boffi chicago will host a pop up filled with local chicago designer felicia ferrone’s collections of fferone glassware. shop a variety of fferone pieces including vases, bowls, and glasses. the pop-up will be open to the public on friday, 10 november from 10am-6pm and saturday, 11 november from 11am-4pm.
please join us for an intimate, lively, and thought-provoking mixer with dutch design master, piet boon, whose creations range from furniture, lighting, and luxury interior projects, to collaborations with porsche and land rover. piet will be presenting design insights of his furniture collection, and sharing his thoughts on the balance between functionality, aesthetics, and individuality in design.
studio piet boon, founded in 1983, creates striking contemporary furniture, interiors, architecture, and product designs. the brand is world-renowned for its exceptional craftsmanship, quality and vision, with a portfolio of corporate, commercial, and private clients in over 46 countries. piet boon is best known for his clear, no-nonsense style, as well as his exceptional use of colors and materials, creating practical and unfettered simplicity in his designs.
haute living is proud to have been the first furniture retailer to introduce the piet boon furniture collection to the united states in 2008, and remains one of the few select showrooms to represent his work today. guests will have the opportunity to meet and talk with piet boon one-on-one, network with industry insiders over refreshments, and discover the true essence and meaning of the piet boon collection!
about haute living
the haute living showroom, located in chicago’s river north design district, has become an integral part of the chicago design community and a destination for architects, interior designers, and design enthusiasts from all over the world. known for consistently promoting emerging designers and progressive brands, our thoughtfully curated collection represents the very best in modern and contemporary design today.
mas context is organizing the fourth edition of mas context : analog, our one-day event of talks, exhibitions, and an onsite pop-up bookstore in chicago. the event is hosted by the joinery.
mas context : analog will gather a group of emerging and established practitioners within the field of design who will discuss their work based on four proposed themes: food, institution, music, and prototype. the event will include talks by artists, curators, architects, photographers, graphic designers, and industrial designers.
speakers include charles adler (center for lost arts), jessica charlesworth (parsons & charlesworth), judith de jong (architect), sean lally (architect), marcia lausen (studio/lab), angee lennard (spudnik press cooperative), matthew messner (architect’s newspaper), molly meyer (the roof crop), tim parsons (parsons & charlesworth), john pobojewski (thirst), aaron rodgers (homeroom), and alisa wolfson (leo burnett department of design).
the event also includes the screening of the 2017 short film “starship chicago” directed by nathan eddy. the documentary focuses on the 1985 state of illinois center / james r. thompson center designed by architect helmut jahn, a remarkable building facing an unknown fate.
mas context : analog also includes an onsite pop-up bookstore featuring books by speakers and other designers. the talks will be followed by a party.
chicago design week [ calendar ]
join the chicago design museum next friday, october 13th for a special preview of the multi-disciplinary design exhibition “confluence • 20+” which highlights hong kong’s creative ecologies and talents.
confluence • 20+ is a monumental roving exhibition series showcasing a wealth of collaborative works by best talents in the hong kong design scene. it is a stage for creative collisions celebrating the co-evolving and interdependent communities in hong kong’s creative industry. the exhibition presents twenty collaborative design research projects by hong kong’s design talent, lending insights into the co-evolving ecosystems of the city where east and west, tradition and innovation, craftsmanship and technology synergize.
the exhibition has sojourned in milan, hong kong and seoul. this chicago edition is the final stop of the exhibition series, and will continue to feature twenty collaborative and design research projects presented by hong kong’s design talent across disciplines.
the first chicago architecture biennial is the largest architecture and design festival ever to be held in north america | courtesy iwan baan
Chicago is billing the 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) as North America’s biggest survey of international contemporary architecture, but the event is not alone. Besides Venice, whose architecture biennial began in 1980, cities worldwide hold biennial exhibitions of art, design and architecture year-round.
The first biennial, which has secured a $2.5 million lead grant from British oil and gas giant BP, is planned for 3 October 2015, through 3 January 2016. Mayor Rahm Emanuel personally solicited the lead, $2.5 million donation for the biennial from BP. The city’s biennial will present scale models, photographs and more unconventional displays hosted at the Chicago Cultural Center.
The event organizers have Chicago holding its architecture biennial in odd-numbered years with Venice historically presenting even-numbered years. The experts say this is a 10-year, five in Chicago, trial run. DesignApplause is optimistic.
