Barbara Stauffacher Solomon
TANYA AGARWAL | SECTION LEADER: JOSE MENENDEZ | FALL 2016
San Francisco Museum of Art program guide, October 1968, Printed Material, Offset Lithograph
Early Life Barbara Stauffacher Solomon is an artist, graphic designer, landscape designer and writer who is now based in San Francisco although she studied and worked as a dancer as a young woman. When she was nineteen years old, she married Frank Stauffacher who was a film maker and the founder of the San Francisco Film Festival. Nine years later, at the age of twenty eight she lost his to brain cancer, which prompted her move, with her mother and daughter Chloe, to Switzerland. There, she applied to two schools, Zurich’s Kunstgewerbeschule and then to Basel’s Kunstgewerbeschule, however, the school in Zurich told her to come back in a year but Basel’s Armin Hofmann and his wife, Dorli, took her in. Thus she began her studies at one of the most famous schools of Swiss graphic design. She returned to San Francisco after her studies where she started her work as a Graphic Designer under the guidance of Lawrence Halprin who was an American landscape architect, designer and teacher.
WORK AND LIFE Exhibitions
Education & Teaching In her lifetime, she has studied at four distinct schools. She did her Masters of Architecture at University of California, Berkeley along with her Bachelor of Arts which she did in the History Department. In addition to this, she has studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Basel, Switzerland and the San Francisco Art Institute. Moreover, she has taught at many prominent schools in her lifetime including University of California (Architecture Department), Harvard University, (Landscape Department), Yale University (Department of Art and Architecture), Rice University (Department of Architecture), ILUAD Architectural Program (in Sienna Italy), CCAC (as the Head of the Landscape Department) and at the San Francisco Art Institute.
Throughout her lifetime, she has had many exhibitions, both one Woman Exhibitions and Group exhibitions. Some of her One Woman Exhibitions include Green Architecture in the Antonio Jannone Gallery in Milan in 19989, Subways, an exhibition in the Architectural League of New York in 1968, whereas some of her Group Exhibitions include 246 and Counting at the SFMOMA in 2008, Color at the Whitney Museum in 1974, Design and Printing at the Louvre in Paris in 1963.
Swiss Tradition Her Swiss traditions, because of Armin Hofmann who was her teacher, were strong. She faces many difficulties because of this. In the 1960s, she was surrounded with “psychedelic squiggles� and therefore had to send her text to Basel to have it set in Helvetica. However, despite whatever was happening around her, her work was still appreciated by her clients and other people as well, which is why, much to everyones surprise, she began winning competitions.
Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, Marina Green, Pier 32, and Golden Gate Park, 1986
Work Not only is she known for her work in Supergraphics, but she is also known for her landscape architecture and the many drawings that she made of her work. Moreover, her “8 1/2 x 11 Obsession” is a series that she made from 8 1/2 x 11sheets of multi use paper where she used a combination of different media like typed lines, drawn lines, lots of cutting and pasting. She drew inspiration from each piece to make the next and her “game” was to “make something out of nothing with a minimum of fuss and expense”. From these pieces, she was able to produce four different books: Green Architecture and The Agrarian Garden, Good Mourning California, Why? Why Not? and UTOPIA MYOPIA. She says between 1992-2012 when boxes of books arrived at her house, she made four piles of them on a long wooden table because she simply liked looking at them. These prompted the questions, “Are piles of books a lost art form?”
Sea Ranch Her most famous work, are the supergraphics she did at the Sea Ranch in Sonoma County, California in 1966. However, when she revisited the Sea Ranch in 2005, she found out that everything she had done there had been painted over. Although this piece had a short life, it represents the pivotal starting point of the supergraphics movement. In addition to this, she is also known for her work in the bathrooms for women and men in Marin Country Mart, Larkspur Landing and her work in the record shop HearHear of San Francisco in 1969.
Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, San Francisco Museum of Art program guide, September 1968, 1968
INFLUENCES FROM HISTORICAL EVENTS
Defying the Norms One of the major norms she was able to defy is the cliche of women needing to be domesticated. Ruth Ansel, the pioneering director of Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair and The New York Times, says it best in an interview with Creative Review, “In part, women today are facing a storm of conflicting expectations. Women feel that they have to achieve in the workplace, they have to look fabulous, preferably thin as a model, and probably go under the knife for their first nip and tuck before they’re 30. Oh, and besides this they’re supposed to be perfect mothers and wives. They’re obliged to pull all this off simultaneously. What craziness is that? So I think that many women, who recognise after 10 years or more that their wonderful jobs are not so fulfilling, are opting out. They are marrying later, having babies later, and divorcing earlier. If they’re lucky they’ll find that their biological clock hasn’t run out on them like their man has who is probably on to his next trophy wife. Many are not so lucky. Often they feel stranded and deceived by a system with diminished opportunities.” Barbara Stauffacher Solomon was able to defy all the cliches of the time while still, in some ways succumbing to the pressures
that were there on women during that time. After her husband’s demise, she traveled across the globe while supporting her mother and daughter continued her education. She rose to the top in her profession and is now infamously known for her Supergraphics. In her autobiography, she says, “I was always so frantically busy making money to live, taking care of my daughters and worrying about men, that I never had time to think, least of all about my work. At my office I just drew up the first design I visualised so that I could leave to pick up Chloe or Nellie from school, shop for dinner, cook and clean, play wife and do all the stuff that working mothers do.” She seemed to balance both well. She advised other designers and architects during the day, including men, which in a way puts her in a position of authority and then at night she went home to take care of her family. This is also why she didn’t have to time to obsess over the details of her work like other male artists, designers and architects during this time she had other obligations as well. She further defied odds when she went back to school later in her life, in 1977 at the University of California for the simple reason that she wanted to learn more.
Compilation of various supergraphics by Barbara Stauffacher Solomon
Supergraphics modifed for use from the work of Barbara Stauffacher Soolomon from her work done for the Men’s Bathroom at Marin Country Mart, Larkspur Landing, CA.
SUPERG RAPHICS
Supergraphics may be defined as a large scale or big format graphic design. This term was first coined by the writer by Ray Smith in 2967 in the United States. He thought of supergraphics, not as a decorative tool but rather spatial experiment.
“Its Supergraphics. The whole idea of supergraphics is to knock down walls with paint…to change the apparent shape of rooms, bring order to rambling space, break up box like confines—all by applying outside designs to floors, walls and ceilings… And if it doesn’t look right, you can just paint it out”. —LIFE magazine, May 3,1968
“In this superworld, supercharged & super-intense, with my 1960’s superwoman exuberance, I combined my training in super-sized California Abstract Expressionism with my training in hard-edged Swiss graphics & ended up with, however superfluous & superficial, Supergraphics.”
Supergraphics modifed for use from the work of Barbara Stauffacher Soolomon from her work done for the Women’s Bathrrom at Marin Country Mart, Larkspur Landing, CA.
INFLUENCES
PEOPLE WHO INFLUENCED BARBARA STAUFFACHER SOLOMON
armin hofmann,
is a legendary Swiss graphic designer and educator. He is recognized mainly for the power his teaching has had and his influence on various generations of designers, much like Barbara Stauffacher Solomon. When he taught, he emphasized how important the process of discovery was and how vital it was to not to rush it. He was a passive teacher and prefer to stand back and watch students because he believed in his students’ ability to discover and create. He was born in Winterthur, Switzerland in 1920. He studied in Zurich at the School of Arts and Crafts, then worked as a lithographer in Basel and Bern, after which he opened a studio in Basel and then began teaching at the Basel School of Arts and Crafts where he taught Solomon and later became the head
Supergraphics modified for use from the work of Barbara Stauffacher Soolomon from her work done for the Men’s Bathrrom at Marin Country Mart, Larkspur Landing, CA.
of the school. Some of the influences from his work that we can see in the work of Solomon is the scale, both the works have a large scale and a loud presence. They command the attention of the people who walk by. In addition to this, the colors of his work are strong, vibrant and solid, much like the work of Solomon. We also see the influence of Hofmann’s idea of discovery being an important part of the process, which we can see in her series of 8 1/2 x 11 pieces. However, the most important influence we see is the influence of Swiss tradition. Even later, when Solomon moved back to California and other people were working with “psychedelic squiggles” which was the norm, she still stuck to the traditions of Swiss design that Hofmann taught her.
Armin Hofmann’s graphics and concrete works at Basel School of Design (Basel Allgemeine Gewerbeschule).
After having studied under Armin Hofmann, opportunities opened up for Solomon. In 1961, when she asked Saul Bass for a job, she didn’t know much about him except that he was famous, but when he saw her portfolio, he immediately offered her a job. Her interactions with the ‘big names’ in graphic design didn’t stop there. Later, when she met Lester Beale, he also offered her a job when he saw her portfolio and invited her to his studio, where she realized that wouldn’t be a good fit for her.
