Architectural Pottery

Architectural Pottery has been a coveted American-made brand since it was founded in 1950 in Los Angeles by Max and Rita Lawrence. The company’s organic and geometrically shaped handcrafted outdoor pottery, planters, container, and garden sculptures became an instant success and were sought-after by well-known midcentury architects throughout the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. More than 40 years after the company’s founding, a man named Michael Stephenson recognized the inherent value of these historical designs and spent years researching and developing. In 1998, he founded Vessel USA, Inc., thus reviving Architectural Pottery’s planters and other ceramic designs.

Vessel USA remains the sole licensor of Architectural Pottery; the company is based in Escondido, California, about 30 miles northeast of downtown San Diego. Its 100 percent recyclable products are skillfully handcrafted with passion and integrity using the purest of ingredients: clay, water, and fire. “Geometric and organic shapes may look quite simple to produce, but there is quite a lot of engineering behind the scenes to produce symmetrical forms,” Stephenson says. “Molds can weigh hundreds of pounds, and a single ceramic piece can take over a week to produce from start to finish. Proprietary techniques are used to execute the product.”

As its portfolio grows, Architectural Pottery continues to uphold its founders’ mission of manufacturing high-quality ceramics in shapes that complement today’s architecture while safeguarding the health of growing plants. Whether arranged in clusters or isolated, elevated by spindly stands or hugging the ground, Architectural Pottery’s planters, containers, and garden sculptures continue to showcase their timeless appeal and graceful simplicity.

History

Husband-and-wife duo Rita and Max Lawrence started Architectural Pottery in 1950 to produce and market the pottery designs of those studying under Pasadena’s California School of Art professor and designer LaGardo Tackett. The collections were practically overnight sensations, becoming coveted by distinguished architects such as Richard Neutra and Pierre Koenig who utilized them for their residential gardens and commercial projects. Architectural Pottery planters also appeared in many of Julius Shulman’s famed photographs of Southern California architecture and were exhibited at New York’s Museum of Modern Art as part of its 1951 “Good Design” exhibition. In 1955, the popularity of the pottery skyrocketed thanks to the Beverly Hilton Hotel’s order of 200 white cylindrical planters to line its indoor-outdoor spaces.

In 1961, the Lawrences pioneered the production of large-scale fiberglass-reinforced plastic planters, which enabled them to keep up with the increasing demand for planters larger than what could be made of clay. In 1971, the company changed its name to Group Artec to encompass several subsidiary brands that had been launched under the Architectural Pottery umbrella. These companies produced various products, including lounge furniture, office furniture, kiosks, dinnerware, public seating systems, graphic signage, and more.

Sadly, in 1985, Architectural Pottery was forced to shut down due to a fire that destroyed its Manhattan Beach manufacturing plant. In 1998, Michael Stephenson founded Vessel USA, reviving Architectural Pottery’s planters and other designs, which are still admired and sought-after to this day.

Materials

Architectural Pottery designs are handcrafted in ceramic and industrial fiberglass in a variety of colors that are offered with finishing options in matte or gloss. Complementing accessories are made out of wood and metal.

Designers

Architectural Pottery’s iconic designs originated from some of the most respected names in design history. They include:

• the late LaGardo Tackett, whose students’ designs were the inspiration for Architectural Pottery’s founding in 1950
• John Follis, a Los Angeles-based designer and pioneer in the environmental graphics field during the 1960s
• Malcolm Leland, a sculptor and architectural designer from Ohio who made a name for himself in the Southern California design scene in the 1950s and ’60s
• the late David Cressey, a Los Angeles-born multidisciplinary artist known for his large ceramic vessels.
• Raul Angulo Coronel, one of the most renowned ceramic artists of the 1950s and ’60s

“Used as a single element or in a grouped composition, Architectural Pottery will show its timeless appeal and graceful simplicity.”