A recent competition among first-year Architecture students has brought together two iconic American designers. Through an ongoing partnership between PennDesign and Manitoga / The Russel Wright Design Center in upstate New York, students were asked to design a pavilion intended for visitors to the Center. Following a day of intense jurying at Meyerson Hall, the models were installed on Meyerson Plaza outside the Frank Furness-designed Fisher Fine Arts Library—one of the most beloved and distinctive buildings on Penn’s campus.
Philadelphia’s finest Victorian architect, Frank Furness led the firm that designed the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in the 1870, and by the time of his fiftieth birthday in 1889, he had designed more than three hundred buildings in Philadelphia. Fisher Fine Arts Library was dedicated in 1891.
As one of the most influential American product designers, Russel Wright along with his wife Mary was hugely influential in revolutionizing the domestic landscape of the mid century modern lifestyle. Russel Wright’s House and Studio, completed in 1961, was named Dragon Rock and is located on 75 acres of Woodland in upstate New York. Together with architect David Leavitt, Wright designed a modern full time residence and studio situated within an abandoned rock quarry that would become a creative environment for design experimentation and demonstration of “Easier Living.” Wright believed that design was multi-scalar (part-to-whole), originated with the table and place setting and expanded to furniture, interior, architecture and landscape.
The student competition was coordinated by Associate Professor of Architecture Andrew Saunders, who explains, “The design of a contemporary pavilion for the site offers a unique opportunity to extend the legacy of Russel Wright and Dragon Rock. The pavilion is meant to be a built dialogue that speculates on the trajectory of mid-century modern design of mass standardization in the context of today's politics and digital technologies.”
The studio began with students analyzing and precisely reconstructing digital and 3D printed models of pieces from Russel Wright product lines, including American Modern, Oceana (carved wood inspired by marine life) and his spun aluminum. The process then advanced beyond the literal representation of the artifacts to digital drawing and modeling techniques, opening the objects to architectural interpretation through the generation of novel tectonics and expression.
“In his experimental home and landscape at Manitoga, Russel Wright celebrated material innovation, good design, and an intimacy with nature,” says Manitoga Executive Director Allison Cross. “The quality of design and striking creativity demonstrated by the student work are an inspiring tribute to Russel Wright’s legacy.”
The two winning projects are Devour[ing] the Dark, by Katherine Lanski, Justine Huang, Ayotunde Ogunmoyero, Lingxiao Teng, and Xieyang Zhou (Instructor: Michael Loverich); and Hereafter by Grace Soejanto, Mohamed Ali, Daniel Silverman, Ailin Wang (Instructor: Michael Loverich). The projects will be combined for further development in a Spring 2017 studio taught by Mohamad Al Khayer.
Projects earning Honorable Mentions were Laurentia (Best Presentation) by Dyan Castro, Yanking Huang, Dili Zha, and Yi Zhu (Instructor: Miroslava Brooks); Seem/less (Best Craft) by Elizabeth Heldridge, Logan Weaver, Nikolaos Kalantzopoulos, Yitian Zheng, and Xiaoyu Duan (Instructor: Miroslava Brooks); and Zoetic Roost (Best Technical Innovation) by Ariel Cooke-Zamora, Jordan Hillier, Gwan Sook Kim, Tae Hyung Lee (Instructor: Andrew Saunders).
Participating students included: Alexandra Adamski, Kevin Bloomfield, Nicole Bronola, Sirui Chen, Ariel Cooke-Zamora, Caitlin Dashiell, Ryan Henriksen, Jordan Hillier, Weizhen Jia, Gwan Sook Kim, Tae Hyung Lee, Ting Su, Bingyu Wang (Instructor: Andrew Saunders); Dyan Castro, Xiaoyu Duan, Elizabeth Heldridge, Andrew Homick, Yanlong Huang, Uroosa Ijaz, Nikolaos Kalantzopoulos, Prince Langley, Jinah Oh, Logan Weaver, Yili Zha, Yitian Zheng, and Yi Zhu (Instructor: Miroslava Brooks); Mohamed Ali, Yifei Chen, Justine Huang, Keaton Kane, Cheuk Wai Lam, Katherine Lanski, Ayotunde Ogunmoyero, Daniel Silverman, Grace Soejanto, Lingxiao Teng, Calvin Vannoy, Ailin Wang, and Xieyang Zhou (Instructor: Michael Loverich); Carla Bonilla-Huaroc, Yu Gan, Riwan Augustin Julien Heim, Mariela Hernandez, Samia Kayyali, Jongwon Lee, Shih-Kai Lin, Yi Lu, Ian Pangburn, Zehua Qi, Anya Sinha, and Yefan Zhang (Instructor: Eduardo Rega).
The jury consisted of Manitoga Executive Director Allison Cross, PennDesign Dean and Paley Professor Fredrick Steiner, Architecture Chair Winka Dubbeldam, Associate Chair Franca Trubiano, and Architecture faculty membersMohamad Al Khayer, Joan Ockman, Lasha Brown, Lindsay Falck, Nate Hume, Kutan Ayata, Abby Hume, Josh Freese, and Jonathan Scelsa.
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