Movers and Shapers
Eugenie Perret, Minima
118 North 3rd Street, 215-922-2002, minima.us
Perret was among the earliest participants in DesignPhiladelphia, for obvious reasons: She’s the city’s preeminent modern furniture doyenne, both as an interior designer and as a retailer of sleek, contemporary furnishings. She’s also a regular curator of exactly the type of high-minded art/design installations that DesignPhiladelphia is all about. At last year’s festival, she festooned her stark showroom in Turkish flair for an installation about the Ottoman Empire and modernism; the year before, she explored color and form. “There are some good things and some bad things in the city, design-wise,” says Perret. “DesignPhiladelphia gives us a chance to talk about that, and really bring the vitality of the city to life.”
Best known for: Bringing iconic modern design to Old City just in time for First Friday’s explosion.
What she’s doing this year: Curating the largest exhibit of the festival, a pop-up neighborhood of prefabricated green houses on an empty lot on Broad Street near Spruce. In addition to three full-size homes designed by different prefab architects — including one customized for Habitat for Humanity — the installation will include a farming wall to showcase urban farming, solar energy, and environmentally friendly furnishings, lighting, transportation and public art. “A Clean Break: Pop-Up Neighborhood,” October 17th, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. 313 South Broad Street, acleanbreak.org.
