Monogram Modern Home Shows Some Southern Hospitality

The coast-to-coast tour of the Monogram Modern Home continued on October 7-8 in Atlanta, Georgia, arriving just in time for the annual District Design Week at Westside Provisions District. The shopping and dining destination is located in Atlanta’s West Midtown, a historic meatpacking district that was revitalized and reintroduced as a hub for the arts in the late ‘90s. Housed in a former meatpacking facility, Westside Provisions District hosts in-store and pop-up design events during its yearly lineup. Dwell and Monogram brought our 600-square-foot prefab to the mix, hosting continuing education units (CEUs), panels, and cooking demonstrations. For an overview of our stop in Atlanta, watch the video below:

The open house afforded guests the opportunity to experience Monogram’s line of luxury appliances in a fully furnished home. Visitors were eager to interact with the kitchen and ask questions of tour chef Jon Liddell, who used local ingredients to whip up Southern-inspired dishes like chickpea and lamb fritters, pork sandwiches on baguettes, and peach-and-bourbon desserts. As Alexandra Skobel, designer and development manager at Monogram, put it, "Some of the key elements that make this tour really successful is [sic] engaging with the design community through teaching CEU courses at the home, doing cooking demonstrations, [and] talking to [people] afterward about what innovations and what technologies Monogram is bringing into our product."

Michelle Gerus, director of Dwell Insights Group, facilitated a conversation with panelists Doug Henderson, co-founder of home goods store Switch Modern, and Michael Gamble, co-owner of Gamble + Gamble Architects and associate professor of architecture at Georgia Tech. The panel revolved around the revolutionary Atlanta BeltLine project, which aims to transform the city’s extensive system of abandoned railroads into a greenway that connects 45 neighborhoods. Though construction may not be completed until 2031, the areas that are ready for public use have already become popular destinations.

"The Atlanta BeltLine has not only increased demand and consumers," said Gamble, whose architecture student introduced the idea, "but it’s created really interesting design opportunities—connecting and transforming the way we think about traditional building ideologies." Henderson shared a similar outlook on the groundbreaking nature and potential impact of the initiative. "As a design professional creating buildings along the BeltLine," he said, "we need to think bigger, think broader, and think long-term. We need to shift from an owner mode to a steward mode because the BeltLine will be a permanent imprint in Atlanta."

The idea that all good design, at any scale, is rooted in the same core principles and has lasting social impact was a common refrain throughout the weekend. Whether it be a Wi-Fi-enabled refrigerator, a compact prefabricated home, or a system of city parks and trails, good design reverberates through a community. 

The next and final stop on the Monogram Modern Home Tour will be Miami, Florida. Join us on December 2-3, and follow the conversation with #monogrammodern.

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