SPECIAL FEATURE
Suite 16
Photos by
In the world of architecture and design, a suite is a set of rooms used for a particular purpose, or matching pieces of furniture, while in the arts it is a set of musical pieces arranged as one instrumental work.
In our publication, suite also represents a definitive set- but our elements are very much alive, engaged in the world, and most importantly for our readers, remarkably engaging. They are the innovative design pros in the metropolitan area who are pushing old boundaries, exploring new concepts and making a difference in design with the work they do. Some are established; others are emerging and on the rise; all are tremendously talented.
Just as we celebrate coming-of-age benchmarks in America, we are celebrating these designers for their oeuvres right now. We started the rite last year with our first Suite 16, and are hoping, like any good parent who is trying to nurture talent in our brood, for many many more.
On the following pages, we are celebrating this year’s Suite 16; may you find them as engaging as we do.
 |
The
ILLUSIONISTS Donna Piacenza & Jody Work WHY WE LOVE THEM: Two chic chicks, Piacenza and Work knew the sum of their talents was stronger than the parts, in part because they combined different expertise. Their results are cutting edge and striking! Their excitement is contagious. “It is more thrilling and rewarding sometimes just getting together and doing crazy things, for example: creating an entire exhibition out of recycled dryer sheets!” says Work. Piacenza came from an industrial design background and had worked on small hand-held electronics devices for major brands. She found a disconnect, however, when they were mass manufactured overseas. “We specified nice materials, but they weren’t always used,” she explains. Work majored in graphic design, initially worked for a product development company, and then a graphic design firm where she met Piacenza. In 2004, the partners began to collaborate on objects, including jewelry. Their goals have been to use sustainable materials, odds and ends that others overlook, work with other design professionals on socially responsible projects and control quality by contracting with local manufacturers. They sell from their Web site and through other retailers. WHAT THEY’VE DONE: “Unexpected,” “out of the box,” “innovative” are adjectives that just barely begin to describe these women’s nontraditional designs. One of their tables was named a top 20 entry in the 2007 juried competition, Modern+Design+Function: Chicago Furniture Now. Their table showcases their creativity by melding rough and smooth materials--White Portland cement, white marble and a silica sand blend with a base of salvaged sorghum plant stalks. It also reveals their desire to incorporate the human touch with its novel process. Each time a table is produced a piece is removed so the end result is unique. “It allowed us to explore an in-between state between mass production techniques of using a mold with the randomness of a piece taken out each time,” says Piacenza. A current favorite project is a simple soap dish they’ve designed that a local company is manufacturing with help from disadvantaged female hires. Studio 1 A.M., 5003 N. Oakley Ave., Chicago, IL, 60625 |
|
Q. What’s the most exciting thing you’re working on? A.“Collaborating with a sculptor and architect on a furniture piece, so we have other designers’ input wit unique materials and processes,” says Piacenza. Q. How do you work—together or separately? A. “Sometimes we work together; sometimes independently,” says Work. “We share ideas and go back and forth with conversations. We usually incorporate each other’s expertise.” Q. Where do you get your inspiration? A.“From finding a new material or process that we haven’t used before,” says Donna. “My father owns a machine shop and we’re working with a material—half rubber and half plastic—that was there to form flower-like shapes that will be used in costume jewelry.” Work finds inspiration in materials, imperfection, simplicity—combining and recombining—experiments, my family, she says. Q. Whom would you like to design something for? A. A public installation piece for a community or maybe even an independent shoemaker/manufacturer, says Work. “We love the handmade qualities of things,” she says. |
 |
The
RISING
STAR Jordan Guide WHY WE LOVE HER: She’s not just into doing fancy-schmancy digs with huge budgets. Guide, just 28, has a heart and soul. The proof? Her being awarded a prestigious “Design Excellence Award” and first place from ASID’s Illinois chapter for a residential Universal Design project that helped a client with multiple sclerosis better manage daily living. “I basically transformed her dated, noncompliant kitchen into something that’s attractive and unctional—motorized window treatments, wider doorways because of her wheelchair, an accessible cooktop she could roll under,” Guide says. WHAT SHE’S DONE: Before she was a designer, Guide was a child, then runway model, strutting her stuff along with sister, Journy. They also acted. “We had a blast,” she says. But after a stint as a model in Paris, she went back to college for her interior design degree when she realized design was in her genes—“everyone was--my grandmother, grandfather, mother. I was surrounded by beautiful furnishings and talented designers,” she says. She mentored with Barbara Pallat of Pallat Interiors in the ‘burbs, worked for a downtown commercial firm where she designed nightclubs and restaurants, then returned to Pallat a year later. She’s now excited about a commercial project she’s handling herself—Bri-Zan Couture, a high-end women’s clothing boutique in Naperville. “It’s pink and black, silver and white, elegant but so edgy with a contemporary vibe.” While she prefers modern design for her own home, she’s proud that she helps clients find their own style that they’re comfortable with. You go, girl! Barbara Pallat Interiors, 8532 Heather Dr., Burr Ridge, IL |
|
