Past Exhibitions
Adapting Suburbs in 21st Century
May 7 through May 29, 2010
Adapting Suburbs in the Twenty First Century, an exhibition of select case studies featuring projects that represent “suburban retrofitting,” will show underperforming suburban sites throughout the United States that were transformed to new, more productive uses that are pedestrian-friendly and environmentally-sensitive. Many of the case studies featured can be found in Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs (John Wiley & Sons, 2009), co-authored by Ellen Dunham-Jones, AIA and June Williamson.
Tim Frank: Sense & Sustain-ability
March 26 through April 24, 2010
Working under the premise that an architect's primary responsibility is to make visible that which is invisible; the work within this exhibition examines how architecture is capable of revealing to its inhabitants the hidden sensibilities of place. Drawing from three recent projects the exhibition will demonstrate how carefully articulated design procedures such as testing, experimentation, and computational simulation can reveal the subtle interaction between body and landscape.
Press Contact: Suzanne Shaw, srshaw@mindspring.com
Objects of Desire — Making Beyond Representation
February 12 through March 13, 2010
Our mind creates wonders we can only imagine, technology allows for explorations beyond our imagination. This exhibition explores the process of creation through computer-adapted design and technologically aided process of making. Objects convinced in the mind were explored virtually and then brought to life through fabrication using computer-aided technology.
Objects of Desire seeks to display a collection of work by various individuals that used the computer as a way to conceive beyond the world of representation. Technology allows for the process of digital fabrication, methods enabling the production of physical objects directly from digital models, allowing for new forms and aesthetics previously unconceivable.
Works exhibited were all part of architectural experimentation in spatial interaction developed over time at GaTech - College of Architecture. Participants were asked to evoke a parallelism between the perception of the individual and the perceived object. Within each piece presented issues of topology, structure, pattern, fabrication, detailing, and many others are essential considerations that evoked the design.
Special thanks to the GA Tech College of Architecture and to Advance Wood Products Lab (AWPL).
Marcel Breuer: Design and Architecture
Designer and architect Marcel Breuer (1902-1981) is considered the inventor of tubular style furniture and one of the 20th century's leading designers. Born and raised in Hungary, Breuer headed up the furniture workshop at the Bauhaus from 1925 to 1928, where he produced a number of furniture pieces, including the classic Wassily club chair that brought him international fame. His second career as an architect began when Breuer immigrated to the United States in 1937. His buildings were recognized the world over in the 1950's and 1960's for their unique character and flourishes of modernism. This exhibition pays homage and brings to light the many contributions Breuer brought to both furniture design and architecture, and it does so in the last building Breuer designed. The Atlanta-Fulton Public Library was dedicated in 1980, just a year before Breuer passed away.
EMERGING VOICES 2009
September 25 to October 3, 2009
The Museum of Design Atlanta's (MODA) Emerging Voices 2009 showcased the masterful design work of young Atlanta architects. Winning entries from The Young Architects Forum (YAF) of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Atlanta Chapter's architectural design competition (bldgs, Rutledge Alcock Architects, and Nodus) and the winner and entries of the first AIA Atlanta 48-Hour Design Competition were displayed.
About Emerging Voices
Emerging Voices is an annual portfolio based competition established by Atlanta's Young Architects Forum (YAF: ATL) and the AIA Atlanta Chapter, highlighting exemplary work of young architects and designers in Atlanta today. Projects of all types, theoretical or real, built or unbuilt, are welcome.
Emerging Voices has a mission to recognize works of high quality at the early stages of one's career and provide a public forum for its exhibition. The competition rewards emerging professionals who are striving to practice their craft and considering the peculiarities of a specific geographic environment: Atlanta. Emerging Voices has established a record of accomplishment among architects in Atlanta as the singular, local competition that identifies a bright new spot on the metropolitan design scene.
SHAPING SHADOWS: CONTEMPORARY ICHIYO IKEBANA
August 18 to 22, 2009
"A flower's expression changes with different environments and depending on each expression the surrounding atmosphere also changes."
Akihiro Kasuya, Headmaster of the Ichiyo School in Japan
Shaping Shadows was presented by the Atlanta Chapter of the Ichiyo school of Ikebana. The week-long exhibition showcased contemporary ikebana-Japanese floral art and design. Ichiyo styles add new interest to traditional asymmetrical forms of ikebana through a strong emphasis on modern and creative three-dimensional designs which harmonizes with various spaces in our living environment. Shadows were given significance in this exhibit for added artistic impact.
