e.11 ‘21
// a.gruppo architects photo: thad reeves aia
LIGHTS
P R FANTASTIC O
LIGHTS
P R FANTASTIC O
LIGHTS
P R FANTASTIC O
LIGHTS
P R FANTASTIC O
THIS IS THE
FUTURE WE’VE CREATED A NEW TYPE OF SHOWROOM THAT RE-IMAGINES YOUR PERCEPTION OF HOW YOU USE AND VIEW LIGHTING. As technology transforms what’s possible with lighting, Lights Fantastic Pro helps you imagine lighting that enhances your environment like never before. We Help architects, designers, builders and visionaries tap into The Power of Lighting.
lightsfantasticpro.com DALLAS
LEWISVILLE
HOUSTON
AUSTIN
4645 Greenville Ave
2525 E. State Hwy 121
4205 Pinemont Dr
7532 Burnet Ave
1019 Dragon Street | Dallas | Design District | 214.350.0542 | www.sminkinc.com
discovering ideas
by Betsy Lewis
// laman residence photo: dror baldinger, aia architectural photography, mark menjivar photographer
// groveland house - craig kuhner architectural photography
For anyone who misses the halcyon days of graduate school, you can get a lot of satisfaction from a half-hour Zoom interview with Thad Reeves, one of A.Gruppo’s two co-founders and a former teacher at the University of Texas at Arlington College of Architecture, Planning, and Public Affairs. “Ideas aren’t new, so as you’re traveling through Italy or anywhere in Europe, you see solutions from fantastic architects who worked 500 years ago,” says Reeves, the head of A.Gruppo’s Dallas office. “They did things in a certain way that might be an applicable
solution, but in a different way. So it’s really about discovering ideas—that’s what architecture’s about.” A.Gruppo’s philosophy invites collaboration among different builders, designers, and clients, with Reeves and fellow co-founder Andrew Nance, head of the San Marcos office, as its structural core. Although A.Gruppo is a design-build architecture firm, Reeves says clients are not required to work in any certain way, but the firm does avoid service work. “Max Levy (of Max Levy Architects)
// aldwick residence - charles davis smith faia architectural photography
told me this one time—he said, ‘You want to work with clients who want to work with an architect, not clients that have to work with an architect.’” Most of the firm’s projects still fall under the design and build heading. “We like that it gives us a level of control over the budget and the project,” Reeves explains. “But we also like working with great builders and contractors as well.” And how did it all begin? Reeves and Nance met in architecture school in the early 90s, but took separate paths
after graduation. A decade or so later, they were both back in Texas and moonlighting together on side projects. By 2005, A.Gruppo had become a working office, but not quite in the brick and mortar sense. “I was working at TKTR architects, and I left there to do development work,” Reeves recalls. “I bought a couple of old buildings. renovated them, and sold them, so I wasn’t in an office at the time. Andy had moved to San Marcos because his wife Michelle, who is a dancer and teacher, was offered a fulltime position at Texas State. So from the very beginning,
// aldwick residence - charles davis smith faia architectural photography
// marek architecture
// 16 vanguard way photo: thad reeves aia
we’ve been virtual. We’ve never actually worked together in the same town.” When I pronounce “A.Gruppo” with a terrible cartoonItalian inflection—think Bill Hader’s Vinny Vedecci character from Saturday Night Live—Reeves kindly corrects me with a straightforward phonetic long A, followed by “GROUP-oh.” (And for the record, the H in
“Thad” is pronounced.) The story behind the firm’s name indeed begins in Italy, but rather than a hipster fiction invented for coy marketing campaigns and cheeky social media posts, this tall tale is true, riveting, and rich with meaning. During World War II, Nance’s Florentine grandmother helped smuggle paintings by the Italian masters out of the Uffizi Gallery, across the Ponte Vecchio, and into the Pitti Palace at the Boboli Gardens to hide them
// bley sleeping house - craig kuhner architectural photography
HAPPY HOL /DAYS
// ooswouder residence - dror baldinger, aia architectural photography
from the Nazis. After meeting Nance’s grandfather, the heroic young war bride moved from Florence to Midland, Texas. “A really neat lady,” Reeves adds. “We started as a collaborative, a group; the Italian spelling is a nod to Andy’s grandmother.” Italy is also a favorite travel destination for Reeves, with historical architecture holding an unsurprising allure for
the architect. His favorite building in Europe is in Verona — the Castelvecchio by Carlo Scarpa. Now a museum, the Castelvecchio was built as a military fortress in the Middle Ages, and serves as one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture. “Castelvecchio is a masterwork,” Reeves says. “There’s also an architect and builder named Eduardo Souto de Moura , who did a little gallery space called Casa das Artes that I remember seeing as a
// ooswouder residence - dror baldinger, aia architectural photography
// ooswouder residence - dror baldinger, aia architectural photography
// 17 vanguard way - charles davis smith faia architectural photography
student. It was an a-ha moment; things don’t have to be complicated, they can be simple and elegant. That was something learned.”