Armin Hofmann’s graphics and concrete works at Basel School of Design (Basel Allgemeine Gewerbeschule).
THE INFLUENCE OF BARBARA STAUFFACHER SOLOMON Known as the pioneer of supergraphics, Barbara Stauffacher Solomon influenced the work of many other designers who came after her. Some of the main designers are lance wyman, paula scher and deborah sussman. However, not only these few selected artists have been influenced by Solomon, but many others, who work in supergraphics have been as well. She made the idea of supergraphics acceptable for others to create.
Work by Barbara Stauffacher Solomon for the San Francisco Museum of Art program guide, May 1966, printed material, offset litho-
Project: Stadium Plaza, Project and Photograph by Lance Wyman, Location: Mexico City, Mexico-1968, Urban Designer Eduardo Terazzas, Parallel lines radiated out from the entrances of the Olympic venues, creating a colourful location map for air travelers.
lance wyman,
is a graphic designer most popularly known for his work done for the Olympics in Mexico. He was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1937 and graduated from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn with a degree in Industrial Design. Later in his life, he designed a full graphic program for the city of Mexico in the Olympic Games in 1968. Along with Eduardo Terradas, Wyman applied his work to the outdoors area in the Mexican Pavillion in the Triennale of Milan of 1968 based on the graphics he produced for the games. The boldness of the colors and lines from his work reminds us of the work done by Solomon. Project: Mexico Exhibit at the 1968 Triennale, Milan, Italy by Graphic Designer Lance Wyman and by Urban Desinger Eduardo Terazzas, photographed by IOC.
Mexico 68 Olympic Games logo, 1966, by Lance Wyman
Project for the 1984 Olympics designed by Deborah Sussman and photographed by Sussman and Prejza, work done in 1984, Los Angeles, USA, Sussman/Prejza and The Jerde Partnership were codesign directors in creating the ‘look’ of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, a massive undertaking that encompassed forty-three art sites, twenty-eight game venues and three villages. The firms work for the 1984 Olympics set a new benchmark for Supergraphics in commercial and social settings. Sussman’s vibrant color palette and strong graphic motifs, were applied to identity, signage, wayfinding and pageantry.
is a design who worked during the same time as Barbara Stauffacher Solomon. In an interview, she mentions how the work Solomon did inspired her and influences her, along with other designers as well like Margaret Larsen, who was working in San Francisco like Solomon, Charles Moore and Ray Eames. Her work, much like Solomon’s is bright and consists of solid colors, however, Sussman’s work consists of colors from a larger palette with neon colors as well. She creates striking visual imagery in spaces where it was both permanent and temporary like the 1984 Olympics in Lo s Angeles, Disney World and the Opera House in Seattle. deborah sussman
Graphics and Interiors for Standard Shoes Pasadena 1970 designed by Deborah Sussman, 1970.
SEA RANCH
Sea Ranch, Designed by Charles Moore, Residential community in Sonoma County, California. Landscape Architect: Lawrence Halprin
Work by Barbara Stauffacher Solomon for the Men’s Locker Room in the Sea Ranch, Architect: Charles Moore and William Turnbull, Sonoma County, CA, USA in 1966,
Barbara Stauffacher Solomon is most commonly known for her work for the Sea Ranch, which is a residential community in Sonoma County, California. The structures are known for their distinctive contemporary architecture, mainly of the simple timber frame structures made in wood sliding and shingles. It was designed by Charles Moore of the firm Moore, Lyndon, Turnbull & Whitaker with the landscape architect Lawrence Halprin in the style of the rugged coastline of northern California to make it fit in with the surroundings.
Work by Barbara Stauffacher Solomon for the Women’s Locker Room in the Sea Ranch, Architect: Charles Moore and William Turnbull, Sonoma County, CA, USA in 1966,
In her book, Utopia Myopia, Solomon talks about how the Sea Ranch was ten miles of barren paradise along the Pacific coast. It was just expensive land and architecture enjoyed by pedigreed retirees who had expensive views, well maintained beauty and annuities. No one ever talked about or cared about the conservation. The designers all agreed that this edge of the world “just waited to be discovered, enhanced & photographed for glossy mags for the lucky ones to see”. For other designers, the Sea Ranch represents the starting point of the architectural movement in the 1960s and 1970s that gave architects, and in the end, graphic designers the creative freedom to remove solidarity, gravity and even history by the application and then manipulation of building surface.
