Expanding Horizons: Wright in Asia

With less focus on designing for mass markets, Russel turned increasingly to consulting projects. One of his most important was with the US State Department's International Cooperation Administration (ICA), which he carried out in the mid- to later-1950s. The ICA engaged American industrial designers to advise small industries and foreign governments on how to improve design and production of goods that could enter the American marketplace, thus boosting local economies and enhancing lives. This significant Cold War effort was conducted by Russel Wright Associates and Walter Dorwin Teague, both of New York, as well as by Design Research of Chicago; the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston; Smith, Scherr & McDermott of Akron, Ohio; and Peter Muller-Munk Associates of Pittsburgh. Regions involved with the project, included the Middle East, India and Pakistan, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia.[30]

Russel was assigned to Southeast Asia, Korea and Japan. He was reluctant at first to leave Annie and his design office for the lengthy trip. The project intrigued him, however, and later he became immersed in its potential for social change on a global level. Traveling with colleagues Ramy Alexander and Joset Walker, Wright left New York on December 1, 1955, and returned on about February 8, 1956, visiting Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Cambodia and Vietnam. Russel spent a week in Japan at the beginning and end of the trip. His copious travel notes dictated and later transcribed offer fascinating reading and strongly stated opinions on what he encountered,

There are two strong impressions that I got from my first trip to the Far East. The first was that visually, the traditional culture of Asia of which I had read had all but disappeared. I saw century-old beautiful tea houses where best rooms were furnished with imitations of American 'borax' furniture, unequalled in vulgarity; horrible machine-made imitations of western products offered in the shops of Tokyo, Hong Kong and Bangkok; nightmarish movie theaters, office buildings and stores, ignorantly built in cheap imitation of their western counterparts. I had to hunt for remnants of the past-the greatest and handsomest among the Buddhist temples I found deserted, decaying and filthy; their popularity is gone to more modern temples, inferior in design, of poor workmanship, but covered with gilt and fluorescent lights….

The other strong impression was the shock of seeing so much poverty. The Far East is not the glamour, glamour Never Never Land, nor is it the mystic miracle painted for us in Technicolor or Kodachrome by those two Gargantuas of escapist business-Hollywood and Tourism.[31]

Russel, with the ICA, was "to develop a plan for increasing production of crafts and small industry products which are a major source of employment for the peoples of this region and to thereby raise their living standards."[33] These recommendations, adjusted for the needs of each country with which he worked, included vocational training in production techniques, design and material adjustments for handcrafts that could sell in the American market, processes for the selection of marketable items, and the linking of consumer research, production and marketing methods to insure success of these industries. Five years after his initial visit, Russel summarized his observations in a 1961 essay, "A Bamboo Bridge: Aid Where it is Needed Most," which was proposed for publication in the New York Times Sunday Magazine.[34] In that essay, he comments on the high level of technical capacity that he found in Japan but that its marketing skills were still wanting, particularly in producing products of real use to its own citizens. "In one instance," he notes, "working with the Japanese electrical appliance industry, our team suggested the development of a rice cooker for the more efficient preparation of Asia's staple—miniature cookers to fit the Far East's smaller-scale dwellings, simpler appliances drawing less power—these are the directions in which our own experience in new product development for a mass market can guide Japan."[35] Indeed! Russel Wright Associates invented the domestic rice cooker, now ever-present in Japanese homes.

In Japan, as in each other country, Russel worked in partnership with private companies and government agencies. Remarkably, in Japan, he found the government agencies to be helpful and even inspired and commented that US government bureaucracies could learn from them. This was, in part, because some of the country's most talented industrial designers were heading up these agencies. One of the few names that Russel managed to remember and cite in his notes was that of Isamu Kenmochi, a designer and head of Japan's Industrial Arts Institute. Kenmochi is considered the "father" of modern Japanese design and was the subject of a 2004 traveling retrospective exhibition in Japan curated by Hitoshi Mori for the Matsudo City Board of Education. Kenmochi's creative talent, along with the efforts of many others, took full advantage of Russel's advice.

Even before his 1955 arrival, the name Russel Wright was well known in Japan. Trade journals and training guides illustrated Russel's designs as early as the 1930s and again after the War.[36] His celebrity status preceded him. His original plan was to use three days in Tokyo at the beginning of his 1955-56 tour for rest before continuing on to the Southeast Asian countries. He lamented,

Before the doors of the plane were opened, however, an announcement came over the speaker that a party was waiting for a Mr. Wright. I figured this must be another Mr. Wright because nobody knew that I was arriving. At the foot of the steps from the plane was a group of official-looking men and a photographer, whom I walked past. In the middle of going through Customs, a guy noticed my name and called over the official-looking group. I was the Mr. Wright.[37]

Every minute was scheduled with official meetings. He was thrust into the center of attention. His every word was noted, and soon the Japanese legislative Diet debated and approved what was called "The Russel Wright Plan," a four-point proposal for redevelopment of the country's consumer products design and manufacturing industry. The Plan's structure was similar to and consistent with his recommendations for other countries. The Plan evolved over several years and many other designers, both American and European, participated in it. Wright and his associates returned to Japan three more times in the later 1950s to continue work under contract with the ICA and various Japanese agencies. Its wide-ranging implications are described in Hitoshi Mori's essay on this Web site. The Russel Wright Plan was a key element of the roadmap by which Japan charted its rise to international preeminence in the consumer products industry. Russel aided this growth through trade shows he produced in 1956 and 1958 with nearly 2,000 items he brought back with him. Hand-woven baskets, brass and copper ware, traditional textiles and bamboo blinds were displayed to buyers who eagerly placed orders. Within a few years, retail companies such as Cost Plus and Pier 1 emerged to supply the new demand for low-cost, casual decorative items and housewares that brought Asian style to American homes.[38]

