This short story illustrates how inspiration feeds design
The Light
Our CEO Jonathan O’Neil Cole had the privilege of hanging with Mr. Buck O’Neil and Mr. Bob Kendrick at the 2005 Baseball Winter Meetings in Dallas, TX – It was a day he’ll never forget!
This is the story of how Buck’s light shined so bright that it inspired a chain reaction of events that continue to resonate 17 years later. Pendulum’s collaboration with Mr. Sean Kane on the Buck O’Neil tribute painted glove was incredibly special. The images below are the illustrator’s design notes as we progressed through the process of design.
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In addition to the Buck O’Neil Tribute Glove, Pendulum commissioned Sean Kane to paint a tribute to Hank Greenberg pictured below.
The Look Ahead
While many organizations use this time of year to reflect on past accomplishments, Pendulum’s focus is straight ahead. We are committed to more dynamic collaborations with incredibly talented and passionate creatives. Stay tuned for several major announcements first quarter 2023.
Pendulum is honored to share that our Downtown Kansas City Royals ballpark village concept has been awarded a Rethinking The Future (@rthinkingfuture) 2022 Architecture, Construction & Design Award for Sports & Recreation.
The Small Big Idea
With the development and growth of downtown Kansas City in recent years the “what if” question pops up often as it relates to the possibility of the Kansas City Royals moving downtown. In late 2019 Pendulum CEO Jonathan O’Neil Cole challenged the Pendulum staff to dream a little and answer the question “what if” with an expert analysis of existing surface lots in an area of downtown Kansas City known as East Village.
“Pendulum designs sports anchored campuses across the nation, the latest being Cool Today Park, the spring training home of the Atlanta Braves located in North Port, Florida . The potential of the Royals moving downtown has been the elephant in the room for quite some time, a very uncomfortable conversation that not very many people wanted to have in the past. I saw the opportunity to explore the idea being just several blocks from our headquarters, it was a great team building exercise,” said Cole.
On January 30, 2020 Pendulum made our unsanctioned response to “what if” public with the statement: “The ballpark of the future will engage the community.” From our perspective and professional experience a ballpark village should create opportunities for community development beyond baseball. It should be a hub of commerce and pedestrian activity. While passionate feedback from both sides of the debate ensued, the future from Royals stakeholder perspectives had been quiet.
Moving Forward
On November 15, 2022 Kansas City Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman issued an open letter to Kansas City that made his thoughts on the subject very clear. In his letter Mr. Sherman issued conceptual images of a vision for downtown Kanas City that reinforced a number of Pendulum’s initial thoughts – a proof in concept that we were on the right rack. As the conversation continues we look to the future with optimism and, we will continue to influence a narrative of progress and community advancement. As the old adage goes, “people hate change but love progress.”
Many thanks to Rethinking The Future and the Jury Panel for their hard work and consideration. It is humbling and an absolute honor to be recognized by our international design peers.
RTF Awards Invites Architects and Interior Designers from across the world to submit their built/concept projects
“Rethinking The Future Awards program aims to bring exceptional works in the field of Architecture the prestige they deserve. The objective of these awards is to raise awareness around the strategies Architects and Designers are employing to deal with the contemporary global challenges, and to bring the best of such projects into the light to inspire the next generation”
On July 1, 2022 Pendulum celebrated 15 years in the architectural and design marketplace. We’ve been labeled a lot of things over the years, our favorites include “disruptors”, “innovators”, and “market challengers”. More than anything we are incredibly thankful for our mentors, collaborators, families, and staff for supporting our award winning progress over the years. We invite you to enjoy our 15 year video below as a few of our Pendulum family members discuss our 15 year milestone and where they see us headed in the future.
Pendulum stakeholders and collaborators discuss their 15 year milestone
Stay tuned for weekly announcements every Friday in July. We have a lot to share about the next chapter in our history. For a recap of past celebrations starting at year 10: @pendulum_kc
Credits
Videographer – John Iiams, Pendulum
Video Edit – Joshua Williams, Behr Production
Original Music Score – Joshua Williams, Behr Production
Pendulum is honored to share that our Montreal Excitation concept, a ballpark, practice facility, and concert venue has been awarded a Rethinking The Future (@Rthinkingfuture) ACDA 2020 First Award for Sports & Recreation Concept.
Pendulum’s concept is sited on the historic 1967 World’s Fair Island in Montreal Quebec Canada. This fact offered a significant challenge: how do we respect the historical significance of the site while embracing the beautiful natural topography and pay homage to the signature architecture that surrounds it?
Montreal Excitation Site Plan
Challenge Accepted
One of the stated goals of our concept is to provide site connectivity both physically and visually. Pedestrian plazas, walking trails, boat docking areas, and concourse breezeways create connection to adjacent site features. Because of the interruption of the angular extrusions in the building facade individuals within the facility are allowed to look out and view adjacent iconic architecture and landscape.
Many thanks to Rethinking The Future and the Jury Panel for their hard work and consideration. It is humbling and an absolute honor to be recognized by our international design peers.
