English Gardens and the American studio craft movement will be the subjects of talks at East Hampton’s LongHouse Reserve this weekend.
“A Tour of English Gardens,” a presentation by Michael Jones and Paul Whalen, partners at Robert A.M. Stern Architects and two of the firm’s designers of residential architecture and urban places, will be held outdoors on Saturday afternoon at 4.
Jones and Whalen will share garden plans, travel photography, and thoughts about the ongoing dialogue between classicism, romanticism, and the many international influences that have informed the English landscape tradition. Their travels took them from the “sculpted calm of Rousham to the grandeur of Blenheim, as well as the intimate terraces of Iford Manor, the painterly charm of Charleston, and the iconic rooms of Sissinghurst,” with stops as Badminton, Ferne Park, and Highgrove, according to LongHouse.
Co-authors of “City Living: Apartment Houses by Robert A.M. Stern Architects,” Jones and Whalen understand architecture at every scale, from notable towers along Central Park to master plans across the United States and abroad.
Jones, a board member of LongHouse, has lectured on the history of Central Park South as well as the history of English gardens. Not to be outdone, Whalen has held forth on topics as diverse as high-rise urbanism, the history of the New York City apartment building, and 19th-century Scottish country houses.
Glenn Adamson, a curator, writer, and historian who organized LongHouse’s current exhibition, “Things That Look Like Magic: Cheryl R. Riley and Wharton Esherick,” will discuss “The Alpha and Omega of Craft” on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Riley and Esherick are two furniture artists who represent not only different generations but also the beginning and ultimate destination of the American studio craft movement. Adamson will discuss their work in relation to each other and situate them within the larger story of studio craft and the impact it has had on American life.
Adamson is curator at large for the Vitra Design Museum in Germany; artistic director of Design Doha, a biennial festival in Quatar, and editor of Material Intelligence, a quarterly online journal dedicated to the exploration of commonplace materials. His current curatorial projects include “Keith Haring in 3D” for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark.
Tickets for each talk are $35, $25 for members.