Work by Barbara Stauffacher Solomon for the Men’s Room in the Sea Ranch, Architect: Charles Moore and William Turnbull, Sonoma County, CA, USA in 1966, “The graphcis grew out of the architectural forms and out of Mrs. Stauffacher’s own vocabulary of forms: Arrows leading into each side of the building, up the stairs: striped progress around corners... make
the rooms appear bigger.. accentuate the sense of movement. In spite of Michelangelo’s four-year stint on the Sistine Chapel, and stauffacher’s three days at Sea Ranch, graphics still come hard to most modern architects.” -Progressive Architecture, March 1967. As with the Women’s Locker Room, these walls were also repainted.
The graphics used on the walls by Solomon were a visible and direct extension of the architectural forms and profiles of the building’s architecture. In addition to this, we also see reflections and influences from her education at Basel. The forms transform the interior space of the Sea Ranch into something completely different, using fundamental and basic design elements like bold stripes, various geometric forms, a vibrant color scheme consisting mainly of primary colors, edited versions of letter forms.
In addition to this, the work has obvious visual references to some of the art movements during the time, including but not limited to, abstract expressionism and pop art. One main characteristic that led to the success and brilliance of this piece, is how she was able to move up building surfaces around corners, changing directions which allowed the interior spaces to appear larger and more engaging for the viewers, in addition to the scale of the graphics and the solid colors.
In an interview she says that the Sea Ranch project, for her, was nothing but an opportunity to be an artist again, to paint on big white walls, from wall to wall, and from wall to ceiling, and “to do what I wanted to do without the daily office grind of clients telling me what they wanted for me” and perhaps this is why this is known to be one of her most successful projects. It was purely based on her instincts and thoughts, and was a creative expression rather than the result of a monetary transaction with input from the clients.
One of the most devastating and ironic things is that she told Life Magazine that the best part about super graphics is that “If it doesn’t look right, you can just paint it out” and when she did finally visit the Sea Ranch years later, in 2005, she discovered that everything she had done there had been painted over.
The art and architectural historian Sibyl Moholy-Nagy summarizes the influence of Solomon, mostly in regards to the Sea Ranch project, in the best way.
“There are few thing contemporary architecture needs more than a sensitive symbiosis with color, texture, and shape. There is a joyous element in Miss Stauffacher’s art which lifts the spirit, and creates an environmental identity which is usually lacking in our Miesian heritage.”
Work by Barbara Stauffacher Solomon for the Women’s Locker Room in the Sea Ranch, Architect: Charles Moore and William Turnbull, Sonoma County, CA, USA in 1966,
People often describe her work has having ‘movement’ in her work that is attributed to her training as a dancer. In an interview she says her body never hesitated to paint big shapes and therefore there is a “kinetic boldness in her work. At Sea Ranch, she says she was “playing and painting with space; one arrow up the stairs, another arrow down the stairs, moving with the striped blue wave from a far corner of the lowest level of the space to the highest ceiling point at the top of the space, making the Pacific waves outside the building crash over and into the building, and making a person run up the stairs to get there”.
The scale of the graphics and the bold color choices demand the attention of anyone walking past them, and therefore they’re not just part of the space but rather create the space. The work appears to be fun and exciting and create the idea of freedom which fits in strongly with the surrounding and the idea of the Sea Ranch in general. The most exciting thing about these graphics lie in its simplicity. It is made of lines, circles and the text is set in sans serif font which father enhances this effect. The contrast between the wooden texture of the outside in comparison to the flat and solid shapes should seem odd, but it makes the landscape come together.
BATHROOMS, MARIN COUNTRY MART LARKSPUR LANDING, CA.
HEAR-HEAR RECORD STORE HearHear Record Store, Ghiradelli Square, Designed by Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, by Architect Daniel Solomon, San Francisco, USA, 1969, Related to this piece, she wrote, “Swiss graphics were completely new to San Francisco. Local typesetters used Times Roman, Baskerville, Garamond, Caslon, Bodoni, or Wild West typefaces...”
This designer accordion has been designed by Tanya Agarwal at Rhode Island School of design. It was designed for Doug Scott’s History of Graphic Design Class in Fall 2016 under the guidance of Jose Menendez. This accordion has been designed using a combination of Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign. The graphics have been designed on Adobe Illustrator and the layout and the text has been designed using InDesign. The paper used to print this accordion is solar white 80lb classic crest cover paper. The typefaces used in this accordian are a variation of weights of Akzidenz-Grotesk BQ.
bibliography
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