Design Archives

Tom Dixon on the Optics of Experimentation

Jenn Thornton September 16, 2020

Global-Inspired DEDON & A Rich Cultural Spirit for Outdoor Exuberance

Jenn Thornton September 3, 2020

The true beauty of DEDON—aside from its artisan, raw-materials aesthetic—is how the global producer’s handcrafted outdoor furnishings and accessories are so perfectly at home nearly everywhere.

Colonial Architecture to Tropical Design—Mexican Style Captivates Through Its Rich & Varied Character

Karine Monié September 3, 2020

Whether represented by a historic hacienda on the west side of the Yucatan Peninsula, a colorful penthouse on the Pacific Coast, or a minimalist home in the country’s bustling capital, Mexico’s high style and creativity have charmed the world. Three properties prove it.

Fettle, Olivetta, Restaurant, Melrose Avenue, Mediterranean, West Hollywood

Fettle Brings a Style Remix to Melrose Avenue Restaurant Olivetta

Karine Monié July 7, 2020

Lawson-Fenning, Glenn Lawson, Grant Fenning

Meet the Established & Emerging Designers Defining the Style of Our Times

Jenn Thornton July 7, 2020

Names like Adam Hills and Maria Speake of Retrouvius, Chrissie Rucker of The White Company, and the Lawson-Fenning partnership between Glenn Lawson and Grant Fenning are setting the trends for modern luxury style today.

Woolworth Building, Woolworth Tower Residences, Alchemy Properties, New York, New York City, Tribeca,

Alchemy Properties Goes Next-Level with Woolworth Tower Residences

Jenn Thornton June 24, 2020

The Woolworth Tower Residences gives rise to one of the more enticing real estate opportunities that one might imagine. That is, to own a piece of history while living like royalty in the luxury-condo equivalent of a “Castle in the Sky.” Is there a better, more spectacular prospect?

Brooklyn, Studio Tack,Japanese, Tsukimi, New York City, New York, NYC

Brooklyn-based Studio Tack Reimagines Japanese Design at Tsukimi in NYC

Karine Monié June 24, 2020

Located in Manhattan, New York City, both the exterior façade and the circa-1920 mosaic floor of Tsukimi were preserved, evoking a feeling of timelessness. Studio Tack meticulously chose andperfected every element of the space.

Jon Heinert, Wheeler Kearns Architects, Chicago, Penthouse

Wheeler Kearns Architects’ Jon Heinert on New Chicago Penthouse

Karine Monié June 24, 2020

One look at the beautiful panorama from this penthouse is enough to understand why the owners—a young family from California—fell in love with the space.

Kerry Vasquez Haute in WeHo

Karine Monié June 10, 2020

At the helm of his eponymous public relations company specializing in fashion, Bryan Smith exists in a world where style is everything. His home is no exception. Enter designer Kerry Vasquez.

Uncontrived, lush with exotica and featuring ponds and porticos, stonework and sculpture, “garden” actually seems too provincial a term for the hybrids of function and fantasy that Grace creates. Hers is a fine eye and a remarkable hand. “As a licensed landscape contractor, I build what I design,” she says. “That’s when my work took a big leap forward. There is no separation between design, installation, and maintenance, it’s all one and happens on a continuum. Unless it’s integrated, it doesn’t work—period.” This is how she thinks too, both pragmatically and painterly. Much like an artist, she uses “broad and fine brushstrokes” to transform a two-dimensional canvas into a three-dimensional work of art. And in a systematic fashion; first is attending to infrastructure beneath the ground, then to its surface with the layering of elements. Rocks, for instance, are not so much placed as they are selected and then worked such that their shadows will cause additional depth or bring color forward. From there the garden grows. One also sees this artistry in Grace’s exquisite new tome Private Gardens of Santa Barbara: The Art of Outdoor Living (Gibbs Smith), a rapturous showcase of her elegant outdoor Edens, from rustic to coastal to modern. Each of the book’s made-to-age milieus represents a temple of residential garden know-how and is illustrative of nonderivative design that reflects the character of the native landscape. “The Art of Outdoor Living” idea certainly accounts for the substantial exterior living rooms and heated floors of our era. “About 10 percent of outdoor living comes down to ‘my fort is cooler than your fort,’” Grace refreshingly confesses. But at the root, “it is a way to describe a lifestyle connected to nature.” For Grace, who went from toiling in the family garden to forsaking a career in medicine after a 13-week stint as a park ranger proved she’d long lost her heart to the natural world, this is the point. “Step outside and you hear birdsong, you smell water evaporating. It’s a rich and simple experience, but relaxed and comfortable. We take a deep breath and feel better. It’s so automatic we don’t even think of it, but it is a very profound thing. It’s experiential, there is intentionality to it.” Landscape as soul, nature as a relief—what a thing of beauty. gracedesignassociates.com Photos: Grace Design Associates And Holly Lepere Johnson (Home).

A Lush New Tome: Margie Grace Cultivates Exquisite Gardens

Jenn Thornton May 14, 2020

Landscape designer and author of a lush new tome, Margie Grace cultivates exquisite gardens with singular flora and flourish.

Laurie Wiluan Imports Original Design for Personal Space MB

Joclene Davey May 8, 2020

Kinfolk Gallery And Norm Architects Create Poetic Minimalism

Jenn Thornton March 18, 2020

Fusing Japanese and Scandinavian design, Norm Architects brings poetic, minimalist rigor to a collaborative space for cult-favorite Kinfolk magazine.