract and intangible but design has to be clear for the most part.” ~ anonymous

> “when one attempts to define art, there will be an artist to prove it wrong. ‘art is beautiful’ art becomes ugly. ‘art is emotional’ art becomes emotionless. ‘art is form’ art becomes idea. that’s the problem, art will always shatter definitions.

having said that, i will ignore my own advice and take a crack. i think it comes down to function. design can have many functions, whereas art has one single function. the function of art. digging deeper, the art concept can be portrayed in many different ways. the function of art isn’t singular, its endless.

so design is applied art? or maybe an eames chair is a design object when you’re trying to sell it or sit in it, and an art object when you’re observing it, etc. ~ anonymous

DesignApplause asked galleries if their artists in this show pursued any architectural or design studies in their background. 24 of 30 (80%) galleries point out the following:

above > artist virginia jaramillo was inspired by product designers charles and ray eames – jaramillo and a selected group of other students would make weekly visits to the celebrated designer charles and ray eames’s studio. there, jaramillo was introduced to design, architecture, and “a philosophy of structure and the purity of form.” these discoveries opened “a different way of seeing” for jaramillo and would guide her artistic thinking and output in the following decades. even as she was learning from the eameses, she began to explore japanese woodcuts and a related aesthetic philosophy, called ma, which she would ultimately channel into “the curvilinear paintings,” her best-known series. / hales gallery booth 323

artist margaret wharton worked in advertising before she received a bfa from the school of the art institute in sculpture. whorton, who passed away in 2014, left behind fantastically crafted sculptural assemblages as well as a body of raely seen conceptual photographs. hers is the story of women artists who came out in the 1970s declaring their feminisst credos. and many, like warton, used the very trappings of their domestic environment as form and content. wharton tells us, “the bandsaw was her paintbrush.’ / jean albano gallery booth 317

above> artist sara cwynar has a degree in design from york university in toronto / foxy production booth 314

above > fredrickson stallard – ian stallard earned a degree in product design and studied architecture (red chair, chrome coffee and side tables) david gill gallery 234

above > artist tomokazu matsuyama has a pratt degree in communications design / gavi gupta booth 211

above> an interesting chat with gallery owner who says none of his artists studied architecture or design / however gallery is overly represented in typographic art – the image above was created by an art & architecture department chairperson (awaiting name of artist) gallery rene schmitt booth 128

above > timothy taylor booth 205

above> featuring designer jonathan meuke (works in the middle) / volume gallery booth 332

note: teh following updated 15 may 2022…
[ expo chicago ], the international exposition of contemporary and modern art, concluded its ninth edition on sunday, april 10, with a high attendance of international collectors and curators alongside 30,000 visitors, exceptional presentations from exhibiting galleries and strong sales, in what was its most global edition to date. on opening day alone, the exposition welcomed more than 8,000 vip guests while raising $260,000 to benefit the museum of contemporary art chicago during the fair’s vernissage. collectors, curators, artists and art professionals enjoyed an exclusive first look at over 140 leading galleries from 25 countries and 65 cities throughout navy pier’s iconic festival hall. expo chicago will return april 13 – 16, 2023.

“we are thrilled with the enthusiastic return of expo chicago as we once again welcomed a global network of art dealers, curators, museum directors, collectors, artists, and arts enthusiasts to our great city,” said tony karman, president | director. “the city galvanized to provide a vibrant, robust week of activities in support of local and visiting patrons and i am deeply proud that our success proved the importance of this marketplace and re-established our place on the international art world calendar in this april timeslot.”

a pre-show peek of the inspired home show 2022.