In early February 1956, when Russel was to leave Southeast Asia and return to New York by way of Rome, he changed plans at the last moment and returned to Japan, to which he had become very attracted. Isamu Kenmochi, who Russel referred to as "my new friend,"[39] had recommended a special inn in Kyoto, where he stayed for several days visiting historical sites, temple gardens, shops and bookstores, "in a vain search for all books showing construction drawings of Japanese traditional wood construction which I admire so much."[40] While in Tokyo in early December, Russel had met and visited the Japanese style home of Czech-American architect Antonin Raymond, who had assisted Frank Lloyd Wright in the construction of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo in 1916.[41] Other such homes had also caught his attention. Clearly, Russel was inspired by traditional Japanese architecture that he had experienced, but he was also charmed by its food and customs as well. He later commented that, "a designer would rather go to Japan than to Heaven."[42]

Wright returned to New York City with fresh ideas of what he wanted for a new house on the land in Garrison. During weekend visits, he had already begun to move boulders and clear the abandoned granite quarries, but he was now inspired to build a house to replace the small cottage that he, Mary, and Annie had been using. He contacted David Leavitt, a young American architect, who had recently returned to New York after working in Japan with Antonin Raymond. Russel may have learned of Leavitt's name from Raymond, but he also had a November 1955 New York Times article that described Leavitt's Japanese-inspired New York City apartment, which was published just before his departure to Asia.[43] In their first meeting, Russel related his recent experiences to Leavitt and described the house he had in mind. Within six weeks, by March 20, 1956, Leavitt had produced sketches of what would become known as "Dragon Rock," named by Annie for the shape of a rock wall across the adjacent pond. Russel's thoughts about the house are consistent with his philosophy that shaped so much of his work,

I wish this shelter to blend with the landscape and be an unshocking contrast with it. Therefore, I will make it of the rock to be found there, of the lumber to be found there; and I will cover it with vines that are native.[44]

Constructed in stages over a period of years, the 11-level home and studio nestles into what appears to be a natural setting and clearly reveals its architect's knowledge of Japanese open-frame construction and integration into nature.[45] The house is not, however, an imitation of Japanese style, and Russel was reticent to cite its Asian inspiration. At the outset, Leavitt and Wright agreed that Leavitt would be credited as the building's architect and Wright as its interior designer, "a clause which he later ignored," as Leavitt has observed.[46] Russel rejected several of Leavitt's ideas that derived from Japanese traditions, but he did adopt many including seasonal changes of décor, which Russel turned into semi-annual rituals. Leavitt also suggested nature trails throughout the surrounding grounds.

As for the natural trails, which along with the house comprise Manitoga, they got started when I suggested to Russel what a Japanese garden designer would do to make them more interesting by adding a variety of experiences and surprises along the way. [The] first path that he and Joe Chapman created around the quarry, with its bridges, stepping stones, open and closed spaces, fields of moss or flowers, vistas, etc. was a blueprint for all the future trails…."[47]

Joseph Chapman is a California-born architect and designer who met Russel in 1962. Their long-time companionship was centered on the work at Manitoga. Joe continues to live near Manitoga in Garrison, New York. Wright's designs for the woodland gardens of Manitoga are discussed in Robert Schonfeld's essay on this Web site. Additional information is available in an extensive study prepared in 1982 by Wright's cousin and landscape architect, Carol Franklin, co-founder of the Philadelphia-based landscape design firm, Andropogon Associates.[48]

From 1955 through 1965, Russel designed several more dinnerware lines that reflect the inspiration he gained in Asia. In 1955, he designed the decorated "Esquire" line of dinnerware for Knowles. The first used the motif of Queen Anne's lace, and after returning from Asia, he added a new color and decoration that he called, "Grass." The soft, reed-like drawing and overlaid gold gesture resemble the abstract, brushed ink figures, seen throughout Japanese and Chinese painting.

An intriguing combination of contemporary technology and natural materials is seen in one design for Flair plastic dinnerware that Wright designed in 1959. Flair included the distinctive "Ming Lace" variation in which Wright incorporated actual leaves of the Jade Orchid tree native to China. Every piece of Flair Ming Lace is unique with differently colored and shaped leaves incorporated into the surface.

Approaching the age of 60, Russel conceived of what would be his last commercial design projects. Recognizing that popular tastes in the 1960s had changed dramatically, and for the worse in his opinion, Wright planned two new lines that he hoped would be embraced, one for its elegance, and the other for its casualness. Theme Formal and Theme Informal were to draw upon many design elements that Russel had worked with in the past. Theme Formal combined fine white porcelain plates, bowls and serving pieces, pearlescent lacquer-like rice bowls and plates, and opalescent clear-to-milk-white drinking glasses. Theme Informal was intentionally casual. Low-seated, flat plates with beveled edges, stacking soup and lidded serving bowls were finished with heavy raku-like glazes. They were accompanied by turned-wood salad plates and bowls and darkly tinted glasses. Informal was produced in dark brown "Ember" and light, sand-to-white "Dune" glazes.

The design and production of Formal and Informal began with high hopes. The lines were marketed by Schmid International, based in the US with an office in Japan. They were produced by the Yamato Porcelain Company of Nagoya. Russel went to Nagoya to oversee the initial production personally. A thick file of correspondence records the early optimism, emerging production problems, increasing distribution and marketing obstacles, all leading to the final disappointing demise of the project. Cost overruns limited the appeal of the Theme lines to very exclusive giftware shops. The volume of production was low, resulting in its rarity today. Frustrated with the experience, Wright decided to close his Manhattan design studio in 1965 and move permanently to Manitoga.

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