solving. That’s one of the things we learn from traveling— how to engage in a variety of problems and come up with interesting solutions.”
Reeves carries those lessons back to Texas and his A. Gruppo collaborations. “There’s a consistency to our work, but ours is more solution-based and client-based. It’s about the site, the relationship, and the problem you’re
And Reeves’ favorite building in Texas? “You have to say the Kimbell,” he admits. “That’s one of the best buildings in the world. I gravitate towards work that has a permanence to it. It’s not about age, it’s about materiality.”
// 17 vanguard way - charles davis smith faia architectural photography
// 17 vanguard way - charles davis smith faia architectural photography
// 17 vanguard way - charles davis smith faia architectural photography
The counterbalance to that permanence is, of course, technology’s ever-marching progress, a constant redefining of the design-build process. “When I was in school, computers were just coming online,” Reeves says. “There was still a bridge between the hand-drawn world and the computer world. In the context of work in Dallas, having
people like Renzo Piano, Rem Koolhaas, and Norman Foster do amazing buildings in the Arts District upped the game for everyone; it educated clients and the public about possibilities. I will also say that you cannot underestimate the power of Dwell magazine. It made design accessible to people.”
// 17 vanguard way - charles davis smith faia architectural photography
And though architecture’s place in the artistic pantheon may be primarily spatial, the toughest part of Reeves’ job is finding enough hours to take the A.Gruppo magic from collaborative concept to brick-and-mortar reality. “The design process takes time,” he says. “When it’s about ideas and relationships, architecture takes time.” // agruppo.com
// patty carroll, pride home, 2021 - pdnb gallery
by Kendall Morgan
DOMESTIC DISTURBANCES+ DOCUMENTARY NOW!
// bill owens, i enjoy giving a tupperware party in my house, 1971
Photographers Patty Carroll and Bill Owens take on mid-century suburbia at Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery. Patty Carroll has built a career on encapsulating the woes of womanhood in a way that is eye-popping, amusing, and thought-provoking—all at the same time. In the Chicagobased photographer’s current show “Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise,” incognito babes collapse among the bric-a-brac of elegant living rooms, are sucked into the stove of their dream kitchen, or blend into the curtains.
“It’s called anonymous because it’s kind of this theatrical narrative of a woman in her home going through her various objects and activities and being completely undone by them,” Carroll explains of the series, which she has been adding to since the early 2000s. “My early work was all out in the world because when you’re a young photographer, all you want to do is go out and see the world. But then, as we get older and move around, all I want to do is go home and think about what home is. This is all about what home is to me and
// patty carroll, jello mellow?, 2021- pdnb gallery
Sometimes showing off is the right thing to do.
NEW Echo showcase designed by Marcel Wanders - on display at our showroom.
Dallas 1617 Hi Line Dr. Ste. 100
214.748.9838 Austin 2120 E. 7th St. Ste. 100 512.480.0436
scottcooner.com
// patty carroll, panther, 2020
women. What it means to us and how we relate to it and experience it.” The photographer came to her approach in an organic way. After earning a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois, she graduated from the Institute of Design at IIT Chicago with a Master of Science in photography. Although she immediately began teaching the art post-graduation, she still found herself being mansplained to by clerks at photo supply shops.
