jacob t. middleton, aia




work

architecture
    10. breaking character
    09. cruising rhyolite
    08. performitory
    07. purple plushy catwalk
    06. holly haus
    05. chronicles out west
    04. at journey’s end
    03. made in asherton
    02. intakes/outtakes
    01. a sanctuary
theatre
    05. sashayed away
    04. the vanya project
    03. topdog/underdog
    02. drowning
    01. the tempest


about

  1. jacob t. middleton is a Texas native based in New York City. he holds a Bachelor of Architecture from The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture and has studied at New York University Tisch School of the Arts in the Graduate Department of Design for Stage & Film. his work has been featured by Columbia University School of the Arts, Spectacular+Texas Architect Magazine, ISSUE by UTSOA, and Archisource.
  2. jacob is an architect at Dattner Architects. previously he has collaborated with Bates Masi ArchitectsClickspring Designdots, Overlay Office, and Magic Architecture, among others.
  3. he is interested in creating work at a variety of scales that investigates performance, explores bad taste, embraces low culture, and questions existing typologies.



contact

  1. jtmidd2021(at)gmail (dot) com
  2. instagram
  3. linkedin

purple plushy catwalk

inverting domestic ritual in the era of pandemics

The swiveling office chair is a chair which employs a central leg and pivot system, enabling the seat to rotate 360 degrees to the right or left. Many modern iterations of this chair also incorporate a gas lift which allows the seat to raise or lower, building in a factor of comfort and customization for the user. These physical elements characterize the chair as the “swiveling office” type. First conceived by Thomas Jefferson, the swiveling office chair has been used to symbolize work and production since its inception and is often paired with a work surface. Through its involvement with presumed rituals such as attending classes, checking emails, reading text, writing essays, making calls, etc., the swiveling office chair acts as a stage in which the user performs these rituals. Further, it allows the user to slip into the head space of the worker.

This exploration considers the swiveling office chair a performance space for work, which has historically had masculine implications in the domestic realm. The proposed furniture object, the purple plushy catwalk, inverts those preconceived notions of work and masculinity by creating an object which allows one to perform femininity in a leisurely manner.


project information
location: my bedroom
date: 2021
type: research, furniture


credits
project team: jacob t. middleton


recognition
UTSOA Design Excellence winner




montage & analysis of exisitng furniture object



montage & analysis of new furniture object