Design Wire October 2024
Founded in Maine’s Southwest Harbor in 1928 to build and care for the boats of local lobstermen, luxury boat company HINCKLEY YACHTS is well known by mariners for exquisite detailing, refined performance, and unsurpassed quality. This summer, the boat-building company launched the all-new PICNIC BOAT 39, the first Hinckley Picnic Boat with forward seating for the ultimate day of leisure on the water. “At Hinckley, we have a meticulous approach to design, obsessing over the details, combining the best DNA of past models with the needs and desires of Hinckley customers today. The overall design language of the Picnic Boat 39 demonstrates our continued commitment to building beautiful, timeless, and highly innovative yachts,” says Scott Bryant, vice president of marketing and sales for Hinckley Yachts. Measuring nearly 43 feet long, the Picnic Boat 39 features three entertaining areas, smart sliding window mechanisms, and waterjet shallow draft technology for maneuvering through secluded coves with ease.
Iconic furniture brand HERMAN MILLER is expanding its EAMES LOUNGE CHAIR AND OTTOMAN lineup to include BAMBOO-BASED UPHOLSTERY. A soft, durable, and scratch-resistant alternative to traditional leather, the plant-based material reduces the chair’s carbon footprint by up to 35 percent. Its timeless design, with a signature reclined position that flexes to fit individuals, was inspired by an English club chair with the look of a well-used baseball mitt. “Charles and Ray Eames pioneered the use of molded plywood in furniture, one of the central material innovations of their time. Today, Herman Miller is among the first furniture brands to offer a plant-based leather alternative—made almost entirely from bamboo. The two materials come together in the latest offering of the iconic Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, upholding the aesthetic and quality standards that have defined the chair for nearly 70 years,” says Noah Schwarz, vice president of product design for Herman Miller.
Developed by WATERSTONE PROPERTIES, the 179,365-square-foot office complex and 20,000-square-foot health services building at ROCK ROW’s state-of-the-art medical and research campus in Westbrook is expected to be completed early next year. NEW ENGLAND CANCER SPECIALISTS, RAYUS RADIOLOGY, and PLASTIC AND HAND SURGICAL ASSOCIATES have all signed on as tenants, and the Lewiston-based DEMPSEY CENTER recently leased 15,000 square feet of space in which they will open a third facility that offers counseling, integrative therapies, and comfort programs for people affected by cancer. “Rock Row’s vision of an integrated medical community aligns perfectly with our holistic approach. The opportunity to create a healing environment that brings nature inside and offers ample space for our programs was incredibly compelling,” says Cara Valentino, CEO of the Dempsey Center. Founded in 2008 by actor, Maine native, and philanthropist Patrick Dempsey and his family, the Dempsey Center provides personalized and comprehensive cancer care at no cost.
INDIGO ARTS ALLIANCE and COASTAL MAINE BOTANICAL GARDENS unveiled two new sculptures by artists-in-residence SHANE PERLEY-DUTCHER and ANNA TSOUHLARAKIS as part of the DECONSTRUCTING THE BOUNDARIES: THE LAND FIGHTS BACK public symposium. Eci-Mahsosiyil/Fiddleheads is an interactive installation of two arched fiddlehead ferns made from braided and woven metal emulating traditional Wabanaki woven baskets by Perley-Dutcher, a silversmith artist from the Neqotkuk Wolasqiyiknation of New Brunswick. The Native Guide Project: CMBG by Tshoularakis, an enrolled citizen of the Navajo Nation and of Muscogee Creek and Greek descent, encompasses four shell middens constructed from grass, oyster shells, and granite sourced from the surrounding region. The shell walls display messages to visitors that allude to the ongoing need for reparative justice. Both Eci-Mahsosiyil/Fiddleheads and The Native Guide Project: CMBG are installed in the gardens to highlight Indigenous traditions and knowledge and as a reminder of why BIPOC experiences must be centered in the fight for climate justice. The Native Guide Project: CMBG will be on view until it naturally degrades, and Eci-Mahsosiyil/Fiddleheads will be installed permanently.