“I’d say I want (a kind) of paper, and they’d say, ‘No, you don’t. I’m sure you’re just a weekend photographer.’ I had to argue with these guys. I was the only woman in my graduating class of about 12, and every year there was just one woman. It was just bizarre. When you grow up with that, you’re thinking, ‘I’m fighting for this,’ but when you go to art school now, you see all women, so maybe we’ve moved into some other phase.” Carroll kept up her practice while teaching at the School
// patty carroll, newsie, 2018
of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College, and the Royal College of Art in London. The genesis of “Anonymous Women” was inspired by the invisibility she felt while living abroad. “We lived in London for four years, and everyone knew me as Mrs. Jones rather than as a professional teacher or photographer. I was only known through my domestic status, which was kind of a shocking thing for me. It made me start thinking about how all women are seen that way.” Upon moving back to her hometown, she began staging mannequins behind cloth so that their identity would
be defined only by their domestic space. Conveniently, friends who owned a drapery shop had fabulous patterns to lend. Carroll‘s renovation of a mid-century ranch house—the dream home she never possessed as a child—also influenced the way she shot. “The whole thing is about this woman being engulfed basically in her stuff and all these mid-century references, which is when I grew up. This house was going to be the ideal house I never had as a kid in real life, but then it just grew into the pictures, and they developed from the drapery into a more constructive thing and became more narrative.”
// patty carroll, cooking the goose, 2017
// patty carroll, mad mauve, 2018
First, Carroll sketches a loose idea out in her notebook. Then she begins to construct her hyper-saturated sets inspired around a theme or title. Props are resourced from her collection of knickknacks or found at antique or thrift stores, where they return once she’s done. Each set takes months to complete before she captures the final results over several days of shooting. “Rogue Gallery,” the new figure ofnew a woman is 2006 silhouetted // In michael kenna, fifth avenue, york, york, USA,
in front of a collective of cutouts of ex-boyfriends, while “Jello Mellow” highlights the fear and loathing hiding behind the scenes of any dinner party. It isn’t any wonder that, during the show’s midday meet-and-greet, a viewer was inspired to comment, “This one makes me want to know this woman’s story!” Having published a monograph of some of her earlier work from the series, Carroll muses she may finally be
Engage Educate Experience Enjoy
The Dallas Architecture Forum is for everyone who wants to experience inspired design. The Forum presents an award-winning Lecture Series that brings outstanding architects,interior designers, landscape architects and urban planners from around the world, as well as Symposia, Receptions at architecturally significant residences, and Panel Discussions on issues impacting North Texas.
dallasarchitectureforum.org
// bill owens, regan on t.v., 1971
near completion of her adventures in domesticity. But then again, there is always another angle to explore. “I was talking earlier with (exhibition mate) Bill Owens. He’s got pictures with Tupperware, and I was like, ‘Damn, I haven’t done a Tupperware picture,’ so I’m not done yet!” DOCUMENTARY NOW! No photographer has captured the American dream—or
the demise of it—quite like Bill Owens. The 83-year-old photographic icon’s images portray everything from suburbanites living high on the hog to Hell’s Angels rioting at the Rolling Stones’ concert at Altamont. Yet Owens remains as dazzled by the ephemera of modern life as he was when he first picked up a camera. 1996 When stationed//inpaolo theroversi Peace- audrey, Corpsparis in Montego Bay, Jamaica, the budding artist first found himself drawn to the art.
// bill owens, richie, 1971
“They send photographer volunteers around the world, and when they came to do a picture of (his then-wife) Janet, as soon as I saw what he was doing, I said, ‘I wanted to be a photographer.’ The volunteer had a very, very old Leica with a hole in the shutter, so I took shoe polish and put it in the hole, and started taking pictures. I soon found out I had a knack for it.” After a year of snapping his village surroundings, he mounted his first show in nearby Kingston. Upon his return to the U.S., Owens enrolled at San Francisco State College at the height of the Vietnam War. Because he had a growing family, he eventually had to get a “real job,” landing a gig at a small newspaper in Livermore, California. Owens photographed everything from women’s clubs to local mayoral races to kids hanging around a baseball diamond with six to ten assignments on the docket per day. The novelty of modern suburbia gave him the impetus to record this prosperous moment in middle-class America through a critical—if never caustic—eye.
