Eames Documentary: A Must-See

If you’ve ever wondered about the personal and professional partnership between the brilliant Charles and Ray Eames, there’s a documentary film currently playing in select theaters about the Eameses that might be for you--it certainly was for me. Recently, Herman Miller invited a large group of designers, architects, press, and friends to a special screening of “Eames: The Architect and the Painter” at New York’s IFC Center, and the audience, myself included, responded with enthusiastic applause at the end of the show.

Produced by Jason Cohn and Bill Jersey, the doc gives glimpses into the personal lives (and sometimes troubled marriage) of the couple, but mostly focuses on each of their idiosyncrasies and eye for things, and how those informed their work and collaboration. In short, the film is about a true partnership, where each individual brought something to the table that, when combined, often culminated in artistic genius. This wasn’t just about their molded plywood chair for Herman Miller, their landmarked house in California, or the playful patterns of Ray’s textiles. The film offers insight into their context and times, and their idealistic view that modern design could act as a catalyst for social change.

That ideal went beyond design: Charles and Ray delved into other creative disciplines such as photography and film. Notably, their “Glimpses of the USA,” characterized by information overload, was a powerful cinematic centerpiece at an exhibition in Moscow in 1959. Shown on seven screens, the film visually communicated to the Russian public and government what everyday American life was like in that era--a precursor, perhaps, to today’s communication arts, once again demonstrating the Eames’s genius.

I worried at first when I saw actor James Franco’s name appear in the opening credits, as I don’t really think of his voice and inflection as the “documentary type.” However, I was pleasantly surprised with his narration, which didn’t distract me at all. The more powerful sound-bytes, though, were the firsthand accounts and quips by designers who worked at the Eames Office, the couple’s grandson Eames Demetrios, and other friends and acquaintances. Their reminiscing and interjections often brought laughter, tears, smiles, and contemplation to the faces of most of us in the audience that evening. One of the interviewees, for instance, recalls how dinner at the Eames house was followed by a beautifully composed floral arrangement as “dessert” for the guests, and he humorously (with an expletive) described how ticked off he was because he had been famished that day!

Though the people interviewed for the documentary offered great perspective on the couple, the film’s imagery of the Eames’s work, archival scenes from the maddening spectacle of the Eames Office, and personal letters and doodles speak even louder of their brilliance and creative process. And observations on their personal lives and relationship, though fascinating to me, seemed more like a side note in this production. Ultimately, I thought the film was excellently done and could appeal equally to design gurus and the uninformed. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s not seen it. The theaters currently screening Eames are located across the country, so chances are it might be at a theater near you. View the dates and locations here: www.firstrunfeatures.com/eames_playdates.html.

If you can’t make it to a theater, you can also look out for the DVD, which supposedly comes out just a few weeks from now, just in time for the holidays.

Images from top: Charles and Ray Eames posing on a Velocette motorcycle, 1948. The DCW molded plywood dining chair, 1946. Ray and Charles Eames examining the sling locations to be covered by fabric lapping in a prototype of the Aluminum Group lounge chair, 1957. All images Copyright 2011 Eames Office, LLC.

Luck O' the Green: Irish Architecture Touring Symposia Comes to United States

 
St. Patty’s Day (and all its festivities/traditional fare) may yet be months away but Culture Ireland is giving Americans a glimpse at the country’s more cultured side this fall. As part of its 2011 “Imagine Ireland” tour that aims to showcase Irish art exhibits throughout the United States, the organization and the Irish Architecture Foundation, Dublin have teamed up to offer a touring symposia on Irish Architecture.

Two groups of leading architects from Irish design firms will travel to six museums and design schools over the next two months to present the key aspects of their work and discuss challenges and issues facing Irish architecture today.

Group One—Merritt Bucholz and Karen McEvoy, Bucholz McEvoy Architects; Niall McCullough, McCullough Mulvin Architects; and Shih-Fu Peng, Heneghan Peng Architects—already completed their East Coast tour. They visited New York last week, stopping at Cooper Union, then traveled to Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, and The Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.

Group Two—Tom dePaor, dePaor Architects; Yvonne Farrell, Grafton Architects; and Sheila O’Donnell, O’Donnell + Tuomey Architects— will begin touring on November 8 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, followed by presentations at the University of California Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture, and The Art Institute of Chicago.

Visit www.architecturefoundation.ie for more information.

