Peter Arnell, the larger-than-life Madison Avenue advertiser.
Bruce brought along a team of Asia hands at ArtCenter to help. By his
side was James Miho, who had been interned in a U.S. detention camp as a
child during World War II and had served as a tank commander in the
Korean War. Miho went on to have a legendary career as a consultant for
Chrysler and Xerox.
The school president, David Brown, was also in attendance. As a former
marketing and public relations executive, he had led ArtCenter’s projects in
Japan. At six foot four, he towered over his Korean guests.
“We gave Miky a tour,” Bruce said. “The meeting was cordial.”
They strolled through the bridge structure spanning an arroyo, getting a
look at the building, a midcentury work of art with glass panes and
dramatic lines and diagonal steel pillars. As they walked, Miky talked about
Samsung’s mission. The chairman wanted to build an in-house design
school where Samsung’s best craftsmen could forge their own corporate
identity. Samsung felt that Pasadena’s ArtCenter, renowned for its
curriculum in automotive design and industrial design, was an ideal partner.
“Chairman Lee is hosting a Samsung Day, renting out Olympic
Stadium,” she explained. “He would like you to attend as a guest.”
“We wanted to emphasize that we weren’t for sale,” recalled David
Brown, “that we were an educational institution first and foremost, that we
weren’t really a consulting arm that would do work for hire. It had to have a
larger purpose for us.”
“Samsung’s designers need to be different,” Miky pressed on. “We want
them to think different.”
“It’s not enough to be different,” Gordon Bruce retorted. “You have to
be good.”
It looked like the project was a nonstarter, but the ArtCenter trio
reconvened after Miky departed.
“What persuaded me that this was a good idea was a little booklet that
Chairman Lee published,” said Brown, describing the Frankfurt
Declaration. “There was some silly stuff in there, but the chairman was
partially educated in Tokyo and had a pretty deep understanding of the
Japanese rise to an exporting power and the role that design played in that.”
The pair looked to James Miho for insight on whether Samsung could
pull off a similar feat. He felt the prospects for Samsung’s designers were