The event will be “the Davos of architecture,” said the co-artistic director of the Chicago biennial, Sarah Herda, referring to the Swiss city that hosts global business and political leaders at its World Economic Forum. Herda is the executive director of the Chicago-based Graham Foundation, a grant-making architecture organization that has partnered with the city to host the biennial. Joseph Grima is the other co-artistic director, an architect and writer who co-curated the 2012 Istanbul design biennial.
There will be no admission charge for the Chicago biennial. The Venice event two-day ticket price is 30 euros ($41). The target audience will be architects and designers, cultural mavens, students and tourists.
Below is a schedule of public events. Some events will require an RSVP. [ chicago architecture biennial ] [ graham foundation ]
[ wednesday 30 september ]
4:30–6 PM Panel: Death and Afterlife of the Post-Industrial City
Location> The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, SAIC Ballroom, 112 South Michigan Avenue
Presented by the Department of Art History, Theory and Criticism at the SAIC in collaboration with the Department of Architecture and Design at MoMA, New York and the Elkones Institute (Basel), with additional support from the Shapiro Center for Research and Collaboration and the Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects.
Free and open to the public
5:30 PM UIC School of Architecture, Fall 2015 Lecture Series: Tatiana Bilbao Principal, Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, Mexico City, Mexico
Location> 1100 Architecture + Design Studios, 845 West Harrison Street
Free and open to the public
6:30 PM Chicago Architectural Club: Burnham Prize & Currencies of Architecture Exhibition Opening
Location> Chicago Architecture Foundation, 224 South Michigan Avenue
Free and open to the public
[ thursday 1 october ]
2-5 PM House Housing + We, Next Door exhibit
Location> 1322 West Taylor Street
Presented by the National Public Housing Museum and Columbia University
Free and open to the public
2:30 PM Screening of Infinite Happiness
Location> AMC River East 21, 322 East Illinois Street
4–6PM Outside Design Exhibit Artist Talk and Reception with, David Benjamin, Eric Ellingsen David Hays, Joyce Hwang, and Emmanuel Pratt
Location> The Art Institute of Chicago, 112 South Michigan Avenue
Hosted by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Free and open to the public
5-7:30 PM James Wines: SITE Specific - Architectural Drawings 1979 to 2012 | Opening Reception
Location> Rhona Hoffman Gallery, 118 North Peoria Street
Free and open to the public
5:30-8 PM International Perspectives | Chicago and the Future of Urban Change
Location> The Art Institute of Chicago’s Rubloff Auditorium, 111 S Michigan Avenue
Presented by Van Alen Institute and the Architecture & Design Society of the Art Institute of Chicago
Free and open to the public
5–8 PM Barbara Kasten: Stages Opening Reception
5PM Opening Remarks by Barbara Kasten and ICA curator Alex Klein
Location> The Graham Foundation, 4 West Burton Place
Free and open to the public
[ friday 2 october ]
1-2:15 PM Biennial Participant Roundtable Moderated by Beatrice Galilee and José Esparza
Location> Claudia Cassidy Theater at the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 East Randolph Street
Online RSVP via Chicago Architecture Biennial Website
2:30-4 PM Biennial Participant Roundtable Moderated by Emiliano Gandolfi and Awarding of the Curry Stone Design Prize
Location> Claudia Cassidy Theater at the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph Street
Online RSVP via Chicago Architecture Biennial Website
4:30 PM Theatre: Performance by Santiago Borja
Location> Carr Chapel, IIT, 65 East 32nd Street
Free and open to the public
4:30 PM Superpowers of Ten: Performance by Andrés Jaque / Office for Political Innovation
Location> The Tank, Chicago Athletic Association, 12 South Michigan Avenue
Free and open to public. Online RSVP via Chicago Architecture Biennial Website
6 & 6:15PM We Know How to Order: Performance by Bryony Roberts and South Shore Drill Team
Location> Federal Plaza, Chicago
Free and open to the public. Online RSVP via Chicago Architecture Biennial Website
6:30 – 10PM New Horizon_architecture from Ireland at the Chicago Design Museum
Location> Chicago Design Museum, Block Thirty Seven, 108 North State Street, 3rd Floor
Irish Design 2015 in partnership with the Chicago Design Museum
RSVP to rsvp@chidm.com
