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Stephen Burks (designer)
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Stephen Burks (designer)
Stephen Burks (born 1969) is an American designer and a professor of architecture at Columbia University. Burks is known for his collaborations with artisans as well as incorporating craft and weaving into product design. He is the first African American to win the National Design Award for product design.
Burks was born in Chicago in 1969. He studied architecture and product design at the Illinois Institute of Technology and Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture.
Burks first founded his personal studio in New York in 1997, then called Readymade. His trademark style, which includes incorporating craftsmanship and collaborating with artisans began in 2000, when Italian design brand Cappellini first put his designs into production. in 2003, Missoni commissioned him for Luxe fashion house. Patchwork vases, designed by him, were the first handmade objects produced in his studio. He has worked with companies and brands such as Bolon, Calligaris, Dedon, Italian lighting manufacturer Luceplan, and the marble company Salvatori.
In 2005, Burks went to South Africa to collaborate with international artisans from countries such as South Africa, Senegal, and Philippines sponsored by Aid to Artisans. There he started working with hand-crafted furniture, baskets and fashion accessories which he became known for later in his career.
Burks started his own design business at 2007 after meeting with Willard Musarurwa; a street vendor making wire souvenirs for tourists. After meeting each other in a local design institute at Cape Town, they launched TaTu wire outdoor furniture together which focused on Hand-crafted-style designed furniture and Artisan objects.[citation needed]
Burks held his eponymous solo exhibition in 2011, called "Stephen Burks: Man Made" at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where he exhibited his practice of merging craftsmanship and contemporary design. The exhibition included his work produced with artisans from countries such as South Africa, Senegal, and Peru.
In 2015, Burks won the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for product design, the first . In 2019, Stephen became the first product designer to attain a Harvard Loeb Fellowship. Since, he has served as an expert in residence at the Harvard Innovation Lab. He also taught at Harvard Graduate School of Design.[citation needed]
His work is in the collections of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, the High Museum of Art, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Vitra Design Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as Corning Museum of Glass. His work is the subject of a touring exhibition titled, "Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place" which debuted at the High Museum of Art in 2022.
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Stephen Burks (designer)
Stephen Burks (born 1969) is an American designer and a professor of architecture at Columbia University. Burks is known for his collaborations with artisans as well as incorporating craft and weaving into product design. He is the first African American to win the National Design Award for product design.
Burks was born in Chicago in 1969. He studied architecture and product design at the Illinois Institute of Technology and Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture.
Burks first founded his personal studio in New York in 1997, then called Readymade. His trademark style, which includes incorporating craftsmanship and collaborating with artisans began in 2000, when Italian design brand Cappellini first put his designs into production. in 2003, Missoni commissioned him for Luxe fashion house. Patchwork vases, designed by him, were the first handmade objects produced in his studio. He has worked with companies and brands such as Bolon, Calligaris, Dedon, Italian lighting manufacturer Luceplan, and the marble company Salvatori.
In 2005, Burks went to South Africa to collaborate with international artisans from countries such as South Africa, Senegal, and Philippines sponsored by Aid to Artisans. There he started working with hand-crafted furniture, baskets and fashion accessories which he became known for later in his career.
Burks started his own design business at 2007 after meeting with Willard Musarurwa; a street vendor making wire souvenirs for tourists. After meeting each other in a local design institute at Cape Town, they launched TaTu wire outdoor furniture together which focused on Hand-crafted-style designed furniture and Artisan objects.[citation needed]
Burks held his eponymous solo exhibition in 2011, called "Stephen Burks: Man Made" at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where he exhibited his practice of merging craftsmanship and contemporary design. The exhibition included his work produced with artisans from countries such as South Africa, Senegal, and Peru.
In 2015, Burks won the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for product design, the first . In 2019, Stephen became the first product designer to attain a Harvard Loeb Fellowship. Since, he has served as an expert in residence at the Harvard Innovation Lab. He also taught at Harvard Graduate School of Design.[citation needed]
His work is in the collections of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, the High Museum of Art, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Vitra Design Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as Corning Museum of Glass. His work is the subject of a touring exhibition titled, "Stephen Burks: Shelter in Place" which debuted at the High Museum of Art in 2022.
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