Table of contents for Dec-15 - Jan-16 in Dwell

“We owe it to ourselves as a culture to define an architecture that is distinctly progressive, optimistic, and timeless—one that helps us connect in a deeper way to ourselves and to our community.” —LARA DEAM, Dwell Founder Without hope, good design is meaningless. Adapting sustainable practices is one way to signal our responsibility to the next generation; recognizing the importance of community building is another. In this issue, we consider both approaches in the context of today’s American landscape. It’s easy to conjure a bright future when we find creative individuals doing impactful work. In Atlanta, a design student’s thesis for reclaiming abandoned railways will one day increase green space in the city by 40 percent and connect disparate communities separated by existing infrastructure (page 38); meanwhile, in Indianapolis, a…

Clarity and cogency have long defined the pillars of graphic design—a medium oriented, above all, towards communication. Years before information design became a buzz term for digital media, it was an approach pioneered by Czech graphic designer Ladislav Sutnar: forefather of the modern infographic, champion of functional beauty, and an expat who practiced in the United States from 1939 through to his death, in 1976. Sutnar’s enduring relevance—even, or especially, as the platforms for communication continue to vacillate and evolve with increasingly complexity—is evidenced in a new facsimile reprint edition of Ladislav Sutnar: Visual Design in Action, written and designed by the man himself in 1961. A snapshot of his much-revered American period, the tome, long out-of-print, is now available from Lars Müller Publishers.…

In today’s globalized market, it’s easier than ever to digitally shop the world. That’s why it’s important to take the time to look locally and celebrate the craftspeople working hard to ensure that a “Made in the USA” designation is still a sign of quality. From the Sun Belt to the Snowbelt, a few of our favorite designers are throwing clay, building furniture, and reviving textile traditions like weaving and quilting. Together, these creatives represent a new wave of homegrown design: one that celebrates our country’s history of handmade objects, honest materials, and hard work. 1 Minneapolis, Minnesota Quilt No. 1, $425 Quilting gets a modern spin in the studio of Alexandra Gray Bennett and Jocelin Johnson, where each future heirloom passes through the hands of as many as 10…

PROJECT Tetreault-Pirman House ARCHITECT Seibert Architects LOCATION Sarasota, Florida There’s more to Sarasota, Florida, than warm waters and white-sand beaches. The city also lures design lovers with its wealth of low-slung glass pavilions created by Paul Rudolph and the architects of the Sarasota School in the construction boom that followed World War II. When hairstylist Steve Tetreault and illustrator John Pirman set out to build in Sarasota, they were well acquainted with Rudolph’s work. Tetreault owned a beach house by the architect, purchased some 30 years earlier on Siesta Key. Over time, the 950-square-foot retreat began to feel cramped as its role shifted to a full-time residence for two. So, in 2008, Tetreault and Pirman called upon Michael Epstein of Seibert Architects—a firm opened in 1955 by Edward Seibert, who…

AS SHOP CLASS GOES THE WAY OF THE FLIP PHONE, former schoolteacher Danny Montoya is helping kids 18 months and older to distinguish between a box joint and a dovetail at The Butterfly Joint, the woodworking and design studio he founded in June 2015 in San Francisco’s Mission District. Much like the young chefs wielding knives with aplomb on MasterChef Junior, these mini-makers are in control of their scaled-down chisels, hand planes, saws, and files. And there is something gratifying about seeing a roomful of five-year-olds gently guiding Japanese pull saws through salvaged redwood, rather than stabbing at screens. Much of the wood has been reclaimed from discarded pallets, leading to some teachable moments. Says Montoya, “We talk about how instead of ending up in the landfill, this material is…

“ Twisting familiar objects and combinations is how a lot of my work is derived.” —Andrew Neyer, designer It’s easy to enjoy Andrew Neyer’s screenprints and product designs—they’re often inflected with punny humor. His Combdelabra, for instance, is shaped like a giant wide-tooth comb with candles for teeth. It’s a playful approach to design that Neyer developed through interactive art exhibitions he helped organize in his native Cincinnati, Ohio. Neyer cofounded YES, a combination gallery, studio, and shop, with two other artists in 2010, after graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and returning to Ohio. “It was the think tank for all my current stuff,” Neyer says of the venture. For its 2011 exhibition Color Me _____, cocreated with artist Andy J. Miller, visitors were invited…

People for Urban Progress The detritus of industrialization is forming the building blocks of renewal in Indianapolis, thanks to People for Urban Progress (PUP), a nonprofit that repurposes everything from arena seats to parking meters for municipal improvements. “We’re using the existing fabric of the city to showcase smarter urban design,” explains chief innovator Michael Bricker. In 2008, Bricker helped organize PUP to address a looming problem: What to do with 200 tons of roofing fabric from the decommissioned RCA Dome after the Indianapolis Colts decamped for a new stadium? “We wanted the material back out in the community,” Bricker says, “because we view it as a public resource.” Agreeing to cart it themselves, Bricker’s team salvaged most of the Dome’s Teflon-coated fiberglass and acoustical fabric—13 acres in all—for local…

