Designing the 21st Century

The Nakashima Foundation for Peace maintains the architecture and furniture collection which American-Japanese woodworker and architect George Nakashima created and built in New Hope, Pennsylvania. It is one of the most personal and memorable places I have ever visited: apowerful representation of Nakashima’s personal and design vision and of his life story.Now that the foundation has a special mission—to preserve the family home, a National Historic Landmark recognizedfor its innovative design and craftsmanship—I have invited Nakashima’s daughter Mira, now the creative director of the George Nakashima Woodworker, to learn about the legacy of her father, about the greatness of his design, and about theplan to restore the house. Nakashima built it in the 1940s, and it reflects his philosophy about integrating modernism with traditional Japanese principles, and his vision regarding woodworking and craftsmanship. Today, the Family Houseurgently needs help. Thanks to grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Foundation has a comprehensive preservation plan that outlines the work needed to stabilize this important historical House. 

My guest today has created some of the most beautiful houses in America. Perhaps I am biased, because if I ever build my own house, I know that Tom Kundig will design it. If he agrees Over the course of his four-decade career, he has built museums, wineries, universities, foundations, retail andcommercial buildings. But the touchstone of his work, and for what he became known, is the single-family house. His houses reflect his passion for the mountains, for the natural world, and for fine art. The private house to him, reflectthe sense of humanity in architecture.If to Le Corbusier the house was a machine to live in, toTom Kundig the house is a sculpture to live in and a place to experiment. His houses are also strongly connected to the landscape and to the surrounding nature in the most organic way, whether it is in an urban fabric or a house in the countryside. Urban or rural, his houses are a reflection of their place.Now that his new and comprehensive monograph—the definitive collection of his 462 residential works —has been published, it is time to explore what makes Tom Kundig’s houses so magical, memorable, and beautiful.

In recent years, there has been a great emphasis on the supreme beauty and quality of the handmade in contemporary design. I am confident that we are currently at the heights of a craft movement and it carries a particular 21st century identity, which combines traditional fabrications of craftsmanship with methods rooted in new technologies and materials. It is no longer a secret that bronze, which was largely absent from contemporary design in the years leading to the end of the past century, has taken a key role in contemporary design like no other time in history, with much of it being fabricated in Italy.Osanna Visconti, my guest today, has become the ambassador of Italian bronze in contemporary design. Working in Milan, she has made cast bronze her sole tool. Now that her work is exhibited at Maison Gerard in New York, the time has come to explore her incredible vocabulary by journeying from jewelry to furniture design; or, as she calls it, “jewelry for the home.”Her furniture has personality, and her objects have the power to transform contemporary spaces, making them a favorite among interior designers today. Visconti's pieces are rooted in the natural world as she regularly collects leaves, branches, and flowers, turning them into the primary subjects of her bronze objects.

Sebastian Errazuriz is an artist and activist who celebrates design’s presence in every part of our life. He works with many disciplines. He is a craftsman, thinker, and creator who makes beautiful objects and fun things but also making provocative statements. His work is bold, ambitious, and experimental, touching on his own personal experience while connecting to the spirit of the age. It is always surprising, unexpected, and exciting, and if you know how to read it, you will discover layers and layers of meanings. They include themes of morality, religion, political and social statements, and the discovery of design as an agent of change.   To Sebastian, design is a means of communication, questioning, and as a way to engage with the world. He is a brilliant storyteller, and today I am having him as my guest to speak about those stories and about how he conveys them in social media.   While the world of design is currently struggling with the changing modes of Instagram, wandering between reels and posts, and navigating between AI and the authentic while questioning what makes Instagram influencers successful, it seems that he found the right formula.

I am a long-time admirer of the work of architecture firm Sawyer Berson because I can see myself living in every one of the houses they create—every apartment, every interior, and every garden. Their homes, whether modernist, Federal, or traditional, are always so airy, beautiful, chic, and inviting. They are dazzling in their elegance as they make your heart drop, because Sawyer Berson have mastered all fields of architecture. Their homes are thoroughly researched, beautifully executed, and meticulously furnished to the smallest detail, with landscapes that are simply divine. They have famously created homes for stars, but it is lesser known that they have also built community gardens for Bette Midler’s NY Restoration Project and the kitchen garden for the God’s Love We Deliver which provides meals for the needy. Brian Sawyer, co-founder of the firm, is my guest today. He received his Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Virgina and worked with the Central Park Conservancy in restoration projects before joining Robert AM Stern, rising to the head of the landscape architecture department.

The design world has lost one of its most important and brilliant legends. Gaetano Pesce died last month at 84, leaving an enormous legacy behind. During his six-decade career, he held a special position in contemporary art and design; always remaining provocative, surprising, and interesting. He was an architect by training, but devoted his life and career to design, creating innovative furniture and objects that were at times eccentric, at times radical, and always colorful. They may appear to be playful and whimsical at first, but if you know how to read them, you’ll find that they are filled with social, political, and contemporary narratives. Participating: Marc Benda and Sara di Gangi. Follow Daniella Ohad: Facebook Instagram

Have you ever asked yourself what is the lifespan of furniture copyright? Whether design objects are protected as intellectual property? As the market becomes flooded with copies and fakes, and the web is filled with design masterpieces of the past, poorly produced and sold inexpensively, this question has become more and more relevant. Mark Masiello knows the answer. He founded a company called Form Portfolios and its mission is to preserve, guard, and advance furniture through licensed reeditions.