8 PM Superpowers of Ten: Performance by Andrés Jaque / Office for Political Innovation
Location> The Tank, Chicago Athletic Association, 12 South Michigan Avenue
Free and open to public. Online RSVP via Chicago Architecture Biennial Website
8 PM Theatre: Performance by Santiago Borja
Location> Carr Chapel, IIT, 65 East 32nd Street
Free and open to public
lekker architects’ proposal was a finalist in the [ lakefront kiosk competition ] | courtesy lekker architects
[ saturday 3 october ]
12:30 PM We Know How to Order: Performance by Bryony Roberts and South Shore Drill Team
Location> Federal Plaza, 219 South Dearborn Street
Free and open to the public
1 PM We Know How to Order: Performance by Bryony Roberts and South Shore Drill Team
Location> Federal Plaza, 219 South Dearborn Street
Free and open to the public
12:30-2 PM Metropolis Preserving Postmodernism Panel: postmodernist architecture: preservation’s new frontier
Location> Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph Street
Online RSVP via Chicago Architecture Biennial Website
4:30 PM Superpowers of Ten: Performance by Andrés Jaque / Office for Political Innovation
Location> The Tank, Chicago Athletic Association, 12 South Michigan Avenue
Free and open to the public. Online RSVP via Chicago Architecture Biennial Website
5-8 PM Night of Illumination: Opening Celebration at Stony Island Arts Bank
Location> 6760 South Stony Island Avenue
Online RSVP via https://night-of-illumination.eventbrite.com
[ sunday 4 October ]
7 AM Amanda Williams’ Color(ed) Theory House Painting: Flamin’ Red Hots
Location> 5703 South Lafayette
The event is free but requires RSVP. Inquire at www.awgallery.com
2–3:30PM Thinking into the Future: A Conversation with John Ronan
Location> Preston Bradley Hall in the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 East Randolph Street
Presented in Collaboration with the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust
Online RSVP via Chicago Architecture Biennial Website
a new proposal view of the lucas museum of narrative art with cityscape from the south east. all new proposal renderings are courtesy of the lucas museum of narrative art.
Chinese architect Ma Yansong [ MAD Architects ] second concept presentation of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art responds to being too big and unruly for the lakefront and the existing buildings in Museum Campus. With 25% less building mass and 40% less footprint, the second iteration sticks to the initial concept though its new scale is now cooperating with the surroundings. Regretfully, the naysayers wanting the same unobstructed views of the lake from Lake Shore Drive that the seldom used ‘parking lot’ offers will still not be happy campers along with the tail-gaters.
a bird’s eye view of the lucas museum of narrative art and surrounding park setting.
Though the building went from 110 feet tall to 137 feet tall, the new proposal is more sleek, lighter looking. The landscaping design, by New York’s SCAPE landscape architects and Chicago’s Studio Gang Architects, responds to the new proposal and delivers Ma’s vision that the building’s form itself is a rolling hill, though now with new dunes and bike and foot flow winding around it.
rendering of the visitor experience on the public plaza of the lucas museum of narrative art. the plaza as well as the surrounding greenspace will be open and accessible to park visitors.
a look inside the lucas museum of narrative art. the diagram shows the spiral ramp, three theaters, galleries, classrooms and library.
an aerial view of the lucas museum of narrative art site.
There are still unanswered questions what happens to traffic when the Chicago Bears play at home therefore traffic-flow plans are in order and we want to see more concept details. And please don’t stop being critical. Ma and team is responding. And please don’t stop squabbling the ‘parking lot’ is the best option because there is land available for a ‘parking facility’ immediately west of the Drive. If you’re debate is the view from Lake Shore Drive is ‘unpleasing to the eye’ please suggest leveling Soldier Field.
an aerial view of the the lakefront site.
The ‘view of the lake’ from Lake Shore Drive argument however, is only angle-deep. Here’s why. If you really wish to see the lake, don’t settle for views from LSD. It’s a whole new world being at the water’s edge. Seriously.
a side-by-side comparison of the lakefront site as it currently exists and how it will look with the museum and accessible, added green-space in place.
