Ruins of Glendale Mill

Our design inspiration travels are a little closer to home these pandemic days with a recent trip to Glendale, just outside of Spartanburg, South Carolina. Truth be told, it was our son who suggested the field trip to the Glendale Mill site, after researching abandoned buildings to photograph. In this case all that remains of the original cotton mill are two smoke stacks and two stair towers.

Built in the 1830s and originally called the Bivingsville Mill, this was one of SC’s most important and continuously operating mills. (Click here for a video on the history of the mill.) In 2004 a catastrophic fire destroyed the majority of the building; the remains of which and surrounding land have become a preserve thanks to Spartanburg County.

Photos by Rush David Dixon IV:

Paul R. Williams | New Homes for Today

Continuing our study of the noteworthy African-American architect, Paul R. Williams (1894 - 1980), we have been pouring over his book published in 1946, “New Homes for Today.” The book is light on words and heavy on images which is just how us visual learners like it.

We first wrote about Paul R. Williams on the blog in June when we discovered the “Paul R. Williams Student Scholarship” organized by DesignClass. In their words, “Paul Williams kicked off a prolific career by becoming the first licensed African-American member of the American Institute of Architecture in 1923. Throughout his life he designed over 2,000 buildings in California and helped shape Los Angeles into the metropolitan city it is today. In 1957, Williams became the first African-American elected as a Fellow of the AIA. DesignClass honors the legacy of Paul R. Williams with a scholarship for African-American architecture students seeking to foster curious and creative confidence in their communities.” The scholarship provides financial assistance to African American students studying at a NAAB accredited architecture program. [As of last week, they have more qualified students than sponsors, so if you are able to contribute $500 to sponsor an African-American architecture student please contact them here. Our industry desperately needs diversification.]

While Mr. Williams had a wide multi-faceted based in Los Angeles, including the design of public buildings, working for the Navy and designing over 2,000 homes (even that of Frank Sinatra!), this book seems to focus on smaller homes, perhaps for the middle class. His words appear to approach homebuilding and designing with refreshing clarity and practicality:

“Two items for consideration face the homebuilder of today which did not confront the homebuilder of yesterday. One: higher building costs; Two: The necessity of reducing household labor to the minimum. The former can be done by skillful planning, the latter by the intelligent use of present labor-saving devices.”

He goes on discuss the merits of solar orientation, single or multi-story homes, warns against highly individualized designs as they could effect resale value and shares trends on the rumpus room (informal living area for the non-Boomers / Gen Xers reading this.) The structure of the book itself allows just two pages for each house design and includes the description, floor plan and classic-now-vintage perspective renderings. Home names like “The Flamingo” and “The Country Gentlemen” start to paint a picture of each home’s character. Our favorite is the “The Esquire”, a 2 bedroom house totaling 1,260sf with a large living room opening to a side patio and double fireplace - one indoor and one outdoor. We may want to individualize it a touch in the bathroom department, but the plan’s efficiency and architecture’s overarching modernist lines and components are a lesson in what you really need and want in a home.

His advice includes a “Do’s and Don’ts” section:

“DO arrange the rooms so that passage may be made from one part of the house to another without the necessity of going through the living room.

DON’T plan the entrance door to expose all of the living room every time the door is opened.

Antiques can be mixed with modern pieces, but it is a job for the expert rather than the amateur decorator.”

And to the question posed in the book “Can we afford an architect?” he answers “To this question there is only one answer: You cannot afford to build a home without an architect.” I do believe we would get along very well, Mr. Williams.

Product Design by Architects

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.  

Kebo® Light offers the same elegant design extruded from lightweight aluminum making it perfect for picnics, a day at the beach or any time on-the-go.

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. 

Munch Stix® are child-friendly chopsticks that all have mouths and munch! Made in the USA, Munch Stix® are an AmericasMart ICON Honors Innovation Award finalist, an Editor's Pick for The Gourmet Retailer and one of A-List Mom's "Toy of the Year" in 2014. Meet "Chum the Shark" who has also been endorsed by pediatric Occupational Therapist, Lindsey Biel OTR/L.

"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. 

The New Old House: Historic + Modern Architecture Combined

Practicing architecture in the history-rich Charleston metro area often has us thinking about how new buildings or additions should interact with historic ones - the coexistence of present and past. Marc Kristal tackles the dialogue in his book, “The New Old House” with eighteen built examples of homes that combine historic and modern architecture. This discussion becomes one of preservation (sometimes with a flexible approach), function, aesthetics, respect and sustainability.

“As reusing an existing structure is one of the “greenest” of building practices, finding effective strategies for so doing contributes to the global drive for sustainability. The preservation of buildings for their larger historic value also means that locations…that are rich in meaning can retain their influence…” Marc Kristal

Well known institutional examples, including Carlo Scarpa’s Museo di Castelvecchio and I.M. Pei’s Grand Louvre addition, tee up the narrative of combining historic and contemporary work. No doubt there exists a sliding scale of what is too precious to alter, preserve vs. repair, how far is too far a departure in terms of style, etc. We lean toward those designs that contrast the original so it is very clear what is historic and what is new, as long as the addition is honest, well-designed, detailed and executed, especially if the addition enables the structure to have another relevant chapter.

