{"id":246027,"date":"2024-12-12T13:34:12","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T18:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?post_type=id_news&p=246027"},"modified":"2024-12-12T13:34:17","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T18:34:17","slug":"david-galullo-2024-interior-design-hall-of-fame-inductee","status":"publish","type":"id_news","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/designwire\/david-galullo-2024-interior-design-hall-of-fame-inductee\/","title":{"rendered":"David Galullo: 2024 Interior Design Hall of Fame Inductee"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The library at Dropbox San Francisco, 2016. Photography by Eric Laignel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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December 12, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n

Words: <\/span>Edie Cohen<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

David Galullo: 2024 Interior Design Hall of Fame Inductee<\/h1>\n\n\n

Call it DNA, call it destiny: <\/strong>David Galullo was fated for a career in design and architecture. Credit his late father, an Italian American builder and visionary who passed on a worldview that became the underpinning of his son\u2019s multidisciplinary practice. \u201cHe taught me to see the world as an opportunity for improvement rather than something completed,\u201d begins the consummate professional who, although a licensed architect, does not necessarily call himself such. \u201cI don\u2019t want limits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And indeed, there are none\u2014not in the all-encompassing work of Rapt Studio<\/a>, of which Galullo is founder, CEO, and chief creative officer, nor in its governing principles. He launched the firm in 2011 in San Francisco, heeding the Golden State\u2019s siren call after a childhood in Trenton, New Jersey, followed by a bachelor\u2019s degree from the Syracuse University School of Architecture in New York and early professional experience in Philadelphia. Stints at such Bay Area firms as Pollack Architecture and Gordon Chong + Partners (now Stantec), preceded Rapt, which has since opened two other offices, in Los Angeles and New York, with a total staff of 45. \u201cDesign is all about building a story of belonging, about building places where people believe they\u2019re part of something larger than themselves,\u201d Galullo reflects, characterizing Rapt\u2019s germinating idea. \u201cI believe we can move the needle to a better community, to a better future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Galullo, these are not just lofty words. They are commitments Rapt puts into practice from a project\u2019s inception through its design and development phases, all the way to completion. Initial client meetings always begin with a series of probing questions: Why are you different? Why do you matter? Why would the world be a darker place without you? \u201cWhat we do is build connections\u2014between people, and between a person and their best self,\u201d Galullo responds when, tables turned, he\u2019s asked the same questions. \u201cThere are no bad decisions; I\u2019m completely optimistic.\u201d As for his superpower, he again credits his parents: \u201cI can do whatever I put my mind to. I never accept \u2018no,\u2019 but I stay humble and curious.\u201d Galullo\u2019s widowed mother now lives with him and his husband Peter King on a 7-acre Sonoma sprawl with chickens, ducks, goats, and vegetable gardens\u2014the perfect setting for the extravagant cooking and entertaining gatherings the extrovert designer delights in hosting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The founder, CEO, and chief creative officer of Rapt Studio at the three-city firm\u2019s Manhattan, New York, office in 2019, shortly before its move to Brooklyn. Photography by Matthew Williams.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Learn How David Galullo\u2019s Rapt Studio Breaks Boundaries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Work is a matter of gathering, too. Each project team assembles talents spanning the full creative spectrum: architecture, design, graphics, branding, marketing, and communications. With no siloing by skill set, everyone has a voice and is free to critique any part of a proposal, not just their area of expertise. This not only results in an integrated response to each brief but also helps shape Rapt\u2019s organization, with its three studios viewed holistically rather than as competing profit centers. \u201cWe\u2019re breaking down barriers that other firms may have,\u201d Galullo emphasizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"David
Galullo, at Rapt\u2019s San Francisco studio. Photography courtesy of Rapt Studio. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"installation
A site-specific installation by Settlers LA at Zefr headquarters in Marina del Rey, California, 2018. Photography by Eric Laignel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A game area at Adobe\u2019s regional office in Lehi, Utah, 2013. Photography by Eric Laignel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