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lotbig yellow taxi | joni mitchell | 1970
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, in development for Chicago’s lake shore museum campus, will celebrate the power of visual storytelling through collections and exhibitions of narrative painting, illustration, photography, film and cinema arts, animation and digital art. The Museum’s highly innovative facility is designed by Beijing-based MAD Architects. The Lucas Museum’s collection, conceived and initiated by George Lucas, continues to develop and grow in order to fulfill the Museum’s educationally driven mission.
the wanda vista, a burly 88-story mixed-use river-front mega-tower.
the city of chicago unveiled a jeanne gang designed skyscraper designed to reside on the chicago river. the developers, the wanda group, which is controlled by mainland china’s richest man, wang jianlin, and chicago-based magellan development group, propose a 2016 groundbreaking. chicago mayor rahm emanuel’s administration portrays the project as the largest real estate investment by a chinese firm in chicago and one of the largest in the united states.
the skyscraper is planned for an east wacker drive riverfront site.
interior riverfront view of the tower, the $900 million mixed-use project will contain a 250-room five-star hotel, 390 condominiums and about 9,000 square feet of retail space.
interior south view of wanda vista.
though no height was given at the unveiling, the tower’s height has been previously reported as 1,148 feet, which would make it chicago’s third tallest building, behind the 1,730-foot willis tower and the 1,388-foot trump international hotel & tower. close runner-ups are the 1,136-foot aon center and 1,128-foot john hancock center.
the project would reside in the lakeshore east development, which is bordered by east wacker on the north, lake shore drive to the east, randolph street to the south and columbus drive to the west. gang’s world-renowned 859-foot aqua tower is also part of the development. aqua tower is said to be the tallest building designed by a female architect. wanda vista will raise that bar.
[ studio gang architects ]
above> alex garcia tribune photo
Donald Trump is a lightning rod. Now Trump has made Adrian Smith‘s, architect at Chicago’s SOM, emblematic Trump Tower Chicago a lighting rod. The issue went public three weeks ago when Chicago Tribune architecture critic, Blair Kamin, architecture critic of the Chicago Tribune, jumped all over evidence of new signage in-the-making. Trump responds and it went back and forth prompting mayor, Rahm Emanuel to weigh in, “a tastelss sign”. Trump finds a need to say, ‘I love chicago…and my sign ‘. These happenings now national news, Jon Stewart can’t contain his get-real sentiment either.
above> about the time kamin went public
Let me weigh in from my own experience with this building and two others regarding signage. In 2002, when Trump was looking for marketing proposals I was asked to create a concept for @Properties. The concept: Create two books, a graphic coffee table piece and one with strategies and numbers. @Properties was wildly successful though a very new company. A humongous building in their portfolio would not be a bad thing. The thrust of the concept was jumping into the future, as if @Properties had already won the Trump Tower job. @Properties deftly pitched it but didn’t get the job. Solace was achieved by Trump’s marketing team loving the creativity and boldness of the pitch, it was one of the best. We walked feeling we won and thinking Trump hired a great architect and they would not mess up.
above> trump tower from river walk | image courtesy som / click to enlarge all images on this post
An uh oh moment occurred at the time Santiago Calatrava‘s brilliant and ambitious Spire was looking like it might happen. Under construction at this time, Trump’s building was looking good too. Also at this time, The Spire began placing beautiful marketing signs along both north and south Michigan Avenue. Really understated, as elegant as the building. But then, more signs popped up, freshly mounted in the sidewalks. 10 large bullet-points… Trump Tower is coming.
above> trump tower sw/nw elevations | image courtesy som
above> trump tower ground plan | image courtesy som
above> trump tower abstract rendering | image courtesy som
Trump Tower’s new signage comes as no surprise, though very disappointing that someone, didn’t feel the collaboration between Trump and Smith created a magnum opus capable of saying all the right things on its own. The building’s design calls out for more than all cap fatso letters that seem slapped on the facade. Recently faced with the dilemma of marketing their new State Street store and respect Louis Sullivan‘s building Target figured it out by placing all messaging inside the structure and not on it.
