Josh Owen
Menorah
Manufacturer: Areaware
Traditional in construction and modern in conception, the Areaware Menorah is elegant and functional. It has an incorporated plate which catches the drippings from the candles and provides a safe resting place for a used match while it is still hot. It is made of solid cast iron and has the heft expected of such a material. The weight gives it a sense of solidity and self worth, like a trusted tool found on a family farm. There is an honesty in the singularity of the iron material which suggests this object could age and continue to look even more beautiful as it acquires a patina from continual use.
Josh Owen
The work of industrial designer and educator Josh Owen is at once simple, practical and creative. Although typologies that Owen creates are commonly described as refined, iconic or minimalist, he defines function in humanistic terms, combining clarity of purpose and functional efficacy with emotive and tactile qualities chosen to align strategically with industry. Owen is the president of Josh Owen LLC and is a Full Professor and the Chair of the Industrial Design Department at The Rochester Institute of Technology. His projects are produced by major manufacturers and have won many awards. Owen’s work is included in the permanent design collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, the Denver Art Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Chicago Athenaeum. His work has been featured in major exhibitions, numerous books on design and is regularly included in critical design discourse.
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