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Kiawah River Partners with Clemson School of Architecture on Special Project

[The original article appeared in Charleston Business Magazine on Dec. 24, 2018. Read more here]

Kiawah River, a new sea islands community just outside of Charleston, is partnering with the Clemson School of Architecture on a special project to design and construct two locally inspired artist market stands that will provide entrepreneurial opportunities for sea island farmers and craftspeople to retail and market at Kiawah River. Kiawah River will also activate the stands for unique pop-up experiences to visitors and residents throughout the year. As the community is developed, the artist stands will complement a more evolved retail village and market at the community entrance.

“Each of our partners share our vision for a well-crafted sea islands aesthetic and the community ideals of quality, connection to place and authenticity,” said Carter Redd, managing director at Kiawah River. “These elegant stands will demonstrate Kiawah River’s commitment to local community stewardship and thoughtful design.”

The Clemson architecture students are designing the wood and steel market stands with both local and international inspiration. The team was foremost inspired by the modest sweetgrass basket stands that have been historic staples of Lowcountry roads for generations. The designs also pay homage to the hooded beach chairs used at seaside resorts along Germany’s coast called strandkorb, for their ability to close when not in use and convert in many ways based on the user’s preference.

“Clemson University’s mission as a land grant institution is to educate our students to think deeply about and engage in the social, scientific, economic and professional challenges of our times,” said David Pastre, senior lecturer at the Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston and Coordinator of the school’s Architecture + Community Build program. “Through community engagement and appropriate design solutions, our students learn how architecture can be a catalyst for positive change. The development of Kiawah River’s farmstead and market falls directly in line with the Clemson School of Architecture’s goals by being aware of the impact residential development will have on rural Johns Island, by maintaining a working farm on the development and introducing entrepreneurial opportunities for local residents at the market.”