RTF Awards Invites Architects and Interior Designers from across the World to submit their Built/Concept Projects
“Rethinking The Future Awards program aims to bring exceptional works in the field of Architecture the prestige they deserve. The objective of these awards is to raise awareness around the strategies Architects and Designers are employing to deal with the contemporary global challenges, and to bring the best of such projects into the light to inspire the next generation”
Contrasting Night & Day Rendering From Island Shore
As architects we often spend a great deal of energy on projects that at the moment feel like the most important work we’ve ever done. We forget that although we have influence over design we have no control over political will, the economy, and most of all territorial rights and approvals. That being said, some of our best work gets locked away in the vault or collects dust on a shelf somewhere in the office.
Pendulum designed this ballpark with intensions for placement on the Expo 67 Island in Montreal Quebec Canada. At the time it felt like the one opportunity we’d have in a long time to aggressively stretch our design thinking – after all, the ballpark is surrounded by architectural icons.
Unfortunately the project came to a screeching halt. Ten years after the fact our CEO, Jonathan O’Neil Cole said he dreamt he attended an event at the facility….then he woke up with notes on required design adjustments…so that’s what we did.
We never stop thinking about how to make our projects better…As Jonathan always says: “Design Is Change”.
The Grill Nation Show featuring Jason Grill and Jonathan Cole will air on Saturday July 11, 2020 on KMBZ 980AM and on iTunes. In this clip Cole answers the question “what is your favorite stadium (that you didn’t work on) and why?” It is just a sneak peek of the full conversation that goes into detail about Pendulum’s history, inspirations, emotional muscle memory, and design methodology.
Be sure to tune in on Saturday…this will be a lot of fun!
Our first award goes to Wyco Vintage located at 3535 Broadway Blvd Unit R104 Kansas City, MO 64111. Wyco Vintage owner Pat Klima is well known for having the largest curated collection of vintage tees in the world. His team’s resourcefulness and passion for the culture grew into an assembly of collectible art, clothing, sneakers, and brands that include Supreme New York, Off-White, and Nike Air Jordan just to name a few. When Pat and partner Adam Compo reached out to Pendulum with an idea to move from their storefront in Merriam, KS to the new Broadway Blvd location just a few blocks from downtown we started with a sit down at our studio (see image below…discussion and deep thought) – “we immediately vibed off of each other’s energy and critical eye” said Pendulum founding principal Jonathan Cole. There’s a lot that could be said about the process and journey from conversation to lines on paper, to virtual reality model, to the final built product. The entire process took about six weeks; yes…we hustled.
Cole commented further, “one of the cool things about this project was being exposed to Pat’s breadth of knowledge of the vintage culture, he’s plugged in beyond trends, the entire team has a nose for authenticity that is refreshing. We got on a wavelength rather quickly that resulted in us finishing each other’s sentences…Pat is ten years ahead…which is exactly where I like to think I am.”
Wyco Vintage is hands down the rightful recipient of the “Hustler of the Year Award”. Since opening their doors October 17, 2019, they’ve brought a new energy to the vintage and sneaker culture in Kansas City – we can’t think of a storefront like it. As Wyco’s notoriety has increased there’s been notable celebrity foot traffic in the store from NFL stars to internationally recognized musicians. As far as we are concerned Wyco Vintage needs to be on everyone’s radar, not as up and comers but real hustlers and movers and shakers in the game.
When asked to comment on the award, Wyco Vintage owner Pat Klima stated “I Appreciate Pendulum for recognizing the work our team has been putting in. The last year was our best yet and 2020 is already off to an insane start. This acceleration wouldn’t be possible without the design and expertise Pendulum provided in building out the store. The number one compliment we get at the shop is “you guys have the nicest store”. We can’t wait to start working on the next location with the Pendulum squad!”
As designers and curators of space, sometimes it takes time for our vision and intent to be fully realized in the built environment. This can happen because the resources required to execute the vision aren’t available, or it could be that the stakeholders we originally sold on the design are no longer in place. Unfortunately at times our vision isn’t fully realized because we didn’t clearly communicate our intent loud enough so that those that need to hear it get it. As we take this moment to recognize projects from our past and present we think Crosstown Substation completed in 2013 warrants a mention as one of the most underutilized and unrecognized projects in Kansas City.
Pendulum was presented with the challenge of creating an architectural buffer between pedestrian traffic and high voltage electrical equipment that occupies an entire city block at the intersection of 18th Street and Holmes in the Crossroads District of Kansas City, MO. Our solution ornamentally wrapped Zahner Solanum Weathering Steel around white concrete panels designed to display projected still and motion video (see image of full size mock up below). A kinetic display of light was designed by artist Jim Woodfill to interact with the patterned weathering steel to create splashes of color and programmed motion.
Although the static white painted concrete panels that surround the substation survived several years without significant graffiti, sadly due to low traffic and the absence of curated projected art, we’ve seen an increase of vandalism over the past two years. As we transition from winter to spring and the kick off of First Fridays in the Crossroads we’d love to see the substation utilized to its full potential and as intended. Our vision for Crosstown Substation is a hub of pedestrian activity, a backdrop for local digital art, films, fashion shows, automotive gatherings, community events, cultural gatherings, concerts, etc. The videos included in this blog represent a small cross section of what can be, hopefully a planted seed that one day blossoms into something much larger. Stay tuned…this could be good!