// bill owens, we’re really happy. our kids are healthy, we eat good food, and we have a really nice home, 1971
// bill owens, our house is built with the living room in the back, so in the evenings, we sit out front of the garage and watch the traffic go by, 1971
“Every day I’m out in suburbia, I just go through culture shock of what people have accumulated,” he recalls. “I just wanted to show how affluent and rich America is. You’ll never find culture driving around—it goes on behind closed doors, in office buildings and convention centers and weddings.” The resultant images became the iconic 1971 book
“Suburbia”—also the title of Owen’s current show at Photographs Do Not Bend. Considered one of the most important photobooks ever produced, “Suburbia”—now celebrating its 50th anniversary—stands head and shoulders over similar imagery because of Owen’s facility in storytelling. When editing the book, he realized he needed photo releases, which prompted him to return to his subjects, garnering pithy quotes about the ups and downs of ordinary life.
// // bill owens, my dad thinks it’s a good idea, 1971
“When I asked for the quotes, they just jumped off the pages. They’re the opposite of what your stereotypical minds would say about an image. For example, a couple with a white Trans Am talk about their vegetable garden! I wanted to let the people in the photo speak for themselves, and that’s what really gave the book a different view.” Over the years, “Suburbia” has been influential enough to inspire many photographers and filmmakers— perhaps most notably Sofia Coppola, who borrowed heavily from its iconography to craft the visuals in her 1999 classic “The Virgin Suicides.” Yet despite the success of the book and its follow-ups “Our Kind of People,” “Working,” and “Leisure,” (not to mention two National Endowment for the Arts grants), Owens found himself competing with the likes of Annie Leibowitz for jobs—and coming up short. “I had a wife and kids, so I didn’t move to New York and get famous. I was one of the first photographers in Rolling Stone. She sure beat me to the draw, and it made her rich and famous.” Always a Renaissance man, Owens eventually pivoted into opening the first craft brewpub in America before
// bill owens, christina’s room, 1971
launching the American Distilling Institute in 2003. Today, he might be recognized more in the whiskey world than the photography world. However, he still hones his documentarian’s eye, sharing snaps he takes with his iPhone in the Institute’s newsletter, devouring newspapers, and writing poetry and fiction on the side. “When we have (ADI) conferences with 2,000 people, every once in a while, someone will come up to me and say, ‘Are you Bill Owens?’” he says of his accomplished
yet under-the-radar status. “I always reply, ‘Oh, you went to art school!’ I had a Guggenheim and seven books, but no one cares. To make a documentary shot was my goal, and I was able to carry it off a few times. It’s very important to have curiosity—a lot of people don’t.” Patty Carroll: “Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise,” and Bill Owens “Suburbia” will be on view through February 12, 2022. // pdnbgallery.com
MODERN SPACES
4205 Buena Vista St #301 // $7,000,000 FAISAL HALUM c: 214.240.2575 fhalum@briggsfreeman.com
2525 N Pearl Street #1401 // $3,289,000 TRICIA WEINER c. 214.535.1405 tricia@daveperrymiller.com
3714 Highgrove Dr // $1,195,000 MATT SCOBEE c. 214.402.8935 matt@iconicres.com
3111 Welborn St #1404 // $2,695,000 MISSY WOEHR + ILENE CHRIST c: 214.213.9455 missy.ilene@compass.com
BOW
WOW HAUS
by H. Haberman
Ever wonder what happens when you ask architects to design a dog or cat habitat? Well if you go to Northpark Center this week you can find out! Bark & Build is a yearly competition bringing contractors and architects together to benefit the ASPCA. The American Institute of Architects - Dallas Chapter and TEXO Contractors Association team up to design and build stylish canine and feline condos and not only is it a judged competition, but you can take one home to make your pet the envy of the neighborhood.
Not only can you feel good about having a high-concept designed dog or cat condo, but one that is made using local, responsibly sourced materials that embrace sustainable practices in both design and construction. It’s a win-win for designers and buyers and anyone who wants to see the kinds of flights of fancy these architects and contractors can come up with. The categories for entries vary by purpose, size and jury judgement.
