Russel Wright Design Center
As the only permanent, public exhibition of Wright’s products, The Russel Wright Design Center is an installation of over 200 objects that tell the story of how this legendary designer forged a modern American lifestyle through groundbreaking objects for the home.
The Challenge
For audiences familiar with Wright’s design career, the gallery adds a rich interpretive layer. For others, new to his work, the exhibition reveals the relationship between his objects, the architecture, and the landscape of Manitoga. To create the gallery, our renovation called for removing a partition between two small bedrooms. An existing resin partition is relocated to allow for an accessible entry, but the other elements of the house are left intact.
Project Vision
The exhibition design echoes the geometry and materiality of many of Wright’s designs without mimicry. The gentle curvature of the gallery installation, modest in scale, is built with white oak, a tree common to the Manitoga forests. The space invites inquiry into 20th-century American design and the forces that shaped it. We agree with Wright that the beauty of the things we use in our everyday life does make a difference. It is about joy, our soul, and the spirit of creativity that is central to our humanity.
View at gallery entry, Wright’s resin panel on left
Michael Biondo
Site plan, before and after plans of gallery
Studio Joseph
View of timeline table, Wright’s resin panel on right
Michael Biondo
View of “form” section of display
Michael Biondo
Design + Execution
The gallery perimeter takes a more visual approach with the convergence of form, color, and pattern—three formal themes displayed with dense assemblages of objects. This is a unifying pragmatic approach to content delivery with an organic formal language. A large display table sits at the center of the room, surrounded by three display walls. The table is a unique timeline that brings together every decade of Wright’s design career.
View of “form” section of display
Michael Biondo
Detail view of “color” section of display
Michael Biondo
Detail view of “pattern” section of display
Michael Biondo
Project Details
The balance between the artifacts and the space was shown through in this submission. You can really see the essence of modern American Lifestyle which is what Russell Wright forged.
This medium-scale exhibit beautifully marries the existing architecture with carefully designed yet minimal furniture, creating a contemporary and calming environment for the exhibition objects.
Design Team
Studio Joseph
Photo Credits
Studio Joseph & Michael Biondo
Open Date
July 2021