Non-Trivial Pursuit
Entering the hillside space that serves as his headquarters in Hawai‘i, one finds Michael Bennett in a position that he is very accustomed to being in: at the center of it all, yet surrounded by his teammates. With that one parallel, we can take a time out from further references to his well-known and decade-long NFL-playing first career, which included a Super Bowl win for the Seattle Seahawks, and discover what he’s been applying his talents to since retiring in 2020.
Almost 20 years ago, he was introduced to the charms of local living by his wife, Pele, who convinced him to take a trip to Hawai‘i. For Bennett, the trip turned out to be one of many defining moments in his life. He clearly recalls the familiar feeling of arriving in the islands and having a sense of calm suffuse through him as the daily routines were replaced by discovering new ones, and at a vastly different pace and scale. The trip was just the first of many for Bennett, and as his family grew, the importance of putting down roots in the islands became foundational for him. With one foot solidly planted in Honolulu — the other is equally positioned in Houston, where Studio Kër is in the middle of a ground-up residential build for the family — Bennett appears poised to launch this next phase of life with the kind of quiet energy that someone whose presence and aura instantly conveys a strong sense of purpose underpinning his mission. With that energy centered around Studio Kër, his nascent design group, as the hub of a multi-spoked approach to using design as a means of starting and continuing conversations, Bennett spoke about his plans for the future. “I love design,” he shares. “I always have. When I look around, I see things in terms of design and it awakens the creative part of me that looks at how things are made, the choices and materiality.”
The wide-open studio doors open front a patio shaded by tall palm trees, and Bennett takes frequent breaks to walk in and out, stepping into the dappled sunlight, before returning and choosing another piece of furniture — of his own design — to sit on. We have a brief conversation about this bench; again, I am reminded of his earlier musings on how he wants his designs to start conversations on many levels. It is at once fluid in form, yet visually anchored by its mass and pillar-like legs. A casual attempt to move it was futile, since it shared nothing with the bantamweight flat pack furniture that gets shipped around globally. It is solid, and monolithic in its final form. “This bench was made right here in Honolulu. It took months to assemble and carve just-so,” he says while running his hands along the subtle indentations along its top side. “Here, let me help you with that,” he says, as I concede that I am no match for even budging the piece. It is one of several of his designs that Bennett has been invited to display at current exhibits on the mainland.
When asked what’s ahead for him and Studio Kër, Bennett looks out at the view across the valley, peering between the swaying MacArthur palm trunks, and visibly pauses. “I took a break, but now I’m back and the goal is to add an Architecture Degree of my own; I’m this close to finishing” he says, with a scant gap between his own palms held up. “And from there, who knows where the path will go, but I do know that I want to create spaces that let the conversations happen.” Bennett knows the answer, as he knows the path to get there. His plan includes designing museums and churches; and he knows that within both, conversations will be happening out loud and quietly, in the style of Michael Bennett himself.