Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2024 i Architectural Digest

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FRAMED BY A DOUBLE DOORWAY, AD100 HALL OF FAMER ROBERT COUTURIER STANDS IN HIS NEW MANHATTAN APARTMENT WITH A BELOVED SHIH TZU, SEATED ON A LOUIS XV FAUTEUIL. I’m an American, I’m a New Yorker,” says Robert Couturier, surrounded by his four shih tzus on a plush sofa at his Upper East Side apartment. “But if some-body asks me what I am, I would say I’m French. There are some things that stick to you like glue.” Which is why, after his relationship of almost a quarter century recently ended, the Paris-born designer allowed his native country to inspire his next chapter. That spiritual homecoming is perfectly manifested in his new Manhattan home—his 11th to date—which he filled to the brim with 18th-century French pieces, a style that characterized his…

There’s a lot going on in the petite powder room at the Melbourne headquarters of Flack Studio. The deliberately broad materials palette includes Venetian plaster, terra-cotta, aged brass, burnished stainless steel, several types of marble, and Australian blackbutt timber. “The office is a giant, three-dimensional business card,” says David Flack, founder and principal of the multidisciplinary AD100 design and architecture firm. “It’s our way of transporting people into our world.” True to that spirit, the materials library sits just beyond the main meeting room, which is located directly off the street. “Most firms hide their library, but we put it front and center. You walk in and you’re immediately connected to what we do best—materiality.”…

Office of BC LOS ANGELES Since Jerome Byron and Lindsey Chan established their under-theradar firm in 2020, whispers of their artful, context-driven work—and star-studded client list—have wafted through Los Angeles. Before the duo met in the offices of design firm Willo Perron, Byron cut his teeth at Kéré Architecture and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Chan worked for designer Anna Karlin. It was an eye-catching, cedar-clad guesthouse (AD, March 2021)—masterminded by Byron with an assist from Chan—where they first joined forces, unofficially. Together, they bring an outside-the-box approach to custom commissions in myriad settings, be it a 1950s cabin, a wine bar (Stir Crazy), or a hair salon (Bleach London); for the last, they had sink stations carved from black marble. “Our designs are driven by artistic sensitivity and collaboration, with…

LOS ANGELES AND HILLSDALE, NEW YORK Designer Sally Breer first captured the attention of young Hollywood with a philosophy that eschews received ideas and stale formulas in favor of intuitive, freewheeling interiors animated with a palpable sense of whimsy and delight. Her unconventional approach has garnered the patronage of high-profile creatives—including Zazie Beetz and David Rysdahl, Jordan Peele and Chelsea Peretti, and Parachute founder Ariel Kaye (AD, October 2023)—as well as adventurous hoteliers and other entrepreneurs seeking a fresh perspective. “Having not trained professionally in interior design, I haven’t inherited any formal rules that I need to unlearn, which lets us color outside of the lines,” Breer insists. “Coloring books are so boring!” sallybreer.world Charles de Lisle SAUSALITO, CALIFORNIA charlesdelisle.com Clements Design LOS ANGELES clementsdesign.com Commune Design LOS ANGELES communedesign.com Corey…

LOS ANGELES All one needs to know about the sensibility and taste of interior/product designers Todd Nickey and Amy Kehoe is on full, brilliant display at the designers’ namesake Los Angeles home-furnishings mecca, long a treasured resource for the professional design community and savvy clients. (New York City residents will be happy to learn that an outpost will be opening there this spring.) “We are uncommonly sensitive to the ways in which a space can elevate the senses, enhance memories, and become not merely a set piece but a main character in the stories of our clients’ lives,” the duo says of their soulful, richly layered approach, which has captured the fancy of entertainment-industry clients such as Sarah Paulson (AD, March 2023), Naomi and Adam Scott, and Kathryn Hahn and…

LONDON AND NEW YORK Since launching his firm a decade ago, Bryan O’Sullivan has established his name conceiving hospitality hit after hit—at such iconic locales as Claridge’s, the Connaught, and the Berkeley—in his adopted hometown of London. Along the way, this international talent has also built a robust portfolio of private residential commissions, including a 1924 mansion in Paris, a 230-foot yacht, and a stunning home for his own young family in London’s iconic Barbican complex (AD, November 2023). Whatever the project, O’Sullivan and his team begin with research—into context, into craft, and most importantly into history. “We arrive at a concept and then we drill down,” notes the Irish-born designer, who recently adapted bespoke furniture for past projects into a debut furniture line. That collection and other career highlights…

