Earlier this year I was able to build a custom display case for Dana Killion, a clothing designer here in Chicago. She recently opened a new boutique and asked that I build two more pieces for her new shop!
seth ellsworth // blog
thoughts and experiments concerning design // art // architecture
15. The Tallest Buildings in 2020
As part of my work for the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, I recently completed this study on the world’s future tallest 20 buildings.
14. Killion Clothing Boutique Recent Works
Earlier this year I was able to build a custom display case for Dana Killion, a clothing designer here in Chicago. She recently opened a new boutique and asked that I build two more pieces for her new shop!
13. Furniture Updates: Design Cloud Chicago
I thought I would offer an update on what I’ve been up to lately! Earlier this year, I became involved in a design studio start-up called Design Cloud Chicago (d:cl). We’re now fitting out the new space in the West Loop of Chicago, and I’m finishing up some custom furniture for our enjoyment! Pics to follow:
12. Technical Drawings of Tall Buildings
I used to work for The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, and recently they’ve hired me as a consultant to provide technical elevation drawings of tall buildings, both past, current and future. I thought I would share these drawings with you as a single image. See if you can guess the buildings… enjoy!
11. Award-Winning Creative Fiction Short Story
During my studies at IIT, I took a course on creative writing. I thought it would improve my writing for my blog, portfolio and online design shop. I entered one of my short stories into the university writing contest and was awarded second place in fiction for my short story called In Stitches. Read it here!
10. Cantilever Shelving for my Shoe Collection
If you know me very well, you probably are aware of my love for well-crafted or unique shoes. I designed and built this custom shelving unit specifically to organize my (excessively large) shoe collection. The shelf spacing increases by one inch per shelf, allowing for a variety of shoes to be shown neatly.
09. Custom Display Case for Killion
Having recently graduated from architecture school, I’ve decided to pass the time while looking for a job by designing and building custom furniture. This is a display case I designed and built for a small clothing boutique in the south loop of Chicago. She wanted something that was mid-century modern, and my inspiration was taken from the Chest of Drawers by George Nelson. Details include rounded corners and flush-mounted safety glass, with a pull-out drawer for access.
08. Concern for the Urban Environment
I have been fortunate enough to have studied architecture in the great city of Chicago. There are few places which could provide a better environment to study the subject. I’ve lived here for over five years, and I still walk around like a tourist, gawking at the buildings and urban snapshots you don’t experience anywhere else.
I’ve been getting worried lately about something I notice more and more. I first noticed it as a student leaving the classroom. The second everybody steps out of the room, at least 80% go straight to their phones or ipods, and only take a quick glance away to cross the street. Then I began noticing it while walking around downtown Chicago: everybody walking around on their cell phones, staring at the tiny screen at their fingertips.
Don’t get me wrong, I love technology and have been known to drool over the latest and greatest technology, but I think we have a serious problem. We use our technology improperly (I’ll allow zenhabits.com to take care of explaining that). What concerns me is the fact that I have spent thousands of hours of my life trying to improve the pedestrian experience. I lay awake at nights thinking about how to design something better, or keep refining a building elevation until the sun comes up.
What worries me is that I am starting to wonder if it’s pointless. Why bother spending millions of dollars and thousands of hours designing and building something when tourists are the only ones who notice? What is the point if people don’t even bother to look up once in a while and take in their environment? Architects often talk about the ‘experience’ and the ‘feeling’ of a place or room or street, but I’m not sure anybody is in on the conversation. Maybe us architects are being too secretive about it, but I don’t think that’s the issue here.
Look up from your phone once and a while! Enjoy a sunny day, and the tulips that Chicago flies in from Holland just to put in the avenue planters. Notice that new shop on the corner and take a walk around the block for no reason at all other than to enjoy the area. Look out the window on the train and try to spot something interesting. Please take notice of your environment. It benefits everybody, and it might just brighten your day.
06. Within this Building is the Future of my Career
Chinchilla Shed
“It has been said that, at its best, preservation engages the past in a conversation with the present over a mutual concern for the future.” – William J. Murtagh
Imagine that… A building in the fields of Idaho has history. It is over 100 years old. It was once used to hold German prisoners of war, evidenced by the graffiti scratched into the walls. It was also used to raise chinchillas, and later house farm workers, now it is used as storage for old farm implements. This building is in bad shape, as can be seen in these photos. The brick is crumbling, the foundation is cracked, and the roof is caving in. Its future is threatened. Many other buildings like this one are also threatened.I grew up on a farm. This is an old shed in one of our fields. We call it the ‘Chinchilla Shed.’ Why? Because it is a part of the building’s history. This building has history.
It’s the American way, isn’t it? We tear down something in disrepair in order to replace it with something else, only to be repeated one or two generations later. I think we need to fight to preserve architectural history, even if that history is in the middle of a farm somewhere. Recently another historic house in my home town was demolished because it was in disrepair. It was built as the home of my 3rd great grandmother, Elizabeth Young Ellsworth. The building was bought and demolished by a family building a new home nearby. They took the original stone from its place and destroyed its history so they could use it as decoration of their suburban estate.
I hope to be able to dedicate my career to saving these buildings. To be able to give them new life, making them useful once more all while maintaining the history they contain. I spent some time in Southern France, and I was always fascinated by the interactions of modern architecture and historical buildings. I want to be able to bring that same historical sensitivity to areas that don’t seem to care.
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