Table Of Content
He debuted the American Modern dinnerware as a starter set of 12 pieces, in a range of soft, earthy pastel shades. Housewives were hooked and successive design releases drew crowds to Macy’s and other department stores. The cabinetry throughout the house is made of bright white Formica, the shiny counter material popular in the 50s. Wright would switch over spring/summer white for a reddish burnt orange for the cooler months. You may not know Russel Wright’s name, but you’ve probably seen his American Modern dinnerware.
ART + DESIGN INSTALLATION
Formafantasma Takes Over “Manitoga” House in NY - HYPEBEAST
Formafantasma Takes Over “Manitoga” House in NY.
Posted: Wed, 11 May 2022 07:00:00 GMT [source]
River Architects has been collaborating on a long series of projects at MANITOGA / The Russel Wright Design Center. Manitoga is the former home of the American industrial designer Russel Wright, and comprises the main house, pergola, studio, and a 75-acre woodland garden and trails- all part of Russel Wright’s unified design vision of living in harmony with nature. One of the few 20th-century modern homes open to the public in New York State, Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center preserves, interprets, and shares Russel Wright's modernist home, studio, and 75-acre woodland garden. Named Dragon Rock, Wright's home and studio is considered an outstanding example of Organic Modern architecture c. A joint project, the exterior of Dragon Rock is credited to architect David Leavitt and the interior design to Wright himself. The surrounding 75-acres of woodland garden were acquired and cultivated by Wright and his wife, Mary.
Landscapes & Gardens
Views of the swimming pond — which Wright created by redirecting a mountain stream — are spectacular, as are the 4 miles of walking trails he designed through the surrouding woods. The display of over 200 objects is the only permanent, in-depth public exhibition of the Wrights’ product designs anywhere. 1942Mid-century modern designer Russel Wright and his wife, Mary, purchase 75-acre property in Garrison, NY, formerly a quarrying and logging site. The couple begin to reclaim the landscape by creating Mary's Meadow, a 40-foot cascading waterfall, a series of outdoor garden "rooms" and a garden of woodland paths.
Russel & Mary Wright Design Gallery
Space was allocated for art restoration functions and storage areas, and plans were developed for accessibility and egress, along with lighting evaluation and design. Existing finishes were restored in keeping with the initial intent of the design, and historic sensitivity was considered in all aspects of the project. Subsequently River Architects assisted the Russel Wright Design Center in the restoration of the Studio, which was plagued with a defunct mechanical system, serious moisture issues threatening the historic fabric with mold, animal infestation, and air quality issues. River Architects managed the work of the engineering consultants and the trades in identifying problems in various systems and how to address them, including the reinforcement of the block and native stone foundation walls. Insulation and vapor control strategies were implemented, eliminating pathways for mice and racoons from entering, and providing greatly improved air quality, vapor control, and thermal comfort to the interiors. The elimination of the failing oil-based furnace and fuel tank freed up space for clean and dry storage, and carefully situated heat pumps provide thermal comfort and improved humidity levels throughout the year.
the russel & mary wright design gallery
During one nocturnal happening, young women danced in tunics made of polyurethane birch logs and ponchos studded with foam rocks to look like riverbeds. Like nature sprites, the dancers gamboled over “nature carpets,” rugs crafted of foam by the Turinese artist Piero Gilardi. Lead support has been provided through a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation which seeks to enrich public discourse by promoting innovative scholarship, cultivating new leaders, and fostering international understanding. Additional major support provided by the Sara Little Turnbull Foundation, David Diamond & Karen Zukowski, Lyn & John Fischbach, Tom Krizmanic, Gary & Laura Maurer, David M. And Nanci H. McAlpin, Melissa Meyers & Wilbur Foster, Dennis Mykytyn, Jon L. Stryker & Slobodan Randjelovic, the Estate of George R. Kravis II, the Frank B. R. Sahm Jr.
Photos
Neill has worked closely with many musical innovators including La Monte Young, John Cage, John Cale, Pauline Oliveros, Rhys Chatham, DJ Spooky, David Berhman, Mimi Goese, King Britt, and Nicolas Collins. Neill leads concerts of Young’s The Second Dream of the High Tension Stepdown Line Transformer with an international brass ensemble; performances have recently been presented in New York, Amsterdam, Paris, Amsterdam, Huddersfield, Den Bosch, Oslo, Krems, Koln, Los Angeles, and Warsaw. Back in 1967, Arte Povera artists in Italy, the radicals of their time, hung out at the Piper Club, a discothèque of, by and for the avant-garde in Turin.
Drone view of Dragon Rock green roofs, Quarry Pool and surrounding woodland landscape. MANITOGA / The Russel Wright Design Center ensures that the extraordinary spirit of place of Manitoga and the timeless design vision that inspired its creation are preserved and shared. Other current projects include Trove, a 104 track album of ambient music performed on the Mutantrumpet created during the Covid pandemic, and collaborations with vocalist/composer Mimi Goese, chaos mathematician Ralph Abraham, and the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries. Neill has recorded thirteen albums of his music on labels including Universal/Verve, Thirsty Ear, Astralwerks, and Six Degrees. Professor Ben Neill is a composer/performer and the creator of the Mutantrumpet, a hybrid electro-acoustic instrument. His active career as a recording and touring artist, curator, and composer for TV and film stretches back to the 1980’s, and he is widely recognized as a musical innovator through his recordings, performances and installations.
