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Henry P. Glass – Kling Studios
See also: Chairs • Lamps • Radios
Glass Biography • Elly & Henry Documentary
 Click on image to view larger version | Kling Studios Art Director’s Office Numbered “17” in the set of tissues, this early Kling Studios – Chicago Art Director’s Office on 2nd Floor is nearly identical to the Art Director’s Office on the first floor. Whether it was an alternative to that number “8” design or that for a separate art director closer to the specific department he oversaw doesn’t detract from its superb draftsmanship. What’s now called “Mid-Century Modernism” was very different from the pre-war décor. And Glass’s fusion with the perfect forward-thinking client was more in keeping with the contents of the “Life” magazine pictured in the bottom right foreground. The original 48 Kling Studios design drawings were kept in the Glass files and in 2001 sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Digital copies are in that of the Art Institute of Chicago. Henry P. Glass Designer A D I |
 Click on image to view larger version | Kling Studios Salesman’s Office Though windowless, this salesman’s office on the second floor opens directly onto the corridor of the west-facing outdoor terrace above the vice-president’s. The Kling Studios program may have indicated the salesman was primarily on the road and should use an inner office backing against the upper wall of the huge photo studio. Nevertheless, its décor was as advanced as the president’s or art director’s. This 14th tissue design makes clear the more democratic approach of the Kling Studios staff as opposed to the more hierarchical nature of other design firms of the time. The original 48 Kling Studios design drawings were kept in the Glass files and in 2001 sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Digital copies are in that of the Art Institute of Chicago. Henry P. Glass Designer A D I |
 Click on image to view larger version | Kling 8-Foot-Wide Studio This perspective of the “…Typical 8’ Wide Studio” tissue is the 12th drawing in the set. One of sixteen small offices along the second-floor street side and among 24 semi-private studios at the top of the lobby ramp adjacent to the art director’s office, it’s obvious this is the artistic engine powering the Kling Studios. Ever since designing his tiny Vienna apartment in clever, multi-purpose arrangements, Glass was quite expert at maximizing small spaces. And the diagonal file cabinets not only mimicked the tilted angle of the drafting table but saved floorspace. As it was assumed the artist would work long into the night, six of the 8’ wide studios like thirty-seven of the other offices were equipped with a sleepable sofas and benches. The original 48 Kling Studios design drawings were kept in the Glass files and in 2001 sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Digital copies are in that of the Art Institute of Chicago. Henry P. Glass Designer A D I |
 Click on image to view larger version | Kling 8-Foot-Wide Studio Plan/Elevations This is drawing “13” in the Kling set and is the architectonic version of the previous perspective of “…Typical 8’ Wide Studio.” And while it was still rare in 1946 to have a sealed-window air conditioned office building, looking closely at the plan tells us this is the diagrammatic proof of the technique in picturing the “compressed air outlet” along its East side. While the half-walls of corrugated translucent panels pictured in three elevations were affixed permanently here to vertical posts, the method anticipated the temporary and moveable office cubicle that Glass seems to have invented and was marketed by his client, Fleetwood Mfg., ten years later. The original 48 Kling Studios design drawings were kept in the Glass files and in 2001 sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Digital copies are in that of the Art Institute of Chicago. Henry P. Glass Designer A D I |
 Click on image to view larger version | Kling Studios Second Floor Lobby The Second Floor Lobby (numbered #11 in the set) may be the richest drawing in this exhibition and the closest in feeling to the 1930s Modernism of Alvar Aalto, the only parallel here. While Glass probably studied Aalto’s work as a student in the Vienna Architecture School in the mid-30s, he had already designed bentwood chairs for Chicago’s Thonet Industries showroom in 1940. And he would have been well aware that a modern design language was always softened with the grammar of wood. The door pictured on the left led to the shipping department and those on the right entered directly into feature artists’ offices whose waiting area is in the center. The foreground ramp from downstairs was considered a more modern solution but, as there was no elevator, also acted as the primary access. The original 48 Kling Studios design drawings were kept in the Glass files and in 2001 sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Digital copies are in that of the Art Institute of Chicago. Henry P. Glass Designer A D I |
 Click on image to view larger version | Kling Studios Couch Numbered #38 in the set, this diagrammatic drawing on tissue shows us how the couch was constructed in three perspectives. Its simple rectangular 2” x 4” wooden frame was affixed with six 7/8” steel rod “hairpin” legs. The frame was laced with a single roll of 2” webbing. A 5” mattress was laid on top here covered in pony print making the height 17,” length 78” and width 33.” 26 of the low couches were required in artists’ studios to also provide casual beds for late night use. The original 48 Kling Studios design drawings were kept in the Glass files and in 2001 sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Digital copies are in that of the Art Institute of Chicago. Henry P. Glass designer A D I |
 Click on image to view larger version | Kling Studios Special Tabouret Numbered #39 in the set, the 50-inch-long “Special Tabouret” was specifically made for the six feature artists for the right-hand side of their drafting tables. With a waterproof top, it was designed to hold watercolor containers, brushes, and pens. Curving bins and trays pivoted out to the right of the seated artist. Each tabouret was designed to be a combination of streamlined chrome steel legs and [depending on the office interior] birch or maple. This tissue design pictures two perspectives, an overhead plan, and bin-side elevation. The original 48 Kling Studios design drawings were kept in the Glass files and in 2001 sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Digital copies are in that of the Art Institute of Chicago. Henry P. Glass designer A D I |
 Click on image to view larger version | Kling Studios Vice-President’s Office Numbered #9 in the set, the Burton Place stamp on the bottom right indicates this was one of the earliest of the project drawings. Its resemblance to Henry Luce’s streamlined wood-paneled Time-Life office in New York was probably no coincidence. Picturing the one cutaway perspective of one of the most important offices suggests this was drawn for Kling himself for an early interview and may have led to his receiving the commission. The original 48 Kling Studios design drawings were kept in the Glass files and in 2001 sold to the ArchiTech Gallery collection. Digital copies are in that of the Art Institute of Chicago. Henry P. Glass Designer A D I |
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