Mau has designs on Chicago

Toronto Star/Feb 01, 2007 04:30 AM Martin Knelman Entertainment Columnist Massive Change was the name of Bruce Mau's controversial museum show about new frontiers in the creative world and how design is shaping human destiny. Now Toronto's design guru is planning a massive change of a more personal nature. He's heading for Chicago, the Star has learned, where his firm Bruce Mau Design will open an office before the end of June. The reason: greater business opportunities, because the high-end corporate clients Mau attracts are far more likely to be based in the United States than Canada, giving him a chance to spread his gospel that design is not just an add-on but a crucial part of creating identity for a building or an institution. It's thanks to Mau's impact that graphics and logos have climbed to the top of the creative chain. So what can Chicago offer that Toronto does not? A presence in the U.S. increases the opportunity, says Mau's business partner, Miles Nadal. Sources say there are other factors that make Chicago attractive. Increasingly since 9/11 high-end clients and partners prefer not to cross the border for a meeting. And Mau was seduced when Chicago, unlike his hometown, embraced Massive Change during its run at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art last year. "The light went on for both of us when we saw how everyone in Chicago, including the mayor, the artists and senior management teams, embraced Bruce," Nadal recalls. "I don't think Bruce has been given as much recognition in Toronto as he deserves." Mau first made his mark with cutting-edge designs and memorable logos but he wasn't content to stop there. He has also had a huge impact as a lecturer who writes books, and even mounts museum shows to illustrate his points. Not perhaps since communications oracle Marshall McLuhan has a Torontonian loomed so large in the arena of cultural-theory gurus with an international following. "We want to be in the place where the greatest talent lives," say Nadal, chief executive officer of MDC Partners, who three years ago bought a controlling interest in Bruce Mau Design. Still, over the past two decades while working and living in Toronto, Mau has managed to attract top creative collaborators, including two of the world's top architects, Frank Gehry and Rem Koolhaas of the Netherlands. And his list of clients has included Indigo Books & Music, Roots Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, movie mogul Barry Diller and the New York Jets football team. "Our philosophy is to help our partners grow," Nadal said yesterday. "Bruce and his firm are already global leaders. But the opportunity is 20-fold greater if you have a presence in the United States. And U.S. budgets tend to be 10 to 20 times greater than those of comparable Canadian firms." Mau and his wife, Aiyemobisi Williams, have told friends they are shopping for a house in Chicago and looking for schools for their three children. Williams, though not nearly as well known as her husband, is also well known in Toronto arts circles. She recently joined the board of The Walrus magazine. Increasingly in recent years, Mau has spent much of his time in airports and on the road meeting clients, mostly in the U.S. This week he was in Michigan and New York City, and unavailable for comment. According to Joanne Balles Crosbie, president of Bruce Mau Design, the idea of moving his family to Chicago is under consideration but has not been finalized. And the firm will keep its Toronto office (on Spadina near King) open even if Mau does not reside here. "This is an expansion, not an exodus or a mass exodus," Crosbie says. "Bruce's presence will still be felt here." Maybe, but the way things are going it seems likely that Bruce Mau's Toronto era is coming to a close, and his Chicago surge is about to unfold. "Bruce is one of Canada's great treasures," says Heather Reisman, president of Indigo. "He's brilliant, caring, optimistic, visionary and passionate. It seems to ever be the case that Canadians must go abroad before being full appreciated. Fortunately in this case I believe he is moving but not leaving." Matthew Teitelbaum, president of the Art Gallery of Ontario, is of two minds. "I'm never thrilled when an important cultural leader goes south of the border, because people like Bruce help create the public conversation in Toronto. But the reality is that it is a fluid world with people moving in both directions across the border. And Bruce is responding to a clear opportunity to have a larger presence beyond this city." It remains to be seen how massive a loss that will represent for Toronto. Mau's impact widespread Here is a selection of designs from Bruce Mau Design’s portfolio since the firm was established in 1985: * Art Gallery of Ontario logo. * The New York Jets football team hired Mau to design the graphics and communications program for a flashy New York Sports and Convention Centre and stadium, working with blue-chip architects Kohn Pedersen Fox. * Updated signage for the home-grown clothing and leather goods retailer Roots Canada; redesigned its flagship store on Bloor St. * S,M,L,XL, a sweeping architectural monograph — 1,376 pages with 2,000- plus illustrations — on the studio of Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and the impact of architecture on contemporary society, sharing authorship with Koolhaas. * Created the logo, signage and in-store graphics for the Indigo Books & Music chain. * Seattle Public Library with Rem Koolhaas. * Signage for the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York. SOURCE: BRUCE MAU DESIGN/STAR LIBRARY>