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Design is a small planet, often self-referential, with well-worn paths for
exposition, criticism and analysis. When we contemplated devoting an
issue to self-promotion, we were acutely aware of certain tropes. The
usual way of portraying self-promotion by designers would be to focus
on the projects they use to market themselves and their firms—the
postcards, the tchotchkes, the e-newsletters, etc. But we decided right
away this issue would not be about that stuff.
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STEP Design 100 Annual 2006: Environmental (cont'd) |
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91. STUDIO BLUE
“These days,” says Studio Blue partner Cheryl Towler Weese, “we’ve lost
interest in giving aesthetic facelifts. We want to spend time wrapping our
heads around content, and develop a response in that process.” In the case
of their exhibit design for Five Architects, a 2005 show at the Chicago Architectural
Foundation, that process involved six months of collaborative
content development.
In addition to five time-based videos, the exhibition’s key
feature is a long, undulating table made of a stretchable material
called Newmat. On it, the spines of five rubbery books, developed
by the designers at Studio Blue and written by architecture writer
Ellen Grimes, are sewn into v-shaped divots.
Small type invites visitors to engage intimately with the books,
while 200-point texts can be read from across the room. As such,
the books explore the manner in which visitors interact with the
elements of the exhibition, just as each featured architect investigates
the way people interact with their buildings. “We think a
lot about concept and research, in addition to form-making,” says
Studio Blue partner Kathy Fredrickson. “That’s very much who we
are and how we work, because the results of that immersion make
for a more resonant project.”
Tiffany Meyers
Studio Blue
CREATIVE DIRECTORS: Kathy Fredrickson, Cheryl Towler Weese
DESIGNERS: Towler Weese, Maia Wright
COPYWRITER: Ellen Grimes
ARCHITECTS: Elva Rubio, Jorge Ramos-Herrera (Gensler Associates); Grimes
CLIENT: Chicago Architecture Foundation
CONTACT: www.studioblueinc.com
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