Mar 5, 2022

this is my 11th year as a gia innovations award judge. today was judgement day to scrutinize five product design finalists in 10 categories. that meant a visit to mccormick place and an attempt at a pre-show peek of this year’s the inspired home‘s 2022 show. i didn’t go into the great halls however because i didn’t bring a hard hat. the photos give an idea of a very different presentation, a refreshing new experience.

the global innovation awards (gia) program was launched in january 2000 with the goal of recognizing and honoring excellence in home and housewares retailing on a global scale. in the 20 years since its inception, the gia program has expanded to recognize innovation in four different facets of home and housewares excellence: retail excellence, product design, booth design, and student design. the photo below may be the display case build-out where the winners will reside. in 2022 over 250 entries were viewed by 20 judges to select the 2022 gia awards winners:

discover design is seven years old in 2022 and is a destination of more than 100 design-centric exhibitors from around the world. the confines includes the discover design gallery – the photo below may be the display case build-out featuring the products submitted for the gia awards; and design debut, an incubator program within discover design, featuring new companies.

on the way out after judging and in the great concourse we find, well not really, you have to pass the pantone booth to get to the great halls or the buses. this venue is way better than their previous location in the lakeside building. here, though the architecture is a bit busy, an abundant amount of natural ambient light means a correct color presentation, a rarity seldom realized in a trade show environment.

this sunday leatrice eiseman, director of the pantone color institute will speak sunday – check your inspired home app for more details. leatrice is also the creator of the annual pantone color forecasts illustrated in the colorwatch display. color is such a vital component to good design, we recommend taking this opportunity to hear what this highly esteemed color expert has to say.

i also met this year’s student winners. this category is one of my favorite happenings and manages to showoff amazing talent and their winning effort.

below > we see the six winners and in the foreground vicki montranga. i’ve known her for over 20 years. vicki is a chicago product design historian without peer. she’s also an advisor to the chicago design archive. she conceived the student competition in 1993 and 2022 is the 29th year. i’m told there’s a box of anniversary booklets on site and one has my name on it. please do not miss this special opportunity to hear their presentations and share ideas of what does good design mean.

below > les mendelson, founder of umbra, said these student competitions are the future of design. he shared his story of his company’s history and had two of his design managers do a walk-thru of the students booth.

below > evan dash, left, founder of storebound, outlined his company’s history and design determination. dash and mendelson have both hired past winners of iha’s competition. dash hired an arizona state student who then grew the design department and manages production in china.

formerly the international home + housewares show, the inspired home show is north america’s largest housewares trade show! we connect not only buyer to seller, but also product to lifestyle and the industry to the consumer mindset. every year, more than 52,000 home and housewares professionals from more than 130 countries converge upon chicago to discover new housewares products and industry trends, meet face-to-face with executives from top retail and manufacturer brands, and gain the insights, leads and exposure to jump-start a successful year. the show is owned and operated by the international housewares association (iha), which has a rich history within the housewares industry dating back more than 80 years.

@TIH_Show #TIHS22 #giaAwards @DesignApplause #DesignApplause @pantone @umbra #design #productdesign #designinspiration #modernkitchen #modernhome #homedesign #kitchendesign #cooking

venice biennale architettura 2020

Apr 5, 2020

the venice biennale architettura 2020, curated by hashim sarkis, will be held in venice (giardini and arsenale) from saturday 29 august (preview thursday 27th and friday 28th) through sunday 29 november, instead of from 23 may through 29 november, as previously announced.

the new dates for the biennale architettura have been established as a consequence of the recent precautionary measures in the matter of mobility taken by the governments of a growing number of countries around the world, which will have a domino effect on the movement of people and works in coming weeks. this period of time coincides with the delicate initial phase of setting up an international exhibition as complex as the biennale architettura, which involves architects and institutions from over 60 countries on all continents.

this situation poses a risk to the realization of the exhibition in its entirety in time for the announced opening date (23 may), thereby jeopardizing its quality. furthermore, a short-term postponement could be ineffective, considering the complexity of the organizational machine, the number and importance of the subjects involved and the probable absence of many of them.

unwilling to open an incomplete exhibition, la biennale, having heard the curator hashim sarkis and in consideration of the difficulties faced by the participating countries and invited architects, has decided to postpone the inauguration until 29 august, bringing the duration of this year’s edition of the biennale architettura back to three months, from the end of august to the end of november.

this way, considering that the following week, 2 september is the opening date of the 77th venice international film festival directed by alberto barbera (through 12 september), at the end of the summer, with the almost concurrent opening of these two historic exhibitions, la biennale will offer venice and the world a moment of great cultural interest and international appeal.

salone del mobile.milano postponed to 2021. milan design week. covid-19.

