{"id":112747,"date":"2014-08-27T12:46:09","date_gmt":"2014-08-27T12:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/career-retrospective-rdk-design-packs-history-into-950-square-feet\/"},"modified":"2022-12-23T09:40:44","modified_gmt":"2022-12-23T14:40:44","slug":"career-retrospective-rdk-design-packs-history-into-950-square-feet","status":"publish","type":"id_project","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/career-retrospective-rdk-design-packs-history-into-950-square-feet\/","title":{"rendered":"Career Retrospective: RDK Design Packs History Into 950 Square Feet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gracing the pages of this magazine in 1985, Donald D. Powell’s Chicago home was a modernist gem in a Ludwig Mies van der Rohe building. Decades later, when the time came to plan a move out of that apartment, into a much smaller one in a senior living community, he asked his former Powell Kleinschmidt partner and fellow Interior Design<\/em> Hall of Fame member, Robert Kleinschmidt, to handle the renovation. Kleinschmidt’s first thought on the late-in-life transition: How do you pack so much history into 950 square feet?<\/p>\n

The most important aspect of that history, Kleinschmidt decided, was not a particular furniture item or artwork. To make the move into The Admiral at the Lake<\/a>, Powell was giving away 60 percent of his art collection and 80 percent of his books. (The latter now fit in a single wall-mounted bookcase.) Rather, the new apartment would pay tribute to Powell’s singularly complex understanding of light and its response to neutral tones. <\/p>\n

So Kleinschmidt’s current firm, RDK Design<\/a>, started with subtle grays—running every decision past Powell, of course. Matte finishes minimize reflections from the window walls with views of Lake Michigan. Charcoal-gray carpet makes a contribution both aesthetic and pragmatic: adding to the soft ambience while potentially minimizing impact from a fall. <\/p>\n

Curtains in the bedroom are gray flannel. “Don’s favorite suiting,” Kleinschmidt says. And the same fabric upholsters the box spring, creating the look of a platform bed while keeping the mattress closer to floor level. <\/p>\n

Powell integrated just a dozen key pieces of furniture and artwork from the past. The Corbusier print was a personal gift from him when Powell was working in the master’s Paris office. There’s a smattering of bud vases always stocked with fresh flowers—a habit picked up from Florence Knoll. And Mies’s Brno chairs, chosen in lieu of the oversize Mies-inspired lounge furniture that filled the old apartment, are likewise Powell Kleinschmidt retirees.<\/p>\n

“No two jobs were ever the same,” Kleinschmidt recalls of his 33 years working with Powell. “We learned something each time.” With this project? “Senior living doesn’t have to be dull.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Project Resources>><\/a><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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