Vertical Urban Factory Exhibit, Photo by Christopher Hall

After a six-month run in New York City, Vertical Urban Factory, curated by Nina Rappaport, opened on May 11th and runs through July 29th at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD). A longtime fan of the process of making things and the buildings that contain the manufacturing occupations, as well as of Nina’s exacting and thoughtful research, I took the opportunity to the talk to the curator about the past. But as important, we discussed the present and future of manufacturing in urban neighborhoods. We also got into the new ways of making things that require none of the toxic smokestacks that loomed over the 20th century. After Detroit, Vertical Urban Factory will travel to the Toronto Design Exchange (September 12, 2012 to January 3, 2013).

Vertical Urban Factory Exhibit, Photo by Christopher Hall

Susan S. Szenasy: What made you choose the urban factory as the subject of your research, and what did you hope to find when you started out (when)?

Nina Rappaport: I have been fascinated with the role of the factory as workplace, part of the urban landscape, and a significant place of innovation in design since I was young. I remember visiting the Volvic water bottling plant in France and being intrigued with the process, the volume, the people who make things, the repetitive motions, and the creations that result. Then the architectural historian and urbanist, Reyner Banham’s Concrete Atlantis sparked an interest in the role of the engineer in the design of factories and the way in which Modern architects gravitated to the rawness of the innovative spaces of production. This actually led to my book, Support and Resist, on the role of contemporary engineers in design. I begin the book by discussing a Modern factory in Germany. All the while I wanted to return to the research I had begun on factories, some actually for a Metropolis article in 1995 on the fate of Albert Kahn’s factories on the 100th anniversary of the firm!

The factory as urban landscape and as part of a “spatial product” in the terms of Henri Lefebvre, contributes to the city in a different way than the office as a workplace did—shuffling paper all day but not making anything. And that led me to investigate how the processing and company organization as well as labor issues impact the design of the space.

And now I am drawn to these abandoned factories like a magnetic field of movement in the rust belts of the world; their historic structures the ruins in and of globalization. But what is the potential for a new kind of industry? Still of making things, but perhaps in a different way—both more hands-on and more robotics? How can it still be an urban situation smaller-scale and flexible production?

Continental Motor Car Co Interior
12801 E. Jefferson Ave. Albert Kahn and Ernest Wilby, 1911. Photograph courtesy of Albert Kahn Associates

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Amangiri, Canyon Point, Utah,
picked by designer Amy Lau for its great view (photo courtesy Kempinski Hotels)

I have many pet peeves that, I wager, are shared by most travelers today. Among these moments of discomfort are the endless security lines and rude TSA agents, tight seats on planes, indifferent service, noisy and hyper active hotel lobbies, rooms with inoperable windows and loud AC systems that cannot be turned off, making even the most balmy night feel like an ice station on the North Pole.

In hopes of escaping from the torture of travel, each time I check into a hotel I expect to find moments of respite, beauty, ease, and comfort. When this happens, all the bad memories of travel are gone and the harried traveler is able to recharge—become human again. Beautifully designed hotels that offer great service are a gift to the human race.

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We at Metropolis have a longstanding interest in lighting design for obvious reasons. Without lighting excellence—be it subtle, dramatic, tech-savvy, or just plain old fashioned, depending on what’s being lit and for what purpose—our appreciation of the built environment would be primitive indeed. From the urban street to the building’s form and facade to the interior—and all details and scales in between—expert lighting is always at play, yet its importance to the designed environment is often ignored, though its subjects like great architectural form or a seductive interior, are celebrated. As the industry’s annual trade show/conference is about set up shop at the Las Vegas Convention Center (May 7-11), I consulted one expert, Kevin Theobald, who runs a lighting design practice in the UK and is the current president of International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), an organization whose vision statement promises things like “leadership and excellence” and an “appreciation of the power of light in human life.” And when I saw that the Lightfair keynotes plan to explore technology, entertainment, and energy efficiency, I emailed my questions to Kevin in London to learn more about his views on lighting design in 2012. What follows are his decidedly low-key, refreshingly modest, observations.

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I first came across Dutch Small’s collection of mid-century modern furniture on Fab.com. When I learned how successful the e-retailer has gown in the past few years, I wanted know how furniture—the kind of product that needs to be experienced (or so I thought)—can enjoy the successes recorded by Fab.com. So I asked the brains and power behind Forma Revivo, about the milestones that have lead to his success, his thoughts about selling excellent modern design at retail (not long ago such furnishings were available only through showrooms that cater to the design trades), his grandfather, and Elvis. With his new gallery about to open in Houston in May, I felt it was time for Dutch to share the secrets of his success.

Susan S. Szenasy: Dutch, I read that your interest in mid-century modern furniture began when you worked as a conservator. What was the first piece you fell in love with and why?