MLK Memorial Shines Light on Civil Rights

 
How many Americans take our civil rights for granted? Too many I’m sure, as the memory of social pioneers like Rosa Parks and the Little Rock Nine frequently remain as names in a textbook, brought up from time to time during a history class or Black history month. But as President Obama officially dedicates on October 16 the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial—designed by ROMA Design Group under the direction of firm President Boris Dramov and Landscape Principal Bonnie Fisher, FASLA, and opened in August— in Washington, D.C., the importance of civil rights and the continuing battle for social equality and diversity will gain a permanent stance in the public eye.

“The dedication of the MLK Memorial shines a light on the importance of civil rights and social equity issues and how integral they are to the meaning of democracy in America. These issues are as important now as they ever have been. Dr. King's legacy lies not only in his message but also in the way in which this message was achieved,” says Fishcer. “We are hoping that the physical design of the memorial will create an uplifting experience for visitors—one that enables individuals to see that each person in his or her own way can stand up and make a difference to the benefit of the larger community.” 

Occupying a four-acre site on the Tidal Basin near the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, visitors enter between two large stone markers which are separated by the “Mountain of Despair,” a stone wedge that appears as though it is thrust into the main plaza as a symbol of Dr. King’s struggle. On the visible side of the stone, text from the famed 1963 speech "Out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope" is engraved; while "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness” is written on the other. In the center of the open plaza, lies the “Stone of Hope;” this features the image of Dr. King gazing out to the horizon toward future society of equality for all.

 
“For designers, this memorial shows how the shaping of the physical environment can communicate ideas and convey emotional content. Although these ideas are elevated and more poignant when working on a memorial, the ability to convey meaning and significance through public space design is something that can be applied to the betterment of cities everywhere,” Fisher says.

The final design for the memorial was selected via an international design competition from more than 1,000 submissions. ROMA Design Group is a San Francisco-based architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design firm that holds a reputation for designing public spaces.
 

--Stacy Straczynski

A Hypothesis for the Future of Healthcare Design Training

 
What will training facilities for emergency staffers look like in the future? That’s the question the Herman Miller is seeking to discover via a collaborative design experiment with Yuri Millo, M.D., at the Washington Hospital Center MedSTAR's (Medical Shock Trauma Acute Resuscitation) new Simulation in Training Environment Lab (SiTEL) Clinical Simulation Center in Washington, D.C.

The Sitel facility (soft opening June 2011) was converted from a former bank space in the span of only four months, with the help of locally-based Burt Hill Architects. While the 6,500-square-foot space is minimalist in design and aesthetic style at best (we’re talking the barest of bones here—the concrete floor is exposed and all “room” dividers and furnishings are either on wheels or transitory in nature), its success in function and educational forethought pushes the innovation beyond what any flashy visuals might do.

Herman Miller worked with Doctor Millo to rethink how ER training and simulation spaces could be improved to enhance learning and better prepare professionals for the high-paced, oftentimes chaotic atmosphere associated with working in the ambulatory department. Traditionally, this training is held at the parent hospital in small-sized, individual classrooms. While this allows staff to easily take training onsite, it greatly limits their on-hands knowledge and practical application of the course materials, as well as poses noise issues. According to the doctor, this sort of training doesn’t need to be onsite as a sterilized environment is not required for simulations. “It’s about learning,” he says.

As such, the flexible learning space features a layout that can be reconfigured at a moment’s notice to align with the variety of daily simulation training courses being offered, and reflection areas for additional instruction and break time. The interiors are rearranged about every four hours (one per each daily course), which can be accomplished by just two employees.

The open floor plan view is only broken by four, floor-to-ceiling glass-walled classrooms positioned in a circle at the facility’s core. The glass is slightly etched and shaded at eye-level to maintain transparency but provide the necessary privacy for learning focus, as well as provide an intrinsic divider between the six simulation zones (shown below)—three partiion-separated sections on each side are equipped with functioning hospital equipment and high-tech simulation dummies—that line the left and right walls.

 
Here, trainees can practice real-life roleplaying that mimics care in an ER, with multiple beds, treatment areas, and “patients.” Observation stations on each side are equipped with LCD screens to monitor and record the sessions and 360-degree cameras in the ceiling spaces capture every moment. Once simulations are complete, students can reflect in the “learning lounges,” (shown below) a cluster of Herman Miller-customized workstations that offer privacy and technology for simulation games on computers.