More than 70 percent of Rapt\u2019s practice centers on the workplace, principally in the gaming, apparel, media, and tech sectors. Its roster of completed projects lists many big names: Google, Goop, The North Face, and Tinder for starters. Current or recently finished assignments include consolidating CNN\u2019s Atlanta operations into longtime-client Warner Bros. Discovery\u2019s seven-building Techwood campus; relocating online gaming enterprise Roblox\u2019s headquarters into a 180,000-square- foot building in San Matteo, California; and having just completed language app Duolingo\u2019s New York offices at 4 World Trade Center, going on to renovate and expand the company\u2019s headquarters in Pittsburgh. Rapt\u2019s global planning for international financial services corporation Macquarie Group supports the company\u2019s real estate operations worldwide, providing local design firms with a template to work from, while for real estate developer Hines, another global enterprise, Rapt crafted regional headquarters at West Edge, a mixed-use development in L.A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore Rapt Studio’s Encyclopedic Portfolio<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Rapt\u2019s branding projects range from Bishop Ranch, an idyllic 585-acre business and residential park in San Ramon, California, to Tishman Speyer\u2019s Merge, an amenity-rich, four-building, 5-acre business campus in Seattle. \u201cThings just pop up,\u201d Galullo says of Rapt\u2019s encyclopedic portfolio. How about a kit-of-parts play-book guiding a retail rollout for the California cannabis concern Embarc Dispensaries as a sign of the times?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Segue to another core Rapt capability: interactive installations, exemplified by a pair created for Milan Design Week: The first, 2019\u2019s \u201cTell Me More,\u201d explored communication and connectivity, guiding visitors through a series of curtain-enclosed, single-person booths glowing in the vaults beneath the city\u2019s main railway station; the second, \u201cDesign Is Language: Speak for Yourself,\u201d last spring, featured a carefully curated selection of vintage furniture pieces in what Galullo describes as \u201ca call to action for people to take back design as a tool to tell their unique and personal stories.\u201d It was also a caution about the industry\u2019s rampant, unchecked adoption of AI, which he acknowledges as a useful resource, but fears could lead to bland out- comes lacking distinctive characteristics or narratives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galullo is generous in sharing his expertise, contributing articles and interviews to a wide range of outlets, from Fast Company <\/em>to the BBC World Service<\/em>. Recent examples include lively discussions of pandemic lessons, return-to-work policies, and a growing focus on neurodiversity. The big takeaway: One size does not fit all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Bike storage at the Google Orange County office in Irvine, California, 2014. Photography by Eric Laignel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are more than their job descriptions,\u201d he says, emphasizing the importance of creating adaptable workplaces that accommodate varied sensory needs and cognitive styles. Galullo\u2019s articulate thoughtfulness has made him something of a media darling, consistently covered over his four-decade career. So, tell us some- thing no one else knows. \u201cI just got my Italian passport,\u201d he gleefully responds. To which we can only reply, in bocca al lupo!<\/em>\u2014his ancestral homeland\u2019s idiom for good luck.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

See Workplace Designs From David Galullo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The San Francisco office of Greylock Partners, 2023. Photography by Eric Laignel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"library
The library at Dropbox San Francisco, 2016. Photography by Eric Laignel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Hines\u2019s regional headquarters in L.A., 2023. Photography by Madeline Tolle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ancestry\u2019s Lehi, Utah, headquarters, 2017. Photography by Jeremy Bitterman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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TMZ Studios, 2015, in L.A. Photography byEric Laignel. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A Jay Howell mural at Vans\u2019s headquarters in Costa Mesa, California, 2018. Photography by Eric Laignel. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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HBO Max\u2019s Seattle office, 2016. Photography by Eric Laignel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Tinder\u2019s Los Angeles headquarters, 2020. Photography by Madeline Tolle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Fender\u2019s San Diego headquarters, 2017. Photography by Eric Laignel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A 2016 parking garage, the first stage of a multiyear renovation of the Warner Bros. Discovery campus in Atlanta. Photography by Eric Laignel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Discover How Rapt Studio Shapes Top Brands<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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VF Corporation\u2019s 2020 headquarters in Denver; Photography by Eric Laignel. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Marketing collateral for The Yards, a multibuilding redevelopment project in Raleigh, North Carolina, 2020. Photography by Sam Grey. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The New York showroom of The North Face, 2017. Photography by Eric Laignel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cDesign Is Language: Speak for Yourself,\u201d at Milan Design Week 2024. Photography by Eric Laignel. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Custom fabric and wallcovering patterns for The Laurel, a 2018 apartment building in San Francisco. Photography by Sam Grey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Custom fabric and wallcovering patterns for The Laurel, a 2018 apartment building in San Francisco. Photography by Sam Grey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Marketing collateral for 5th & Laurel, an event space in San Diego, 2015. Photography by Sam Grey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n