Imagining Best Products, on view May 7 – June 21 at The Branch Museum of Design, explores the radical retail experiment led by Francis and Sydney Lewis, whose Richmond based company Best Products became an unlikely platform for architectural innovation.

The Lewises were passionate collectors of contemporary art, often trading appliances from their own catalog for artwork, even as they found themselves building big box stores across suburbia. They began to ask: how do you bring art into the American landscape? They answered by inviting architects including James Wines of SITE, Robert A.M. Stern, and Stanley Tigerman to rethink the retail warehouse.

Through original drawings, models, and photographs, the exhibition traces how that question sparked a creative response that helped redefine retail architecture in late twentieth century America.

About the Curation Team

Curator:  Don O’Keefe – Architect, Lecturer in Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Associate Curators:  Dana Barale | Yuwei Chiang | Hazel Gao | Luisa Haller | Xiya Jiang | Emi Kim | Maggie Martin | Maya Shamir | Sean Skaskiw | Meagan Tan | Shlomi Wolman | Fei Xiong | Yiming Zhu

Advisory Committee

James Wines – SITE New York | Suzan Wines – SITE New York | Malcolm Holzman – Architect, partner, Steinberg Hart | Tom Geismar – Founding partner, Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv | Janet Parks – Retired curator and archivist, Avery Architectural Library, Columbia University | Edwin Slipek † – Writer and architectural historian | Elizabeth Cogar – Writer and editor | Gabriel Boudali – Writer and art collections specialist

Additional Support

Students from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design contributed to the curation of this exhibition. As part of a research course, and with support from the Branch Museum of Design, they have investigated contemporary issues in design curation, including how museums can participate in the civic life of cities.

Sponsored By:

Lewis Butler Foundation | Brand Federation | Elmwood Fund | Tom Geismar | Jim Klaus | Arnold Stolberg | Bucci and John Zeugner | Baskervill | Glavé & Holmes | Hanbury Architects | Walter Parks | Bob Steele | Dan Barzel | Elizabeth Cogar | Richard Cross | Donald Mann | Travis McCall | Michael Schewel | Edwin Slipek | Terrell Luck Harrigan | Christopher Babcock | Caryl Burtner | Joan Plotkin Han | Richard Godsey | Margaret Hager Living Trust | Joanne T. McDonald | Joseph McGrath | Abby W. Moore | Sue Ann Messmer | Sal Musarra | Candy Osdene | Claudia Bates Physioc | George S. Richardson | Timothy Treinen | Peyton & Granville Valentine | Nancy West