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CHICAGO DESIGNERS
horizontal motion that “forms a literal grid of the city,” says Pobojewski. “It’s all about location and destination.”
The final mural, also in ceramic frits, runs above a cafeteria space and depicts the flights connecting Chicago with the rest of the planet. Continents can be identified even though there are no geographic or national boundaries shown, only the flight paths.
These works reflect the passion Pobojewski and Thirst partners Valicenti and Bud Rodecker have for exploring new, distilled forms with maximum impact. Again, the influence of modernism hovers. Pobojewski says, “I relate to modernism more in terms of craft than ideology. I see it as an approach to creating and organizing form, especially in typography.”
Tightly scored and dynamic in its presentation, Thirst’s work invokes what Pobojewski says is “a rigor that’s been passed down through the Bauhaus new modernism, the heritage of Chicago.” He adds, “While it continues the discussion of modernism, it’s a tradition that’s constantly evolving and renewing itself.”
The twin influences of modernism’s descendants and intermedia aim Pobojewski at an intoxicating synesthesia of the arts, an amalgam of creative disciplines that reveals new vistas for design.
“It’s a passion that becomes super vibrant, compelling, forcing us to ask ourselves, ‘Where can these forms take us next? What new things can we make?’ We might be talking about design and music, but we could just as well be talking about design and architecture.”
Celebrating the object: Jennifer Mahanay
In the 21st century, print is a bold and risky way to carve your brand. But in the world of high-end auctions, the Wright auction house in Chicago and New York has employed paper and image in elegant and memorable ways to stand apart from larger competitors like Sotheby’s and Christie’s.
Wright’s auction catalogs—treasures for collectors— look more like exquisite coffee table books than lists of merchandise ready for the block. For the past nine years, the design efforts at Wright’s Chicago headquarters have been led by Jennifer Mahanay, whose team
Left: “Terminal 5 at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport features dramatic murals at the entry wall and mezzanine.” John Pobojewski, designer; Thirst, design firm; Westfield Group, client.
This page: “The Interiors Awards are the Academy Awards of interior design, featuring winners in thirteen categories. For the 36th annual Interiors Awards ceremony, Thirst created more than 25 minutes of content to introduce each category, along with a portfolio of the winning works.” John Pobojewski, designer; Thirst, animation/sound design/design firm; Contract Magazine, client.
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