Craving Culture? Museum exhibitions to see now.

Chipp, madras jacket, circa 1970, on display at FIT in New York.

Here are just a few exhibitions happening around the country. From the "Ivy League look" in NYC to a celebration of George Nelson at Cranbrook to “House & Home” in Washington, D.C., there is richness to enjoy everywhere.

NEW YORK

The Museum at FIT
Ivy Style

MoMA
Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900-2000

COLORADO

Denver Art Museum 
What is Modern? 

Goldberger gives gold stars to Hadid, Nouvel and Foster.

Architecture critic Paul Goldberger names Zaha Hadid as one of the top architects defining our era. In last week's Q&A by Catherine Osborne for Azure magazine, Goldberger goes on to also name Jean Nouvel, and he praises Norman Foster for being "more successful than anybody in creating a huge office and doing enormous projects and maintaining a high level of quality." Read the entire piece at Azuremagazine.com.

Where to watch the sunset in Seville.

Designed by Jürgen Mayer-Hermann, the Metropol Parasol in Seville claims to be the world's largest wooden structure. Overlooking the city's old quarter, this 490-foot-long structure was completed in 2011. There are four levels to explore, and fantastic views to enjoy from the panoramic terraces. The elegant furnishings include Jesús Gasca's Onda stools, which are the same stools we use in DWR headquarters.

Craving Culture? Museum exhibitions to see now.

Olivetti: Innovation & Identity is currently at the Denver Art Museum.

Here are just a few exhibitions happening around the country. From 100 years of chairs in Florida to a celebration of George Nelson at Cranbrook to “House & Home” in Washington, D.C., there is richness to enjoy everywhere.

COLORADO

Denver Art Museum 
What is Modern? 
Olivetti: Innovation & Identity

FLORIDA

Tampa Museum of Art
A Hundred Years - A Hundred Chairs: Masterworks from the Vitra Design Museum

To be perfectly Frank: Happy Birthday.

"Youth is a quality, not a matter of circumstances," said Frank Lloyd Wright who was born on this day in 1867. An architect, interior designer, writer and educator, Wright designed more than 1000 structures, including Fallingwater, Taliesin, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and even a Doghouse. What's your favorite building by Wright?

 

The battle over a war memorial.

War Memorial building designed by Eero Saarinen. Photo: Ezra Stoller, ca. 1957

On the shore of Lake Michigan, two buildings are at the heart of a custody battle. One of them, the War Memorial building designed by Eero Saarinen in the 1950s, is in need of repairs. The other, the Milwaukee Art Museum with its stunning pavilion designed by Santiago Calatrava in 2001, would like control of the project to better ensure that the outcome is in keeping with the Museum’s plans.

Craving Culture? Exhibitions to see now.

"House & Home" Family barbecue, circa. 1950. Architect: Chris Choate with designer Cliff May. Photo by Maynard L. Parker; The Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

National Building Museum
House & Home

NEW YORK

MoMA
Ecstatic Alphabets / Heaps of Language

International Center of Photography
Gordon Parks: 100 Years 

For the (urban) birds.

I thought these birdhouses were simply part of an art installation, being that they are on the High Line in New York City. Then I heard a "chirp." One google search later, I learned that the birdhouses are the work of Sarah Sze, who wanted to create an artwork that is "simultaneously an observatory, an experiment, and a metropolis, evoking urban construction, scientific models, and attempts to capture nature in situ." Translation: lucky birds.

Glass House speakers announced for 2012.

Photo: Stacy Bass

The Glass House is the 14-structure, 49-acre, private residence that Philip Johnson designed for himself in New Canaan, Connecticut. The site is now managed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and tours for the 2012 season begin May 2. Tickets are also available for the Conversations in Context program, which includes the following lineup of guest speakers:

Ralph Caplan honored with AIGA Medal.

Photo by Judith Ramquist, courtesy of AIGA.

“A chair is the first thing you need when you don’t really need anything,” wrote Ralph Caplan. “And is therefore a peculiarly compelling symbol of civilization. For it is civilization, not survival, that requires design.” One of the best design critics of our time, a fantastic writer and an inspiring teacher, Ralph Caplan can now add AIGA Medalist to his list of titles.

Milan: Day Four – look beyond the paint.

The students at Singapore Polytechnic’s Design School are literally climbing the walls with ideas. As participants in the Design Facility – an extension of the Experience and Product Design Diploma – they asked themselves: “Can wall painting depart from mere cosmetic and surface protection?” Confident that the answer is “yes,” they designed Moldable Paint. A 3D material, this paint allows the user to mold shelves and hooks right onto the surface of their walls. What do you think about their idea? How would you use this material?

A room with a hue.

