Product Design by Architects

May 7, 2020

Attending architecture school is often regarded as the foundation for establishing a rigorous design process. This can then be applied not only to designing buildings, but other disciplines of varying scales such as urban design, graphic design, furniture design or in Rush’s case, product design. We have always drawn inspiration from architects who toggle between such scales or disciplines. Some of our favorites include:

Aldo Rossi (1931 - 1997)

An Italian architect and leader of the postmodern movement, Rossi was known for built works of architecture, theory, drawing and product design. We first saw his “Il Conico" tea kettle and “La Conica" espresso coffee maker for Alessi and knew it was no ordinary design.

Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (1887 - 1965)

“Le Corbusier” as he was known as, was an architect, designer, painter, urban planner and writer. Notable works of architecture include the Villa Savoye and the Ronchamp chapel and collaborations with his cousin, Pierre Jeanneret, led to several iconic pieces of modern furniture that we have all likely seen, such as the sling chair.

Philippe Starck (1949)

French architect, Philippe Starck is known for cultural venues and hotels, also designed yachts and furniture. The iconic juicer is our favorite.

Rush3 Product Design Studio

Truth be told, a slow economy, a goal set 10 years prior, and a chance encounter with a vintage bottle opener led to the creation of Rush3 Product Design Studio in 2011. Local branding company Slant Media made the process of starting a product design company including logo creation, web site development and product branding fun and extremely exciting. The next several years were a mixture of architecture and product design - using the design process to jump scales and functions. Some highlights of the Rush3 Product Design Studio chapter…

Kebo® - One Handed Bottle Opener

Inspired by the Theodore Low bottle opener from the 1930s, the Kebo Bottle Opener is a modern interpretation that offered better seamless function and classic styling. It was cast of stainless steel and polished to a mirror finish because it needed to feel good in your hand and be a sculptural if not architectural piece. The “Kebo®, short for “bottle key”, won the Innovation Award in the ‘Handtools and Cutlery’ category at the 2012 International Home and Housewares Show. Fun times were had in research and development (yes, we drank a lot of beer) as well as press in Men’s Journal, Core 77, Buzzfeed, Fast Company and the Today Show. Kebo was sold at many local shops, small businesses and even Restoration Hardware and the Museum of Modern Art.

Kebo® The One Handed Bottle Opener is a 2012 International Home and Housewares Show Innovation Award winner, was featured on The Today Show and was named as one of Men’s Journal’s “Perfect Things”

Kebo Light

Anyone in the product industry knows that before long, knock-offs sprout up. At first when a colleague suggested we do our “own knock-off” we thought it impossible to consider anything other than the pure, stainless steel original Kebo. But when attending industry trade shows we were shocked to see derivations of last show’s newest products be presented as their own fresh ideas. It’s rough out there even with trademarks and patents in place. Enter “Kebo LIght.” A different iteration of the original Kebo with a nod to light beer. It was lightweight (made from aluminum) and available in colors so this captured a lower price point and more of an impulse buy - a bottle opener you would have on the boat or at tailgates.

Munch Stix®

One night when having take-out Chinese for dinner, our then 7 year old asked for chopsticks but mispronounced them saying “chomp” instead. This was a good chuckle, but then we said, what if chopsticks could actually chomp. After initial launch, a bit of a trademark hiccup had us re-brand to “Munch Stix.” We still had fun with “Chum” the shark, “Al” the alligator and “Teri” the Pterodactyl as kid-friendly chopsticks. These were a finalist for the 2013 International Housewares Association Innovation Award (Tabletop category) and made the rounds on mom-blogs including Cool Mom Picks and A-List Mom. Retailers included kitchen and toy shops as well as the Museum of Natural History and the Georgia Aquarium.

"Al the Alligator" Munch Stix® was featured in Sharon Garofalow's "Cupcakes and Cutlery" blog and named, along with his sibllings, as a 2015 Family Choice Award Winner.

"Teri the Pterodactyl" Munch Stix® was the cover girl for Fancy Food & Culinary Products Magazine in June of 2013.

Tre™ Bottle Opener

Returning to the bottle opener space (because beer) the last product Rush3 Studio designed and produced was a sculptural triple function beer opener crafted and contoured for 1) twist-off bottles, 2) pry-off bottles and 3) can tabs. We did a small run of these in 2017 mainly for client gifts and local sales.

Released in November of 2017, TRE is a triple-function bottle opener crafted and contoured out of stainless steel for twist-off bottles, pry-off bottles and can tabs.

Certainly a great education not only in jumping design scales and function from buildings to housewares, but in dipping our toes in the product / retail sector. We have since dialed down the product design studio for now and have been focusing on architecture in the Charleston metro area. Though we still enjoy designing at a range of scales and are life-long fans of modern product design.

