DESIGNWIRE

from Interior Design September 2021

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all together now

“We tackle difficult issues,but we use joy and play to bring people to the table,”

is how architect Bryony Roberts recently described her practice, which focuses on immersive community-based work in the public realm. A current example of her approach isOutside the Lines, an outdoor installation at and commissioned by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. The concept began with Roberts’s desire to create a participatory environment that’s accessible by all. Part of her early design process entailed conducting interviews with individuals who have physical, developmental, and/or intellectual disabilities, and those discussions informed the project’s appearance and layout. For instance, bright, contrasting colors are helpful in navigating spaces for people with impaired vision, and are often appealing to children, but, if too saturated, can be overstimulating for those with autism spectrum disorders. So, for the 2,600 strands of heavyweight polypropylene bolted to a 70-foot-long steel structure, Roberts chose a subtle range of light yellow, peach, and rose. The strips, which are fluid and overlap to create interesting lines, form enclosures, also suited to all: “a social zone toward the center,” Roberts explains, “and quieter spaces at the outer edges for individual relaxation.”

designwire fête in philly

Clockwise from above: An exhibition of design work by Erwan and Ronan Bouroullec is at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from November 20 to May 30, 2022. Their Fleurs and Erkkeri vases for Iittala; model for Le Belvédère, a building in Rennes, France; Lighthouse table lamp for Established & Sons; and Clouds (370) in wool for Kvadrat. This fall, the Fairmount neighborhood in the City of Brotherly Love will have a decidedly French flair. That’s when “Circus: Bouroullec Designs” bows at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, fittingly displaying the oeuvre of Paris-based frères Erwan and Ronan. The exhibition is a complete gallery environment meticulously planned by Studio Bouroullec to include approximately 40 of its projects—from furniture and lighting to entire buildings—mostly conceived and created in the last decade. Of particular note will be a large-scale installation of Clouds, originally designed in 2006 for Kvadrat’s Stockholm showroom, then later introduced as an acoustical textile system, as well as new Bloc ceramic bricks for Mutina and architectural models. As for the show’s title, it’s derived from Ronan likening the studio’s output to circus animals or performers, and the exhibit being a parade of them; he is scheduled to be at this circus in November to receive the museum’s prestigious Collab Design Excellence Award being presented to both Bouroullecs.

Residents ofand visitors to Texas looking for global inspiration should head over to Dallas Contemporary, where four exhibitions by different artists from around the world are simultaneously opening this month. There is Shilpa Gupta from Mumbai, India, Russia’s Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, and Mexicanborn, Montrealbased Renata Morales. The fourth is New Yorker Peter Halley, whose “Cell Grids” is the neoconceptualist’s first exhibit at this institution. The 18 largescale works, four making their public debut, continue his exploration into the organization of social space in inside the box the digital era, using his same three elements— what he calls “prisons,” “cells,” and “conduits”—arrayed in syncopated grids of multiple boltedtogether canvases coated in acrylic, fluorescent, and textured RollaTex paints. Reaching

as high as 7 feet, the pieces’ luminous colors coupled with their rough surfaces, Dallas Contemporary executive director Peter Doroshenko says, “create a tension between attraction and repulsion.”

Clockwise from bottom: Peter Halley’s solo exhibition “Cell Grids” is at Dallas Contemporary from September 25 to February 13, 2022. His Close, The Choice, and Bright, which measures 86.5 by 72 inches.