Mar 26, 2020

the 2020 59th edition of the salone del mobile.milano has been suspended. the 60th edition will now take place from 13th to 18th april 2021. the decision to postpone was made by the board of the salone del mobile.milano in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that is spreading to almost every country in the world.

the situation that led to the original change of date from april to june, announced on 25th february, has fundamentally changed. although we were determined to keep to the june date, to allow the annual event to take place as planned, the present, unprecedented circumstances and medium-term uncertainties now mean that this year’s salone can no longer go ahead.

the 2021 edition, which will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the salone, will be a special event for the entire sector. for the first time ever, all the biennial exhibitions will be held in conjunction with the salone internazionale del mobile, the international furnishing accessories exhibition, workplace3.0, s.project and salonesatellite. this means that eurocucina, ftk (technology for the kitchen) and the international bathroom exhibition will also take place next year, along with euroluce, which was already scheduled for 2021.

this single, great sector-wide trade fair will represent a fresh opportunity to pull together to revitalize our businesses, the entire supply chain that works in synergy with the salone, and milan.

2020 inspired home show cancelled by coronavirus covid-19 concerns.

Mar 2, 2020

after careful consideration regarding the ongoing spread of covid-19 (coronavirus) overseas and recent cases in the united states, the international housewares association‘s board of directors has decided not to hold the inspired home show 2020, scheduled to take place 14-17 march 2020 at mccormick place in chicago.

“for the last several weeks, we have been watching this situation very carefully, with our primary concern being the safety and well-being of the home + housewares industry,” said derek miller, iha president. “the iha board of directors made this decision after consulting with industry constituents including exhibitors and retailers. in the end, the global nature of our event, combined with the worldwide concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak and ongoing travel restrictions make it impossible for us to hold the inspired home show next week.”

the iha board of directors and iha staff will be working together over the next several weeks to measure the financial impact on the industry and the association. once an analysis is complete, additional information regarding exhibitor refunds will be made available.

iha had previously announced that the international sourcing expo, which primarily houses chinese-based suppliers, would not open in 2020 due to the restrictions on travel between china and the united states.

the inspired home show 2021 will be held march 13-16 at chicago’s mccormick place complex.

the international housewares association is the 82-year-old voice of the housewares industry, which accounted for (us)$394.3 billion at retail worldwide in 2018. the not-for-profit, full-service association sponsors the world’s premier exposition of products for the home, the inspired home show, iha’s global home + housewares market (theinspiredhomeshow.com), and offers its 1,400 member companies a wide range of services, including industry and government advocacy, export assistance, industry and consumer trends through the iha market watch, executive management peer groups, a b2b community at www.housewares.org, group buying discounts on business solutions services and direct-to-consumer engagement through theinspiredhome.com.

source international housewares association

for further information: deborah a. teschke, senior manager, public relations & communications, dteschke@housewares.org, 847-692-0110

covid-19 postpones salone del mobile.milano until 16 – 21 june 2020. milan design week.

Feb 25, 2020

salone del mobile.milano has been postponed amid growing concerns over the coronavirus outbreak in italy, show officials have confirmed that the show originally scheduled for 21 – 26 april 2020, will be rescheduled for june 16 – 21. the show will still be held at rho fiera milano. statement from salone del mobile below:

“following an extraordinary meeting today of the board of federlegno arredo eventi, and in view of the ongoing public health emergency, the decision has been taken to postpone the upcoming edition of the salone del mobile.milan to 16th – 21st june.

confirmation of the change of date for the trade fair – strongly supported by the mayor of milan giuseppe sala – means that the manufacturers, in a major show of responsibility, will be able to present their finalised work to an international public that sees the annual appointment with the salone del mobile.milano as a benchmark for creativity and design.”

as we await further information, the official statement and video with english captions will be made available in the upcoming days.

life-size sand traffic jam seen on miami beach during design miami/ 2019. leandro erlich.

