02.26.18 GIVING VOICE TO THOSE WHO CREATE WORKPLACE DESIGN & FURNISHINGS Paean to Postmodernism: A Book Review This week, officeinsight contributor John Morris Dixon reviews Postmodern Design Complete, 2017, by Judith Gura. The new book, with an exuberant celebration of the Postmodern movement, documents PoMo’s accomplishments – some famous during its heyday, some relatively unknown. FULL STORY ON PAGE 3… A Study of Light & Material in Seattle: Substantial by goCstudio Substantial, a digital product studio in Seattle, needed new digs for its growing team. Taking over the entire top floor of a century old building in the heart of Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, it tasked goCstudio with creating an open, cohesive space that would enable them to engrain more events and social programs into its company culture. goCstudio set about designing a space that would embrace the beauty and strength of the building’s natural character. Almost half of the new office can be repurposed as social gathering and event space. FULL STORY ON PAGE 9… Where the Rubber Hits the Road: The Many Layers of Vendor Interactions with Design Firms Relationships between designers, vendors and reps are evolving. The A&D community depends on their manufacturer CITED: representatives to keep them up to date with changes in “WE ARE TOO WEAK TO products. And for architects and designers, it is no longer just DISCOVER THE TRUTH BY about learning what’s new in the industry; it’s increasingly REASON ALONE.” becoming about what products and materials have changed and —ST. AUGUSTINE why. Peter Carey, a resource librarian and founder of Streamline Material Resourcing, sheds light on these shifting relationships, and what both sides can do to make projects more successful. 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Now comes an exuber- ant celebration of the movement, barely lift-able at 480 pages, 9-1/2” by 12”, on fine stock, with 580 color illustrations. It documents PoMo’s ac- complishments – some famous during its heyday, some relatively unknown. Supporting this visual smorgasbord are thoughtful texts by design historian Ju- dith Gura and several guest authorities. Postmodernism seemed to have fizzled out by the early 1990s. And for many in the design professions, it was Stanley Tigerman, The Titanic, 1978, photo collage depicting the demise of Modernism: Mies “Good riddance.” But the issues that van der Rohe’s Crown Hall (Chicago, 1956) sinking into Lake Michigan. © Stanley Tigerman inspired the movement, starting in the 1960s, were never fully resolved. The PoMo insurgents rebelled against the strictures of Modernism – its limited focus on function and structure – which was not producing the new world it had promised. They pointed out that symbol- ism and ornament remained deeply sig- Published by Thames & Hudson (November 28, 2017), Jacket lettering by Peter Judson. Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates, Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery, London, 1991. Courtesy Thames & Hudson © Getty Images 02.26.18 GIVING VOICE TO THOSE WHO CREATE WORKPLACE DESIGN & FURNISHINGS PAGE 4 OF 40 a&d nificant to the public, that harmony with the existing built context was essential. Once they realized that Postmod- ernism was a serious threat, the adherents to Modernism fought back fiercely. They had waged a decades- long crusade against the previous recycling of historical styles, and it wasn’t till the late 1940s that they had succeeded, dominating the design schools and major firms. Modern de- sign had become the accepted mode for commercial and public buildings of all kinds (while scoring only scattered victories among single-family houses). From their hard-won dominant posi- tion, the Modernists succeeded, after a couple of decades, in dismissing PoMo as a mere bump along the path toward a destined design future. The book effectively traces the growth and salient accomplishments Harold Washington Library Center in downtown Chicago, 1991. © HBRA Architects Main plaza, Espaces d’Abraxas, with Palacio, and center Arc containing 20 apartments, 1983. © Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura 02.26.18 GIVING VOICE TO THOSE WHO CREATE WORKPLACE DESIGN & FURNISHINGS PAGE 5 OF 40 a&d of the Postmodernists in the design of designers from several countries, to the movement were Chicagoans buildings, interiors, furniture, objects, among them Ettore Sottsass of Italy, Stanley Tigerman and Thomas Beeby, and graphics. It summarizes and Arata Isozaki of Japan, Hans Hollein Terry Farrell and John Outram of Eng- vividly illustrates works by recognized of Austria, and