Lulu Letty: Sponsor Spotlight: Maison Orion

I find all aspects of design, not just fashion, inspiring and motivating. In particular, buildings both new and old have always held my fascination. My newest sponsor, Maison Orion is a design studio that goes beyond architecture...

MAISON ORION is a multifaceted design studio based in Los Angeles, California. While primarily engaged in the design of buildings, our focus is rather on questions of life and what qualities make for a graceful and uplifting habitat for human beings. We explore architecture from its traditional roots – firmness, commodity and delight. Far from being traditional or nostalgic, we seek to engage in a dialogue with these fundamental and everlasting concerns. Our references and inspirations come from myriad sources, but a borrowed quote from the Slow Food Manifesto expresses the motivations that underpin all the work:

A firm defense of quiet material pleasure is the only way to oppose the universal folly of Fast Life.

Our motto is "Aesthetics as a Way of Life". This means that we should always recognize the beauty around us and continuously strive to create beautiful things. Architecture, as in many other arts, has suffered too long under the hegeomony of an ocular bias. Our bodies have five senses and architecture should not neglect hearing, touch, smell and even taste as receptors to design for. We believe that true sustainability comes from longevity. Buildings are heavy and expensive and they should be designed to last for generations. If a building is not loved, it will not be kept up. Lastly, buildings are located in a context- a place, a history, an ecology and a culture. They have a duty to connect intimately with their surroundings which often extends far beyond the property line.

Current projects in the studio are the House That Herman Built, a full building art installation in New Orleans, Louisiana with artist Jackie Sumell and activist/prisoner Herman Wallace, the Cloud Horse Art Institute, a non-profit art school on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation focusing on developing artistic talents among Lakota natives, the Jumping Eagle Safe House, also on Pine Ridge, which is a dormitory for displaced children escaping abuse and neglect at home and It Takes A Village, a multi-generational cohousing community in Boulder, Colorado that supports families who have adopted children from foster care.