 
“It’s a living lab experiment, and a testament to the functionality of design. It’s a really smart space in that we don’t restrict ourselves to one set-up—like in a theater where you have one stage that can house different scenes and plays,” says Doctor Millo.

With initial success, the team is expanding the concept in the coming months—a twin facility will open in October in Baltimore, and another is expected this winter in Boca Raton, Florida, while plans to create a model in a Canadian medical educational facility is also on the books.

“This is the hospital of the future,” Doctor Millo adds. “Students today don’t want to accept the old tradition of learning through reading a book—they want to be hands-on. This facility offers that and has already be shown to increase attendance among younger generations.”

 --Stacy Straczynski

 

 

Eyes on an ‘Empty Sky’ this September 11

 
Thousands gathered in New York City this weekend to attend the 10th anniversary ceremonies in honor of those lost in the tragic 9/11 terrorist attacks. But while work continues on the extensive National September 11 Memorial project—composed of the public Memorial Plaza, designed by architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker, and now open to the public; the focal Freedom Tower at One World Trade Center, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (which currently rises just 78 of the total 105 planned stories); the Four World Trade Center building, designed by Fumihiko Maki; and sub-level National September 11 Memorial Museum, designed by Aedas, with entry pavilion designed by Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta (covered in detail by Contract’s Editor in Chief John Czarnecki in our forthcoming September issue)—those in New Jersey were able to participate in the commemoration of a much smaller yet equally powerful memorial on Saturday, September 10.

The New Jersey 9/11 “Empty Sky” Memorial, designed by Frederic Schwartz Architects (FSA) and located across the river from Manhattan at Liberty State Park (shown above and below, www.schwartzarch.com), is meant to remember the lives of 746 people from New Jersey lost in the September 11 attacks. The two 30-foot-high, 210-foot-long (a measurement that equals the width of each side of the World Trade Center) walls parallel each other to create a path between them. Each name is engraved at 3.75 inches tall on either of the memorial’s interior facade.

Placed to frame the now empty skyline view of Ground Zero and create an illusion for onlookers, the concrete structures are surfaced in stainless steel to reflect the varying angles of natural light throughout the day. Architect Frederick Schwartz, the memorial’s designer, notes to The Jersey Journal at the commemoration service that its positioning also allows the light reflected off it’s the memorial’s surface to create a halo between two walls at certain times of the day, which he admits was unintentional. "To me, it's a religious experience," he says. "For me, that is as if god is trying to tell us he is watching over these people."

The memorial itself rests between by slightly sloped hills, which helps to integrate the walls into the park’s landscape. Overall, "Empty Sky" literally and metaphorically encourages locals to find strength and look forward as a community.

The design for “Empty Sky” was selected by the family members of those it commemorates as the National Competition Winner of the 2004 AIA New Jersey Honor Award. Jessica Jamroz, an associate at Frederic Schwartz Architects, designed the New Jersey 9/11 Memorial with Schwartz asthe project manager.

FSA also won the competition for “The Rising,” a memorial at the Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla, New York, that honors the112 Westchester County locals who were lost in the attacks. This design, which was also chosen by the victims’ family members and created by Schwartz and Jamroz, features a structure that resembles an upside-down funnel. The memorial (shown above, photo by Jessica Jamroz/Frederic Schwartz Architects) is made from 112 interlaced stainless steel strands to symbolize strength and unity among the community.

What do you think about the designs? Do you feel that they successfully capture and elicit symbolic power? What other memorial designs have resonated with you on a personal level? Share your thoughts and comments with us below.

 --Stacy Straczynski

Eye of the Tigerman

The Yale School of Architecture honors this fall the success of one of its own, Stanley Tigerman (‘60 B.Arch, ‘61 M.Arch), in a new exhibit at its gallery in New Haven, Connecticut. Now open for viewing, Ceci n’est pas une rêverie: The Architecture of Stanley Tigerman celebrates the upcoming 2012 transfer of the starchitect’s drawing archive to Yale University’s Manuscripts and Archives depository, which holds records from other famous A&D professionals such as Louis Kahn, Paul Rudolph, and Eero Saarinen. The exhibit also marks the publication of Tigerman’s Schlepping Through Ambivalence: Essays on an American Architectural Condition (Yale University Press, October 2011), a collection of the architect’s writings from 1964 to 2011 edited by Yale School of Architecture Associate Professor Emmanuel Petit, and his autobiography, Designing Bridges to Burn: Architectural Memoirs by Stanley Tigerman (ORO Editions, August 2011).