Leon Krier of Luxem- land, Ricardo Bofill of Spain, Philippe leaders of the movement, such as the bourg. Also contributing significantly Starck of France, Paolo Portoghesi Americans Robert Venturi, Michael Graves, Charles Moore and Robert A.M. Stern, architects who designed iconic PoMo buildings. While the others in that group designed mainly buildings, plus some influential writings and notable furniture, Graves covered a broader swath of design disciplines. His 1980s furniture showrooms for Sunar Hauser- man were among the key landmarks of the movement, along with furniture offered there. But his works ranged in scale from office buildings, libraries, museums, and hotels to his whimsi- cal 1985 teakettle for Alessi, of which millions have been sold – and it’s still in production. The book summarizes and illustrates the work of other well-known PoMo Lighthouse lamps, wood, paint, lacquer, acrylic, steel, 1984. © James Evanson Portoghesi Hall in Tettuccio Spa, Montecatini, Italy, 1987. Michael Graves, Mickey Mouse tea kettle, 1991. © Michael Graves Architecture & Design © Scala Archives 02.26.18 GIVING VOICE TO THOSE WHO CREATE WORKPLACE DESIGN & FURNISHINGS PAGE 6 OF 40 concurrents FAT Architecture, Villa Hoogvliet, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2009. © Venturi Scott and Associates (photo Cervin Robinson) and Gaetano Pesce of Italy. Charles Jencks of London, best known as the chronicler of the movement in books and essays, is revealed as an inventive designer as well. Jura’s book reminds us that some major architects not known primar- ily as Postmodernists, such as the American Frank Gehry and the Italian Aldo Rossi, did dabble in the quota- tions from historical design typical of the movement. Hardly represented in the book is architect Philip Johnson, who vacillated wildly between styles, but gave America some of its boldest Postmodern structures. An essay by design curator R. Craig Miller draws a distinction between “Radical Postmodernism,” which played mainly with disrupting our expectations for geometries and col- High-impact pieces share the stage in the living room. © Venturi Scott and Associates (photo Cervin Robinson) 02.26.18 GIVING VOICE TO THOSE WHO CREATE WORKPLACE DESIGN & FURNISHINGS PAGE 7 OF 40 a&d ors, and “Historical Postmodernism,” which introduced forms and motifs from earlier styles. Either version may also display references to Pop imagery derived, for instance, from the era’s jukeboxes and retail strips. It’s inevitable today to ask: Where are the women in this movement? Denise Scott Brown, Venturi’s wife and professional partner, contributes a thoughtful essay to the book and gets fair credit for their influential PoMo guidebook, Learning from Las Vegas, but Venturi had produced the corner- stone text of the movement, Complex- ity and Contradiction in Architecture, before she joined him. The chapter where women get equal treatment is the one on graphic design, where the contributions of April Greiman, Katherine McCoy, and Deborah Sussman are impres- sive matches for those of Michael Bierut, Seymour Chwast and Michael Vanderbyl. This portion of the book is a valuable reminder of the bold inno- vations then taking place in graphics, comparable to those in other design areas. Is the book an appropriately color- drenched memorial to a bygone move- ment? Or is it a herald of Postmodern- ism’s revival, as the latest phases of Modernism begin to seem tiresome. Gura maintains that reports of Pomo’s demise in the 1990s were premature, while pointing out that it broadly in- fluenced the work of those who never joined it. She concludes there’s little point in speculating on the move- ment’s revival, since “it never left.” n Charles Jencks, Spring Room, Thematic House, London, 1984. © Charles Jencks 02.26.18 GIVING VOICE TO THOSE WHO CREATE WORKPLACE DESIGN & FURNISHINGS PAGE 8 OF 40 ADVERTISEMENT 02.26.18 GIVING VOICE TO THOSE WHO CREATE WORKPLACE DESIGN & FURNISHINGS PAGE 9 OF 40 a&d The kitchen and dining space at Substantial, a digital product studio in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Photography: Kevin Scott A Study of Light & Material in Seattle: Substantial by goCstudio by Mallory Jindra The client: Substantial, a digital product studio founded in Substantial wanted its new offices to maintain the feel Seattle in 2006. Substantial needed new digs for its growing of its original space – a cohesive, open plan – but one team, and it didn’t have to look far. In 2013 the firm had that would enable them to weave more events and social moved into a century-old building at the corner of Pine and programs into the fabric of the firm.