Right: Alice Roche Flow Necklaces, prices vary; silver; photo: Maria Del Rio, courtesy SFMOMA; Left: SFMOMA façade of Snøhetta expansion; photo: © Henrik Kam, courtesy SFMOMA
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (March 23, 2016)—The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) Museum Store will feature a suite of exclusive jewelry collections designed by three architects and an industrial designer, all women, based on the architecture and design details of the new SFMOMA.
In celebration of the museum’s opening on May 14, the Museum Store commissioned Marion Cage McCollam, Andrea Panico, Alice Roche and Diana Schimmel to design jewelry capsule collections inspired by the façade of the Snøhetta-designed expansion, the museum’s new living wall, the iconic oculus of the original Mario Botta–designed building and the view of the new SFMOMA in the San Francisco city skyline. Sold exclusively through the SFMOMA Museum Store, the architectural jewelry pieces will range from $45 to $750 and include a variety of bracelets, earrings, necklaces and rings.
“We are thrilled to introduce these exceptional jewelry collections to the SFMOMA Museum Store,” said Jana Machin, SFMOMA Museum Store director. “It has been a fascinating process to see each designer interpret architectural elements of the new museum into wearable pieces of art and architecture.”
Architectural Elements
Design motifs inspired by the architecture of the expanded museum’s façade and new living wall are prominently featured in the collections. The façade, influenced in part by the fog and waters of the San Francisco Bay, comprises more than 700 uniquely-shaped FRP (fiberglass-reinforced polymer) panels affixed to a curtain-wall system to create rippling horizontal bands that appear to shift in appearance with the changing light.
In addition to the unique façade, the new SFMOMA also features the largest living wall in the United States, which provides the background for the Pat and Bill Wilson Sculpture Terrace. With 16,000 plants, including 24 native plant species, the living wall is an ever-changing work of natural art supported with a recycled water system.
Marion Cage McCollam
New Orleans–based architect and designer Marion Cage McCollam began designing jewelry in 2003 as a means to explore form and material in a more open-ended manner. With a passion for materials and combining them in unexpected ways, Cage McCollam’s approach is never limited to one scale or medium.
A graduate of Columbia University’s School of Architecture, she worked for such prestigious architects as 2004 Pritzker Prize Laureate Zaha Hadid in London and Bernard Tschumi in Paris before returning to the United States to start her own practice.
Cage McCollam drew inspiration from the rippling horizontal bands of the Snøhetta-designed façade for her SFMOMA Museum Store collection, which includes multiple styles of bracelets, earrings, necklaces and rings. A highlight of her capsule collection is a series of stackable silver bangle bracelets that allow the wearer to build a wearable piece of architecture. Prices range from $55 to $750.
Andrea Panico
Andrea Panico is an industrial and product designer who formed Pico Design in 2008 with the vision of creating jewelry inspired by her love of architecture. Creating jewelry like “an architect of small things,” Panico focuses on unique connections and construction details.
Prior to starting Pico, Panico earned a master’s of industrial design from Pratt Institute and worked as an industrial designer, with experience in both retail and to-the-trade markets, including positions as a furniture designer, a tabletop designer for retailer West Elm and director of product design and licensing for interior designer Clodagh. Panico also teaches industrial design at Montclair State University in New Jersey, where she focuses on design for manufacturing and manufacturing technologies, as well as professional practices for undergraduates.
Panico’s sculptural jewelry collection was inspired by the texture and ripples of the Snøhetta façade, with overlapping pieces of metal in silver and brass recreating its shadows and shapes. Prices range from $95 to $399.
Alice Roche
As the daughter of an architect, Alice Roche has always felt a connection to design. With a background in art and a master’s of architecture from UC Berkeley, Roche adapted her design sensibility to a smaller scale and began making jewelry in 2005. In 2008, Roche left an architecture career to focus on her jewelry business, Alice Roche Jewelry. Handmade in San Francisco from reclaimed metals and materials manufactured in America, Roche’s jewelry draws inspiration from the complementary worlds of nature and architecture.
Based in San Francisco, Alice Roche has witnessed the progress of the new SFMOMA and was immediately drawn to the textured ebb and flow of the façade. Roche interpreted the light, shadow and dimension of the façade into wearable pieces of silver jewelry, including delicate necklaces and earrings. Prices range from $65 to $255.
Diana Schimmel
Born and raised in Uruguay, Diana Schimmel studied architecture in Buenos Aires, where she currently resides. Schimmel opened her own studio and has worked on diverse architecture projects including offices, collective and individual homes, shops and industrial warehouses. She started her company, Dos Riberos, in 2002 and has worked with Thyssen Bornemissa of Madrid, CaixaForum in Barcelona, Galerie Bensimon in Paris, L’Eclaireur in Paris, Sybilla in Madrid and Isetan in Tokyo.
Schimmel designed two mini capsule collections for the SFMOMA Museum Store. The first was inspired by geometric forms of the Mario Botta–designed building and its iconic oculus juxtaposed against the Snøhetta-designed building, while the other was based on the organic shapes of the living wall. Highlights of the collections include two statement necklaces, as well as pendant necklaces and earrings. Prices range from $45 to $385.
About the SFMOMA Museum Store
When the new SFMOMA opens in May 2016, the SFMOMA Museum Store will resume operations inside the museum building at 151 Third Street. The newly renovated Museum Store (Floor 1) will feature a wide selection of art books, home accessories and furnishings, artist-made jewelry, toys, prints and more. The new Satellite Store (Floor 2) will showcase exclusive SFMOMA-branded items and art-related merchandise. The SFMOMA Museum Store also has a location on the departure level at the SFO International Terminal, open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Shoppers can also shop online at museumstore.sfmoma.org. Every purchase from the Museum Store supports SFMOMA’s exhibitions and education programs.