Not many know this story about the John Hancock Center. In 1969, three years prior to my arrival as a designer at The Design Partnership‘s signage partner Mabrey/Kaiser, Bud Mabrey with the help of SOM’s Bruce Graham, the designer of JHC, persuaded John Hancock Insurance to eschew any signage, that a brightly lit observation deck would be all the identity that this building needed. [ interesting jhc tidbits ]
above> bruce graham’s john hancock center | 1969
In 1973, again Bud Mabrey and again with the help of the architect, Graham Anderson Probst and White, enticed CNA Financial Corporation to paint their building red. The concept, the red design was used to depict the sun setting over the ocean as illustrated by the red imagery to the west of Lake Michigan. And again, no building identification signage except on the plaza. A sign was eventually added more than 20 years later.
Now the CNA building really has no business being in this conversation, too short, a non-existent brand image, but it does belong with the Hancock Center in the big concept arena. Big concepts don’t mean success and huge concepts go so unnoticed because they may be very open to interpretation. It may take someone next to you to set you straight. But you gotta love their conception, the pitch and execution. I would have praised Trump if he had topped the building with a ‘big concept’ oversized toupée instead.
above> developer’s proposal for 300 north michigan avenue
Times Square. The above image surfaced late last year for 300 north Michigan avenue, which is SOUTH of the river and not the Mag Mile. This stretch is becoming known as the Millennium Mile. Yes, a Times Square style will make its way to Chicago. Only if it’s very profitable for the city though. Guessing State Street not Mag Mile suits this format best. Mag Mile is our Madison Avenue. Confident Rahm Emanuel will support the right thing [ Chicago places ads on really public spaces ]
Michael Bierut, Pentagram partner and DesignObserver co-founder said this, “What’s interesting about Times Square is that there are special signage regulations that ensure that every new building has to have big signs on it. They were put in place in the late 80s when there were proposals to replace the older buildings with new (and boring) corporate buildings. Now there are a lot of new skyscrapers there but they are covered with flashing signs. Trivia point: Tibor Kalman helped develop the standards, working with architect Robert A.M. Stern.”
opening public reception | friday evening 30 may 30 | 6 > 10p
CHGO DSGN [Chicago Design], a major exhibition of Recent Object and Graphic Design by 100+ of the city’s leading designers, will open 31 May and run through 2 November 2014 at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Chicago has long been regarded as an international center for design, and this retrospective celebrates the region’s creative and innovative spirit. The exhibition is curated by Rick Valicenti, 2011 recipient of the prestigious Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award, with displays designed by Tim Parsons, Associate Professor of Designed Objects at the School of the Art Institute.
white room
plaid room
“Chicago design is alive once again and on display for the world to see,” Valicenti says. “Almost a century ago, Chicago designers were at the epicenter of print. A few years later, Chicago was home to the New Bauhaus, and in the 70s our designers championed international modernism. Today’s designers are reverberating with inspiration from storied times as they amplify Chicago design’s future.”
Surprise, invention, and risk run through the 200+ works on display. A broad range of endeavors are featured from functional objects to theoretical proposals.
Highlights include the DIVVY bike naming and graphic identity program by IDEO and Firebelly, the world’s thinnest watch from Central Standard Timing, an exhibition catalog for the Art Institute of Chicago by Studio Blue, some of the best Kickstarter-funded initiatives such as TIKTOK by MNML design director Scott Wilson, an open-source international library of icons called The Noun Project, and product designer Steven Haulenbeek’s collection of bronze bowls cast in the ice during this winter’s frigid polar vortex.
The exhibition features work from Chicago’s established design studios: Crosby Associates, Morningstar, VSA Partners, Wright, the University of Chicago Press, the Department of Design at Leo Burnett, Threadless, and furniture-design legend Holly Hunt.
odense chair | holly hunt
the way of the shovel scratch-off poster | romain andré and michael savona | mark dion, shovel illustration on the top layer and tony tasset, uncovered photograph, images courtesy mca chicago
The next generation of designers are featured as well, including the delicate utensil designs by Martin Kastner for Alinea, publications designed by James Goggin, an experimental book by Plural, a sonically-activated animation by John Pobojewski of Thirst, the radical designs by Materious, audio-generated posters for the Poetry Foundation by Sonnenzimmer, public works by the designers from the Museum of Contemporary Art, and a conceptual study for typography made with water by Matt Wizinsky.