The goal of the ikebana artist is to communicate an idea, thought, or feeling through creative form. This requires an understanding of the characteristics of nature, a sense of imagination, and the technical knowledge to transform these features into artistic form with rhythm, balance and harmony. The higher the level of artistic expression, the greater the encounter between nature, the flower arranger, and those who view the arrangement. Thus, ikebana is an art of personal enrichment and an art to be shared and interpreted by others according to their own individual imagination and experience.
Curators: The Atlanta chapter of the Ichiyo School of Ikebana is under the direction of Executive Master Elaine Jo.
THE GRAPHIC IMPERATIVE: INTERNATIONAL POSTERS FOR PEACE, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE ENVIRONMENT 1965-2005
May 19 to August 08, 2009
The poster is the prime field for experimenting with visual language; it is the scene of changing ideas and aesthetics, of cultural, social and political events. Pierre Bernard, French designer
Every movement for social change in the past hundred years has begun with the arts. Theatre, poetry, music and posters have been central, but political and social posters in particular, are living reminders of struggles for peace and justice. Whether they communicate, exhort, persuade, instruct, celebrate, or warn, graphic posters still jar us to action through bold messages and striking iconography.
The Graphic Imperative is an exhibition of international sociopolitical posters that stir our emotions yet cause us to reflect. The exhibition of examples of Agitprop provides a window to an age of change, utilizing the power of visual metaphor and at times, savage irony and humor. Themes from the past four decades include dissent, liberation, racism, sexism, human rights, civil rights, environmental concerns, AIDS, war, literacy and tolerance.
The Graphic Imperative is perhaps the first poster exhibition that offers the public a chance to savor and compare a magnificent body of powerful messages, a seamless blend of text and image.
Authors & Curators:
Elizabeth Resnick, Associate Professor, Communication Design
Massachusetts College of Art + Design, Boston, MA
Chaz Maviyane-Davies, Professor, Communication Design
Massachusetts College of Art + Design, Boston, MA
Frank Baseman, Associate Professor, Graphic Design Communication
Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, PA
IN THE BAG
February 5 to May 2, 2009
The handbag plays such an important role in our society, and yet many people are unaware of the process that goes into its design. With In The Bag, viewers will understand that process and-hopefully-recognize these bags as the works of art that they are.
Kevin Knaus, Exhibition Curator
In the Bag explored the origin, evolution and design of the handbag. Curated by Atlantans Clint Zeagler and Kevin Knaus, the exhibition took visitors from "design to delivery" of the handbag, showcasing top bags from the Friends and Sex and the City sets and from both local and leading designers, including Hermes and Oscar de la Renta among others. The exhibition emphasized the development and construction of different handbags and highlighted the handbag's emotional significance, iconic status and societal role.
The exhibit concludes with handbags designed by students in the Master of Accessories Design programs from the Domus Academy in Milan, Italy, and the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia.
Sponsors: Atlanta Magazine, YKK Zippers, American Tanning & Leather Co., Lee's Signs and the Savannah College of Art and Design
MADE IN GA
June 5 to September 27, 2008
This exhibition was curated by Carie Davis, Design Manager for Coca-Cola & President of IDSA Atlanta and is in conjunction with the Industrial Design department at Georgia Tech. Building off the success of Japanese Design Today, Raymond Loewy: Designs for a Consumer Culture and Design at Play: The High Design of Cartoon Network, MODA's most popular product design-based exhibitions, MADE in GA will look close to home and feature contemporary product design that has its roots in Georgia.
Including the work of freelance designers and consulting firms as well as corporations and design schools, MADE in GA highlighted the myriad of product design that originates in our home state. This exhibition took visitors inside the world of the industrial designer, and demonstrated the processes and importance of industrial design. MADE IN GA featured design concepts, works-in-progress, final designs and off-the-shelf products. The audience was exposed to the processes via concept sketches, renderings, study models, prototypes, digital models, and marketable products. The products showcased came from Georgia's varied industries that utilize industrial designer's skills.
The breadth of the exhibition demonstrated the versatility and importance of industrial design. Product examples featured in MADE IN GA further demonstrated industrial design's role in social, environmental and economic issues and inspire consumers to think critically about the products they buy and the manner in which they are produced.
Exhibit