Philadelphia - Simple + Direct: an investigation in furniture design opens at The Design Center at Philadelphia University on Friday May 30, 2003 and runs through Sunday August 3, 2003. Simple + Direct is the curatorial work of Phil Otto and Jean Won of the interior architecture firm of odg / otto design group. According to Otto and Won, Simple + Direct is a celebration of process, material and product. The exhibition highlights designers’ drawings, photographs, material studies and, of course, furniture and furnishings. The bi-coastal talent pool exhibiting in the show includes: Boym Design, BiProduct, Harry Allen, Josh Owen/Owenlogik Design, Positive Industrial Design, Blu-Dot, Neutra, Tony Meredith, Soft Goods, Benza, and Godley/Schwan among many others.

Simple + Direct celebrates the advances in furniture design in America and abroad. The objective - to elevate common materials rather than create new ones - allows for pre-existing materials to become the basis for design. Environment, too, is put to use on an as-found basis. Rather than create an elaborate stage set, the curators have worked within the confines of the environment they selected, in this case the historic Ravenhill Chapel, Roman Catholic chapel, constructed for the nuns who taught at Ravenhill Academy, a private girls' school. The chapel was designed by the renowned Philadelphia architecture firm of Henry D. Dagit & Sons, and built in 1938.

According to the Home Improvement Research Institute, the 33 million American 20- to 34-year olds spend roughly $47 billion annually on DIY projects. As more people become home do-it-yourselfers, and access to materials and methods of creation increase, there exists a greater need to investigate and educate the general consumer in the field of Design. Simple + Direct is an investigation in furniture design that explores its cultural, environmental, technological and economic influences, and its direct relationships to design.

The Ravenhill Chapel gallery is open Wednesday- Friday 11am-4pm; Saturday & Sunday noon-4pm.