A selection of works will have their Chicago debut, including a limited edition bronze chair by furniture designer Jonathan Nesci, a bookshelf by Felicia Ferrone, a sculptural leather chair by Jay Sae Jung Oh, a film using an experimental microscopic camera by Leviathan, and an incense-burning skull by Cody Hudson.
lunatik taktik extreme | minimal
o’hare terminal 5 murals | thirst
[ opening public reception ] friday evening 30 may 30 | 6 > 10p / exhibit hall | chicago cultural center | 78 east washington | 4th floor
[ exhibitors lists ]
Aaron Ferber, IDEO
Adrianne Hawthorne
Alan Snider, VSA Partners
Alberto Velez, HOLLY HUNT
Alex Fuller
Alex Gilbert
Alex Solis, Threadless
Alexa Vicious, Plural
Alisa Wolfson, Leo Burnett
Alli Nash, Wink Design Atelier
Andrew Fenchel, LAMPO
Andy Gray, VSA Partners
Ania Jaworska
Baozhen Li, Thirst
Bart Crosby, Crosby Associates
Ben Deter, Faust
Ben Stagl, ChiLab
Beth Weaver
Bo Rodda, ChiLab
Bob Faust, Faust
Bob Zeni
Bradon Webb, Leviathan
Brandon Hill
Brandt Brinkerhoff, BB-KK
Brandy Olsen, Leviathan
Brenda Bergen, Wink Design Atelier
Brendan Shanley
Brett Schnacky, Mode Project
Brian Hieggelke, Newcity
Brian Watterson, Studio Blue
Brooks Ruyle, Mode Project
Bruce Tharp, Materious
Bryce Wilner
Bud Rodecker, Thirst
Cameron Brand, Thirst
Casey Lurie
Casey Martin, Leo Burnett
Chad Hutson, Leviathan
Chad Kouri
Charles Adler, Kickstarter
Cheryl Towler Weese, Studio Blue
Chris Beers, Leviathan
Chris Roeleveld
Chrissi Cowhey, Studio Blue
Christopher Gentner, Gentner Design
Chrystine Doerr, VSA Partners
Claire Williams-Martinez, Studio Blue
Claudia Alberts, VSA Partners
Claudine Litman, VSA Partners
Cody Hudson, Struggle Inc.
Colin Carter, Mode Project
Colin Hall, VSA Partners
Colleen Tracey, Firebelly
Corey Roach, VSA Partners
Craig Zacok, Leviathan
Craighton Berman
Cristina Anichi, VSA Partners
Curt Schreiber, VSA Partners
Cyril Marsollier, Club Club
Dan Forbes, Leo Burnett
Dan Knuckey, VSA Partners
Dan Kraemer, IA Collaborative
Dan Marsden, JNL Design
Dana Arnett, VSA Partners
Darren McPherson, Firebelly
Dave Hanicak, VSA Partners
Dave Pabellon, Faust
Dave Reynolds, Wink Design Atelier
Dave Vondle, Central Standard Timing
David Berthy, IDEO
David Brodeur, Leviathan
David Williams, Morningstar
Dawn Hancock, Firebelly
Denny Liu, VSA Partners
Dustin Yerks, VSA Partners
Eiji Jimbo, Thing Thing
Elaine Fong, IDEO
Eleanor Kung, Studio Blue
Emily Bentrup, VSA Partners
Erin Borreson, Legacy Frameworks
Felicia Ferrone, fferrone
Franchec Crespo
Frank Garguilo, Wink Design Atelier
Gene Bellini
Gina Rossi, VSA Partners
Gosia Sobus, Crosby Associates
Greg Calvert, Firebelly
Greg Samata, Samata
Helen Maria Nugent, Haelo Design
Hillary Geller, Studio Blue
Holly Hunt, HOLLY HUNT
Howard Willenzik, VSA Partners
Hwa-Ryong Kim, Newcity
Ian Koenig, VSA Partners
