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Microsoft and its new Windows logo apparently aren’t the only things receiving negative heat this chilly month. With his Eisenhower Memorial in DC on very shaky ground and his Abu Dhabi Guggenheim going through a series of on-and-off again hurdles, along with a series of other issues at hand, architect Frank Gehry looks to be returning to those days from a couple of years ago when he seemed a little bummed out. In speaking to the Guardian this week, the architect unloaded a bit, speaking very frankly (puns!) about the world occasionally turning against him and his work, as well as “starchitecture” as a whole. The whole piece is somewhat friendly to his plight, but no matter your opinion on his work, or buildings by celebrity architects in general, it’s an interesting read regardless, as Gehry rarely censors himself on telling it like how he thinks it is. Here’s the money quote:

“There is a backlash,” says Gehry, now aged 82, “against me and everyone who has done buildings that have movement and feeling”, that is “self-righteous” and “annoying… The notion is that it is counterproductive to social responsibility and sustainability. Therefore, curving the wall or doing something so-called willful is wrong and so there is a tendency back to bland.

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(Photos: UnBeige and Courtesy David Stark Design)

David Stark has applied his artist’s eye and bricoleur’s ingenuity to the retail scene with Wood Shop, a temporary takeover of fellow RISD alum Nina Freudenberger‘s Haus Interior in New York. As you may recall from our recent interview with the event designer, his “surprise ambush” has filled the cozy homegoods emporium with limited-edition goodies inspired by a woodworker’s studio, from hand-crocheted saw pillows and rugged Carhartt-brown canvas placemats to a tool box worth of delicate gold pendants and hand-turned poplar vases that suggest a collaboration between Giorgio Morandi and Bob Vila. The woodstravaganza lasts through Monday, February 27.

The idea for Wood Shop stemmed from a previous project for which Stark and his team created an entire house out of SmartPly, which provided a cheeky backdrop for showcasing the client company’s new collection of homegoods. “Some of the things that we made for that were so fun that we thought, wow, these could be great products,” said Stark the other day, as he guided us through Wood Shop and ended up in front of a delicious-looking dessert, made entirely of SmartPly. “The cake really came out of that kind of thing. I have a weird sense of humor, so if I walked into a store, that would be the first thing I would be drawn toward.”

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The J. Paul Getty Museum will soon likely be enjoying some stability for the first time in more than two years, with the announcement that Timothy Potts who has most recently served as the director of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, will be coming on board as the museum’s full-time director. The Getty’s leadership of late, has been more than a bit in flux, first with Michael Brand‘s sudden and unexpected exit at the start of 2010. David Bomford was named as his acting replacement, until he also hit the road this past December to move back to his native London, leaving still-recently-installed Getty Trust president, James Cuno, to temporarily take over the position. Fortunately for Cuno’s schedule and nerves, Potts will take over at the museum come September 1. Here’s his thoughts on joining the Getty:

I am delighted to be joining the Getty Museum at such a promising time, when its leadership, ambitions and prospects are stronger than ever. Like others in the museum world, I have for many years admired (and sometimes been frustrated by!) the quality of its collecting and the innovative way it pursues its scholarly and educational mission. It has evolved into much more than an artistic showpiece of national and international renown, however. With the Museum and its sister institutes devoted to research, conservation and philanthropy, the Getty represents a uniquely well-rounded ‘university of the arts.’ No other institution does more to collect, preserve and understand the history and materiality of art than the Getty, and I greatly look forward to working with the Museum’s outstanding staff in building on this achievement over the years ahead.

Can design change the world? Of course. The challenging part is figuring out how to best harness the power of design to make a difference, for clients and causes alike. A pioneer of this tricky, potent, you-know-it-when-you-see-it combination of design thinking and social entrepreneurship has been Worldstudio, the New York-based marketing and design agency that specializes in creating and implementing programs for corporate clients that support their social responsibility platforms. Between projects for the likes of Adobe and The Metropolitan Opera, Worldstudio principal Mark Randall co-founded (with Steven Heller) Impact! Design for Social Change, a six-week summer intensive at the School of Visual Arts that is now in its third year. Meanwhile, interest in the field of design for social impact is surging, and as Randall and friends gear up for a March 1 panel at SVA on the social design job market (a taped webcast will be posted online following the event), we asked him to tell us more about how good design can do good.

How do you define “social design”?
This is a great question, and one that the design community is slowly defining. In the broadest sense, social design uses design thinking and creativity to improve the human condition and to ensure a sustainable future for us all. A social design approach can be applied to a wide range of areas; non-profits and NGOs, civic design, corporate social responsibility, as well as social enterprise and social entrepreneurship.