Deborah Bishop For this issue, San Francisco–based writer Deborah Bishop visited The Butterfly Joint, a woodworking studio designed for children (“Future Makers of America,” p. 104). Bishop pens stories for a number of outlets, including American Craft. “I seem to write about a lot of people who define themselves as ‘makers,’” Bishop says. “Speaking as someone who possesses few hands-on skills, I’m both envious and encouraged. And it’s heartening that more than half the kids taking workshops at the studio are girls.” What is your favorite American-made object that you own? “An Arion Press limited edition of The Voices of Marrakesh, by Elias Canetti. With its hand-set type and etchings by William Wiley, it’s about as far as you can get from a Kindle.” Brian W. Ferry Based in New…

While working her “dream job” as an artist-in-residence for Public Art Saint Paul in Minnesota, Amanda Lovelee has seized her chance to pursue civicminded projects that use the city as a canvas. Urban Flower Field, a statement on inner-city agriculture, entailed reworking the previously vacant Pedro Park into a sloping garden featuring 96 biodiverse flower beds and a vibrant mural. Despite the serious nature of her central theme—the need for spaces that encourage human contact—Lovelee is unafraid to imbue her art with a sense of fun: “If an artist can’t make the civic process joyful, playful, and remind people why they love the city they live in, then who can?” A scientist’s thirst for experimentation also colors Lovelee’s work, including a recent collaboration with Kyle Waites, Sarah West, and Christopher…

Project Baumann Residence Architect Baumann Architecture Location Brooklyn, New York On a lone residential block in a neighborhood triangulated by the Gowanus Canal, a concrete plant, and an elevated subway line, a starkly modernist home sits between two nondescript residential buildings. From the exterior, one would hardly guess that the double-facade structure—a sleek, cypress-clad box overlaid with a grid of perforated galvanized-steel shutters—conceals fragments of salvaged cinder-block walls. But it’s here, on the site of a former parking garage in the heart of South Brooklyn, that architect Philippe Baumann created a home for his family. Despite its proximity to the waterway, which was designated a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2010, the neighborhood of Gowanus has seen incredible renewal in recent years as demand for housing stock…

PROJECT Atrium House ARCHITECT dSPACE Studio LOCATION Chicago, Illinois “If you can make a room flow without hallways, you’ve done a good job.” —Kevin Toukoumidis, architect Defining interior spaces often becomes a matter of perspective. When Eric and Nicolette Nijensohn began searching for a family home in Chicago in 2011, they expected to end up in a multistory space on a narrow urban site—imagine a series of stacked levels like in the film The Royal Tenenbaums. But when they stumbled upon the perfect spot in the Buena Park neighborhood— a sleepy stretch of historic homes within walking distance of Wrigley Field—they found themselves dealing with different conditions altogether. Set upon three connected city lots, the two-story brick building they chose was spread out horizontally, but its disjointed interior was suffering…

For the second year in a row, Dwell editors have created the season’s must-have resource for gift giving. Expect to see hand-picked products for every room of the house, specialized gift guides from architecture and design experts, and of course, Dwell’s award-winning photography. The image-rich content, 180 pages in all, will include furniture, accessories, and gifts for every sort of modern design aficionado as well as contextual information related to materials, manufacturing, design history, and more. Our 2015 Product Guide special issue is on newsstands now, or online at dwell.com/DGG15…

25 Modern World Bell Works bell.works 40 New Territory López Resendez Studio cargocollective.com/lrstudio Saarinen Executive Armless chair with plastic back by Eero Saarinen for Knoll from Hive Modern hivemodern.com Desk and coat rack from CB2 cb2.com Outdoor lounge chairs, outdoor dining set, pendant lights, rug, and bar stools, all from IKEA ikea.com Flooring from Lumber Liquidators lumberliquidators.com Refrigerator, dishwasher, and mixer by KitchenAid kitchenaid.com Cooktop and range hood by GE Appliances geappliances.com Countertops by Caesarstone caesarstoneus.com Loveseat from Room & Board roomandboard.com Puppy by Eero Aarnio for Magis magismetoo.com Ceiling fan from Lowe’s lowes.com Roofing composite shingles from ABC Supply Co. abcsupply.com 48 Urban Pastoral Baumann Architecture baumann.nyc Aura credenza by Enrique Delamo and Angel Marti for Muebles Treku and Paulistano leather chairs by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, from Design…