design museum – Page 3 – DesignApplause

Breaking down the new london design museum.

Feb 6, 2012

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Earlier this week it was announced that the Design Museum, currently located in east London, would relocate in 2014 to a site at the Commonwealth Institute. Chances are you’ve caught a whiff of the buzz already. Here’s how the renovation adds up:

Number of years the site stood vacant: 12
Interior design: John Pawson
Why you should know him: Recently he’s done stage design for major ballets and operas as well as a temporary exhibition in the Geometric Staircase of St. Paul’s Cathedral. See all his work.
Number of floors: 5
Square-meters: 10,000 (about 33 square-feet)
Height of peaked roof: 16 meters (about 55 feet)
Estimated annual visitors: 500,000 (double the previous amount)
Estimated cost: £80 million (about $126 million)

“It’s a true icon and example of post war modernism,” Pawson said. “The challenge was working inside the skin of an existing building. For me it’s about retuning the existing architecture so it still feels fresh. The palette we’ll use is quite quiet and simple…and will retain and enhance the extraordinary special qualities of the building.”

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about perrin drumm

Museum as node. The walker art center.

Dec 6, 2011

“The Walker Art Center launched a new website last week that should be a model for other institutions of all kinds. The site repositions the Walker, in the words of Artlog, ‘at the center of the global conversation about contemporary art,’ by incorporating ideas, words, and art from far outside the museum’s walls.” ~alexis madrigal | the atlantic

about cam2

Wolfsonian wrestler available as bookend.

Jun 1, 2011

left: wrestler in wolfsonian museum lobby. the six feet, six inches tall sculpture was displayed at 1932 olympic games in los angeles. (click to enlarge)
left: new bookend
In partnership with reading accessory company Levenger, the Wolfsonian–Florida International University in Miami has issued its beloved Wrestler sculpture as a book end, muscular enough for the heftiest rank of art books. Something of a mascot for the Wolfsonian, the 1929 piece is part robot, part muscle man and is the work of American sculptor Dudley Vaill Talcott (1899-1986)

Wolfsonian director Cathy Leff says that “The Wrestler embodies many themes addressed by our collection. He is an expression of the promise of the machine age and this new material, aluminum, as well as that era’s growing interest in sports and physical culture. The fact that he was exhibited at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics is fitting for our collection with its strong representation of worlds’ fairs and expositions. The Wrestler also fits South Beach’s fascination with body culture.”

The bookend is made of polyresin finished to resemble aluminum. It will be available on June 2 at Levenger or at the Wolfsonian’s Dynamo Museum Shop Miami Beach. 305.535.2680 or paola [at] thewolf.fiu [dot] edu Price: $99; or two or more for $88 apiece.

<a href="about phil patton

American streamlined design. Part 2.

Feb 4, 2011

american streamlined design: the world of tomorrow. february 6. tulsa, oklahoma.

designer harold l. van doren / john gordon rideout. skippy sno-plane sled. c. 1933

designer dr. peter schlumbohm. cinderella garbage pail. c. 1930–1940

designer dave chapman. heat king fan heater. c. 1948

designer robert davit budlong. ward co. zephyr fan (model D22-TL). c. 1936

design attributed to ralph e. kruck. general refrigerator leftover dishes. c. 1939

joseph m. majewski, jr. juice-o-mat juicer. c. 1937

designer unknown. skilsaw electric drill. c. 1935–1940

designers clifford brooks stevens / edward p. schreyer. waverly petipoint iron. c. 1941

designer donald earl daily. proctor automatic pop-up toaster. c. 1947

designer michael graves. rival toaster (model TT 9275). 2000

American Streamlined Design: The World of Tomorrow, focuses on a design era that emerged during the 1930s and 1940s, characterized by curving forms, and smooth, clean silhouettes. The style, which suggested speed and glamor, entered American design in the post-Depression years. It was widely applied in new forms of architecture, interior decoration and everyday household goods for the home and office.
American Streamlined Design presents the work of such leaders in consumer and industrial design as Raymond Loewy, Norman Bel Geddes, Henry Dreyfuss, and Walter Dorwin Teague, as well as less well-known talents, including Egmont Arens and Robert Heller.

Over 185 objects in diverse new materials, from Bakelite to stainless steel, are organized thematically around the spheres of American life in the 1930s-50s: the office and workroom, the living room, kitchen, and bath, recreation and transportation. A final section, Streamlining Now, looks at how streamlining still affects design today.

With the recent acquisition of the George R. Kravis world-class industrial design collection, its strategic partnership with the Vitra Design Museum (Weil am Rhein, Germany), and the announcement of the museum’s forthcoming satellite location for modern and contemporary art and design in Tulsa’s Brady Arts District, make the museum a major new destination for the appreciation and curatorship of 20th century design. This exhibition was organized and is circulated by the Liliane and David M. Stewart Program for Modern Design, Montreal. [philbrook museum]

view american streamlined design part 1

American streamlined design.

