Nice Quads / May 2007
Chelsea Holden Baker, former Online Editor: In late 2006 we received a manila envelope in the mail. In my memory the proposal for an archive feature on the mid-century architectural experimenter Ken Isaacs was typed in double-spaced Courier. Despite the bland package we quickly realized Ken Isaacs' had been ahead of his time in understanding everything from the fragmenting of American culture, sustainability, architectural theory, and education. Isaacs had even dreamed up a Micro-car and furniture systems that would make IKEA envious today. He had also been in Life magazine twice‚ once on the cover.
I took to the Internet to learn more before calling the writer, Leslie Coburn, and was surprised to find just a page of results for Isaac's name. In editing the piece I remember telling Leslie, "We need to bring Isaacs back to life, even though he's not dead." After the article was published we received a letter from the 1971-1995 co-chairs of the design department at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where Isaacs had taught. The professors lamented that despite the distinguished history of the school and the department (founded by Charles Eames in 1939), when they arrived they found the file cabinets in the department chair's office nearly empty (evidence of the avant-garde department's focus on the future). There was no documentation of Isaac's work and no way for them to continue his syllabus, although they had been directed to do so.
Several years later, Dwell has captured Isaac's humor and dynamism in video, and now his name returns oodles of search results. Although there's a good chance someone of his importance would have been rediscovered eventually, it has been gratifying to watch while Isaac's still alive to enjoy it.