Q.Is there a designer or architect you appreciate a lot? A. I love Frank Gehry’s work. He uses an abstract approach to design and has pioneered his own methods of perfecting his abstract curves and imperfect structures. I also think David Rockwell is phenomenal. He has his own style, colors, materials and eye. You can tell when it’s a David Rockwell creation. He works on amazing projects and has a great team working for him. I also respect Mies Van der Rohe as a pioneer of modernism. Q. What’s your main inspiration? A. I want to create functional spaces where you know that everything has fallen into its place. I love when a room has a certain flow that inspires you to think clearly and love your surroundings. Since that’s where you spend your life, why not make it the best it can be? |
 |
KEEPER OF THE
FLAME Staci Boris WHY WE LOVE HER: A Wisconsin gal and resident of Chicago for the last 14 years, Boris, Senior Curator for the Spertus Museum, is a role model for being open to new adventures. An art history major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she worked for a London art gallery, then returned to the States because she preferred researching and interpreting art rather than selling it. After earning a Master’s degree, she interned at a contemporary art institute, which led to another detour and her current passion—contemporary art. She honed that love more with 13 years at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art. “The art made today relates to you as an individual, your community and the world in which you live,” she says. A ball of energy, Boris, 41, balances marriage and motherhood, with a second child on the way. WHAT SHE’S DONE:Boris left MCA for the Spertus Museum when she was given one of those too-good-to-be-true offers: Help create a vision for a new museum on Michigan Avenue that focuses on contemporary art with a top-notch staff. With the opportunity came the challenge of moving from a general art institution to a culturally specific museum. Instead of taking a familiar route, Boris pushes the limits to present exhibitions that explore Jewish identity and different experiences related to Jewishness from a contemporary viewpoint but not just for Jewish people. “They have to be multilayered. This is a Jewish museum but one that’s forward thinking,” she says. Her exhibits reflect this boldly, with art on construction barriers as the new museum was going up to artworks that explore contemporary American Jewish identity and next year’s two--African-American works funded by the Julius Rosenwald Fund and commissioned works for the entrance vestibule. Bottom line: You don’t have to be Jewish to love Boris. Spertus Museum, 610 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL |
|
Q. Who has influenced you the most? A.There hasn’t been one person. It’s really been some contemporary artists and what they’ve done. That’s what I think about when I’m pondering and contemplating an exhibit. Many are keen observers. I look to them for inspiration. Q. How do you describe your relationship with your religion? A. It’s standard, American suburban, secular, cultural Jewishness. I feel very positive about my Jewish identity but I never envisioned working at a Jewish institution. Now that I am it’s led me to realize I needed to explore why I’m working here and how that influences me. My Jewish identity is a larger part of my personal and professional consciousness. Q. What exhibits do you dream about organizing down the road? A. That’s hard to say. I feel there are a 100 a minute; my mind is continuously working and I have way more ideas than could ever be realized. Q. What other museums have been an influence? A. The Studio Museum of Harlem, which has always focused on contemporary art, but planned its programming so it would appeal to a broader audience and diverse points of view. |
 |
The Dream Masters James Geier | Founding Partner and President 555 Design Karen Herold | Partner and Design Director 555 Design WHY WE LOVE THEM:“Foot rubs,” says Karen Herold. “The only thing we don’t do is foot rubs.” With her characteristically wry wit, the Dutch-born Herold—Design Director at 555 Design and partner to James Geier, who founded parent company 555 International in 1988—is referencing the firm’s breadth of services. 555 boasts the resources—and 300,000 square feet of space—to handle everything from powder coating to lighting and metal work. As a result, the firm has long been the go-to fabricator for high-profile retail clients like Gucci, Armani and Valentino. But as the firm celebrates its twentieth birthday on April 1st (that’s Geier’s sense of humor at play), 555 is attracting clients in the hospitality and residential sectors on the strength of its design repertoire, not merely its fabrication prowess. Which is not to say the nuts-and-bolts experience is inconsequential. “Since we do know fabrication, we can bring in reality from day one,” says Herold. “Instead of designing at the dream-world level—creating pretty pictures that can’t actually be made—we design with an understanding of what’s possible in the real world.” WHAT THEY’VE DONE: Currently, 555 is working on projects for such high-profile clients as Aspen Snowmass and the five-star Breckenridge Resort in Colorado. For the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium, opening in 2009, the firm is designing a 20,000-square-foot flagship store and two VIP club/lounges. And last year, this magazine covered 555’s design of the Playboy Club at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, which gave the legendary but ailing brand the shot of chic it needed to revive and modernize its image. 555 Design, a division of 555 International
4501 South Western Boulevard, Chicago, IL, 60609 |
|
James Geier A.“Form follows function.” Karen Herold A. Raymond Loewy and Santiago Calatrava. Why? See above! Q. What’s your biggest fear regarding the future? A.My fear is that everything will start to look alike—that the world will become one, big, gray, safe melting pot. Q. What’s your personal motto as a designer? A.Don’t take yourself too seriously! Design should fill a need, a need that extends well beyond the next magazine cover or design competition. Listen to your clients and try to fulfill their needs through problem solving. |