Architectural Pottery (Firm : Los Angeles, Calif.)

Almost a lifetime resident of Los Angeles, Rita Milaw Lawrence was graduated from UCLA in 1940 (political science snd sociology). Earlier that year she was married to Max Lawrence, a New Yorker she met after he moved to Los Angeles following his graduation from City College of New York; in 1950 they began the firm Architectural Pottery to produce and market the pottery container designs of students of LaGardo Tackett, professor at California School of Art; began issuing catalogs in September 1950 featuring products for the new modern postwar styles of architecture, using new design materials, such as fiberglass; the firm had three locations in Los Angeles; subdivisions subsequently added included Architectural Fiberglass (1961), Pro-Artisan (1966), Arcon (1971), Architectural Ceramic Surfaces (1972), and Graphic structures (probably, 1972); in 1971, the company name was changed to Group Artec; the company produced varied products such as office furniture, public seating, tile, kiosks, modern dinner ware, and building directories (signage).

Biography

Almost a lifetime resident of Los Angeles, Rita Milaw Lawrence was graduated from UCLA in 1940 (political science snd sociology). Earlier that year she was married to Max Lawrence, a New Yorker she met after he moved to Los Angeles following his graduation from City College of New York; in 1950 they began the firm Architectural Pottery to produce and market the pottery container designs of students of LaGardo Tackett, professor at California School of Art; began issuing catalogs in September 1950 featuring products for the new modern postwar styles of architecture, using new design materials, such as fiberglass; the firm had three locations in Los Angeles; subdivisions subsequently added included Architectural Fiberglass (1961), Pro-Artisan (1966), Arcon (1971), Architectural Ceramic Surfaces (1972), and Graphic structures (probably, 1972); in 1971, the company name was changed to Group Artec; the company produced varied products such as office furniture, public seating, tile, kiosks, modern dinner ware, and building directories (signage).

Biographical Narrative

In 1972 when architect A. Quincy Jones responded to a query from the Los Angeles Times for a statement about Architectural Pottery, he may also have encapsulated the essence of the manufacturing business established by Rita and Max Lawrence in 1950, as well as the thrust of those times in terms of design influence. In 1950, Los Angeles thrived in a climate of exuberance and what seems now to have been a boundless wellspring of creative energy that spawned a number of new design firms and manufacturers whose products influenced design attitudes, internationally, within the decade. Echoes of that time resound with renewed vibrations today in the questioning minds of researchers who seek to know how it all happened.

Looking back, from 1972 to 1950, Jones wrote, As manufacturers, Max and Rita Lawrence are more than patrons of good design. As 'resonators,' they bring together the designer and manufacturer, a role difficult to undertake, and understood by few, because it involves a commitment to the purpose of producing good design. Their belief in the integrity of the artist and the importance of using modern materials and methods to the best advantage has lead to the production of objects recognized the world over for their quality of design. And, I add, the repetitiveness of a well-designed object in no way decreases its value. The good thing about good design is that it does not involve contortions that result in strange attempts to exhibit originality.

Today, the first post World War 2 decade, 1945-1955, is revealing itself as the seminal period in which the specialness of the design contribution for the latter half of the century came to fruition. The cleavage between pre-war and post-war extended from 1938, when the war of devastation began in Europe (if not earlier). During this period the nation's efforts were channeled to the defense effort. Those with design skills, whether architects, artists, landscape planners or others, made technical drawings for aircraft factories, designed camouflage to conceal industries against enemy attack or were employed elsewhere in a time when domestic architecture and design endeavors were shelved for the duration.

This was the decade then, 1945-1955, for the start of a new way of thinking. New technology from the war years, new attitudes and social upheaval (still reverberating nearly half a century later) informed and shaped the special, particular, far-reaching design attitude that emerged. The old rule book did not work. It was up to new thinkers to put the new pieces together.

Architectural Pottery seemed to soar from the beginning, receiving recognition as early as the Museum of Modern Art (New York) 1951 Good Design Exhibition that included most of the designs in the firm's original small catalog. Displayed at museums and galleries, published extensively, with high visibility in designers' installations, the young company continued to receive awards of local, national, and international distinction.

Part of the richness of this collection is in the revelation of the designer-user-producer triumvirate that ultimately makes possible the products of designers whose work is manufactured for wide distribution. The balance is precarious. It takes finesse and incessant dedication to nurture each detail in the process until it becomes an integral element of the total picture. This collection may be a textbook example of how such a relationship is developed and honed. The visual and written messages of catalogs, brochures, advertisements, plus the internal and external correspondence, speak in behalf of the firm with integrity and consistency. The implied voice that underlies these communications establishes, throughout the role of the company as resonator as well as manufacturer in this diagrammatic triangle of designer-user-producer.

As a trail-blazer in the industry, the Lawrences pioneered production of large scale fiberglass reinforced plastic planters in 1961. Increasing demand for planters larger than could be made of clay lead Architectural Pottery to expand and invent their way into using this new material, not yet adapted in their product field. In time, besides the large planters, they produced an extended line of lounge furniture for indoor-outdoor use.

In 1965, Rita Lawrence wrote to an editor assembling material on 20th Century classics, Architectural Pottery was originated to make a statement about today's way of life, not to imitate or adapt the past. The forms we have introduced have become symbols of their era; the forms we will do in the future will be different, as we perceive new requirements and a new architectural idiom. To be truly contemporary in design implies constant movement and evolution. We are very proud of our laurels, but they represent milestones, not resting places. She continued to say, Southern California then (1950) was exploring a way of making living space of the outdoors ---a way of life that has since been adopted nationally and even internationally. Architectural Pottery provided a portable landscape and a focal point in garden plantings, then carried the motif into the home and office.

A key to the vitality of the approximate 25 years of their business is seen in the willingness of the Lawrences to carve new niches in a market they already knew and served well. In the 1970s, in newly created divisions, their product lines introduced a public seating system to provide one-piece unitized, massive seating arrangements for large public areas, floor and wall tiles, an office furniture system to accommodate new kinds of work place interiors responsive to electronic and computer needs, and a system of graphic structures and signage.

In the 1970s, the careful, finely tuned designs of Architectural Pottery and its sibling companies were gathered under the overall company name of Group Artec. In the 1990s, museums and art galleries continue to request loans of their clay pots, fiberglass planters, street furniture and other pieces that serve as icons for the memory of the period that made possible these design indicators.

A continued study of that decade, 1945-1955, enhances its value for understanding the linkage of those years and the design attitude that prevailed and defined the way of life in post-war California, especially. The microscopic view of a part of the history leads to the facets of the social and cultural references that relate to other lateral signals that together inform the larger picture in history.

Part of the story is likely to be found in this collection. The Lawrences, among others, were there. Their design attitude was intrinsic to the times.

By Elaine K. Sewell Jones

A Chronology of ARCHITECTURAL POTTERY (Firm: Los Angeles, California, Max and Rita Lawrence)

By Rita Lawrence