Ask a left-brained individual what art is, and they'll likely say it's a tangible object of self-expression that goes in a specific place. It's a painting that hangs above the couch, a sculpture on a pedestal, a hand-woven rug on the floor. In fact, left-brained people marvel at right-brained people precisely because the latter seem to effortlessly challenge assumptions about what art is and where it goes, conceiving infinite means of expression and myriad ways to incorporate them into our surroundings.
It's something that Erik and Israel Nordin, the brothers behind the Detroit Design Center, do every day. The artists, who customize sculpture, furniture, stair railings, gates and many other functional objects that are necessary in today's design field but often impossible to find, have made it their mission to "reinvent the mundane" — making the most normal and unassuming components of residential and commercial spaces whimsical, edgy or whatever you want them to be.
Since founding the Detroit Design Center eight years ago, Erik and Israel have created one-of-a-kind works for more than a hundred southeast Michigan homes and some four-dozen commercial projects, including a brilliant red hand-forged bi-fold entrance gate with a vine motif for Crave Sushi Bar in Dearborn, 500-plus hand-blown glass bubbles evoking the effervescence of champagne for Vinology in Ann Arbor, and a hand-crafted metal vine with dyed patina leaves and grapes for Vino-Tecca in Royal Oak.
Meanwhile, the duo's efforts have caught the eye of the city's design establishment and garnered them coveted local awards, including back-to-back Detroit Home magazine design awards for a stainless steel and blown glass "waterfall railing” designed for a home in Corktown (2007) and a steel art deco gate and awning commissioned by the Springfield Lofts in Detroit (2006).
The brothers' success is due in part to their flexibility and willingness to do objects small (like 400 door knockers for a high-rise) and large (a 12-foot fish made predominantly of tin cans and stainless steel for the new Tin Fish restaurant in Clinton Township; a sculptural metal wall for the Birmingham eatery Chen Chow, which stands 52 feet long, 10 feet tall, and weighs 6,000 pounds). But it no doubt also stems for their great affection for and knowledge of their market of southeast Michigan.
Erik and Israel hail from a Metro Detroit dynasty, of sorts. Respectively the oldest and youngest of six children, they were raised in Sterling Heights by parents who "pushed diversity," encouraging their kids to pursue arts, music and sports in addition to academics. A gifted percussionist, Erik received a full ride to study music at the University of Michigan, where he earned a bachelor of fine arts in 1988 (he is still an active performing musician). A decade later, Israel earned the same degree from Detroit's Center for Creative Studies, albeit it in an arts program that emphasized glasswork and ceramics. Erik credits his education in metalworking and glass to his brothers Israel and Chris, who also studied glassblowing at CCS and who with his wife Michelle Plucinsky runs the Dearborn-based Furnace Design Studio and its affiliated Glass Academy.
The familial support Erik and Israel have received is manifest throughout their work, but perhaps most significantly in their studio. Arguably the brothers' greatest feat in "reinventing the mundane" was the conversion of the Nordin family's steel-processing plant, acquired by their father for use as a national steel distribution center, into a 14,000 square-foot workshop. In 2000, Ron told his sons they had proved their mettle as artists and as businessmen, and he turned over the building, located on Michigan Avenue in Southwest Detroit, for their use. It's now the Detroit Design Center's headquarters, where Erik and Israel conceive, produce and assemble their works while making studio spaces available to other artists.
The handoff of the building was fortuitous, because it was around that time the brothers were being approached by Detroit club owners looking for customized railings and other steel pieces for their buildings. Erik and Israel took on the task, but began gravitating toward residential work when they realized that much of their commercial work would have a short shelf life.
"When clubs changed ownership, they got rid of our pieces," explains Israel. "It's kind of like watching someone rip up a painting you've done. We want to do things that will be integrated into a space and last a long time. If we do a railing in a house, for example, that's going to be there [for decades]."
A case in point is the "waterfall” railing the brothers did in Corktown. The work, which runs in one continuous work from the first to the third floor, is comprised of steel runners, each about 17-feet long, that twist gracefully and are adorned with half-circles of colorful glass. Erik said the idea struck him and Israel when they entered the house and saw the bamboo floor "shimmering” the length of several rooms from the front of the house to the back. The finished railing is remarkable for two reasons: first, because the brothers achieved an undulating softness one scarcely associates with steel, and, second, because they did so without creating spaces wider than four inches between individual runners, which would have violated a building code stipulating that a four-inch ball (which is roughly the size of a small child's head) cannot fit through spaces in a railing.
Erik says the brothers' goal is "to turn the normal into something new" and that input from clients is critical to this. "We pull inspiration out of them," he says. "When we use their influence, we're that much closer to doing something one-of-a-kind and further from doing something someone else has done."
It doesn't have to cost a fortune. The Nordin brothers can design and fabricate a fireplace surround for about $1,200; a desk for around $2,500. If that seems like a lot, consider that mass-produced desks from Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel average $1,000 apiece, while higher end, to-the-the trade desks easily cost $2,000 or more. (Plus, they're rarely the perfect size for the space you have in mind.)
Customization can also solve design challenges facing married couples or business partners with different aesthetics. Erik and Israel point to a pair of desks they built for a married couple who run a business together and wanted custom pieces for their office. He preferred art deco; she hoped to achieve a more feminine touch. Erik and Israel created coordinating wood and metal desks that met both needs by giving him bolder, more masculine deco- lines and her, through the use of inset glass and stones and even hand-blown glass cattails, a softer feel.
The brothers admit they each have their niche. Israel is more "organic"; Erik more "geometrical." When they reach a design impasse, says Erik, "we have to lean to our client for that third opinion." Still, they say their collective portfolio is pretty much "split down the middle."
They are, however, in complete agreement about the town they work in and for. The brothers have lived in Detroit's midtown area for years and say they believe in the city's resurgence.
"Detroit is where our hearts are," says Erik. "We've always heard negative connotations, but our parents forced us to get out and explore, and we developed a real passion for the city. There's a rawness to it that we love, and we've taken up the challenge to make it a better place."
Lucy Ament is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Metromode living in Grosse Pointe. Her last article for Metromode was Got DDA?
Photos
Erik and Israel Nordin hangin' at Detroit Design Center
Israel Nordin working on a new piece
12-foot fish made predominantly of tin cans and stainless steel for the new Tin Fish restaurant in Clinton Township
Erik Nordin working on a patina
Vine copper sculpture
All photographs by Metro Detroit Photographer Marvin Shaouni
Marvin Shaouni is the Managing Photographer for Metromode & Model D.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.