Nov 10, 2019

above > traffic jam (order of importance)

the beach has been a symbol of leisure and prosperity for so many years, and in particular for miami but now there is a frontline feeling about the beach. it has become a different kind of stage. ~ leandro erlich

last year at art basel 2018 in ruth benzacar‘s booth (above) a maquette of buenos aires artist leandro erlich was shown for $18,000. titled ‘traffic jam (order of importance) – the art is a miami beach-appropriate installation where cars, suv’s, taxis, etc., are moulded in sand – actually a mix of sand three types of salt which form a hardened crust. the vehicles seem to rise from nowhere, form a traffic jam, and then fade away.

erlich has a reputation for whimsical perception-bending optical-illusions. this 2018 maquette became the concept presented to the city of miami that will be shown life-size on miami beach during art basel 2019. the city has contributed $300,000 towards his most monumental work. the work will have a life of just fifteen days. but…there may be more to this concept though details are not fully available at this writing. possibly, this concept may become an off-shore reef. the reasoning comes from erlich’s interest in climate change and all that threatens humans, animals, architecture, and civilization.

his first climate related work was for the 2015 climate change summit in paris, maison fond. to evoke global warming his installation was an image of a building melting: the ground floor of this small parisian building has already almost completely disappeared.

and the world’s coral reefs are dying. this artificial structure (traffic jam) could both be a symbol as well as an artful prototype.

“the beach has been a symbol of leisure and prosperity for so many years, and in particular for miami,” says erlich. ‘but now there is a frontline feeling about the beach. it has become a different kind of stage.”

[ information ]
leandro erlich; design miami/ @designmiami #climatechange

mary quant at the v&a museum in tandem with london design festival 2019.

Oct 23, 2019

the whole point of fashion is to make fashionable clothes available to everyone ~ mary quant 1966

dame mary quant defined the young, playful look of the 1960s, becoming britain’s best-known designer, a fashion icon, and a powerful role model for working women. harnessing an explosion in shopping and the media – in photography, graphics, journalism and advertising – she helped shape a forward-looking, innovative identity for post-war britain.

above > 1944 sketchbook by mary quant
made when quant was just 14, this sketchbook shows her early interest in drawing figures, here in the nostalgic style of mabel lucie atwell. in her 1966 autobiography, she recalled admiring a childhood friend’s short black skirt and tap shoes worn for dance lessons – the sort of clothes which later inspired her designs for the miniskirt.

above> courtesy of victoria and albert museum collection

quant was a self-taught designer, attending evening classes on cutting and adjusting mass-market printed patterns to achieve the looks she was after. once technically proficient, she initiated a hand-to-mouth production cycle: the day’s sales at bazaar paid for the cloth that was then made up overnight into new stock for the following day. the look was fresh and competitively priced.

1960-64 victorian-modern
quant combines victorian nineteenth century fashion with a fruitful source of inspiration often resulting in surprising styles which helped to get publicity for the mary quant brand.

above – below > early 60s – death of the debutante
snobbery has gone out of fashion / fashion editors endorse bazaar with its distinctive designs, witty window displays and jazzy fashion shows. quant’s shop becomes a destination for professional women seeking streamlined, modern fashion. buying a new dress is a new rite of passage for london’s fashionable elite, as aristocratic customs such as ‘deb of the year’ and court presentations become outdated.

above > 1960-64 – english eccentrics
like a good dancer, she accommodates her steps to the changing rhythms of fashion / quant brings an entertaining slant to fashion. repurposing victorian frills and childrenswear, she play with color and silhouettes. inspired by serviceable cottons and dependable woolens and tweads, she works directly with weavers and manufacturers in wales, wittshire, and yorkshire. at the same time she revives the boyish look of the 1920s flapper. he bewigged, gawky mannequins strike unusual poses in bazaar’s window displays, alongside props such as live goldfish, stuffed birds or dead lobsters. passerby stop to stare.

above > 1963-65 the ginger group
quant clothes at budget prices to buy a piece at a time / quant strides into new territory with her ginger group collection. the name is a political term for a pressure group, derived from the use of ginger as a verb to pep things up. the first ginger group collection is based on the american sportswear principle of interchangeable separates. with a new graphic identiy and a lower price point, the range provides countless mix-and-match possibilities combined wit the cachet of quant.

