JASON HATHEWAY
I was born and raised in Pasadena.
My mother created incredible spaces to grow up in. She has always been an immensely creative person and the rooms of our home were constantly being re-colored, re-arranged and re-upholstered. I can’t tell you how many times she would explain her plans for a room only to receive raised eyebrows from me and my sister. In the end, her ideas always worked. It is from my mom that I learned to balance creativity and comfort.
I remember once, in my early twenties, going around the living room and plumping up the seat cushions only to see her come along a few minutes later putting subtle indentations in each seat. It was explained to me; if the cushions are too plumped, too perfect, they don’t look like an inviting place to sit. I don’t know where she learned this but it’s true.
Dad was, by profession, a mechanical engineer. An opto-mechanical engineer to be precise, a field focusing mostly on lenses and how they are housed larger instruments. At home he was the installer; taking mom’s concepts and solving the structural and logistical issues. He built custom water fountains, hung paper, built a wood gazebo, and so much more. I helped in spots - more as I got older. His tools were always available to me as long as they were put back in the same spot where I found them (Yeah. That took some learning). I built boxes out of redwood, papier-mache mountains for my model railroad, and later I built my own craftsman style drafting table using those tools.
My other substantial interest has always been history. I received a BA in history from Gettysburg College in 1998, where I took quite a few art history and architecture classes. One of the classes included a two day field trip to New York and tours of the Chanin Building, Rockefeller Center, Woolworth Building, and the Seagrams Building. I’ll never forget that.
I like there to be a historic or retroactive element to my designs. I’m not after nostalgia per se. Nostalgia can be fun to visit but at some point it becomes too “at odds” with our need to stay in the present. I want to use it to ground the design, to create a sense of familiarity within a new creation.
After years of living in others places I came back to Pasadena in 2004. Only with travel did I realize what a unique place this is. Although work takes me all over, there is something about driving into Pasadena on the Foothill Freeway and passing the old Arroyo del Vista Hotel and the Colorado Street Bridge that is so unique. I swell up with pride and an awareness of my good fortune to be living here.