Partnering with hospitality designers Matthew Goodrich and Kendall Lowe
Design Within Reach, the largest retailer of authentic modern furniture and accessories in the world, is participating in DIFFA Dining by Design 2018, partnering with hospitality designers Matthew Goodrich and Kendall Lowe to create an installation that evokes a waking dream. Inspired by the writings and paintings of the Surrealists, and their theme of revelation through concealment, the exhibition invites viewers to look at iconic furniture designs with fresh eyes. The designers ask the question âIn concealing an iconic modern design, do we render it unrecognizable, or do we allow it to be seen in a new way?â
Design Within Reach has built a reputation on educating the consumer about design classics and 20th century greats. In the 20 years since its founding has become a destination for new designs and designers that carry on the spirit and ideals of the icons of modern design. The companyâs retail presence includes 35 Studios in North America, a call center in Connecticut and online at dwr.com. Its commercial division DWRC provides contract and hospitality clients with a single comprehensive project source for everything from furniture to lighting to accessories.
âHaving worked with DWR Contract on many projects in the past, weâve always tried to create new contexts for iconic pieces. Making familiar pieces look fresh and exciting is part of our job as hospitality designers, and we loved having the freedom to do that in this project, saysâ designer Matthew Goodrich.
The installation features a collection of classic chair designs ranging from 1859 to 2010, which were selected for their formal and structural similarities. âIn our work, we aspire to timelessness. When we use classic pieces, we always want to weave together elements of the past with aspects of the future. This blend keeps design from being frozen in time, and allows it to become relevant to the present,â says designer Kendall Lowe.
The group includes the Era Chair (1859) and Era Armchair (1859) by Michael Thonet, the Hoffmann Armchair (1925) and Hoffmann Side Chair by Josef Hoffmann, the Series 7 Chair (1955) by Arne Jacobsen, the Cherner Chair (1958) by Norman Cherner, and the Masters Chair (2010) by Phillipe Starck and Eugenie Quitllet. When placed side by side, these familiar designs speak to each other in new ways as the forms echo one another. Working with collaborator Kim Klein, each chair has been hand-painted and coated with resin to make the chair appear as if it is transforming into a liquid state.
âBentwood dining chairs by Thonet have been produced since the 1800âs, and are seen around the world in restaurants and cafes. We see them so often that they become almost invisibleâŠelements in an interior that we take for granted. Our idea was to surround them in mystery to make them visible again,â says Lowe.
In the exhibition, the altered chairs are draped with fabric, lit with raking light by collaborator BOLD, and surrounded with other draped objects. As the fabric moves, it alternately billows outwards â distorting the form â and clings inwards, highlighting the contours.
âDesign Within Reach has always advocated for the design integrity. These chairs are among the most copied modern furniture designs, so we wanted to bring new attention to the purity of the form and proportions of the original designs to help people to see them with fresh eyes,â comments Goodrich.
âWe are thrilled to collaborate with an incredibly talented team like Matthew and Kendall in support of a great cause,â says DWR CEO John Edelman. âBy bringing creative people together to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS crisis, solve problems, and build a better future, DIFFA shows us itâs possible to transform ideas into reality.â
About Design Within Reach, Inc.
Design Within Reach, Inc., founded in 1998 and headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, is the world leader in authentic modern design. The company sells its furniture and accessories to residential and commercial customers through retail Studios in North America, via the Web at dwr.com, by phone at 1.800.944.2233 and through the DWR Contract division at dwrcontract.com. Design Within Reach, Inc., is a subsidiary of Herman Miller, Inc.
Note: DIFFA Dining by Design is open for public viewing today and tomorrow at NYC’s Pier 92 (12th Avenue at 55th Street); and the Gala Dinner will be held Monday, Mar. 26, 6:30 â 10:30pm. For more information please visit https://diffa.org/dining-by-design/