Isaac Tobin, University of Chicago Press
Ivan Brunetti
J. Brad Sturm, Studio Blue
Jackson Cavanaugh
Jake Nickell, Threadless
James Costello, Costello Communications
James Goggin, Practise
Jamie Koval, VSA Partners
Jarrod Ryhal, VSA Partners
Jarut Chanprapanont, TNOP DESIGN
Jason Gillette, ChiLab
Jason Jones, 50,000feet
Jason McKean, Leo Burnett
Jason Pickleman, JNL Design
Jason White, Leviathan
Jay Sae Jung Oh
Jeff Mumford, Crosby Associates
Jennifer Mahanay, Wright
Jeremiah Chiu, Plural
Jerry O’Leary, Central Standard Timing
Jessada Weesuwan, TNOP DESIGN
Jessi Adrignola, Samata
Jessica Charlesworth, Parsons & Charlesworth
Jill Shimabukuro, University of Chicago Press
Jilly Simons, Concrete
Jim Misner, 50,000feet
Jim Toth, VSA Partners
Jin Ko, IDEO
Joanna Vodopivec, Crosby Associates
Joe Van Wetering, Threadless
John Fisher, VSA Partners
John Massey
John Pobojewski, Thirst
Jon Krohn, Plural
Jonathan Nesci, HALE
Jonathan Sadler, Tenspeed Hero
Jonathan Turitz, VSA Partners
Josh Witherspoon, VSA Partners
Julie Driggs, VSA Partners
Kate Trogan, VSA Partners
Katherine Walker, BB-KK
Katrina Nelken, Leviathan
Kelly Bjork, VSA Partners
Kelly Dorsey, Leo Burnett
Ken Fox, 50,000feet
Kevin Primm, Leviathan
Kristen Cullen, Grillo Group
Kristofer Newgren, VSA Partners
Kuan Wen Chiu, ChiLab
Kuen Chang, IDEO
Kyle Fletcher
Kyle Hames, VSA Partners
Kyle Poff, Kyle Poff Design
Lauren Ayers, Tenspeed Hero
Lauren Boegen, Studio Blue
Lauren Gallagher
Lauren Nassef
Letherbee
Levi Borreson, Legacy Frameworks
Lim Heng Swee, Threadless
Luke Batten, Tenspeed Hero
Lyndon Valicenti
Magdalena Wistuba
Maggie Lewis, Studio Blue
Maria Grillo, Grillo Group
Martin Kastner, Crucial Detail
Mary Yang, Studio Blue
Mathew Dorfman
Matt Daly, Leviathan
Matt Ganser, VSA Partners
Matt Herlihy, VSA Partners
Matt Puhalla, MINIMAL
Matt Wizinsky, Studio Junglecat
Matthew Hieggelke, Newcity
Matthew Hoffman
Matthew Terdich, Morningstar
Max Davis, ChiLab
Maya Romanoff
Megan Deal, Studio Blue
Melanie Carson, Newcity
Melissa Keller, VSA Partners
Michael Freimuth, VSA Partners
Michael Savona
Mike Bingaman, Plural
Mike Coon, Leviathan
Mike LaHood, Leviathan
Mike McQuade
Mike Scussel, VSA Partners
Molly McGee, VSA Partners
Mosher, @MosherShow
Nadine Nakanshi, Sonnenzimmer
Nancy Flemm, pixies & porcupines
Nancy McCabe, Costello Communications
Natalia Kowaleczko, Leo Burnett
Nick Adam, Firebelly
Nick Butcher, Sonnenzimmer
Ohn Ho, Firebelly
Paul Higgins, Chicago Reader
Peter Cuba, VSA Partners
Rachel Broaddus, Leviathan
Rachel Mulder, Thing Thing
Regan Blough, Concrete
Renata Graw, Plural
Renee Benz, Morningstar
Rick Valicenti, Thirst
Robyn Paprocki, MCA Design Department
Romain Andre
Ron Berkheimer, VSA Partners
Ron Kirckpatrick, Haelo Design
Ron Kovach, DesignApplause
Ross Zietz, Threadless
Sam Silvio
Sandro, Sandro, Inc.