Dutch Small: I was raised in a creative environment by skilled conservators and successful artists. My mom is an accomplished carpenter. My grandfather did masterful furniture conservation work for Elvis. My grandmother did beautiful trompe l’oeil and worked for decades to perfect her gilding skills. I didn’t realize the value of being reared in an environment with very high skill, standards, and unmatched artistic integrity until about four months after I started working in the business full time. We found a desk by James Mont on which the original, very intimidating silver leaf finish was destroyed. Fortunately we work with modern design where restoration, if done well, does not diminish the value of an important work. I launched into the restoration and meticulously recreated the finish, sent the piece to auction, and at $20k, outsold any previous Mont desk. I fell in love with the piece as I took two years of decoding and tirelessly recreating to get the finish right! Its results at auction were affirmation that the skills I brought to the table were sufficient to satisfy the most discriminating collectors at the most influential modern design auction house. Read more…

Photographer Sylivia Plachy, mother of Adrian Brody, student of Andre Kertesz, and at one time a Metropolis photo columnist continues to be an inspiration to me. Her eye is unerring when it comes to capturing the richness and pathos of humanity in the built environment. Her new show, This Side of Paradise, opens on April 4^th and runs through June 5, a the Andrew Freedman Home, in the Bronx. She originally took the photos of the inhabitants of room 246 to accompany an article by Vivian Gornick for The Village Volice in 1980. Here Sylvia talks about the experience of then, and putting together the show now.

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Nicholas David has always loved cars. “When I was 12 – 13 years old my teacher gave me an instructional book on how to draw cars and industrial objects. When I figured out that I could get paid doing something I love – it made for an easy decision,” said the designer of Chevy’s Tru 140S concept vehicle for GM, his first employer out of college. Having studied engineering in Wales, David received his masters in vehicle design at London’s Royal College of Art. He has worked for Jaguar, Land Rover, Honda, and Acura and now he’s back with his first employer. Here he talks about developing the new concept car, the idea behind it, and fuel efficiency.

Susan S. Szenasy: Walk me through the process of designing Chevy’s Tru 140S concept car. Who were you targeting?  Why did you design the exterior first?

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When I heard that Fab.com, a flourishing e-commerce site that recently reached the 2 million mark in membership and that this month, the site is introducing five new vertical shops, I wanted to get a peek behind the scenes. So I went to Bradford Shellhammer, co-founder with Jason Goldberg, the business genius behind the success story of Fab.com, a site known for its “daily deals” program of special offers, selling good design at rather favorable prices. Bradford, a Parsons grad with an unerring eye for design excellence, is key to keeping the site’s design standards high. As Goldberg told Entrepreneur last October, “We’ve carved out a very large but unique niche for ourselves. Design is a horizontal market, not vertical. Design crosses multiple categories…We consider ourselves a design inspiration business.” Bradford completed the thought in Entrepreneur: “Bad design gets under your skin. People who love design want to better the whole world through design. Everyone’s a tastemaker. Everyone’s an artist. Once you make the decision to embrace design, it’s hard to go back.” Last month Fab acquired FashionStake whose co-founder Vivian Wang is now Fab.com’s lead fashion buyer. Considering that Fab.com went live on June 2011 (rebranded from Fubulis in April of that year), and is known for hiring some of the most talented designers, buyers, and people with other skills in a still sluggish job market, I was eager to ask Bradford to talk about their new areas of business, design, and phenomenal success in a relatively new field.

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When the new book, BIM in Academia, published recently by the Yale School of Architecture, landed on my desk, I immediately thought of engaging Phil Bernstein (co-editor with Peggy Deemer), in a conversation about how technology is reshaping architecture pedagogy. Full disclosure: Phil, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, is also a vice president at Autodesk, the software giant whose Revit program is a key player in switching the architecture and construction industries to BIM. Then I remembered one of my visits to Phil’s practice class at Yale where students are masters at ferreting out venal conflicts of interest, and knowing Phil’s commitment to advancing the skills of the architecture profession, I launched confidently into my interview. Here we talk about the current tensions in academia, the potential for change, and the ever-hovering economic recession that’s taken a huge toll on the profession.

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March 13 is the early bird deadline to enter the Core77 Design Awards competition. The imminent date prompted me to inquire about how this unique awards program, now in its second year, is evolving. So I asked director Jacqueline Khiu to talk about how this global, digitally savvy, highly connective competition is incorporating some of the lessons learned, the merits of direct communication between judges and entrants (a first in design competition history), and moments of elation (a video of one judge popping a Prosecco cork in celebration to a job well done by all involved).

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The recently released book by Guy Horton and Sherin Wing, regular contributors to this blog, peaked my interest enough to ask Guy some questions about The Real Architect’s Handbook: Things I Didn’t Learn in Architecture School. We ended up talking about everything from starchitecture, to arch-speak, the recession, and unemployment.

Susan S. Szenasy: I think I can guess, but tell me in your own words why you decided to write and illustrate this book, especially why now.

Guy Horton: Sherin is in the humanities and trained to have a critical eye. I’m originally from the humanities myself and have always been able to look at architecture from a critical distance even though I’m in the middle of it. We also saw a lot of similarities between the two concerns in terms of professional culture and ideology, what’s acceptable and not. We also saw books on architecture that were more boosterism and of the “Isn’t architecture great!” variety and wanted to add a sense of reality to it. To humanize it with all it’s faults and vulnerabilities that are usually hidden behind a heroic veneer. We also wanted to write something for the demographic in the profession that is unemployed or underemployed. No one ever talks about them. I know because Sherin and I wrote it when I was unemployed and trying to get back into architecture. You get a lot of clarity when you are suddenly back in the outside. Sherin did the illustrations. I had some little stick figures in my mind; sort of anti-architectural graphics. She took the idea and created all these characters based on our experiences. It turned out to be quite funny and worked perfectly with the sometimes serious issues we raise like exploitation, low pay, hero worship and other points.

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