Retrospective of the Future

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DAKOTA JACKSON

A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE FUTURE

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DAKOTA JACKSON

In a career spanning over four decades, Dakota Jackson has been one of the leading figures in American furniture design. Since the early seventies, when he emerged as a major contributor to the Art Furniture movement, each of his seminal designs has been a combination of exquisite craft, intriguing engineering, and original form.

Today, with the flagship showroom in New York, national and worldwide distribution, factories in the US and Asia, Dakota Jackson, Inc. makes furniture for the world’s finest residences, offices, hotels, educational facilities, and public institutions. Jackson’s multiple roles as creative director, chief designer, and chief executive officer ensure an ongoing visionary drive in a company whose rich history is based on innovation in the design, production, and sales of remarkable articles of furniture.

Born to a family of professional magicians, in an exotic world filled with escape artists, mind readers, and bullet catchers, Jackson grew up on the stage, where the focused discipline of the professional artist was instilled in him at a very early age. As a young man, he immersed himself in the minimalist dance and performance art scenes taking shape in the abandoned factory lofts of 1970s Soho. These experiences with illusion and spectacle have deeply informed his design sensibilities.

Noteworthy among his designs is the Library Chair™, first developed for architect James Ingo Freed’s San Francisco Public Library and currently in use in libraries across the country, including Harvard, NYU, Stanford, Cesar Pelli’s Minneapolis Public Library, the Santa Monica Public Library, the West Hollywood Public Library, and the Queens University Library in Belfast, Ireland.

In the mid 1970s Jackson’s focus turned to the development and advancement of the classic concert piano. A signature body of work grew out of these early experiments when in 1998 Steinway & Sons invited Jackson to design their Tricentennial Piano, an edition of 300 commemorating the 300th anniversary of the instrument’s invention. In 2013, Jackson and Steinway debuted the Arabesque Grand Concert Edition piano, which commemorates the 160th anniversary of the founding of Steinway & Sons. Dakota Jackson is continually commissioned to design and build one-of-a-kind instruments for a celebrated group of musicians and patrons. Jackson is currently working on the most acoustically-advanced upright piano, which is set to debut in 2016.

Dakota Jackson furniture can be found in the collections of the world’s leading museums, including The CooperHewitt National Design Museum, Germany’s Deutsches Architektur Museum, The Brooklyn Museum, New York’s Museum of Art and Design, The Chicago Athenaeum, and The London Design Museum.

A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE FUTURE

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The design process started with analysis of the gallery space; the dimensional values, existing structural columns, along with museum requirements. A rectilinear geometry was then established through studies of visitor circulation, proportional values of the space, and the needs of the exhibition. The devoted spaces then were addressed as an exterior patio space, a great room, and a private room.

DAKOTA JACKSON

Following this development was the designation of certain spaces within the geometry; dimensions were then determined through the pieces being displayed in each space. With the designation of spaces within this geometry, a platform developed and was elevated. With the establishment of a roof, each space was then enclosed; the private room walls consisted of a solid material while the great room was enclosed with glass panels.

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This transformation to a gallery pavilion then required further attention to the interior layout, visitor circulation, as well as materiality. The entry sequence and transition from the great room to the private room evolved with the creation of an opening; which also allowed for fusion of different materials within each space. An overhang was also extended out over the exterior patio space; this allowed for the main entry to be more pronounced.

DAKOTA JACKSON

An additional exterior patio space was then formed to develop a more fluid movement throughout the pavilion. Assisting this movement is the extension of the roof. A cut into the roof slab soon followed at the end of the pavilion; this element denotes an additional entrance onto the pavilion patio. The final transformation was the creation of fenestrations within the solid walls; which allows for the transmittal of light to the space, along with interior organizational opportunities.

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DJ The SCAD Museum of Art will be hosting an exhibition of Dakota Jackson in the fall of 2015. Within this gallery space will be a plethora of furniture pieces which both express Dakota Jackson’s pronounced design capabilities along with his desire to create innovative yet emotional furniture pieces. Along with furniture throughout the space, the visitor will be presented displays with instances of how a design transforms and progresses through a series of sketches and conceptual models. This exhibition will also offer great opportunity to peer into the life of Dakota Jackson and observe the settings in which he designs for. A centrally located pavilion will display settings of a grand room as well as a private room; all arranged with inspirational and personal belongings that portray how he lives and designs.

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DAKOTA JACKSON

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Geometry

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Entry Sequence

Great Room & Private Room

Light Entry

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Exterior Patio

Great Room

Private Room

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Exterior Patio

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Pavilion Section One

Pavilion Section Two A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE FUTURE

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West Interior Elevation

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DAKOTA JACKSON

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East Interior Elevation

North Interior Elevation A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE FUTURE

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DAKOTA JACKSON

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Matt Jarosz SCAD 2015