Philadelphia is a centerpiece of American History, the place where the American constitution was drafted in the late 18th century. It is a city with a strong physical heritage that sometimes strikingly resembles the streets and architecture of Europe. Today, Philadelphia is in the process of reinventing itself and following the effects of a post-industrial decline, it is now harnessing its creative potential to redevelop itself. With a new brand “With Love Philadelphia XoXo” and events like Design Philadelphia, the city is looking to reflect a younger image and perhaps attract crowds from neighboring cities like New York City and Washington, DC. With the fourth largest GDP in the United States (after New York, Los Angeles and Chicago) Philadelphia has the economic resources to invest in its creative industries to boost its profile to an international scale.

Philadelphia is one of America’s most cultural cities with countless museums, performing arts centers and historic sites. The city also has a unique mural arts program that encourages individuals to collaborate with their communities and together transform public spaces. As the former center for the American textiles industry, Philadelphia continues to promote that heritage through the Fabric Workshop and Museum that includes an artist-in-residence program dedicated to experimentations with fibers. Following the same theme but moving much beyond textiles, Fabric Row is a neighborhood that gathers independent retailers and has become one of the creative districts of the city.

The Design Center at Philadelphia University boasts an impressive fashion archive and stunning gallery spaces exhibiting past and present design works. The center’s mission is to show that design participates and shapes everyday life. Its collection is often used by design students and scholarly research but is also appreciated by design connoisseurs and aficionados.

The Design Center at Philadelphia University is located at the former private residence of Goldie Pailey (mother of CBS founder, William Pailey). The house borrows from California’s mid-century modern architecture. Even though the house has been converted into a gallery, the interiors have been kept intact. It features a beautiful 50’s kitchen with original appliances – that serves as a meeting room, closet spaces and bathrooms, including one that is being used as a site-specific installation room filled with light bulbs. Some vintage cabinets and drawers have been turned into mini fiber galleries by designer Todd Oldham  (pictured above). In fact, there is not a single space that is not creatively occupied at the Design Center. It is a real cabinet of curiosities.

Lace in Translation (pictured above) is the latest exhibition at the Design Center. Dutch design studios Demakersvan, Cal Lane and Tord Boontje were given access to the Quaker Lace Company’s collection to re-interpret the pieces and produce something new. The results are original pieces of contemporary furniture, garden sculptures and interior objects that reflect the delicate complexities of lacing.

The Office for Lost Objects™ is the intriguing name of a furniture design practice led by Jarrod Beglinger. It creates conceptual furniture and uses design philosophy to question our relationship with objects and everyday life.

This philosophy is based on six principles:

• Respect the Super Normal.
• Revel in the infra-ordinary.
• Honor craftsmanship.
• Follow a logic.
• Express an integrity.
• Seek an essence.

Jarrod started with engineering studies at MIT which later led him to do an internship at BMW in Germany where he became more aware of design. He decided to spend more time in Europe and applied to Eindhoven’s Design Academy where he was accepted to pursue a Master’s degree. There, he discovered a new way of seeing the world through design and started to make design pieces that worked as social commentaries. His strongest design influence is the “Super Normal” as practiced by Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa: a type of design thinking that emphasizes less on aesthetics but rather focuses on making “normal” objects that integrate so well in everyday life, people don’t even question them.

Iowa City is surrounded by rolling farmland and peaceful residential neighborhoods making it an ideal retreat for writers and thinkers. The heart of the city is the University of Iowa  where the acclaimed Writers’ Workshop is located. The workshop is a 2-year residency program that has been running for the past 70 years and has graduated a number of award-winning authors. It was the first creative writing program established in the United States. In 1967, the International Writing Program was set-up to welcome authors from around the world in order to give them an opportunity to experience American university life.

Iowa City is a place to be experienced in literary ways. Prairie Lights is a landmark independent bookstore gathering local authors and hosting its own local radio show. The Iowa Literary Walk between Clinton and Gilbert streets is an opportunity to read a selection of words by writers who have a special relationship with the city. The Center for the Book is a unique place where writers, artists, designers, calligraphers and paper makers work together to learn various aspects of book making (from paper to letterpress printing, book-binding and illustration) and take books to the realm of fine art.

The UICB fine press facilities are made of multi-disciplinary classrooms where writers can experiment with letterpress and calligraphers can collaborate with illustrators. All share a passion for the book. At UICB, narratives and poetry can be triggered in the process of making a book: through typography, graphic layout  and images. It is a place where the book goes beyond written words and becomes an integral art piece.

Letterpress studio and binding facilities at UICB (pictured above) are places where writers like to experiment and discover new territories.

Sara Langworthy who is an instructor at UICB shows us samples of fine press books by UI Alumni. Attention to detail is a common obsession in book art: from typesetting to engraving.

The University of Iowa’s Center for the Book (UICB) is a rarity in our digital age. What is the role of the book in our society and how does the book take shape as an art object? From paper to printing and binding, the book is a traditional medium that manages to survive alongside digital content, invites the reader to slow down, reflect and look at the world in unexpected ways.

The UICB’s paper mill is led by Professor Timothy Barrett who is a leading research scientist in his field and focuses on the history, technique, science and aesthetics of hand papermaking. The paper made at the Oakdale facility is commonly used by American libraries for their archives.

Kathleen Tandy (left) and Liz Munger are both assistants at the paper facility and showed us the various steps in papermaking.

Jun Kaneko is a prolific artist working across disciplines and who is known for his large scale ceramic sculptures. He and and his wife Ree initially decided to buy three empty industrial building on Jones Street as a place to store his work. Very quickly, they realized that they could do a lot more and give back to the community of Omaha by creating the Kaneko Center, a place to explore creativity in relationship to art, science and philosophy.

In May 2009, the center served as a venue for Big Omaha, a conference gathering forward-thinking creatives, entrepreneurs and innovators. See our interview with Jeff Slobotski and Dusty Davidson, the founders and organizers of the event.

The center also includes the Kaneko/UNO (University of Nebraska in Omaha) art and design library that serves as place to stimulate creativity and the imagination of local residents.

For furniture designers Dexter Thornton and David Larabee of Doublebutter, traditional marketing strategies were not quite affordable and seemed too conventional. So instead they decided to use their skills and have a little fun on the streets of Denver by throwing miniature versions of their Roadrunner chairs up in the air.

Each miniature is carefully made in their studio. The mini chairs work as a pair (usually green and red, or green and yellow) and are attached together with a thread. The locations are chosen for their backdrop and potential in creating an interesting site specific installation. We liked the idea so we took a few of them to chuck during our US cities tour. The Roadrunner coming to a city near you!

Years before he opened his custom bicycle studio and store, Sacha White – owner of Vanilla Bicycles and Speedvagen, was devoted to Vespa and Lambretta scooters. To this day the Italian design aesthetics stuck to him and inspired the look and feel of his custom bikes: pastel colors with a slight touch of red, a brand name that starts with a V like Vespa, curvy typefaces…

The symbol for Speedvagen (pictured above on a pair of boots) is inspired by Ferrari’s visual identity. More pictures from the Vanilla workshop are here.

Call + Response is an exhibition that questions the realm of design, craft and art through the works of designer-makers and educators from Oregon. In this show craft is shown as a highly conceptual practice that can play a role in society and also holds hidden cerebral qualities. Amongst the various themes some include: environmental responsibility, artistic processes and historical contexts.

Clockwise from top left: Sam Morgan, Studio Gorm, Heidi Schwegler, David Eckard.

Call + Response is on view at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland until October 31 2009.