In the summer of 2023, we showcased the inaugural Designers’ Residency from the New York-based design gallery and strategy firm, Colony. We’re happy to report that the program was an undeniable success and has returned for a second year! Colony’s founder, Jean Lin, and art director, Madeleine Parsons, set out with the intention to connect a world of emerging talent with the international design market, lending their knowledge and experience to the sometimes harrowing process. To assist with the financial burdens that come with scaling, Colony subsidizes shop space and employs the residents at the gallery, offering professional studio and curation experience.
In 2024, four newly established studios – Alara Alkan Studio, Ember Studio, MPei Studio, and Thomas Yang Studio – completed the intense 8-month program and will now be added to Colony’s offerings created by independent American design talents.
“From the start of the selection process last spring, we were drawn to the authenticity of these designers’ distinctive voices and curious about how they might influence one another throughout the design process,” Parsons reflects. “While the collections presenting this June stand very much apart from each other aesthetically, they embody The Designers’ Residency Program’s collective power. Support, research sharing, and critical conversations accelerate the process of building something as personal as an eponymous studio. The work is only as beautiful as the community that created it.”
Jia-Ciasa collection by Thomas Yang
Taiwanese and Northern-Italian designer, Thomas Yang, has released his first collection entitled Jia-Ciasa as a result of the program. Designed around the concepts of culture, memory, and inherited techniques, the five furniture pieces and seven wall-mounted objects sit at the crossroads of craft and utility, with great respect for cultural and physical context. Every object aims to elevate their daily use, turning habitual tasks into venerable rituals that are beautifully ordinary.
Ama Chair, by Thomas Yang, represents the embodiment of Yang’s own ama, or grandmother, featuring a balance of opposing forces – delicate but tough, serious but funny – to achieve stillness.
Cabinet of Memories, by Thomas Yang, is based on the proportions of a traditional East-Asian cabinet and derived from recollections of family heirlooms.
A series of modular Wall Hooks inspired by the Shaker craft movement, by Thomas Yang.
Thomas Yang
Wonder Cabinet by Maggie Pei
Maggie Pei’s interest in objects, their narratives, histories, and their beauty coalesce into the Wonder Chamber Collection. Borrowing from the German word “Wunderkammer,” the series includes four whimsical wall-mounted Wonder Chambers that are similar in form but vastly different in terms of material and meaning. It also includes the Park Bench, which incorporates a salvaged pair of park bench ends, as an exploration of opposing forces.
Wonder Cabinet by Maggie Pei
Maggie Pei’s Apothecary Floor Lamp takes the form of ancient Chinese apothecary cabinets.
Park Bench by Maggie Pei
Maggie Pei
Remnant Side Table + Trio Swivel Chair by Stephanie Betesh
Focused on creating lasting, livable spaces that will only get better with time, Stephanie Betesh’s Entwine Series includes intentional objects reflective of the designer herself. The four pieces give material, proportion, and scale a remix in an effort to celebrate the unexpectedness of the human spirit. Individuality and charm can be found in each piece, further inviting you to experience moments of human connection.
Remnant Side Table + Duo Side Table by Stephanie Betesh
Stephanie Betesh
Rift Sconce by Stephanie Betesh
Stephanie Betesh of Ember Studio
Alara Alkan \\\ Photo: Madra Baranova
The Temporal Tides Collection is the first by Turkish-American designer, Alara Alkan under her eponymous studio’s name. Beginning with a curiosity for nature’s ability to alter materials through exposure to its elements, the collection’s four pieces toe the line between fragility and strength. Alkan has used the above in her favor to reveal the inherent properties of various materials, looking to tides, wind, and sunlight for inspiration.
Maelen Cabinet by Alara Alkan \\\ Photo: Madra Baranova
Madra Table Lamp by Alara Alkan \\\ Photo: Madra Baranova
Madra Floor Lamp by Alara Alkan \\\ Photo: Madra Baranova
Alara Alkan
“The Designers’ Residency and the studios we launch through it have become our ongoing contribution to the greater whole,” Jean Lin shares. “Shaping a future where designers are thoughtful, community-minded, and creatively authentic.
Works from Alara Alkan Studio, Ember Studio, MPei Studio, and Thomas Yang Studio will be on view at Colony’s gallery, 196 W Broadway, through July 12, 2024. Applications for the 2024-2025 residency program are open until June 28, 2024 – apply here.
