Hasta La Ideas

The New York School of Interior Design recreates the seminal show “What Modern Was” in a new exhibit and discussion

When the traveling exhibition “Design 1935-1965: What Modern Was” opened in 1991, the accompanying 424-page catalog startled the industry with its declaration that the Modern period was over, and should, from that point, be spoken about in the past tense. Subsequently revered as the bible for mid-century decorative arts, the heavy tome’s distinct perspective came from four years of scholarly research of the thirty-year period, led by Rutgers University art history professor Martin Eidelberg and acclaimed curator David A. Hanks.

In celebration of the volume’s 20th anniversary, the New York School of Interior Design is recreating the landmark show in an exhibition dubbed “Modern in the Past Tense.” While the original selection showcased designs solely from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ Liliane and David M. Stewart Collection, the updated display will echo the time period with chronologically-arranged photographs of interiors and architectural milestones, as well as furniture from various other private collectors.

Another groundbreaking moment for the exhibition, in addition to the catalog’s bold claim, came when the team of 16 scholars separated the Modern period into five subdivisions. Designs were broken up into International Style Modernism, Biomorphic Modernism, Streamlined Modernism, Postwar Modernism, and Postmodernism. The timeline accompanying “Modern in the Past Tense” will add even more context to these categories, showing the cultural moments that helped to define each one.

The exhibition opens with a panel discussion with “What Modern Was” curators Hanks and Eidelberg, legendary collector Mark McDonald and modernist interior designer Ali Tayar. “Modern in the Past Tense” opens 26 October 2011 and runs through 12 January 2012 at NYSID.

Knoll, known for workplace furnishings, kicked-off National Design Week in New York City last week with an exhibition showcasing office furniture through the ages and an exclusive panel where Cara McCarty, curator of the Cooper Hewitt, discussed the future of design with Masamichi Udagawa + Sigi Moeslinger (Antenna Design) and Lee Mindel (Shelton, Mindel & Associates).

The event—inspired by Knoll’s win of the Corporate & Institutional Achievement Award earlier this year—drew a large crowd who came to hear about the future of design from current and past winners of the National Design Award at the Knoll showroom. The panelists touched upon the roles that human behavior and user experience play in defining the design process and how design affects quality of life, which is a tenet of the National Design Awards. In this, Masamichi Udagawa + Sigi Moeslinger of Antenna Design delved into their work with the MTA (in designing Metrocard machines and even subway cars)—thus providing plenty of humorous anecdotes about how the machines succeeded their work with Las Vegas slots.

The exhibition highlighted key decades, harnessing the look of the 1960s (the era of the Mad Men) by featuring pieces like the 1961 Executive Table Desk by Florence Knoll, the 1963 Pollock Chair, and the 1950 Desk Lamp by Clay Michie. It concluded with the modern day office of featuring 2011 Antenna Workspaces and the Generation by Knoll chair by Formway.

While Knoll is known for its iconic furniture pieces, its ability to consider and plan for evolving times is a large part of its award-winning success.

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Third time’s a charm for the opening of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, we suppose (or fourth or fifth or… etc.) After its “soft open” to the public back in early September, the ever-controversy-acquiriring memorial’s official dedication was at first thwarted by Hurricane Irene, with the date then left up in the air while organizers scrambled to rebook everyone to come back to dedicate once the storm clouds had lifted. A few weeks after that, Ed Jackson Jr., the executive director of the project said the dedication would “absolutely…definitely” happen on September 16th, which of course came and went without a dedication in sight. However, after these several starts and finishes, it appears that it might actually happen this Sunday. The Washington Post reports that the event is scheduled to kick off at 9am, with people like Aretha Franklin, Jesse Jackson, Julian Bond, and members of the King family speaking and performing, culminating with President Obama coming on as at the keynote speaker at 11am. However, after having seen the number of near-misses in the past, we’re afraid we’ll just have to see it when we see it. We recommend bringing an umbrella and at least two days worth of rations should there be another national disaster.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

A Tale of Two Terminals JFK’s Terminal 6, designed by I. M. Pei of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, and the TWA Terminal designed by Eero Saarinen.

On last night’s episode of Pan-Am, we learned that there was a time when a cyan stewardess uniform could not only save one from death at the hands of the Stasi but also afford entry into champagne-laden government functions (at least when President Kennedy was involved). Nowadays, dacron separates and a name badge tend to impede one’s progress, and the golden age of air travel? Its icons are being demolished. Such is the fate of Terminal 6 at New York’s JFK Airport. Designed by I.M. Pei with fetching all-glass mullions, it opened in 1969 as the National Airlines “Sundrome” and was vacated three years ago, when JetBlue decamped to the shiny, Pepsi-sponsored land of wonders that is Terminal 5.

“The boarding gates are already piles of rubble,” wrote David W. Dunlap in a recent post about Terminal 6 on The New York Times‘ City Room blog. “The main pavilion, whose white steel roof seems to float ethereally over cascades of diaphanous green glass, is expected to come down by the end of October.” But all is not lost. Eero Saarinen‘s curvilinear TWA Terminal is getting a second life. The designated city landmark has been undergoing extensive renovation under the auspices of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the direction of Beyer Blinder Belle. Next Sunday afternoon, the swooping site will welcome visitors as part of Open House New York. Arrive by 1 p.m. to catch a talk by project manager Charles Kramer of BBB and James Steven, the PANYNJ’s manager of JFK Physical Plant and Redevelopment.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

You are invited on Wednesday, October 26th for the first Designers Accord Town Hall meeting in Cleveland!

Please join SmartShape Design, CIA, IDSA, Northeast Ohio Chapter, and AIGA Cleveland Chapter at the Cleveland Institute of Art for an invigorating discussion on how design can take the lead in creating positive environmental and social impact in the local community and beyond.

Cleveland Designers Accord Town Hall: Logistics

Wednesday, October 26th 2011, 6-9 pm
Cleveland Institute of Art
Joseph McCullough Center (Factory Building)
Room 401
11610 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106

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