Was there a particular project or point in your career that got you interested in social design, or was it an area that you gravitated to more gradually?
As a kid growing up in the 1970′s I was engaged by the ecology movement and Woodsy the Owl—”Give a Hoot! Don’t Pollute!” In 1993, David Sterling, who at the time was a partner in the legendary firm Doublespace, approached me to design a logo for a concept business that he was developing. He wanted to create a design studio that incorporated a social agenda into the work that was done on a daily basis. His ideas were unformed at the time, and as we worked on the identity together we discovered that we viewed the world—and design—in much the same way. Our conversations helped to shape what the business could and ultimately would be. Instead of being his designer I became his business partner. David left the business almost ten years ago, but I have continued the work that we do with a great group of collaborators.
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“It had a great feeling of unreality. I mean, I was a designer of china; I was not in the business of killing Stalin. Imagine yourself! Most of the time I did not believe that I would have an opportunity to relate this to anybody. I really did not. There was very little probability that I would live—nobody wished me well.”

-Designer Eva Zeisel (1906-2011) in her prison memoir, published in issue 14 of A Public Space. On Thursday evening, Cooper-Hewitt director Bill Moggridge kicks off a new year of Bill’s Design Talks with a tribute to Zeisel. Joining Moggridge on stage at The Greene Space will be art critic Jed Perl (The New Republic) and the designing duo of James Klein and David Reid (KleinReid), who collaborated with Zeisel on a series of ceramics and prints. Buy tickets here.

David Stark has made a name for himself with design that is simultaneously innovative and playful, monumentally scaled yet welcoming and thoughtfully customized. His Brooklyn-based firm’s events, for clients ranging from Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum and New Yorkers for Children to West Elm and discerning brides often transform quotidian materials—Post-Its, paint chips, bundled newspapers—into one-night wonderlands. Guests have been known to marvel, look closer, and then ask, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Stark’s latest production is WOOD SHOP, a “surprise ambush” of Nina Freudenberger‘s Haus Interior in New York. “For about a month, all of the product that Haus usually carries will be removed and replaced with our limited-edition WOOD SHOP collection that is inspired by the iconic wood worker’s atelier,” explains Stark of the collaborative concept store-cum-art gallery, which opens to the public on Friday at 11:00 a.m. (sneak a peek at some of the goods and buy them online here). “We’re excited to take the pop-up store to the next level.” Stark took time away from last-minute preparations to answer our seven questions about wooden must-haves, his start in event design, and how he created a “garden of Versailles” out of shredded paper.

1. What are a few of your favorite products in WOOD SHOP?
Oh, I love so, so many of them that it is hard to name one or two, but I am particularly happy with the hand-crocheted paint can and brush pillows, the turned poplar vases, and I do love the “Pining for You” poster/valentine. It’s a fantastic card to send in the mail, and it is also cool to frame and put on a wall. This pieces is the newest in our company tradition of newsprint cards that we have sent to friends and clients over the last couple of years. Those cards have become so popular that they are commonly saved and framed as wall art.

2. You went to art school at RISD. How did you get your start in event design?
Totally by accident! I didn’t even know there was a career called, “event design”! Back in the day, I worked with flowers and a partner, making arrangements for parties to support my fledgling painting career. Over time, I did more and more floral work than painting and got better and better at it. One day we were invited to interview for the job of designing the décor for New York City Opera’s fundraising gala. Carolyn Roehm, a noted florist in her own right, was the chair lady of the evening, and she took one look at our book and said, “Well, there is no question that you make the most beautiful flower arrangements, but this evening is not about flowers at all.”

All of a sudden a light bulb went off! It was a real a-ha moment. The revelation that flowers were not the only decorative tool for a party was mind-blowing. It seems real obvious of course, but at the time, it was radical. Now flowers are just one of the tools in my tool box, and the rest of the world of options is readily at my fingertips.
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Art and design fans have much to look forward to in the coming weeks. Here are our picks of the latest and greatest not-to-be-missed events in NYC:

What’s more fun that art forgery? A talk about the colorful history of art forgery by Milton Esterow. The ARTnews editor and publisher takes to the stage tomorrow evening at 92nd St Y for “Fakes, Frauds, and Fake Fakers” (we adore that title), a sure-to-be-fascinating look at how forgers have created convincing imitations of masterpieces, as well as works that mimic the styles of great artists, duping collectors, dealers, and even the experts themselves. Don’t bother trying to forge a ticket to this talk; buy a real one here.

On Monday, January 30, Moleskine hosts an evening of interactive portrait-making at Exit Art. Stop by the reception (6-9 p.m.) to “explore the many ways to capture a portrait using Moleskine objects” with featured artists including Emilie Baltz and Nathan Sensel. Text-portraits, sound-portraits, taste-portraits, photo-portraits, and more are promised. RSVP here to be sure that your name in their little black (guest) book.