above > 1963 – 65 the wet collection
bewitched…with this super shiny man-made stuff and its shrieking colors…its gleaming liquorice black, white and ginger / quant launches her wet collection in april 1963 at the hotel de crillon, paris. the collection features a relatively new material called polyvinyl chloride (pvc), a shiny plastic-coated cotton which reflects increasing fascination and modernity. because of mass-production delays of sealing pvc seams the collection takes two years to launch on the high street.

above > 1966-75 style evolution
switching to the sounds of the seventies / having created the minimal look which defined the 1960s, quant’s style becomes eclectic and retrospective amid the economic and political uncertainties of the 1970s. still combining victorian details with bright colors and a clean modern finish.

above > 1965-75 liberated fashion
i didn’t have time to wait for women’s lib / in this time of growing activism and struggle for equal rights, quant has a visionary take on the role of women. her assertive, liberating minidresses express the changes of post-war-briton, giving women an independent style of their own. she credit’s her king’s road customers as her inspiration and the ones leading the feminist rebellion. in 1967, she describes the young as, ‘prototypes’ of a whole new race of women…it’s their questioning attitude that make them important and different.

above > 1966-73 girls will be boys
i didn’t want to grow up, perhaps that’s something to do with it / from 1966, tomboyish models like the teenaged twiggy promote the minidress-look in typical quant style: knock kneed in gawkish poses, often sporting cropped hair and resisting the constraints of adult stereotypes. these often provocative styles reflect increasingly relaxed attitudes in society towards sexuality in all its forms, reinforced legally by the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1967.

above > quant and vidal sassoon 1964

above > 1965-67 underwear
foundation garments needn’t be surgical. get a birthday suit and be your own sweet self (minus six pounds) / the silhouette of quant’s dresses requires a new kind of underwear or ‘foundation garment’. magazines aimed at adventurous young women feature ‘q-form’ worn by models in dynamic poses. the images promote unrestricted movement and the new ideal for a lithe, childlike physique. later these are replaced by quant’s simple ‘booby traps’ and knickers.

above > 1965-67 alligator rainwear
since when did the raincoat go wild? since mary quant designed for alligator / quant’s fascination with shiny, waterproof pvc is realized with her collaboration with alligator rainwear. alligator’s manufacturing expertise resolves the wet collection issues, allowing a new bright range of colors, capes, zips and contrasting collars.

above >1965-67 the jersey dress
i want free-flowing, feminine lines that compliment a women’s shape…i want relaxed clothes, suited to the actions of normal life / quant discovers a new type of wool jersey that’s heat-bonded to an acetate backing and available in the brightest, deepest colors. previously used in underwear and for rugby or football kit, jersey’s smooth, fluid qualities are perfect for quant’s signature sportry minidresses. worn with matching berets, tights and shoes giving a total top-to-toe block of color.

1962-66 the miniskirt
the shock of the knee / quant’s knee-skimming outfits are first noticed by the media in 1960. an emerging street style, shorter skirts develop in tandem with teenage dance crazes. quant’s designs, often based on practical schoolgirl pinafores, adapt the look for grown-ups with hemlines gradually rising to well above the knee. although exclusive paris couturier andré courreges achieves international publicity for the higher hemlines in 1964, quant, the female celebrity designer, becomes recognized as inventor and ambassador for the style. the miniskirt becomes an accepted part of fashion as well as an international symbol of london’s youthful look and of women’s liberation.

above > crêpe dress with frilled collar and cuffs by mary quant for ginger group, modeled by patti boyd with the rolling stones. photograph by john french, 1960s, london. museum no. ct64253. © victoria and albert museum, london

the above feature created from the victoria and albert museum‘s installation mary quant, open thru 16 february 2020

chicago architecture center presents ninth annual open house chicago.