Frank Gehry, the architect we all love to love. Even since he completed his Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in 1997, Gehry became a favorite architect by everyone. By the public, by architects, and by the architecture criticism community, a true celebrity, who turned architecture into popular enterprise, and at 70, Gehry launched a second and super successful chapter of his long career, the leading architect of the millennium. Jean-Louis Cohen, the award-winning French architect, architectural historian, and curator, has published the latest monograph on Gehry, which comes to illuminate some of his best buildings.

Recent years have witnessed a growing attention to the study of female artists, architects, designers and their contribution to the story of modern design. Jane Hall’s book Woman Made: Great Women Designers comes to tell the story of 200 pioneering female designers from 50 countries, who have worked in the past 100 years in furniture, textiles, and lighting design. Some helped shaping the industry, some made history, some created work that has been recognized as groundbreaking despite difficulties to express their voices, and together they formed an enormous body of work created exclusively by women.

Swiss industrial designer and innovator Yves Behar has created a global and influential career in product design always fusing design, technology, and sustainability. He has worked with endless brands in various industries and the products he created throughout his career are the topic of a new monograph Designing Ideas, published by Thames and Hudson. It brings us to the forefront of the world of industrial design, where robots, technologies, futuristic solutions, and new materials have pushed the field to its 21st-century identity.

The Billionaire’s Row is a series of ultra-luxury tall residential towers built along 57th street, turning the area into Manhattan's new center of developments. Each one of these towers was designed by a star-architect, and they have come to offer a new way of New York lifestyle. Architecture critic Martin Filler has published a remarkable article in the New York Review of Books, where he analyzes the politics, zoning, aesthetics, and everything that has made this phenomenon possible.

The Carnegie Museum of Art has opened a new show that comes to celebrate and define current architecture through the work of 10 practices from around the world. The exhibition is called The Fabricated Landscape, and it explores some innovative minds working in contemporary architecture today. What defines the projects is not a common style, but rather relationships, to local communities, to natural environments, awareness of cultures, but also cutting edge perceptions and sustainable solutions.

Tom Kundig is a partner in the award-winning firm Olson Kundig Architects, based in Seattle. I have discovered his incredible, immaculate, elegant houses years ago and fell in love. Tom's buildings are engaged with their landscape, and their strong relationship with nature has come to define their identity because context is highly meaningful to him.

Mimi Lien is a Tony award-winning stage designer who is known for her scenic creations for theater, opera, and dance. Her new project of reimagining the outdoor entrance of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts into an enormous green lawn was launched last week. Known as The GREEN, this project comes to provide New Yorkers with a place of pleasure, rest, and outdoor, free, and low-cost performance events. For one summer.

Mike Grosswendt is a builder who has perfected the art of the building to its ultimate expression. He builds the most ambitious custom residences in Southern California, where design and architecture excel and where any innovation becomes possible. Most of his clients prefer to remain private and never allow the camera to enter their homes, but Mike shares the secrets of the art of building in the 21st century.

Through his unique voice both in architecture and in critical theory, Kengo Kuma has brought the continuity of Japanese heritage and its craftsmanship to 21st century architecture. His new book My Life as an Architect in Tokyo is a poetic tribute to the city he loves.

Five visionaries, extraordinary talents, who stand at the forefront of the world of design and architecture share their insights on designing, envisioning, and thinking the 21st century: Kai Bergman, partner at Bjarke Ingels Group; Craig Robins, the Miami-based renowned real estate developer and collector; Mitchell Joachim, founder of Terrefoem ONE, a nonprofit group that seeks to stop the extinction of planetary species; architect Dan Kaplan who creates high-performance urban buildings that respond to their environments; and Serban Ionescu, who makes the most amazing furniture where form, bright happy colors, and narratives are combined into unique personal creations.

What is in common between Cindy Allen, the legendary editor-in-chief of Interior Design Magazine; Edwina von Gal a landscape designer for the famous, who cares about nature and sustainability; Jennifer Olshin, partner of Friedman Benda Gallery, a platform for cutting edge contemporary design; Beatrice Galilee, a curator and writer of contemporary architecture and design; and Susan Rodriguez, an architect who believes in the power of architecture to effect change and improve the quality of life for all? These amazing women are champions of design, whose work I admire. Join the first episode of Designing The 21st Century.

Join Daniella Ohad every other week for 'Designing the 21st Century' where she leads a discussion around the value of understanding design and architecture through the most fascinating stories told by the leading figures in the world of design. Launching March 8

Today I would like to discuss the level of furniture that can be found in shops and department stores. It is a sensitive issue that is rarely brought up in public but remains a hot subject in the architecture and design communities. I have heard people describe it as ordinary, mediocre, poorly made, and less inspiring and innovative than it has been at any other time in history. It should not be forgotten that furniture design has always had a tremendous impact on the taste of the time.In the 20th century, manufacturers were motivated in producing avant-garde furniture, and this why it became available to consumers. The Primavera department store in Paris, for example, was the source for high end Art Deco furnishings in the 1920s. American department stores Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, and Abraham Strauss offered the American public the most up to date and daring furniture available. During the mid-century years, it was Herman Miller and Knoll that were famously investing and responsible for the some of the iconic furniture of the century. The Japanese department store Takashimaya was the source for art furniture in the 1950s, and it is particularly memorable for the benchmark exhibition of French design curated by Charlotte Perriand. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was Bloomingdales that became the lead tastemaker by exhibiting chic, fantastical space age furniture, brilliantly curated.What really happened to furniture design and why the best of it is found only in galleries and museums, but not in shops?For this discussion I invited Sami Reiss. He writes the bestselling newsletter Snake, covering auctions, design, vintage furniture and fashion. Sami’s articles have been published in GQ, the Wall Street Journal, ESPN and the New York Times.