The UNIVERSITY OF MAINE is currently developing two new facilities that will expand opportunities for the food and beverage manufacturing and aquaculture industries in the Pine Tree State. The $4.46 million FOOD INNOVATION LAB in Orono will provide commercial-scale processing and production capacity, allowing start-ups and small businesses to pilot production trials in addition to researching, manufacturing, packaging, and distributing goods while offering internship opportunities for students. “This facility will provide support to Maine’s food entrepreneurs through its proximity to research, education, and expertise that is critical to growing Maine’s food businesses,” Hannah Carter, dean of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, told MaineBiz. The other new facility, set to open in 2025 in Orono, is the $10.3 million SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE WORKFORCE AND INNOVATION CENTER, which will act as a research hub focused on the problems that Maine fish and oyster farms face. Designed by SMRT ARCHITECTS AND ENGINEERS, the center will allow students to get hands-on with scaled-down versions of the tools used at commercial aquaculture farms.
Artist TIMOTHY GOLDKIN of RAMBLE MORE DESIGN unveiled an eight-by ten-foot mural at the corner of Custom House Wharf and Commercial Street in Portland depicting a historic image of the wharf from the turn of the twentieth century. The public art installation was created by printing the image on thin paper, adhering it to the wall using an industrial glue, hand-brushing it to create wrinkles and furrows, sealing it with varnish for protection, and finishing the piece with a distressed trim. Goldkin’s work offers a tactile sense of history and celebrates the enduring spirit of Portland’s working waterfront while reconnecting the community with its maritime roots amid ongoing economic and environmental challenges. “This mural is more than a public work of art; it’s a window to our past and an attempt to help preserve our future by reminding us of the invaluable contributions of our seafaring forebears and those still working on the water today,” says Goldkin of the mural, which is part of the artist’s broader initiative to bring historical artworks to public spaces across the state. The project came to fruition thanks to support from the MAINE ARTS COMMISSION as well as Casco Variety, Fortland, Andy’s Old Port Pub, Maine Day Ventures, and Maggie Weir and Robb Wesby.
A two-week intensive at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE’s Gorham campus called THE COMPLETE CITY: SPATIAL DESIGN introduces students to the fundamentals of design in the built environment. Codirected by Gretchen Rabinkin, executive director of the BOSTON SOCIETY OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS, and Addy Smith-Reiman, former executive director and current board member of the PORTLAND SOCIETY FOR ARCHITECTURE, the course immerses students in studio culture and firm visits as they develop skills on how to observe, analyze, and create in context. A final group project with presentations and critiques rounds out the intensive, which is taught by architects, landscape architects, and urban designers from the area including Joanna Shaw and Christian Prasch (Winkelman Architecture), Steven Mansfield (Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design), Bridget Kane (Thornton Tomasetti), Alex Haba (Whitten Architects), Soren deNiord (Soren deNiord Design Studio), Paige Lyons (Aceto Landscape Architects), and University of Maine professor of architecture Eric Stark.
Construction on the new $13.5 million home for the MAINE MUSEUM OF INNOVATION, LEARNING, AND LABOR (MAINE MILL) at the historic CAMDEN YARDS MILL in Lewiston begins this fall. Located along the Androscoggin River, the 11,000-square-foot space will feature permanent collections, temporary galleries, classrooms, and a design lab with an emphasis on textile mills and the industrial heritage of the Lewiston–Auburn area. Designed by PLATZ ASSOCIATES, the exterior of the building’s addition will be clad in Cor-Ten steel panels, which develop a patinaed appearance when exposed to the weather. “The perforations create a pattern reminiscent of a textile design that originated at the Bates Mill in Lewiston, and the panels are planned to be backlit to provide a soft glow to the building at night,” says Gabrielle Russell, an architect at Platz Associates. “Lewiston was at one time a hub for innovation and design, and we are working closely with the museum to expose and highlight this important history in the exhibits as well as the building design. By incorporating patterns, textiles, and artistic elements into the architecture and interiors, we hope the museum will inspire all its visitors to further explore its history and encourage innovation.”