“fine mid century and modern design”
sit tight 1980’s sectional by milo baughman for thayer coggin
New York 200 Lexington #1059 New York, NY 10016
Dallas 1216 N.Riverfront Blvd Dallas,TX75207
circa20c.com
Dog Spa(w) The Dog Spa(w) lets your four-legged friend lounge in style during the dog days of summer through careful, historically informed, design choices. Throw open the corner doors of the Spa(w) and let the wind pass through, all while the ‘windcatcher’ up top pulls down cooling breezes. If that August heat is still too much, plop down on the cool stone pads of the paw; if the weather’s fine, there’s always the integrated dog bed. Taking design inspiration from the sustainable Japanese wood
preservation technique of Shou Sugi Ban, the dark wood exterior is easy on the eyes and provides all-weather durability that will last into your dog’s golden years. Plus, with the detachable roof that allows for easy cleaning, you and your pet can relax in style for years to come! Design Firm - GFF Architects Construction Firm - AEC
CADDALLAS.ORG 2020 MEMBERS 500X Gallery Carneal Simmons Contemporary Art Conduit Gallery Craighead Green Gallery Cris Worley Fine Arts Erin Cluley Gallery Galleri Urbane Marfa+Dallas Holly Johnson Gallery Kirk Hopper Fine Art PDNB Gallery RO2 Art Talley Dunn Gallery Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden
Pup Pod The Pup Pod is a playful shelter for our canine companions. The arched form allows for easy access in or out at both sides, always providing a room with a view, plus food and water at paws length. Holes on two sides function both as ventilation and, with wooden pegs, as a spot to hang the pup’s favorite yard toys. The simple form and use of
color make the Pup Pod a pleasant experience for canine and human alike. Design Firm - BOKA Powell Construction Firm - Manhattan Construction Company
Dogohedron The form is inspired by a polyhedron shaped dog toy that serves as an art piece. It allows air flow and natural light intrusion via abstract perforations on inverse sides. Interior colors were consciously selected to fall within a dog’s color spectrum of visible light.
The home creates a safe, comfortable, and appropriately scaled dwelling space as a temporary dog retreat. Category - Teacup Pup Design Firm - TBG Partners Construction Firm - Hill & Wilkinson
mod.artists gallery
alexis serio | sailors’ delight, oil on canvas | 18.5 x 20.25 in
Døghüt follows a flat-pack approach with a goal to provide an affordable, sustainable and modern DIY dog house. The simplicity of the material and template allows you to have it printed in any local CNC shop. Once you follow the easy instructions, the whimsy, minimalistic profile lets you modify the form and configuration to your dog’s needs. Simply pull out the bench to create an extra playful step for your dog to jump on the roof. Døghüt is so flexible that it can travel with you from small road trips all the way to a new house! Design Firm - HDR Architects Construction Firm - DPR Construction
// photo: shoot2sell
TACO
// rock, paper, scissors, shoot! - hdr architecture photo: charles davis smith photographer
Døghüt 2.0
TACO is a cozy den for the pampered pooch. The curving form wraps your pup in comforting walls and good vibes. Designed for our smallest furry friends, TACO provides a snug hideaway for your pup to relax. Design Firm - E4H Architecture Construction Firm - Skiles Group
// photo: barry snidow
view all the entrants and donate to the spca of texas >> dallasbarknbuild.org
modern
cravings // roger, its eclectic character makes it capable of intercepting a variety of taste categories, design by rodolfo dordoni available. smink
// mini green eco-friendly decoration spruce tree lovi available. nasher
// building bridges menorah as a visual representation of the bridging of beliefs and understanding available. lauracowan
your modern
calendar
Modern events and activities make for fun around the Metroplex. WALKING TOURS Discover the Arts District + Explore the Main Street District Ad Ex
CIARA ELLE BRYANT The MAC
THE BOOK SMUGGLERS Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum
BETYE SAAR Nasher Sculpture Center
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT Dallas Museum Of Art
CAROLYN BROWN Crow Museum Of Asian Art
ANILA QUAYYUM AGHA + SCOTT & STUART GENTLING Amon Carter Museum Of Art
MODERN LIGHTS The Modern Art Museum
modern
art galleries
Modern art, exhibits, around the Metroplex. MARY VERNON Valley House Gallery
THERESA CHONG Holly Johnson Gallery
DAVID BATES Talley Dunn Gallery
HEYD FONTENOT + W. TUCKER Conduit Gallery
SIMEEN FARHAT + CHARLOTTE SMITH Cris Worley Fine Arts
ANNE WALLACE + ERIC AVERY Kirk Hopper Fine Art
CHONG CHU + KENDA NORTH + DANNA RUTH HARVEY Craighead Green Gallery
JEREMY BIGGERS 500X Gallery
CANDACE HICKS + BUMIN KIM + ERICA STEPHENS + EDGAR CANO ro2art