Mark Favermann
Bio:
Architecture, design, film and theatre critic/associate editor Mark Favermann, is an urban designer and public artist who over the past two decades has written extensively on art and design. A former Fellow at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT, he was the first leader of the Boston Visual Artists Union (BVAU), the 1970's Boston activist artists organization, served as the former Director of Visual and Environmental Arts for the City of Boston and has been an adjunct professor at several universities. He was a columnist and/or editor for a large number of prominent publications. His own design work has included creating the award-winning marquee for the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, designing the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, creating the look for the 2000 NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis and the 1999 Ryder Cup as well as the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England. For the past eight seasons, he has been a design consultant to the Boston Red Sox. His 2005 public art commission, The Birds of Audubon Circle, was nominated by the Boston Art Commission as one of the best pieces of public art in America. In the Fall of 2007, his Recognition Gateway sculpture was installed in South Brookline.
Recent Articles:
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Le Corbusier's Carpenter Center at Harvard Architecture
Master Architect's Only North American Building
By: - Nov 29th, 2008The Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier is an icon. He was the personification of the modern architect. His concepts, theories and ideas were influential throughout the 20th Century. He had a love/hate thing with the United States. His only structure ever built in the US was the Carpenter Center for Visual Studies at Harvard University. He visited the construction site once, but never saw the building completed.
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Rare Art Nouveau Shopfront Survives in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts Design
Unique Facade Underscores Aesthetic Reform Style
By: - Nov 23rd, 2008An Art Nouveau storefront jewel has existed at Harvard Square for a century. In spite of indifference, abuse and neglect, somehow, this rare and beautiful piece of design history has survived. This wooden fa�ade harkens back to when Harvard Square was not brick buildings, but wood structures and storefronts. Instead of retail slick and homogenized, here, the handmade remains handsome and very human.
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Sally Mann: Photographic Poet Photography
An Evocative Lecture at Museum of Fine Arts
By: - Nov 20th, 2008Sally Mann is a unique figure in the world of photography. She developed her technique and style in an artistic backwater, Lexington, Virginia, with virtually no conversation or mentoring. After nearly twenty years of solitary work, she became a leading narrative and expressionistic artistic photographer without the normal contacts, relationships and networking. Her work is provocative and evocative.
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Kevin Rafferty's Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 Film
A Documentary About The '68 Game for the Ages
By: - Nov 19th, 2008Set on the eve of student unrest, Viet Nam protests, civil rights demonstrations and a few months after the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, the 1968 Harvard-Yale Game was arguably one of the most exciting and unexpected football contests of the 20th Century. Creative veteran Director/cinematographer Kevin Rafferty captures the moment through the eyes of 50 players from both sides in a witty and compelling way.
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Rock 'n' Roll at Huntington Theatre Company Theatre
Perhaps Tom Stoppard's Best Play Extended to Dec. 13
By: - Nov 13th, 2008This boffo hit has been extended to December 13. Beginning in August 1968 with Russian tanks rolling into Prague and flower children mellowing in Cambridge, England and ending in 1990 with the tanks rolling out of Prague and the Rolling Stones rocking and rolling, this is a sweeping panoramic drama spanning two very different countries, three interconnected generations, and 22 unstable years. The Huntington showcases Tom Stoppard brilliantly intertwining love, rock and roll and the fall of Communism.
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Buckminster Fuller, 20th Century Visionary Design
Eccentric Genius Celebrated at Whitney and MOMA
By: - Nov 09th, 2008Buckminster Fuller died in 1983, but his visionary concepts still resonate today. Though his attempt at real world applications--Dymaxion House, Geodesic Dome, etc., never proved practical, his concern for the protection of the natural environment and interest in shared global information make this eccentric almost clairvoyant.
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Museum of Arts and Design at 2 Columbus Circle Architecture
Controversial NYC Building Renovated
By: - Nov 08th, 2008On September 27, 2008, the often controversial building at Two Columbus Circle reopened to the public as The Museum of Arts and Design. This building not only celebrates the best craft, studio furniture and object design, but it also marked the end of a truly contentious and hard fought battle about architectural styles, historical preservation and politics.