As Gil Schafer III offers in the foreword, “Some of the most interesting conversations occur when there are opposing points of view - as long as they are undertaken with intelligence and civility.”

Eldridge Street Synagogue

In a recent design inspiration trip to New York City, a last minute tour became the true highlight. As always, the trip included many hours walking the NYC streets, studying facades and building details, meandering through the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and if I’m being honest, eating bagels. The agenda also included the Tenement Museum where you can select from various behind-the-scenes tours to better understand tenement and immigrant life in the 1800 and 1900s. As a descendant of Sicilian immigrants (this is Judy talking) who arrived and settled in NY, I have long been intrigued with the hardships, courage, and work ethic of my grandparents and others who left everything in search of a better life. It was there when the Eldridge Street Synagogue, a landmark synagogue from 1887 and just a few blocks away, was suggested as a follow-up tour.

The docent shared that the Eldridge Street Synagogue was likely the first house of worship built for Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe in America. It was designed by the Herter Brothers who were also the architects of several nearby tenement buildings (the better ones) and was their first synagogue. The building was embraced and well-used for decades until its members began moving out of the neighborhood; synagogues are located in the same neighborhood so members can walk to worship on the Sabbath. This shift in the neighborhood sadly resulted in the worship space being closed off (a smaller subset still worshipped in the lower level) and it subsequently fell into disrepair. During the 1980s, the Eldridge Street Project formed to stabilize and restore the structure. After 20 years and $20 million, it became a National Historic Landmark and working museum.

Architecturally, the barrel vaulted space is striking, if not surprising, with Moorish detailing, gold and blue hues , stained glass and pendant light fixtures. The construction budget was tight yet the direction from the client was to make it ornate. To that end, no wall was left unadorned including painting the columns to look like marble. The pews were perhaps a result of value engineering as they are from a catalogue and harken to Christian trinity symbolism. No matter, the design moment that solidifies the story for me is the stunning rose window above the ark. It is the only contemporary design element in the space since the original window was destroyed. I am always a fan of the meaningful and graceful juxtaposition of ‘new and old’. As the museum website describes, “A final crowning element was the addition of a monumental stained-glass rose window by artist Kiki Smith and architect Deborah Gans in 2010. This beautiful sacred artwork is the only contemporary element in the main sanctuary. It marks the revitalization of the building in the 21st century, the most recent chapter in a story that is ever evolving.” The poignancy, symbolism and beauty is best described by the designers themselves; click here for a more in-depth explanation.

For something that almost didn’t happen, touring the Museum at Eldridge Street has become a favorite lesson of mine as it tells a story of architecture, historic preservation, immigrants and the power of community.

*****

[Back to neighborhoods ebbing and flowing, while the building was originally located in the heart of the Jewish Lower East Side it is now part of Chinatown. The building exterior was hard to fully absorb because the Chinese New Year parade was simultaneously happening outside which I am not sad about…]

Place Matters: The Architecture of WG Clark

A new addition to our studio bookshelf is Robert McCarters’s new monograph on architect, WG Clark. If you follow us you know what an inspiration Clark (+ Menefee) is to us - thoughtful, rigorously edited designs with pen and ink drawings that make you want to start hand drafting again. The book highlights his work from the mid-1970s to the mid-2000s with a fair amount of projects in Charleston: Middleton Inn, Reid House, Downtown Bus Stop, South Carolina Aquarium, Croffead House, Bedon’s Alley Residence, structures at Mepkin Abbey as well as some unrealized designs.

Beyond the design process and final product, Clark’s view on architecture and its place is truly compelling: “The most important quality of architecture is the way it relates to, signifies, and dignifies a place on earth. This is why most of the architecture we admire, be it the product of individuals or of civilizations, is that which has been built with a sense of allegiance to the land. Architecture is a disturbing art; it destroys places. Construction sites always have the scent of sacrifice, barely masked by the exciting and hopeful smell of building. It is our job to assuage the sacrifice and make building an act of respect for and adoration of the place.”

Distillery Homework

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.

Woodford Reserve’s information counter with backlit bottles.

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.)

Shipping container welcome center and gift shop for Copper & Kings.

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.

Angel’s Envy Distillery map

The tallest column we have ever seen.

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.

Rural Studio : Samuel Mockbee and An Architecture of Decency

This book chronicles the genesis and early years of Auburn University’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction’s “Rural Studio”, a design-build architecture studio located off-campus in rural Alabama. The studio educates what founder, Samuel Mockbee, calls “citizen architects” through feet-on-the-ground researching, community immersion, collaborative design and hands-on construction in Hale County’s ‘pockets of poverty.’  What started as a new house per year has grown into chapels, community buildings and structures for much needed economic development.  Paramount lessons beyond design and construction are those in human decency, class and racial differences and how both client and student are equally helping one another.  

“It’s got to be warm, dry and noble.”

Samuel Mockbee

We reach for this book to remind ourselves that good design doesn’t have to come with a large price tag; that listening to and respecting a project’s client, context and culture leads the way to the best design solutions.  It teaches us that architecture isn’t on paper, that the profession can and should serve those who need it most, that function alone isn’t enough, and that humble can also be bold.

“Proceed and be bold.”

Samuel Mockbee