After studying the site over many years, Russel Wright hired architect David Leavitt in 1958 to help him realize Dragon Rock, the name given to the House, Studio, and immediate quarry landscape. Leavitt, who had worked in Japan with architect Antonin Raymond, shared Wright’s appreciation of Japanese architecture and landscape design, evident in the House and Studio through scale, structure, intimacy, and details. Wright and his daughter covered a ceiling in his studio with white pine needles. And a large cypress trunk encases a steel support beam in the living room. Over 200 objects tell the story of how the Wrights shaped modern American lifestyle – from early experiments in spun aluminum in the 1930s and the colorful rounded forms of American Modern and Iroquois Casual mix & match dinnerware to Japanese inspired patterns and textures decades later.
Introduced in the late 1930s, the earthy colored mix and match pieces went on to become the best selling dinnerware of all time. 2016Manitoga partners with Open Space Institute to permanently preserve public access to their trail network. Among Wright's most notable and commercially successful designs are his American Modern lines of ceramic dinnerware and furniture and his Residential line of Melmac plastic dinnerware.
The Studio was Russel Wright’s personal space where he slept and worked. It illustrates many of the recurring themes at Manitoga including an integration of the built and natural environment, the influence of Japanese design, the juxtaposition of natural and synthetic materials, and efficiency and functionality. The Wrights met at an arts gathering in the 1920s, held in Woodstock NY, called the Maverick Festival.
Here, we see luminous butterfly wings pressed between sheets of translucent plastic, pine needles embedded in green plaster walls, and a roof covered with a lush carpet of native plants. Celebrate good design for living in creative harmony with nature through tours, programs, and events. Russel Wright domesticated Modernism for generations of Americans and pioneered high art's infusion into commercial design and production. Manitoga, the 75-acre eco-friendly estate he built and lived on in his latter years, survives as a foundation dedicated to preserving his design and environmental philosophies. It's a decidedly human-scale monument to harmony, with both home and studio built right into a rock ledge of the property's quarry.
Wright thought these resembled scoops of strawberry ice cream so he’d host an ice cream social to celebrate the season. Sadly, Mary died in 1952 and never lived in Dragon Rock, although she participated in the home’s design. The Wrights practiced what they preached and Manitoga, the couple’s home and grounds in Garrison NY, is open for touring. It’s about an hour north of NYC, whether you’re driving or taking a MetroNorth train from Grand Central to the heart of the lower Hudson Valley. Preserving, sharing, and celebrating America’s gardens and diverse gardening traditionsfor the education and inspiration of the public.
Once complete, the improvements were immediate yet invisible to visitors. River Architects assisted in generating the initial assessment report funded through grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Cynthia Mitchell Fund and the New York State Council on the Arts. River Architects designed the conversion of the underutilized garage space into a light-filled entry, workroom, kitchenette, and universally accessible restroom, while also addressing improved air quality and moisture control. His home, studio, and woodland garden - collectively called Manitoga - are located in Garrison, NY. It opened to the public in 2004 and includes Wright’s recreated white Formica desk, his Herman Miller “relax” chair, collectibles from his travels, an ashtray and a signature pack of Salem cigarettes. The public tours are capped at 12 people, so the experience is fairly intimate.
Over the last two decades, a series of restoration projects have addressed the House windows and doors, the installation of a new green roofs, upgrades in mechanical systems and the restoration of the Kitchen-Dining area. Presently, Ann Wright’s enchanting childhood bathroom is being carefully restored among other improvements. The Wrights’ home at Manitoga, Dragon Rock, has many unique design features. Green roofs have many benefits such as absorbing rainwater and providing insulation, but they’re still very rare in 2022. Visitors to Dragon Rock in the 1960s must have thought it was totally weird. If you’re visiting in late spring, the native mountain laurels produce extravagant pink blooms.
Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center stewards Manitoga as the embodiment of the Wright’s design philosophy and life work and celebrates good design for living in creative harmony with nature through tours, programs, events, and free year-round access to woodland trails. Distinctive features of the House include large expanses of glass allowing for views of the 30 foot Waterfall, the Quarry Pool, and surrounding landscape. A large, smooth, cedar tree trunk functions as a design element and is the main structural support of house. Boulders, plantings, and stone terraces are positioned to bring the outdoors in, blending architecture and landscape. Unique built-in architectural artifacts, designed by Wright, fuse natural and man-made materials in new and unexpected ways.
The small group size means you’ll need to book in advance to avoid getting shut out. River Architects is assisting in the planning for future improvements to the Russel Wright Design Center which will include a new, separate structure which will include accessible restrooms for the public and a gardener’s workshop. Mid-century designer Russel Wright, who lived from 1904 to 1976, revolutionized the American home through his contribution of inexpensive, mass produced dinnerware, furniture, appliances, and textiles. Distinctive features include a “worm’s eye view” upon entering the space, pocket windows on three sides which, when lowered, meld the indoors with outdoors, and a moon-faced doorknob to the adjoining terrace where Wright would sit and look at the moon. Ceiling treatments are many and include painted epoxy embedded with white pine needles, fluorescent tubes softened by quilted canvas, and illuminated panels.
No comments:
Post a Comment