Ceci n’est pas une rêverie, which translates from French to “This is not a dream,” features a thematic representation of Tigerman’s projects according to the motifs of utopia, allegory, death, humor, division, drift, yaleiana, identity, and (dis)order. Models and sketches on display include some of Tigerman’s early and mid-career projects, such as the Five Polytechnic Institutes in Bangladesh (1966–75); the Urban Matrix proposal on Lake Michigan (1967–68); and Dante’s Bathroom Addition, an unbuilt, allegorical project for Kohler (1980). Recent work includes the Commonwealth Edison Energy Museum in Zion, Illinois (1987–90) and the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois, in Skokie (2000–2009).

Tableware designs, “architoon” drawings, photographs, and other artwork and sketches will also be showcased, as well as Yale archival data of Tigerman’s Bachelor’s and Master’s theses. A video interview with the starchitect, produced by Karen Carter Lynch, gives attendees a present-day perspective.

Petit, who is also curator for the exhibition, will share his insights during a free public lecture on September 1 in the Paul Rudolph Hall auditorium at 6:30 p.m.

Ceci n’est pas une rêverie: The Architecture of Stanley will be on display at the Yale School of Architecture Gallery, located on the second floor of the college’s Paul Rudolph Hall at 180 York Street, through November 5. Hours are Mondays to Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit will travel in January 2012 to Chicago’s Graham Foundation’s Madlener House and then the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. For additional information, visit www.architecture.yale.edu.

Tigerman is a Chicago native and cofounder of his firm, Tigerman McCurry Architects. He holds an expansive portfolio of projects throughout North America, Western Europe, and Asia—as well as a furniture, household, and jewelry designs—that has received numerous honors, including seven AIA Honor Awards and more than 120 national and local design awards. Tigerman and Eva Maddox co-founded the ARCHEWORKS design “laboratory” and school in Chicago. He also has served as a visiting professor and advisory-committee member at several schools of architecture including Yale and Harvard and was the director of the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

—Stacy Straczynski

The Front of Retail Design: Store Windows Showcase

Retail shows off its visual prowess in the annual Store Windows Showcase from DDI, sister publication to Contract magazine. Take a look through these top eye-catching storefronts that are designed to draw in shoppers, and tell us in the comments section which ones are your top picks and why.

 
Anthropologie’s April 2011 windows at its Troy, Michigan, store celebrated Earth Day with this cork creation. Inspired by Anthropologie’s partnership with the Cork Forest Conservation Alliance (CFCA), the windows featured recycled cork wine stoppers, both left in their normal color and dyed. More than 4 million corks were donated by the CFCA, customers, and local businesses to create these giant, decorative plant balls. (Credit: Photos courtesy of Matthew Addonizio, Sabrina Ray and Rachael Gasperoni.)

 
Displayed at Hugo Boss’s 14th Street location in New York’s Meatpacking District, “Beautiful Things” featured an interactive neon window experience that the retailer collaborated on with artist Erika deVries. Written in deVries’s 7-year-old son’s handwriting, the phrase “I see beautiful things around you” glows from the windows. Hugo Boss invited onlookers to participate in the piece by photographing themselves standing within the “Beautiful Things” lit signage, and then posting the picture to Hugo Boss’s Facebook wall. (Credit: Photo courtesy of Hugo Boss.)

 
Saks Fifth Avenue New York originally used this Butterfly Router design as prosceniums framing each window on Fifth Avenue during the holidays, but Sanne Planting, associate director of windows production, revamped the idea and brought it back for Saks Fifth Avenue’s May 2011 window displays.
(Credit: Photo courtesy of Michael Ross.)

 
In May 2011, Bergdorf Goodman’s major Fifth Avenue windows in New York City were the site of an exhibition of 45 clothing items and accessories lent from the archives of Alexander McQueen. Designed by David Hoey, Bergdorf’s senior director of visual presentation, the window environments are replete with references to the late Alexander McQueen’s fashion designs, his runway shows, his inspirations and his verbal musings. The window exhibit was in tandem with the opening of “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Credit: Photos courtesy of Zehavi + Cordes.)