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Wishful Drinking at Huntington Theatre Co. Theatre
Carrie Fisher's Star Shines in Spite of Her Life
By: - Oct 31st, 2008From a teenage sexpot in Shampoo with Warren Beatty to a sexy Princess Leia in Star Wars with the intergalactic hairstyle of all time, Carrie Fisher was well on her way to becoming, if not a Tinseltown icon like her mother Debby Reynolds, a second generation Hollywood star. Somehow the hair-raising trauma of her dysfunctional family life, personal addictions and bipolar condition derailed her adult life. One of the results is this clever, witty and often brilliant telling of the highs and mostly lows of her unique life. She says it best, " If my life wasn't funny, it would just be true, and that's unacceptable." Pop culture at its twisted best, laughing with Carrie Fisher is phenomenal.
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John Silber's Architecture of the Absurd Architecture
How Genius Disfigured A Practical Art
By: - Oct 26th, 2008Perhaps one of the most volatile, argumentative, contentious and dictatorial long-term leaders during the Cold War was John Silber. He was the extremely highly paid, all-knowing and rather controversial president of Boston University from 1971 until 1996. In retirement, he has written a book about what he calls the Architecture of the Absurd. Here, he states that a large number of celebrity architects care little for their clients' needs and are actually creating sculpture rather than true architecture. Still contentious, Dr. Silber's argument leaves out a lot of imagination and creativity.
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The Communist Dracula Pageant World Premiere At American Repertory Theatre Theatre
Ceausescu Meets Vlad the Impaler About History
By: - Oct 24th, 2008Nicolae Ceausecu and Elena Ceausescu were Romanian tyrants who over time became more egregious in their actions and more charicatures of what they actually wanted to be. Playwright Anne Washburn creates a fantastic theatrical mix and throws in Vlad the Impaler to give the play a bit of red blooded myth along with political history.
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Boleros For The Disenchanted at The Calderwood Theatre in Boston's South End Theatre
Playwright José Rivera's Puerto Rican Family Offering
By: - Oct 21st, 2008The Puerto Rican migration from the Caribbean island paradise to the gritty Bronx was a mass movement that effected hundreds of thousands of families. José Riviera's new play focuses upon one family's trials and testament.
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Philippe Starck Designs Wind Turbine Design
Superstar Designer Wants to Change the Planet
By: - Oct 19th, 2008Arguably the most famous and prolific designer in the world, Phillippe Starck, has returned from a short retirement to create environmentally sensitive cost-effective designs. His first is an affordable residential wind miniturbine.
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Harvard Art Museum Receives Major Gift Fine Arts
Emily Pulitzer Gives Important Art and Endowment
By: - Oct 17th, 2008The Harvard Art Museum is a rare institution. Even during a time of financial duress, a longtime major supporter of Harvard and Harvard Art Museum, Emily Rauh Pulitzer is making the largest gift in the history of this prestigious art institution. The wonderful modern and contemporary masterpieces are accompanied by a generous financial gift.
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Let Me Down Easy At American Rep Theatre Theatre
Anna Deavere Smith's Amazing Grace
By: - Sep 28th, 2008One of the singular artists of our generation, Anna Deavere Smith brings insight, perception and intellect to the dramatization of the human condition in the 21st Century. Her latest performance piece Let Me Down Easy is both troubling and involving while equally enlightening and entertaining. It should not be missed.
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How Shakespeare Won the West World Premiere At The Huntington Theatre Company Theatre
49ers Entice Ragtag Group to Perform Bard's Words
By: - Sep 13th, 2008A World Premiere by a Tony Award-winning playwright, Richard Nelson, at the highly professional Huntington Theatre Company is generally a formula for success. However, even with good performances and technical mastery, an unfocused, overly complicated, confusing narrative by playwright Richard Nelson needs serious editing and refining. Less would have certainly been more.
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Boston's Logan Airport's 9/11 Memorial Architecture
A Reflective Structure to a Tragic Memory
By: - Sep 11th, 2008We all remember where we were on September 11, 2001 due to a terrorist attack that shook our nation's soul. Seven years later our country has marked the date. The winning design of a competition has been completed at Boston's Logan Airport. Does it serve as a serious symbol of remembrance or simply a structure of obligation?