Distillery Homework

December 17, 2019

We are nothing but life-long learners and curious creatives. The discovery and research phase of a new project is when we immerse ourselves in the client / industry and where relevant pieces of information are uncovered; we may not know exactly how they will be incorporated in the final project design, if at all, but we collect them none the less as we begin to conceptualize a design. After a period (sometimes short, sometimes long) of researching, studying and marinating with the history, images, precedents collected - the design concept is crafted with memories of these discoveries.

When we began the design phase for Firefly Distillery’s new facility, the first step was to visit their existing distillery and tasting room on Wadmalaw Island, SC to learn their history, better understand their brand, see their process, and well, taste some products. It was important for us to know how Firefly started and where they were going, how they differentiated themselves in the industry and thus what functional spaces and visitor experiences to help create in the architecture.

Original Firefly Tasting Room located in an old horse barn on Wadmalaw Island, SC.

Products on display and for sale inside the Tasting Room.

Becoming experts in Firefly’s brand and business was only the first step. We needed to visit other distilleries with successful brands, products and distillery tours, so the team headed to Kentucky for some serious homework. (There are worse things to have on one’s To-do list.) The goal was to visit several distilleries of varying size and personality to study the visitor experience - this was not to replicate any one of them, rather to understand varying ways to showcase a brand, tell a story and how the built environment supports the experience. We’re not going to lie - a great time was had by all; but more importantly, the research trip provided countless moments to document and reference during the next year of design work.

BUFFALO TRACE

Located in Frankfurt, KY, Buffalo Trace is a National Historic Landmark and heavy hitter with over 20 brands including Van Winkle, Sazarac Rye and Wheatley Vodka. Take aways include their expansive, historic campus, choice of multiple tours and events (including a behind the scenes “hard hat” tour, path of a bourbon barrel tour and a ghost tour), and how their rustic brand is reinforced throughout the grounds in both big and small ways.

Inside of one of the historic rickhouse structures.

Buffalo Trace logo cut into a stormwater grate.

WOODFORD RESERVE

The drive to Woodford Reserve in Versailles, KY was exactly how you wanted it to be, with horses and expanses of blue grass. While this distillery has a rich history as well, we noticed the polish and exactness they incorporated into the visitor experience.

There was a precise balance between the historic structure, distillery function and visitor experience.

The Woodford Reserve tasting experience was restrained, elegant and on-brand.

COPPER & KINGS

In Louisville, KY our first stop was Copper & Kings, a newer distillery with an industrial aesthetic using shipping containers to greet you, a large courtyard for events and a steel, glass and concrete distillery. Bonus: they play music in the cellar for their barrels while they age. (Related: this blog was written to John Coltrane.)

Large outdoor courtyard with gathering spaces, fire pit and places to project movies.

Barrels age to music at the Copper & Kings’ cellar because “Brandy Rocks!” They post the day’s playlist on their website.

ANGELS ENVY

Another stop in Louisville was Angel’s Envy, a VERY large facility that felt like a cathedral to distilling in the best way possible. It was reverent with grand spaces, a clear focus on education and showcasing the process and finished product.

Our design process is richer because we walked through these spaces, listened to the stories told and became students again. We are ever thankful for the hospitality shown to us and look forward to visiting again.

Inspiration from Roma - Elizabeth Unique Hotel

September 12, 2019

As architects in Charleston, we are students of history successfully meeting modernity and seek out those moments when homage is paid to historic structures with meaningful renovations for current day functions. During a recent visit to Rome, we found ourselves in one such transformation at the Palazzo Pulieri Ginetti - the Elizabeth Unique Hotel. An ancient palazzo, lush and thoughtful interiors by Studio Marincola Architects, art curated by the nearby Russo Art Gallery - it’s a wonder we ever left. The architects, interior designers, artists and craftspeople involved with this hotel design struck the perfect balance of honoring the historic vessel it inhabits while offering an environment that is somehow bold and restrained at the same time; the details were as powerful as the overarching effect. Bravo, we will be learning from this one for a long time.

Monumental stair design was perfection: carrara marble, lighted gold handrails with dark wood guards. Sculpture: Enrico Benetta

Manuel Felisi’s collage anchors the stair landing. [If you know the lighting designer / manufacturer for the light fixtures, please let us know.]

Edited entry into the room, neutral colors, arches are introduced with gold accents.

Old meets new: vintage black and white sceneries printed on wall covering adds a nostalgic layer but the execution and composition is quite contemporary.

Probably the best color of blue we have ever seen was introduced on the wall separating the sleeping area from the utilities. You can see the gold accents better here.

Giorgio Tentolini’s wire net artworks. This person is a genius.

Sketches from Roma

August 15, 2019

“Traveling - it leaves you speechless then turns you into a storyteller.” Battuta

Professor Rodriguez did a very comprehensive job teaching our History of Architecture classes at Virginia Tech back in the day, but nothing compares to standing in front of or inside these architectural giants and studying by drawing. Here are some of the rough travel sketches, mostly exploring scale, form and massing, from our recent trip to Rome.

