News

Ways of Seeing / Sitting
Łódz, Poland
October 18 – 28, 2012
The exhibition, Ways of Seeing / Sitting, curated by Maria Jeglinska, for the Łódz Design Festival, features the Olivares Aluminum Chair. The exhibition maps changes in the man-made world, across four categories – Digital, Geography, Manufacturing and Typology. Each category is explored through four chairs, which are each paired with an analogous object. The sixteen pairings provoke associations and reflections on production, the environment, culture and the socio-political implications of design. The Olivares Aluminum Chair is paired with an aluminum beverage can under the heading “Sustainability.”

Liminal Objects
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
October 19, 2012 from 3:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Jonathan Olivares has helped shape, and will participate in, Harvard GSD Conference on Design 1: Liminal Objects. The GSD’s interest in design comes at a time when the field is undergoing significant transformation and seeking answers to pressing questions: How is design effected as the tools of daily life are becoming virtual? What shared values can be established as emerging areas of specialization expand the discipline from within? How is the design practice being redrawn by new manufacturing paradigms and the urgent need to reshape our ecological approach? And how are the designer’s methods growing within this context? This conference will convene designers, critics, curators, business leaders and GSD faculty, to explore these issues, and the role of design within the wider spatial practices at the GSD.

Olivares Aluminum Chair
Chicago, USA
June 10-13, 2012
The Olivares Aluminum Chair, a die-cast, painted outdoor stacking chair for Knoll is launched in Chicago at the NeoCon contract furniture fair. The chair is the result of Olivares and Knoll’s four-year pursuit for a high-performance outdoor metal chair.

La Table des Matières
Monaco
April 20, 2012
La Table des Matières, a new library, forum and social hub, designed by JODR for Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, will open to the public for the first time. This permanent addition to the museum operates as a three dimensional blog for the museum’s curators, education coordinator and gardener, and gives the visitor an informal place to relax, learn and discuss. Translated literally La Tables des Matières means table of contents, but the French term implies a broader arrangement of raw material or matter. Though the room does serve as an index of the museum’s activities, it was designed as a resource of materials that further the museum’s goal of nurturing and developing the skills necessary for understanding and discovery within the community.

Chaise for Hallingdal 65
Milan, Italy
April 17 – 22, 2012
Chaise for Hallingdal 65, a piece of furniture designed in commission for Kvadrat, will be part of the Kvadrat Hallingdal 65 exhibition, which will début during Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2012 in the Jil Sander showroom at Via Luca Beltrami 5 20210 Milan. The exhibition is scheduled to tour around the world after the fair.

The Outdoor Office
Chicago, USA
February 25 – October 14, 2012
The Outdoor Office, an exhibit on JODR’s designs for outdoor workspaces, is showing in the modern wing of The Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibit is designed by JODR and curated by Zoë Ryan, John H. Bryan Curator and Chair of Architecture and Design. Large scale billboards display designs by JODR and research, examples from film, TV and from conceptual projects where working outdoors has been explored. This is the first public viewing of this work, which was conducted with the generous support of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

Working with Jonathan Olivares
New York City, USA
February 7, 2012 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Jonathan Olivares will give a talk at MFA Design Criticism Department, School of Visual Arts, at 136 West 21 Street, 2nd floor, as part of the Spring 2012 Design Criticism MFA Lecture Series.

JODR at NMNM
Monaco
October 16, 2011 – January 8, 2012
JODR at NMNM is an exhibition designed by JODR for Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, to convey the office’s activity in product design, research and writing, as well as in-progress interior design that the office is doing for NMNM. Products, videos on iPads, books, and press about the office are displayed together, on platform-benches designed for the museum. This exhibit marks the first step in the collaboration between JODR and NMNM, and offers a glimpse of the forthcoming library, workshop, and multi-purpose social space, scheduled to open in April 2012.

Useless: An Exploded View
Lisbon, Portugal
October 2 – November 27, 2011
JODR has curated and designed the exhibition Useless: An Exploded View, for the design biennial EXD11 / Lisboa. The exhibit takes place at Lisbon’s museum of design and fashion, MUDE – Museu do Design e da Moda located at Rua Augusta, 24 1100-053 Lisbon. The exhibit explores the varied causes, manifestations and effects of uselessness in the design, production and disposal of contemporary products.

Compasso d’Oro 2011
Rome, Italy
July 14, 2011
JODR’s first product Smith, made by Danese Milano, was awarded the Compasso d’Oro prize by Associazione per il Disegno Industriale (ADI) in Rome. This is Italy’s oldest and most prestigious design award, and we are honored to have received it.

The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
Chicago, USA
June 16, 2011
JODR was awarded a production grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts for the the project, The Outdoor Office, a presentation of research and design work on outdoor work and educational environments. Founded in 1956, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts makes project-based grants to individuals and organizations and produces public programs to foster the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society.

The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
Chicago, USA
June 14, 2011 at 6 p.m.
Jonathan Olivares gave a talk about A Taxonomy of Office Chairs at the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, located at Madlener House, 4 West Burton Place, Chicago.

El Museo Experimental El Eco
Mexico City, Mexico
May 19, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.
As part of the A Hotel Eco conference series organized by El Museo Experimental El Eco and Tomo Magazine in Mexico City, Jonathan Olivares presented JODR’s recent works.

Ediciones Jalapa
Mexico City, Mexico
May 19 – August 31, 2011
The exhibition, Walls & Bricks, an exploration of architectural products in basic building materials, was on display at Ediciones Jalapa in Mexico City.

A Taxonomy of Office Chairs at the Phaidon Store NYC
New York City, USA
May 15, 2011 from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
A Taxonomy of Office Chairs was presented at Phaidon’s SoHo Store located at 83 Wooster Street, New York, with a window display and in-shop installation by JODR.

Centro Diseño – Cine – Television
Mexico City, Mexico
May 5th – July 15, 2011
The exhibition, Jonathan Olivares Design Research: A Design Matrix, was held at CENTRO Diseño – Cine – Television in Mexico City. The exhibit featured the products, writings and research done by JODR since the office’s founding in 2006.

A Taxonomy of Office Chairs
Milan, Italy
April, 2011
Jonathan Olivares’ first book, A Taxonomy of Office Chairs, was published by Phaidon Press. The book maps the evolution of the office chair, through a catalogue of seminal models and an illustrated taxonomy of their components and movement methods.

Terri Desk
Milan, Italy
April 12-17, 2011
JODR has designed a desk, Terri, for Danese Milano. Danese will present the desk at their showroom at Piazza San Nazaro in Brolo, 15, open daily from 10:00-21:00h.

Mobile Device
St. Étienne, France
November 20 - December 5, 2010
JODR has produced an installation for the La Ville Mobile, an exhibition curated by Constance Rubini for the Biennale Internationale Design 2010 in Saint-Étienne, France. The installation, Mobile Device, considers the increased mobility and dematerialization caused by mobile devices.