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The Toronto International Film Festival 2008 Film
Annual Showcase of Cinema At Its Best and Brightest
By: - Sep 08th, 2008For 33 years, Toronto has hosted a global movie mega-event that showcases some of the best and most interesting films from around the world. Visiting the Toronto International Film Festival is like participating in an athletic event where stamina and follow-through are necessary. Watching great films may be the second best thing that you can do in the dark.
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North Adams' Stunning Architectural Details Architecture
Design Elements Hidden in Plain Site
By: - Aug 24th, 2008Besides the various mill building re-uses, nondescript chain stores and undistinguished houses, there are many notable and beautiful architectural structures, facades and details throughout the former mill town of North Adams, Massachusetts. This photographic portfolio is a glance at a few often overlooked details of architectural beauty.
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Abraham Obama Morphes Art and Politics Fine Arts
Ephemeral Public Art in a Time of Angst
By: - Aug 17th, 2008A provocative public art piece has been making visual and media waves since its installation around July 4th. This ephemeral 100 foot mural by agi-pop artist Ron English morphes the faces of Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama. Commissioned as part of a political art exhibit at the Boston Gallery XIV, this temporary piece is a layered work reaching far beyond simple art and politics.
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Renzo Piano Designing Gardner Expansion Architecture
Massachusetts Museums Expand and Renovate (III)
By: - Aug 16th, 2008Of the several prominent museum projects underway throughout Massachusetts, none is more unique than the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. This mansion museum is being changed for the first time in over 100 years. Mrs. Gardner stipulated in her will that nothing be changed from the day she died. Now, changes are occurring. Like its namesake owner, the changes have not come without a bit of controversy. An architectural star is designing the project. Part III.
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Massachusetts Museums Expand and Renovate Architecture
Star Architects Designing Institutional Images Part II
By: - Aug 03rd, 2008In the last decade, museums have had star architects design their renovations and new buildings. Massachusetts is blessed to have an abundance of museums. Several prominent projects are now underway with high expectations. Stretching from Boston to the Berkshires, art and architecture intertwine. This makes sense as architectural stars create buildings as art objects. Part II.
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Massachusetts Museums Expand and Renovate Architecture
Designing Institutional Images of the 21st Century
By: - Aug 03rd, 2008In the last decade, universities and museums have had star architects create and renovate. Several prominent projects are now underway with high expectations. They stretch from Boston to the Berkshires. Like the Field of Dreams film axiom, "if you build it, they will come," apparently, museums feel the same way. Part I of three parts.
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Frank Lloyd Wright's Stuff Architecture
Architect Was Less Or More Than He Boasted
By: - Jul 28th, 2008Frank Lloyd Wright is synonymous with brilliant architect. However, besides being gifted and a genius designer, he was also quirky, rather eccentric and an egomaniac. His life was full of ups and downs from great acclaim to a has-been status, acts of bigamy to a murder of his mistress at his home. Yet, he died at age 92 or 94 (people were not really sure because he lied about his age) at the top of his profession. Frank Lloyd Wright's name now means great American architect.
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Beautiful Stone Hill Center at Clark Art Institute Architecture
Phase One of Museum's Master Plan By Tadao Ando
By: - Jul 23rd, 2008Since opening in 1955, The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute has been distinguished by its quality collections, the depth of its research programs, and the natural beauty of its rustic setting. Working with Pritzker Prize–winning architect Tadao Ando to develop a campus plan that enhances the Institute's setting, expands facilities and reconfigures its galleries, the Clark has recently introduced a star museum building by a star architect.
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The Mount: Writer Edith Wharton's 1902 House Architecture
An Elegant Lenox Edwardian Estate
By: - Jul 21st, 2008The Mount was the home of the writer Edith Wharton. It was built in the Berkshire Mountains to escape what she referred to as an overstuffed and suffocating life in New York and Newport, RI. It's where she wrote some of her classic books like "The House of Mirth," where she hosted distinguished friends like Henry James, and where she put into practice her sophisticated ideas of home d�cor and garden design. It is a special place created by a special American artist. It is currently in need of creative help.
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