Our favorite view within the Piazza Del Popolo is of the (seamingly) twin churches Santa Maria di Montesano (left, 1662-75) and Santa Maria dei Miracoli (right, 1675-79) with the ancient Egyptian obelisk centered and Via del Corso starting between t… — Our favorite view within the Piazza Del Popolo is of the (seamingly) twin churches Santa Maria di Montesano (left, 1662-75) and Santa Maria dei Miracoli (right, 1675-79) with the ancient Egyptian obelisk centered and Via del Corso starting between the churches.

Closer view of the Santa Maria di Montesano in the Piazza del Popolo; not shown is the Italian street performer next to me singing ‘Sweet Dreams’ by the Eurythmics.

There is a church every turn you make in Rome. San Giacomo in Augusta was next to our hotel and after walking past it for days, we finally peeked in…speechless. Decided to draw the floor plan to convey the mass, construction and robustness.

Interior of Santa Sabina on Aventine Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome. This sketch was rushed and does not come close to conveying the scale and reverence of this space. May need to sketch this one again.

This gives you an idea of scale of Santa Sabina, if the door was this big.

The Ponte dei Quattro Capi bridge is from 62 BC.

Historic architecture and fabric was the main focus, but finding Richard Meier’s modern Ara Pacis Museum was a highlight.

Crafts + Arts

February 24, 2019

“Art is not about thinking something up. It is the opposite -- getting something down.” Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way

Some of our favorite craftspeople and artists who as Julia Cameron would say are “ getting something down.”

KHALIMA LIGHTS, Wadmalaw Island, SC | Copper and Brass Handcrafted Lighting

We came across the talented husband and wife team at Khalima Lights when we were designing the interiors for the new Firefly Distillery building. Handcrafted from copper and raw steel, their fixtures are honest, simple and artful. [Shown below: “Bare Firefly Pendant”, “Waycaster Pendant” and “The Pablo".] Click here for their website.

JEREMIAH JOSSIM, Savannah, GA | Artist

Jeremiah Jossim’s landscape series, painted on circular canvases, stopped us in our tracks while on a tour of the Savannah College of Art + Design, his alma mater. [Shown below: “Seascape #5”, “Seascape #4” and “Desert #1.”] Click here for his website.

NIKKI GALAPON, Richmond, VA | Artist

Contemporary and abstract artist, Nikki Galapon is a former architecture school classmate from the Virginia Tech days. Her maps series, our favorite, layers pen and ink sketches and color over vintage maps. [Shown here: Boston and Lower Manhattan] Click here for her website.

22 years in Charleston | An Ode to Clark + Menefee

July 21, 2016

Today is Rush and Judy Dixon's "Relocating to Charleston" anniversary and Clark + Menefee (a brilliant but now disbanded architecture firm) is, by and large, to thank. The makings of this inspired chapter of two interns coming to this magnetic city started with a third year assignment at Virginia Tech's College of Architecture and Urban Studies. We were to visit an off-campus piece of architecture, study/sketch/photograph the building's merits and report back to the studio. The Middleton Inn was chosen, which at the time had recently been completed, garnering press and design awards. It was liberating to read how an inn just steps from The Middleton Plantation was boldly modern yet rooted in historic and local contexts. The stucco walls, the chimney pots, the "Charleston Green" paint, wood shutters, the rigor of the floor plan and detailing of the guest rooms are still humbling after all years.

“We saw it as a chance to prove that modernism didn’t have to be strident or out of place, so we took careful pains to have that reflect touches of Charleston tradition,” Clark says.

[from Robert Behre's Post + Courier article in 2011 as the building turned 25 years old.]

That visit securely planted the Charleston seed. Future excursions showed us the charm of the historic city, its cosmopolitan and European soul, and the reality of how an historic city can be relevant in a modern world. Happy Anniversary indeed.

Sketchbook 1.0

June 9, 2015

An architect's sketchbook is many things: a journal, a safe place to work through a design, a travel companion, basically an extension of our brain that we carry in our hand. Above all else, it is a way for us to document our thoughts and mental images to a tangible reality. The presence of technology in every nearly facet of our lives [computer renderings, BIM, emails instead of phone calls, even our grocery list is an app] makes it even more important for us to ground ourselves by putting pen to paper regularly. Our sketchbooks aren't perfect - there are a lot of scribbles, notes, emerging and discarded design ideas, fingerprints, ink smudges - but perhaps that makes it better. There is a "realness" inside a sketchbook; an intimate look at process or a moment in time.

This excerpt from the Sketchbook Curator Blog sums it up perfectly.

"It’s often the physical act of drawing that artists get inspiration from. It’s the openness of a blank page that gives all the freedom for the artist to draw, paint, paste, and damage. It’s those papers bound together that gives perhaps the disconnected, random sketches a sequence, narrative, or an identity as a whole. Sketchbook, either as private or public entity, is a space of freedom and expression for any artist; it is their companion and reflection of their identity."