Jan 26, 2011

american streamlined design: the world of tomorrow. february 6. tulsa, oklahoma.

designers harold l. van doren / john gordon rideout. skippy-racer scooter. c. 1933

designer unknown. sterling streamline iron. c. 1930–40

designer kem weber. lounge chair. 1934

designer unknown. mixall jr. portable electric mixer. 1945–55.

American Streamlined Design: The World of Tomorrow, focuses on a design era that emerged during the 1930s and 1940s, characterized by curving forms, and smooth, clean silhouettes. The style, which suggested speed and glamor, entered American design in the post-Depression years. It was widely applied in new forms of architecture, interior decoration and everyday household goods for the home and office.
American Streamlined Design presents the work of such leaders in consumer and industrial design as Raymond Loewy, Norman Bel Geddes, Henry Dreyfuss, and Walter Dorwin Teague, as well as less well-known talents, including Egmont Arens and Robert Heller.

see american streamlined design part 2

Product design quiz. Date of origin.

Aug 18, 2010

can you guess date of realization?
left: peter behrens

left: werner max moser

left: sophie taeuber arp

left: rossler porzellen

left: paul burri

many of these objects seem sensible and elegant solutions, in response to human needs. what makes their date of origin a bit tricky to nail down? curious about the designer’s design criteria at the time and wondering how history plays into the solutions. [images from the collections of the museum für gestaltung zurich]
answers: 1) 1900 2) 1900 3) 1902 4) 1905 5) 1909 6) 1918 7) 1918 8) 1923 9) 1928 10) 1930s 11) 1929 12) 1931 13) 1931 14) 1933 15) 1934 16) 1935 17) 1936 18) 1938 19) 1944 20) 1945 21) 1952 22) 1955 23) 1955 24) 1957 25) 1948 26) 2008 27) 2008

21_21 design sight.

Jun 18, 2010

founders and board members naoto fukasawa (product designer), issey miyake (fashion), taku satoh (graphic) at their 21_21 design sight museum.
the impulse for the creation of 21_21 design sight originated during the isamu noguchi exhibition in new york. designer issey miyake, architect tadao ando and sculptor noguchi talked about the need for a place where japanese design could be discovered, promoted and shared. above: logo design: taku satoh naturally. photo: masaya yoshimura for nacasa + partners.

above: in 2006, miyake took his biggest leap yet. he and his two collaborators opened 21_21 design sight in a tokyo building designed by tadao ando. “we always dreamed of a space in Japan,” says miyake, who promises “new and unprecedented solutions” from his unusual venture.

above: tokyo midtown is a new development with a range of offices, parks, shopping malls, apartments, restaurants and museums. the area around roppongi is well known for its many pioneering galleries with contemporary art, architecture and design.

below: “xxst century” exhibition starting on the first anniversary of 21_21 design sight’s opening in 2007, the question arises: where are we headed, now that we live in the century once hailed as the future?

in this show, exhibition director issey miyake has done extensive research to prepare for the show, which includes a wide spectrum of japanese and international creators, all of whom address today’s many doubts and insecurities through their own individual form of creative expression. above: yasuhiro suzuki beginning of time tokyo, 2007 – 2008

above: koutarou sekiguchi it’s departure at a bright night. maebashi, 2007

above: the wind installation in issey miyake’s creative room

above: stickman by dui seid

above: “the outline” exhibition – the unseen outline of things. exhibition design by naoto fukasawa and tamotsu fujii.

above: an ‘outline’ is a contour of something. it is also the boundary that delineates an object and its surrounds. since that which surrounds an object is air, the outline of a hole in the air that is shaped like an object is the same as the outline of the object itself. the air is also a metaphor for the atmosphere around that object. this air (atmosphere) is composed of everything that exists around the object – elements such as peoples’ experiences and memories; customs and gestures; time, circumstance and sound; technology and culture; and history and trends. should even one of these elements change, and the outline of the object changes too. people share this outline of the air implicitly. my job is to determine this outline and to design something that slots right into it. ~naoto fukasawa

above: the “post fossil” exhibition brings together over 130 works of 71 participants. this collection poses the question, “how will the designers of tomorrow look to past in order to invent the future?” as it “excavates” and analyzes new creative trends in and for the 21st century, which are embodied in materials, colors, shapes, processes, themes, images, techniques, and other elements, this exhibition searches for clues necessary for the human beings to live and define their future.

above: post fossil curator li ddelkoort.

more about 21_21 design sight