Cooper-Hewitt director Bill Moggridge kicks off a new year of Bill’s Design Talks with a tribute to Eva Zeisel, who died a few weeks ago at the age of 105. Joining Moggridge on February 9 at The Greene Space will be art critic Jed Perl (The New Republic) and the designing duo of James Klein and David Reid (KleinReid), who collaborated with Zeisel on a series of ceramics and prints. Register here to attend. There will be also be a live webcast.

But back to people named “Milton”! On February 16, Milton Glaser comes to Brooklyn’s terrific powerHouse Arena for an exclusive discussion and signing of his new book In Search of the Miraculous (Overlook). A $10 ticket saves you $10 off the price of the book, in which Glaser highlights work, largely created by him over the last five years, to demonstrate how one concept leads to another. Bring on the fascinating juxtapositions.
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Fans of The Rachel Zoe Project may have noticed that the star stylist doesn’t take kindly to staff members striking out on their own (and isn’t above launching smear campaigns when they do so). Her former protégé, Brad Goreski, found this out the hard way. He appeared to part with Zoe on good terms toward the end of season three of her reality series, but by season four, she was lobbing criticisms and allegations of client-stealing at her once-beloved style director. In this second segment of our Media Beat interview with Goreski, he opens up about his relationship with Zoe—or lack thereof. “It’s strange that it turned into this whole thing, because to me, it’s a very logical thing to assist somebody and then, after a certain amount of time, choose to leave ad go go off and do your own thing,” says the star of the new Bravo series It’s a Brad Brad World. “I think that’s a really natural progression.” As for the alleged client swiping, Goreski sees this as a non-issue. “Can you really steal people, and especially people who are celebrities?” He asks. “They choose who they want to work with.”

Part 1: Breakout Styling Star Brad Goreski Takes Us Inside His Brad, Brad World
Part 3: How Brad Goreski Got an Internship at Vogue

Even if you don’t know Thom Browne from Tom Ford, you probably recognize the bespectacled visage and signature coiff of Brad Goreski. The dapper Canadian was the breakout star of Bravo’s The Rachel Zoe Project, which documented his rise from steamer-wielding errand boy to Oscar-night styling protégé, and now he’s striking out with a celebrity-styling career and addictive reality series of his own. It’s a Brad, Brad World, which airs Monday nights on Bravo, follows Goreski as he starts a styling business and trades quips with his longtime boyfriend, TV writer and producer Gary Janetti (Will & Grace, Family Guy). A note to design fans: glimpses of the couple’s midcentury mod home in the Hollywood Hills, along with the show’s snappy and saturated setting shots, are reason enough to tune in. “We decided we would go on a crazy ride, a wild adventure, and hopefully the audience will come along with us,” Goreski tells us in this first segment of our three-part Media Beat interview. “I’m not exactly sure what a ‘Brad, Brad World’ is yet—it’s just that you never know where you’re going to end up.”

Part 2: Brad Goreski Sets the Record Straight on His Relationship with Rachel Zoe
Part 3: How Brad Goreski Got an Internship at Vogue

Design awards season is upon us and with it a flurry of freshly seated juries. Here are three ways ways to get your work appraised (and possibly lauded) by design minds such as Rodrigo Corral, Jan Chipchase, and Alice Twemlow:

Our friends at the Art Directors Club have announced the full Design jury for the global ADC 91st Annual Awards, and it’s a doozy. The dashing Arem Duplessis, design director of The New York Times Magazine, will preside over a talented dozen of designers that includes Irma Boom, Alan Dye of Apple, and Wired design director Leo Jung (intimidated yet?). Next Friday, January 27, is the last day to submit your entry for the interactive, design, motion, photography, and illustration categories.

Over at the Industrial Designers Society of America, the 2012 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) program is in full swing. A jury of 19 experts from design consultancies, corporations, and universities will have their say about products, ecodesign, interaction design, packaging, strategy, research, and concepts. Leading the charge is chairperson Rhys Newman, head of advanced projects at Nokia. Other jury members include Thomas Overthun (IDEO), Carrie Russell (Procter & Gamble), and Tad Toulis (TEAGUE). The regular application deadline is February 10, but procrastinators can squeeze out another week by paying a late fee.

Core77 is back with the second edition of its ambitious Design Awards program. In addition to progressive categories (social impact, speculative), professional and student entry fields, globally distributed juries, in-depth video testimonials, live jury announcements, and (whew!) a swell trophy created by Rich Brilliant Willing, the 2012 awards feature two new categories: food design and writing & commentary. Among this year’s crop of jury captains are frog design’s Michael DiTullo (soft goods), curator Zoë Ryan (furniture and lighting), and Min and Sulki Choi of Sulki and Min (visual communication). The final deadline for entries is April 10.