BJARK INGELS IS A HELL OF A MAN
JANE GOODALL IS A HELL OF A (WO)MAN
"THE CONDUCTOR DEPENDS, FOR HIS POWER, ON HIS ABILITY TO MAKE OTHER PEOPLE POWERFUL"
- Benjamin Zander (A HELL OF A MAN)
… CHIP KIDD A HELL OF A MAN
"I KNOW I’M NOT WHAT I OUGHTA BE AND NOT WHAT I SHOULD BE, BUT I THINK I AM BETTER THAN I WOULD’VE BEEN …"
- John Wooden (A Hell of a Man)
… Itay Talgam is A HELL OF A MAN
Though sometimes it may seem that we are running in circles, coming up short, or just plain lost; we must persevere. We are all learning as we go.
"The highest and best use of a front porch is to enable and encourage the art of conversation. We entertain ourselves with stories on the porch. We invite people in. We sit. We visit."
- Dear Leader
MARK LEVENO IS A HELL OF A MAN
photo courtesy of Mark Leveno
All too often when an architect makes the foray into furniture design, or any other field for that matter, the outcome is both obvious and cold. It seems an unwritten rule that the profession of the architect is sacred and severe. So when the architect Mark Leveno invited me to his thesis exhibition—Leveno returned to school to pursue a masters in furniture, after working as an architect—I was skeptical and smug. My holier than thou mentality was not completely unwarranted. I’ve seen architects too easily deem themselves a designer-extraordinaire with no basis, background or understanding of the respective field. But Leveno would prove to be different.
His exhibition was to be held in the parlor of his home, a home he shares with his fiancé also an architect Amy Wynne, where the pieces would be positioned throughout the space as if you or I had placed them ourselves. The works on display would elicit those cliché terms often heard and said when speaking about an architect and their work like structure, armature, frame, cantilever, and any other term that an architectural digest uses ad nauseum; however, one term would inject itself into the fray, freely leaping from lip to lip: CHARACTER.
Sadly, we live in a time where the character of a thing—both animate things and inanimate ones—is often unaddressed or overlooked completely. Leveno’s approach to design honors the idea of the Architect as a “space maker”—he designed both the pieces on display and the space in which they were being displayed—but it also asks the question: Can it be enjoyable? Each piece he created had its own unique and welcoming personality. From his Droid stool which is an instant icon, which seems ready to waddle out the door at any moment, to Jumper a hanging light that really does seem to be caught in a free-fall. Each of his objects embodies its process, its materiality and above all, what I believe the true function of furniture is: the creation of deep and lasting bonds between the individual and the object. Leveno through his work has proven that one needn’t comprise the legitimacy of a piece in pursuit of its character.
Mark Leveno is A HELL OF A MAN!
Though sometimes it may seem that we are running in circles, coming up short, or just plain lost; we must persevere. We are all learning as we go.
I will be posting photos and reviews of each piece from this stellar show in the coming days.