Sara Frisk, IDEO
Sarah Herda
Sarah Trent, VSA Partners
Scott Reinhard
Scott Thomas
Scott Wilson, MINIMAL
Shan James, Practise
Sharon Burdett, Strand Design
Silja Hillmann, Studio Blue
Simon Anton, Thing Thing
Stacey Donaldson, VSA Partners
Stefan Draht, Mode Project
Stefan Herman, VSA Partners
Stephan Draht, Mode Project
Stephanie Tharp, Materious
Stephen Farrell, Slip Studios
Steve Christopher, MINIMAL
Steve Ryan, VSA Partners
Steven Haulenbeek
Stratton Cherouny, VSA Partners
Sung Jang, Sung Jang Laboratory
Tanner Woodford, Morningstar
Ted Burdett, Strand Design
Thom Moran, Thing Thing
Thomas Leinberger
Thomas Wolfe, VSA Partners
Tim Alamillo
Tim Parsons, Parsons & Charlesworth
Tim Sepulveda, Leviathan
Timothy White, VSA Partners
Tnop Wangsillapakun, TNOP DESIGN
Todd Piper, VSA Partners
Tony Mingo, VSA Partners
Tony Riazzi, VSA Partners
Tracy West, 50,000feet
Tricia Chamberlain, Leo Burnett
Tuan Pham, Studio Blue
Tyler Deal, Idiot Pull
Valarie D’Antonio, VSA Partners
Wallo Villacorta, Club Club
Wesley Webb, Wink Design Atelier
Whitney Waters, Crosby Associates
Will Miller, Firebelly
Willie Diaz, VSA Partners
Wiriya Mana-anantakul, TNOP DESIGN,
Zoë Ryan, The Art Institute of Chicago
Exhibition resources made possible by > Smithfield Properties, Best Imaging
Additional resources provided by > Casati Gallery, Cenveo, Classic Color, FLOR, Graphic Arts Studio, Holly Hunt, Lamin-8, Leo Burnett, Maya Romanoff, Morningstar, TenFab Design, Wright
Opening Reception refreshments provided by > Goose Island Beer Company, SkinnyPop
[ opening public reception ] friday evening 30 may 30 | 6 > 10p
[ general information ] dates > 31 may – 02 nov 2014 / venue > exhibit hall | chicago cultural center | 78 east washington | 4th floor
[ chgo dsgn happenings ]
click > enlarge
[ Volume Gallery ] announces its first solo exhibition with Matthias Merkel Hess, Things.
“For all our technical mastery over things, in the end it is the things that have come to dominate us.” ~From The Meaning of Things, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi & Eugene Rochberg-Halton
For his new show, Things, Matthias Merkel Hess has made a decided break with his previous work and created a series of sculptures that are animate, hive-like and gestural, while remaining rooted in the history and traditions of ceramics. Best known for remaking plastic vessels and other consumer objects in glazed ceramic, for this exhibition Merkel Hess has expanded beyond copying readymade forms to make sculptures influenced by diverse sources including the geometric patterns on milk crates, the early sculptures of Peter Voulkos, and the Marvel character and Fantastic Four member, The Thing.
thing 1 | 2014 | wheel-turned, carved stoneware | 14D x 23.5H inches | unique
The Thing, who was born Benjamin Grimm, had his skin transformed by cosmic rays into a craggy, orange, rock-like hide. Unlike the other members of the Fantastic Four, Grimm is unable to change back and trapped in his monstrous form. Unhappy with the transformation, Grimm still uses his powers as The Thing for good. In this sense, he’s a modern version of the Golem – the animated being created from inanimate matter in Jewish folklore – and teaches us that you can’t have everything, and that true liberty and freedom comes from accepting yourself.
Created from inanimate clay, Merkel Hess’ Things begin their life on the wheel. Once the initial form is created, it is altered, carved and pierced, taking on characteristics that are both abstract and familiar. The pieces are then fired and glazed, undergoing a permanent transformation in the kiln that echoes Benjamin Grimm’s own transformation into The Thing.
Abandoning his previous work with plastic forms, Merkel Hess has maintained a looser approach to the Things while still allowing references to historical ceramic vessels and glazes. Less literal than his previous work, the duality of sculpture/vessel, animate/inanimate, figure/ground allows Merkel Hess to further free the medium of ceramics from its constraints of tradition and definition by working within and reveling in the possibilities offered by the medium.
event> volume 20: matthias merkel hess | things
venue> [ volume gallery ] | 845 west washington 3rd floor | chicago usa
date> 25 april 2014 > 14 june 2014
opening reception> friday, 25 april | 6 > 8p / rsvp sam@wvvolumes.com
[ Volume Gallery ] is an event-based gallery with a specific focus on American design, and a strong emphasis placed on emerging contemporary designers. The Volume Gallery releases editions, publications and organizes exhibits that showcase the work of American designers to regional, national and international audiences.
All content ©2007 > 2022 DesignApplause