Color us happy, this rainbow hotel is just the thing to brighten a gray day in Connecticut. Thanks to our friend Tina who writes the Swissmiss blog, we stumbled upon these fabulous images of the Saguaro Hotel in Palm Springs. Which color room would you choose?

Lucky pup gets Frank Lloyd Wright doghouse.

At the age of 12, Jim Berger wrote the famous architect requesting a house for his black lab, Eddie. Expenses would be covered by the wages earned from his paper route, and the boy’s only requests were that it “would be easy to build and would go with our house.” Located in San Anselmo, California, “the house” was the Robert Berger House, built by the boy’s father and the plans for which Wright had designed in 1951. At first, Wright declined the boy’s request, but Berger kept writing him, and in 1956 he received a set of plans for Eddie’s “canis domus.” Read the whole story and see the plans at Architizer.com.

Calatrava does Dallas.

Santiago Calatrava has designed more than 40 bridges around the world, and his latest was completed just days ago in Dallas. The cable-stayed bridge features a 400-foot-high arch of steel wrapped in a concrete skin, and a web of steel diagonal stays that give the bridge its unmistakable Calatrava look.

 
In what looks like the demise of the bridge, check out the fireworks show (above) that Dallas put on for the Bridge’s opening celebration (the drama begins after the first 45 seconds).

Craving culture? Exhibitions to see now.

Cindy Sherman Untitled Film Still #22, 1978

MoMA
Cindy Sherman
Ends June 11

Cranbrook Art Musuem
No Object is an Island
Material Workshop: Cranbrook for Alessi
Both end March 25 

Steve Jobs: one Eichler, two errors.

Not an Eichler #1: The Jobs family's ranch-style house in Los Altos, CA.

The architecture world was abuzz last October when Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs revealed that the Apple CEO grew up in a house designed by Joe Eichler. Unfortunately, most bloggers shared the news with a photo of Jobs’ Los Altos house (site of the famous garage, shown above), which is not an Eichler. The house Isaacson was referring to is in Mountain View, California, where the family lived until Steve was 14. However, that isn’t an Eichler either. Rather, it is the work of Eichler’s original architectural team, Anshen and Allen, for Mackay Homes. Eichlers and Mackays are similar, but there are major differences in the foundation, heating, materials and style.

Not an Eichler #2: the Jobs family's home in Mountain View, CA. Photo: David Toerge

Will bike racks go vertical?

Image courtesy of Manifesto Architecture.

With growing concern over environmental pollution and energy consumption more and more people are trading in four wheels for two. As a result, New York-based architecture firm Manifesto is already working on a solution to an anticipatory problem: overcrowding at the bike rack. The firm looked at existing bicycle storage systems and found that many of them rely on space or the use of electricity. They then examined urban landscapes and discovered that narrow pockets of urban space were underutilized, which led to the development of the Bike Hanger, a vertically oriented bicycle storage system that has the capacity to store up to 15 bicycles and operates without electricity. By pedaling a stationary bicycle at the bottom of the hanger, a central wheel rotates and cyclists can retrieve their bike. Manifesto Architecture has completed the prototype.Its BH6 model recently made its debut at the Gwangju Design Biennale in Korea and is nominated for London Design Museum's Designs of the Year Transport Award 2012. Winners will be announced in April.

Check out the Manifesto Architecture website for more information the project.

Craving culture? Exhibitions to see now.

Museum Exhibitions

Milwaukee Art Museum (shown above)
Building a Masterpiece: Santiago Calatrava and the Milwaukee Art Museum
Ends Feb. 12

SFMoMA
Less and More: The design ethos of Dieter Rams
Ends Feb. 20

Philadelphia Museum of Art
Zaha Hadid: Form in Motion
Ends March 25

A fete for the 2012 Metropolis Game Changers.

Last evening, DWR Soho Studio hosted more than 200 guests for the 2012 Metropolis Game Changers awards reception. The Awards, now in their second year, celebrate individuals who are breaking conventions across various disciplines such as architecture, business, education, graphic design, healthcare, technology and typography. 

The Buzz in Toronto: The Interior Design Show.

How important is longevity? That was the unofficial theme at the opening of this year’s Interior Design Show (IDS), Jan. 26–29. As if to echo that idea, four giant chairs made of ice stood guard at the entrance to the convention center, their biomorphic forms eroding under hot spotlights. I didn’t see anyone try to sit in one of these icy thrones, but given that vodka shots (in glasses also made of ice) were being served next to the ice chairs, I’m guessing there are photos of such activity on memory cards all over the city (in cameras owned by folks with no memory of such things).

Inside, there are displays from more than 300 exhibitors, ranging from furniture by Piero Lissoni (above) – this year’s “International Guest of Honour” – to floor tiles, gas fireplaces and students’ prototype chairs. The day began with “Conversations in Design: Trailblazing and Trendspotting,” moderated by Chee Pearlman.