 
These windows for the Calvin Klein collection on New York’s Madison Avenue feature this enlarged, sepia-colored bird. Designed by Dale Rozmiarek, senior vice president at Calvin Klein Inc., the display was created to evoke the strength, intensity and power that describe the Calvin Klein brand. (Credit: Photos courtesy of James Lattanzio.)

See more inspiring storefront designs at DDI's Store Windows Showcase, Part I and Store Windows Showcase, Part II galleries. 

Jeans Transform into Retail Display Sculpture

I love purging--clothes, housewares, home décor, that bright pink, checkered scarf I was sure I would wear, but never did. Sometimes though, even a trip to Goodwill isn’t the best home for the hideous items I’m getting rid of. Wouldn’t it be cool if I could take stuff I’ll never wear again (like that size 2 jean skirt) and make it into art? For the masses? Well, it looks like someone else already beat me to the punch!

Ian McChesney, architect, designed a Levi’s jeans sculpture as part of the Regent Street Windows Project in London, further proving that my artistic idea isn’t half bad. While I’m sure these jeans aren’t from a collection that Ian can no longer wear, it’s still an impressive feat. A total of 120 pairs of jeans were joined together using more than 1,000 copper rivets. The display is designed to look like a tornado or a whirlpool.

I’m now picturing my pink checkered scarf and jean skirt along with my old microwave as my next sculpture project. What do you think? Have you seen anything like this before? What items would you repurpose for your next design project? Leave your comments here.

--Heather Strang, DDI

Belly Up to the Container Bar

Once a dull neighborhood, Austin’s Rainey Street was in need of an invigorating transformation—and there’s nothing like an iconic bar with a unique design to do the trick. Scheduled to open December 31, Container Bar will be constructed of stacked recycled metal shipping containers assembled to form a central courtyard. Bridget Dunlap, a local nightlife owner with three other bungalow-style venues in the area, is the first to take on such a concept in Austin.

 
New flooring, windows, and artistic accents will enhance the containers, giving each box its own identity via the interior decor. The bar will be fit with classy bathrooms, air-conditioning, and eco-friendly LED lighting. For fun, a movie screen and stage will be included among other amenities. The exterior will remain weathered. Container Bar will be a LEED compliant space.

Contrary to popular belief, Dunlap is not an interior designer but rather a businesswoman; despite the lack of a design background, she has pulled together authentic spaces with a few objects as inspiration, allowing for the rest to fall in place.

 
"Anyone who knows me will tell you that I get easily bored, so I worked out my creative juices and restlessness through developing my ideas for Rainey Street. I love the rough look of the old shipping containers,” says Dunlap. “Container Bar will be a stunner.”

Dunlop's endeavor is just another instance of shipping container architecture to hit the news in recent years. What do you think about the salvaged container trend? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
 
--Raysha Armbrustmacher

Pairing Up to Design a Difference

One of the primary things I’ve come to love about design since I was introduced to the world of A&D is the power it has to change people’s lives. Recently, I’ve received news of two firms, DLR Group and Corner Green & Associates (CGA), making a difference in Joplin, Missouri. The town was hit by a devastating tornado on May 22 that destroyed the many structures throughout the town, including the local high school.

The Kansas City office of DLR Group was quick to respond. The firm partnered with CGA, also locally based, and sent a structural and K-12 design team to assess the facilities and begin discussing the community’s educational needs, the first of which was a temporary high school for students to attend in the fall.

 
The firms currently are finalizing a fast-track, 69-day renovation of an 84,000-square-foot retail department store into a temporary educational space for the 1,200 displaced 11th and 12th grade students. The space will feature small learning communities and collaboration spaces to enhance learning and offer students a place to relax and socialize.

 
The facility also includes administration and counseling offices, a social commons area with a school store and coffee bar, a media center, and Information Technology support spaces. Moveable walls, which double as marker boards, will allow for the flexibility of classroom size.

“This was a design-centric project with a great sense of urgency,” says DLR Group principal Kevin Greischar, AIA. “It had to be the definition of integrated design with architects, school district officials, construction partners, and even parents and students in the room at the same time. We used BIM as our tool to bridge the gap from design to construction in five days. Having the high school ready for students in the coming month is essential to returning a sense of normalcy and community in Joplin.”

Students will return to school on August 17.

--Stacy Straczynski