Oct 17, 2019

the chicago architecture center‘s ninth annual open house chicago is a free public festival that offers behind-the-scenes access to an astonishing 350 venues including soaring skyscrapers, repurposed mansions, opulent theaters, exclusive private clubs, private offices and breathtaking sacred spaces all weekend long. here are a few suggestions…

[ park no. 571 boathouse ] photo below courtesy of studio gang architects
the weather this weekend is perfect to tour a boathouse on the chicago river! one of two boathouses on the chicago river designed by studio gang, the eleanor boathouse at park 571 completed in 2016, creates a crucial access point along the river’s edge. the structure’s shape draws inspiration from rowers’ rhythmic movements.

as the city works to transform the long-polluted and neglected river into its next recreational frontier, the boathouse invites communities on the south side and throughout the city to share in the river’s continued ecological and infrastructural revitalization. 2754 south eleanor street, bridgeport.

[ mccormick place west building rooftop farm ] photo below by garrett karp
the weather this weekend is perfect to tour a rooftop on the lakefront! the largest mccormick place west building spans 20,000 sq ft above chicago. the building, designed by tvsdesign in 2007, was originally intended to have a green roof for environmental purposes. however in 2013, the chicago botanic garden stepped in with the windy city harvest program to transform it into a massive vegetable patch. more than 8,000 pounds of produce are now grown each year for savor…chicago, the food service provider for the convention centre below. the open house chicago tour is focused on biodiversity and growing practices. 2301 south indiana avenue, gate 41, se corner of cermak & indiana.

[ unity temple ] photo below tom rossiter
unity temple, the work of master architect frank lloyd wright first major public building commission and considered to be one of the most important and influential buildings of the 20th century, underwent an extensive $25m restoration and renovation beginning in 2015. the temple re-opened in summer 2017. in summer 2019, unity temple was named a unesco world heritage site, one of eight major works by wright given this honoured distinction. 875 lake street, oak park.

[ stony island arts bank ] photo below steve hall
the stony island arts bank is a hybrid gallery, media archive, library and community center – and a home for rebuild foundation’s archives and collections. designed by william gibbons uffendell and built in 1923, the bank at 68th and stony island was once a vibrant community savings and loan. by the eighties, it had closed and the building remained vacant and deteriorating for decades. reopened in october 2015, the radically-restored building renovated by chicago social practice installation artist, theaster gates, serves as a space for neighborhood residents to preserve, access, reimagine and share their heritage – and a destination for artists, scholars, curators, and collectors to research and engage with south side history. 6760 south stony island avenue, south shore. enter via north door from garden

[ 150 north riverside ] photo below courtesy goettsch partners
audaciously cantilevered out over a new stretch of riverwalk, 150 north riverside commands attention as few recent buildings have. the glassy office tower’s 54 floors, carefully engineered to stand tall above busy rail lines, look down all three branches of the chicago river. the soaring lobby, whose enormous glass wall transparently connects indoors and out, is defined by 150 media stream, a one-of-a-kind achievement in art, architecture and technology. the piece’s 89 led blades, stretching 150 feet long and rising 22 feet high, display ever-changing collaborative artworks developed by local and international established and emerging artists, arts educators, and students.

why doesn’t this building topple over ? the building’s small lot plus the wish for 1.2 million square feet of office space gave the skyscraper an aspect ratio — the building’s height relative to the width of its core — is a breathtaking 20-1. if you ask does the building sway? the answer is you bet!

but not as much as it should because the engineers inserted two enclosed concrete vaults near the building’s top. the water in the vaults, which are called “tuned liquid dampers,” is not for swimming. when the wind pushes the high-rise one way, the water sloshes the other way, damping wind-induced sway.

architects/engineers: goettsch partners, and their structural engineers, seattle-based magnusson klemencic associates, 2017.

[ chicago architecture center ] photo below james steinkamp, courtesy cac
located in the 111 east wacker building, designed by the office of mies van der rohe, 1970. adrian smith + gordon gill architecture designed the new and current space in 2018. the chicago architecture center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring people to discover why design matters. the cac’s new home is a great place for locals and tourists alike to learn about chicago architecture and the pivotal role chicago has played in shaping architecture around the globe. exhibits include an expanded and immersive chicago city model experience, the building tall exhibit featuring large-scale models of notable skyscrapers, and more. 111 east wacker drive.

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