Manitoga Design Collection + Shop

Manitoga Design Collection + Shop — IADA 2026 award

Manitoga Design Collection + Shop received Platinum Winner recognition at the International Architecture & Design Awards 2026 in Retails, Department Stores & Malls. Project status, design team and credits are listed alongside the presentation.

About the project

The Manitoga Design Collection + Shop features display selected from the 3,500 objects designed by Russel and Mary Wright. The Wrights’ work shaped modern American lifestyle – from early experiments in spun aluminum in the 1930s and the colorful, rounded forms of American Modern and Iroquois Casual mix-and-match dinnerware to Japanese-inspired patterns and textures decades later.

The shop seamlessly blends a gallery, a place for community gathering, and retail sales of the Wrights' ceramics, glassware, and other related products. The design approach melds an organic, formal language and playful elements that inspire all who visit to learn more about the Wrights' legacy. The shop brings together a diverse set of requirements in an environment with a minimalist display aesthetic, natural materials, and a reductive palette. The design, which embraces the core values of craft, individualism, and experimentation, serves as a bridge between art and commerce.

The Gallery: Objects from the Manitoga permanent collection are arrayed on shelves and in vitrines in a way that is both pleasing to the eye and informative. The display surfaces are made of American rift-cut white oak. Horizontal shelves curve organically at different heights, bringing Wright's love of nature to the forefront. This bent-wood strategy supports the forms without being derivative, while protecting the more fragile pieces.

Retail Sales: Wrights’ production items are for sale to the public. These pieces are densely displayed on a series of dark grey shelves that emphasize Wright's elegant colors and forms. The plates, vessels, and specialty objects are exhibited not as mere domestic elements but as sculptures. The corner window features an installation of Wright's iconic ewers, skillfully hung by a bespoke system that incorporated transparent cable. They form a colorful array that catches the eye from outside or inside, day or night.

Public programming: The emphasis on an affordable lifestyle with strong design continues with a series of free community events. There is flexibility for both informal conversations and organized presentations, accommodating larger crowds. At the center of the shop, comfy seating, oval tables, and a woven rug form an oasis.

The public response was immediate and positive. The entire inventory sold out in the first week, and sales continue to exceed expectations. Mary and Russel Wright's approach reflects the belief that the dining table was the center of the home, and it continues to resonate strongly across all demographics. Visitors delight in the colors and forms as they compose a personal design aesthetic for their homes. This is an inventive new way of conceiving a highly individual yet shared retail experience. "Manitoga Design Collection and Shop" extends the artist's vision and supports a broad community.

Studio Joseph

Studio Joseph is an architecture and experience design practice working in the educational, cultural, and public realms. We create beautiful spaces that nurture the lives of people who use them, fostering learning, thinking, and community gathering.

Our process is to understand a project’s driving spirit and embody it in the spatial realm. We begin with research to look beyond the obvious and identify core narratives and strategies. From there, we develop a conceptual underpinning that balances the pragmatic with the poetic. We maintain conceptual rigor while obsessing over the details. With a commitment to empathy-based design, we draw on the diverse needs and affordances of a public audience—from physical accessibility to cultural understandings to sensory abilities. In our work and our workplace, we are committed to championing sustainable practices, equitable communities, and inclusive environments. Although projects differ in scale and typology, they embrace our shared humanity.