STILL-LIFE

Flower Power

Manu Torres uses plants as a means of self-expression.

By TIFFANY JOW Photograph by MANU TORRES

WHEN ASKED HOW HE DEVELOPS IDEAS FOR HIS FANTASTICAL FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS, Manu Torres uses the same language one might use to define beauty: an ineffable sensation that can’t be put into words. It’s a form of intuition, he says. “Sometimes I just look at a flower, get a feeling in my stomach, and I’m like, ‘Whoa.’” He frequents Portland, Oregon’s flower market, where he hangs around for longer than most, looking in every corner for something that speaks to him, much as one might navigate a museum. In 2017, when Torres started working full-time with flowers, the market didn’t have much of what he wanted—he prefers technicolor tropical flora, which he supplements with feathers, iridescent pom-poms, and DIY ombré paper fans—but he’s encouraged vendors to be more adventurous. “Now I’ll go in and they’ll say, ‘Hey, we found this weird thing and thought you’d like it. Do you want to take a picture of it?’ They’re always looking out for me.”

Torres, 36, was born in Apatzingán, a city in the Mexican state of Michoacán, where he studied architecture before moving to Portland in 2009. His husband has a studio in the building that houses the contemporary art space Yale Union, whose high-concept exhibitions piqued Torres’s interest. A few years ago, he asked the organization how he could get involved, and Yale Union, knowing he’d been tinkering with flowers, suggested he make arrangements for its openings. Torres got to work. Early pieces involved store-bought plants, which he morphed into concoctions inspired by ikebana and Dutch still-lifes. Once, he outfitted a banquet table with birds of paradise, gladioli, roses, and cheese- and cold cut–filled fruit sculptures, creating a feast both edible and visual. These days, Torres pingpongs among commissions, including regular jobs for Nike and Portland’s Cloudforest chocolate shop.

Seeing one of Torres’s maximalist, almost celebratory works in the wild is like spotting a celebrity on the sidewalk during fashion week: it looks dramatically out of place in the everyday spaces it inhabits, and that’s the point. “I don’t encounter a lot of color in my life,” he says. “These arrangements are a way to translate my ideas into something tangible, so people can see what I see.” —9,627 followers

Architects

The following architecture and design firms are among the best in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. And they support GRAY’s effort to advance our vibrant design community. We are proud to call them our partners.

Take a look at these firms first for your next project. Visit their portfolios on graymag.com or link directly to their sites to learn more.

Baylis Architects baylisarchitects.com

4D Architects 4darchitects.com AKJ Architects LLC akjarchitects.com

Artisans Group artisansgroup.com Atelier Drome atelierdrome.com babienko ARCHITECTS pllc babienkoarchitects.com

BC&J Architecture bcandj.com BjarkoSerra Architects bjarkoserra.com Board & Vellum boardandvellum.com

Eggleston | Farkas Architects eggfarkarch.com First Lamp firstlamp.net Giulietti | Schouten AIA Architects gsarchitects.net

Hoshide Wanzer Architects hw-architects.com Janof Architecture janofarchitecture.com Johnston Architects johnstonarchitects.com

Openspace Architecture

openspacearchitecture.com Risa Boyer Architecture risaboyer.com RUF Project rufproject.com

Guggenheim Architecture + Design Studio guggenheimstudio.com H2D Architecture + Design h2darchitects.com Hacker hackerarchitects.com

KASA Architecture kasaarchitecture.com Lane Williams Architects lanewilliams.com Lindal Cedar Homes lindal.com

Scott | Edwards Architecture seallp.com SHKS Architects shksarchitects.com Stark Architecture starkarchitecture.com

Interiors

The following design firms are among the best in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. And they support GRAY’s effort to advance our vibrant design community. We are proud to call them our partners.

Take a look at these firms first for your next project. Visit their portfolios on graymag.com or link directly to their sites to learn more.

GATH Interior Design gathinteriordesign.com Hyde Evans Design hydeevansdesign.com

Marc Blackwell, This Life! marcblackwell.com Penny Black Interiors pennyblackinteriors.com Studio AM Architects studioamarchitects.com

BULLETIN

Goings-on in the world of design.

COURTESY THE ARTIST Anne Dessing, Chicago (2019).

Amsterdam-based architect Anne Dessing’s term as the 2018–19 Douglas A. Garofalo Fellow at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Architecture culminated in a series of divinely distorted drawings. Earlier this year, they were shown at the school in the exhibition “And then when I went to Chicago, that’s when I had these outer space experiences and went to the other planets.” (The title is a quote by Afrofuturism founder Sun Ra, whom Dessing reveres for showing how art and imagination can help people look beyond this world and into another.) Dessing, 34, made the drawings—seen on the opening page of each section of this issue—from photos she took of borders in the built environment: walls, doors, glass façades. By highlighting barriers in everyday life, she hopes to change how borders are perceived.