{"id":246677,"date":"2024-12-18T11:23:31","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T16:23:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?post_type=id_news&p=246677"},"modified":"2024-12-18T11:23:36","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T16:23:36","slug":"diffa-2024-hall-of-fame-tribute","status":"publish","type":"id_news","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/designwire\/diffa-2024-hall-of-fame-tribute\/","title":{"rendered":"DIFFA: 2024 Interior Design Hall of Fame Tribute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Gensler\u2019s Dining by Design lounge, 2017. Photography by Alan Barry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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December 18, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n

Words: <\/span>Stephen Treffinger<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

DIFFA: 2024 Interior Design Hall of Fame Tribute<\/h1>\n\n\n
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Turning 40 is an occasion <\/strong>to celebrate past accomplishments\u2014and, perhaps more importantly, to set your future agenda. That\u2019s what DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation<\/a> has been doing as it transitions into a fifth decade. \u201cEvery responsible not-for-profit should constantly reevaluate its mission to ensure alignment with its community\u2019s needs,\u201d says Dawn Roberson, DIFFA\u2019s executive director since 2018. As such, the foundation, which just rolled out a new name this year, not only continues its essential work of granting funds to organizations that provide assistance and healthcare access to those impacted by HIV\/AIDS but has also been pursuing an expanded scope: addressing the broader challenges of food and housing insecurity and the mental-health issues that underserved populaces face\u2014and that increase the likeliness of diagnosis. The reality is sobering: In the U.S., living with HIV\/AIDS poses real risks\u2014of becoming unhoused, of developing a mental-health condition, of less engagement with prevention. \u201cWhen people lack the proper resources, they\u2019re not able to get tested or treated,\u201d Roberson explains. \u201cSo, attacking the problem at the source ensures more people are educated and have treatment access.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Gensler and Herman Miller\u2019s Dining by Design table, 2014, featuring photomurals from Braden Summers\u2019s All Love Is Equal series. Photography by Eric Laignel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Evolution of DIFFA’s Mission<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Gensler\u2019s branding for the 40th anniversary.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Scientific advances over the decades have made the disease both easily preventable and manageable, but that certainly wasn\u2019t the case in 1984 when DIFFA was founded, out of real desperation. At the time, many in the design world were losing friends, colleagues, and loved ones to AIDS, which was largely being ignored by the government and even the private sector. Professionals from various creative fields, from fashion to interiors, banded together to assist vulnerable community members who weren\u2019t getting help\u2014making sure they could pay bills, get to doctor appointments, and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, DIFFA has granted over $57 million to hundreds of entities that bolster under-resourced populations throughout the country; beneficiaries include Alpha Workshops, God\u2019s Love We Deliver (GLWD), Visual AIDS for the Arts, and Housing Works. An important distinction is that DIFFA provides unrestricted grants, allowing flexible spending so agencies are empowered to use the money in a way that is most effective for them. \u201cWe can help keep the lights on, we can help them get new equipment, we can help pay their staff, we can help with the basic office necessities\u2014basically, whatever they need to keep running, which is crucial,\u201d Roberson says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gensler-designed posters announcing DIFFA\u2019s 40th anniversary gala in New York, 2024. Photography by Eric Laignel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DIFFA Boasts Strong Leadership<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Strong leadership and an army of dedicated volunteers have been essential to the long-term success of the organization, which currently hosts chapters in four cities: Chicago, Dallas, New York, and San Francisco. During a recent 40th-anniversary benefit bash, former executive director David Sheppard lauded the contributions of design-industry heavy-weights who\u2019ve guided DIFFA over the years, including chair emeriti Cindy Allen, this magazine\u2019s editor in chief, and architect and Rockwell Group founder David Rockwell. \u201cWithout David, DIFFA\u2019s doors would have closed after the 2008 crash,\u201d Sheppard notes. \u201cAnd companies that said \u2018no\u2019 to me for decades said \u2018yes\u2019 the minute Cindy became chairman.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen, who served in that role from 2012 through 2023, when she handed the reins to Thomas Polucci, HOK\u2019s director of interiors and workplace design, was instrumental in galvanizing the commercial side of the profession for donations, fundraising events like Dining by Design (rebranded in 2022 as DIFFA by Design), and programs such as Specify with Care, whereby affiliates such as Maya Romanoff and Wolf-Gordon donate a percentage of profits to the cause. During her tenure, Allen rallied the support of design firms including Gensler and M Moser Associates and brands ranging from Shaw and Steelcase. \u201cFrom Giants of Design firms to giant manufacturers, our industry friends really stepped up to the plate to become valiant supporters,\u201d Allen says. \u201cWe\u2019ve come full circle, from our industry being majorly impacted by HIV\/AIDS to our industry having <\/em>a major impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Executive director Dawn Roberson with board chair emeriti David Rockwell and Cindy Allen Allen in 2022. Photography by Marion Curtis\/Starpix.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For Rockwell, a Hall of Fame icon and inductee<\/a> whose firm is also celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the decision to join DIFFA in 1994 was extremely personal. \u201cI had just lost my brother Rick to AIDS and was in the throes of grief,\u201d he recalls. \u201cIt was so cathartic to be in a community with designers and artists who were as passionate as I was about trying to help save lives in any way we could; being able to act when I felt powerless was so important. It\u2019s been a gift to watch DIFFA grow and now deliver on this new mission of addressing the most pressing societal challenges, like housing and mental health.\u201d These are indeed complex issues, but ones our industry remains well positioned to solve, especially when we join forces to supercharge our strategic and creative capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore DIFFA’s Outreach and Initiatives Over The Years<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Neon signage at Dining by Design, 2015.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A 2016 Dining by Design installation by the late Ali Tayar of Parallel Design, produced by SilverLining. Photography by Garrett Rowland. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Gensler\u2019s Dining by Design lounge, 2017. Photography by Alan Barry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A 2019 program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A Tayar sketch for a 2014 Dining by Design installation with Wolf-Gordon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Dining by Design program, 2018. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The 2023 program from the rebranded DIFFA by Design. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Roche Bobois\u2019s installation, 2017, with a chandelier by Gensler.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Discover DIFFA’s Grantees + Beneficiaries<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The logo of DIFFA grantee God\u2019s Love We Deliver (GLWD).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Designer Bill Bouchey\u2019s donor pinboard for Idea Lab 2012: Carpet Art, a DIFFA benefit held at Interface New York. Photography by Keith Claytor\/Timefrozen Photography. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A God\u2019s Love We Deliver client. Photography by Rommel Demano.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The organization serves 17,000 New Yorkers in need. Photography by Lydia Lee.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Clients receive medically tailored, home-delivered meals. Photography by Lydia Lee.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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GLWD clients also receive nutrition counseling. Photography by Rommel Demano.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Visual AIDS project director Shirlene Cooper with a member of its Women\u2019s Empowerment Art Therapy Workshops, a DIFFA grant recipient that supports artists living with HIV, at the \u201cLove Positive Women\u201d exhibition at MoMA PS1. Photography by Jess Salda\u00f1a.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Housing Works, a DIFFA beneficiary, at the 2023 Queer Liberation March in New York.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Apr\u00e8s Ski fundraiser invite designed by Gensler, 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n