PARIS At Laura Gonzalez’s Right Bank atelier (AD, September 2023) it’s easy to understand her modus operandi: luxurious layers of color and pattern—always with a touch of whimsy. Last year was a busy one for the designer, in business since 2004: She revamped Cartier’s NYC flagship, a mansion on Fifth Avenue, crafting a warm but super-luxe home for the storied jeweler. Meanwhile, she compiled some of her most electrifying projects into her first book, Laura Gonzalez: Interieurs. While she’s best known for her residential-feeling commercial and hospitality spaces (in recent years she has redone the interiors of Paris landmarks like Lapérouse and the Saint James Paris hotel), Gonzalez has serious range. She also has a broad line of furniture, sold by The Invisible Collection, and a handful of recently completed…

COVID brought us together,” says designer Muriel Brandolini of her friendship with fashion designer Amanda Ross Bacon. “We had these homes near each other in the Hamptons and because of the six-feet-apart rule, we worked out together on my tennis court with a trainer.” The two former stylists found they shared a love of fashion and color, and eventually their conversations turned to decorating. Ross Bacon had been struggling to add her own personality to the nearby late-19th-century Arts and Crafts–style cottage her husband, Zack Bacon, purchased in 2012, two years before they met. “The place was very masculine,” remembers Ross Bacon. “I needed some help to make it more feminine, to add personality.” And so she peppered Brandolini with decorating questions, and soon they were working together. But for…

It’s an unseasonably warm morning in October and Linda C. Harrison, the director and CEO of the Newark Museum of Art, is in a characteristically inquisitive mood. “How can we be not just a center of cultural change, but of social and economic change?” she wonders, reflecting on her organization’s role in a diverse and fast-changing city. “How does a museum become more relevant to a community without canceling out other stories?” Ruminating aloud, she pivots quickly from audience development to curatorial ambitions to broader institutional goals, chief among them fostering curiosity. “People,” Harrison says, “should feel that they can come here and ask questions.” On this particular visit, the here of which she speaks is the Ballantine House: an 1885 mansion that was acquired by the museum in 1937…

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LONDON Color and pattern are the dazzling protagonists of Yinka Ilori’s multidisciplinary practice, which ranges from plates to pavilions. The British Nigerian artist, who studied at London Metropolitan University, launched his business in 2011, getting people’s attention with a series of happy chairs, made from reclaimed cast-off furniture given a little paint and TLC (AD, February 2018). Since then, Ilori has expanded his scale drastically. A retrospective of his practice that was mounted this past year at London’s Design Museum showed the breadth of his output, which now includes a Technicolor basketball court in London and a temporary skate park in Miami Beach. Ilori calls his work “humorous, provocative, and playful,” explaining that, in his view, “design can bring communities together.” yinkailori.com ARCHDIGEST.COM/AD100…

NEW YORK “Bold, comfortable, curated, layered with amazing art and pops of color,” is how interior designer Sara Story describes the homes she creates for her clients—her career for the past 20 years. But perhaps the best example is her own super-personal New York City town house (AD, June 2023), where a wicker side table shaped like a grasshopper scoots up to a groovy 1970s sofa, or a tubular steel Mies van de Rohe chair sits with an antique French desk. She injects her projects—recently completed homes include a party-perfect pad in Austin and a sumptuous residence at the New York landmark the Plaza—with the same playful irreverence. It’s all delightful fodder for her new book, The Art of Home, which was published this past September. sarastorydesign.com Mandy Cheng Design LOS…

NEW YORK Connection and collaboration are the magic ingredients behind architectural designer Oliver Freundlich and his team’s craft-forward approach. “The goal is to create spaces that are rooted in a sense of place and ultimately reflective of the lives within them,” he says. This innate desire to materialize owners’ lifestyles and aspirations into homes has earned him a formidable repertoire of clients since founding his namesake firm 13 years ago. Homes such as the West Village residence of Julianne Moore and Bart Freundlich (AD, November 2017) and the 1870s Brooklyn town house of photographer R.A. McBride and her family (AD, June 2023) reveal a talent for weaving new stories into a space while simultaneously honoring the building’s history. oliverfreundlich.com PUFF PIECES Poppy accent pillows by AD100 designers ARCHDIGEST.COM/AD100…

