HELTZER OUTDOOR

Over 20 years ago I was asked to design an outdoor collection of furniture for a well-known architect building a home along Lake Michigan. I was just getting started in my design practice and was honored and excited. We quickly went to work building and rebuilding frames with exhausting fitting sessions with the architect and client reminiscent of old world clothing makers. When we finally worked through all the design details we needed to address the goals of ensuring that the frames would look beautiful with or without cushions, as they would be left out in all seasons and seen through the 10 foot wall of glass looking out to the lake. They would need to weather Chicago winters without blowing into the frozen water or, even worse, through the wall of glass into their beautiful new home. This proved to be the greatest challenge. So back to the studio we went for what seemed like a lifetime. We finally reemerged with hand-built industrial stainless steel frames with popsicle stick..

Primary location: Chicago United States