Modernism's Top Picks

edited by Sheila Kim -- Interior Design, 12/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

Besides getting an early glimpse of offerings displayed by 70-plus dealers at Modernism: A Century of Style and Design, guests at the preview benefiting New York's Brooklyn Museum of Art got a chance to applaud two industry greats: architect Michael Graves and furniture manufacturer Vitra.

The Modernism Lifetime Achievement Award recognized Graves for his influential theories and prolific output. (In previous years, the BMA has honored such international leaders as Ettore Sottsass, Jack Lenor Larson, and Andrée Putman.)

The museum's Design in Commerce Award was new this year. "It's about formally recognizing the whole, not just the individual," says Brooklyn Museum of Art director Arnold L. Lehman. Vitra's track record of pioneering technological innovations made the company a natural choice for inaugural recipient. After all, where would we be without weight-activated seating or multilevel work surfaces?