ENTERTAINING PIATTO DEL GIORNO Waste not, want not is the unofficial motto at Ginori 1735. Since 2021, the vaunted Florentine porcelain maker has given new life to decommissioned wares in its Reborn Project. The latest additions, debuted at Design Miami, showcase collaborations with AD100 Hall of Famers India Mahdavi and Jacques Grange, among other design luminaries. ginori1735.com —HANNAH MARTIN HOTELS Swede Spot With all due respect to Dorothy, there is a place like home. Since opening in 2012, the Stockholm hotel Ett Hem has boldly dissolved any hospitality/residential divide, compelling guests to kick up their heels in communal living and dining spaces. Its reputation, legendary among even the most particular travelers, is a testament to both owner Jeanette Mix and AD100 titan Ilse Crawford, whose interiors meld romance, whimsy, and…

Concepts often come to Juliana Lima Vasconcellos in a dream state. “I first see a piece in my head,” explains the celebrated Brazilian-born designer, now based between Belo Horizonte, São Paulo, and London. “Sometimes I’ll spend hours before falling asleep just modifying an idea. By the time I start to sketch, it’s already done.” Recently, her imagination settled on a new goal: her first collaboration with an American brand. Enter RH, the trendsetting furnishings brand, who contacted her out of the blue to team up on a collection. (How’s that for manifesting?) Building on her signature language of curves, the new Lara series for RH Contemporary spans both dining and lounge chairs, with upholstered bodies and backs that nod to midcentury modernism. “The inspiration for my work is always bold,…

AUSTIN, TEXAS With a growing portfolio of residential commissions in and around Austin, Thomas Bercy and Calvin Chen have established themselves as two of the Lone Star State’s foremost architectural voices. Their insights and influences nevertheless know no bounds. Drawing on their respective international backgrounds—Bercy is Belgian, Chen is Taiwanese by way of Australia—the two have honed a hands-on approach that extends from conception to completion. In their words: “Our work is greatly influenced by vernacular precedents from various cultures, while maintaining respect for the particular contemporary contextual conditions.” Distilled into multiple structures, a cliffside house for a creative family (AD, July/August 2023) cultivates an especially intimate connection to the landscape. “It was a way to explore how to coexist with nature,” says Chen, alluding to the firm’s long-standing commitment to…

NEW YORK Nuance! These days it’s an increasingly lost art. Not so in the braided and enchanting work of Ryan Lawson, an Arkansas native who has quietly been leaving his mark on the New York City design scene for nearly two decades. “We appreciate subtlety and craftsmanship, ensuring that every element, from material selections to furniture and lighting design, is completed with intention,” he says of his research-driven approach, which is rooted in both historical references and old-school decorative flair. “We focus on the large vision and the small details in tandem, to ensure that our interiors are complex and robust but also meticulously executed.” Mission very much accomplished in his recent breakthrough performance, a mic-drop update to a Manhattan loft that layers allusions to Scarpa, Bo Bardi, Buatta, and more…

PARIS 2023 was a breakout year for Lebaneseborn architect Lina Ghotmeh. In London, she unveiled her Serpentine Pavilion, a feat of community building and ecofriendly construction, with thin supports reminiscent of leaf veins and a pleated roof to shield gatherings. And in Normandy, she completed a low-carbon, energy-positive saddle workshop for Hermès (AD, September 2023). Both commissions expand upon her interests in handcraft, sustainability, and what she calls “the archaeology of the future,” wherein “every new gesture is drawn from the traces of the past.” Ghotmeh credits that fascination with ruins to her childhood in Beirut, a city in constant transition. These days, she’s catalyzing change around the world, from an art museum for Saudi Arabia’s AlUla cultural site to a tower in Montpellier, France. All the firm’s projects,…

SAN FRANCISCO Lauren Geremia began her professional journey armed with a degree in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design, and since the founding of her namesake firm in 2006, art has remained central to her practice. “We approach design the same way that we would fine art. We love texture and color, and we rely on strong concepts,” says the San Francisco–based talent, whose rise in the design world paralleled that of her early tech clients such as Dropbox and Instagram. Geremia’s inspired renovation of a classic Julia Morgan house in Berkeley (AD July/August 2023) exemplifies this ethos. “We source art in the beginning stages of a project as a connection point in the narrative and a strong material reference,” notes the designer, who is currently applying her art-centered…

“Our main goal was to really just lighten up the entire house.”—Shawn Henderson “I wanted to create something that was fun and eclectic and family-friendly.”…

“You make mistakes when you question too much.”—Muriel Brandolini “Muriel’s genius sense of color is off the charts.”—Amanda Ross…