hot
// new // next
As design director for Nike in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Toronto-born designer Sean Pearson perfected the art of creating bold, eye-catching design. His retail concepts for Nike elevated the already iconic brand with youthful, fresh designs executed in media from plywood to glass cubes. He left the company to start his own multidisciplinary agency, Rural / Urban / Fantasy Project, a.k.a. RUFproject, in Vancouver in late 2008. One year later, when Nike needed someone to design to completion, in just six months, a 14,000-square-foot soccer training facility and AIDS awareness–oriented health center in Soweto, South Africa, Pearson was on its speed dial. The project carries all of the style and graphic awareness of the brand, yet retains Pearson’s commitment to what he calls “a certain Canadian sensibility. It’s a way of listening and looking at things reflectively,” he says. “Like South Africa, Canada is a country that’s always watching the massive culture playing out around it. Good Canadian architecture is very respectful to the people within it.” Since that award-winning project, Pearson has continued to observe and contribute to the designed world, taking
144
GRAY ISSUE No. NINETEEN
on projects ranging from luxury houses in Lake Tahoe, California, and on Salt Spring Island, off the coast of British Columbia, to on-going retail design and modest projects for people who “don’t have the means but are keen on good design,” he says. While remaining grounded in built environments, he also brings an element of playfulness to his work, picking up on the “fantasy” part of his firm’s name with conceptual projects such as Camo-Density, an urban infill proposal using prefab building units screened by green hedges, and Ferris Wheel, a rotating housing concept that gives each owner of its condos a view for a short period of time before the wheel turns. “I want to make sure in our practice that we’re also doing stuff just for fun or for beauty, or to push an idea,” Pearson says. “When you get established, it’s too easy to keep doing things people pay you to do. I want to stay open to the creativity and the concept.” h