10 Questions With… Becca Roderick of Morris Adjmi Architects

How Becca Roderick Infuses Hospitality Design With Emotional Resonance

Interior Design: You have decades of design experience and an MS in Interior Design. What drew you to the field?

Becca Roderick: I studied sociology as an undergrad because I was deeply interested in the way that people interact and exist together in the world. Interior design is a tangible, physical extension of those studies. Interior designers create the canvas on which people and communities connect—to both themselves and others. Developing environments with the use of the tools that are at a designer’s disposal—spatial arrangements, fabrics, stone and tile, and color choices—can encourage collaboration, create a sense of belonging, and influence moods and emotions. There’s a real opportunity to positively influence the lives of others in the choices that we make every day as designers.

ID: Over the years, you’ve worked with some dynamic teams, including AvroKO. What is your approach to collaboration, especially between experts in architecture and interior design?

BR: I’ve been lucky to have colleagues throughout my career who have modeled excellent collaboration skills for me. I hope, in turn, I have modeled those skills for others and imparted to my teammates how important it is to work together. Some of my favorite moments in the studio are spent in the materials library with the team while we are workshopping solutions and pulling samples. When it comes to the specific partnership between architects and interior designers, I’ve learned that, like any relationship, it takes effort to make it successful. This means understanding your own strengths and weaknesses, being open to feedback, and respecting one another. At the end of the day, most architects and interior designers approach the world differently, and it’s those two differing perspectives working towards a shared vision that makes the magic happen.

ID: Morris Adjmi Architects prides itself on a multidisciplinary approach. What about you? What disciplines have you personally drawn from over the decades?

BR: Art and architecture have both hugely influenced my ideas about design, and I think it is one of the reasons I find New York City so inspiring. So many people talk about travel as an influence on their work, and I share those sentiments. But to me, New York City is the ultimate source of inspiration. The access to both spectacular architecture and art—on every scale—is unmatched. On any given Saturday, you can visit a world-class building and enjoy world-class art. Seeing these things in person really does move me on an emotional level. At Morris Adjmi Architects, we have an art expert who comes to speak to the whole firm regularly. He exposes our team to what’s currently on view in local galleries and challenges us to get out in the world and experience art in new and exciting ways.

Since joining the MA team, I think the biggest surprise for me has been learning about urban planning. Design really does begin with the planning process, and it is potentially the most influential of MA’s four disciplines. Is urban planning the unsung hero of the design process? The integration of planning, architecture, interior design, and art perfectly encapsulates MA’s ethos.

ID: You also have significant experience in hospitality. How have you brought that ethos to MA’s residential projects?

BR: I worked on my first hotel twenty years ago during a time when boutique properties were emerging as a project typology, so I’ve spent most of my career thinking and developing wisdom about what hospitality means. What I’ve learned is that, at its root, hospitality is about two things: caring for people and fostering community. Working with this level of clarity means that it becomes quite easy for me to bring that sensibility to residential projects because developing these types of projects is so aligned with that thinking. It’s about people, their homes, and their neighbors and friends.

I am often asking myself: How will someone feel walking into this space? Will all of their needs be met? What are the key hospitality touchpoints that will make a difference in the experience? Does it feel warm and welcoming? How will people gather in these spaces? When you look at a project holistically, these types of questions move the needle–elevating a project from good to exceptional.

ID: Can you tell us about how your early years in rural Colorado informed your desire for responsible growth?

BR: I grew up in Durango, a small mountain town in the southwestern part of the state, during a time when the whole state of Colorado was experiencing tremendous growth. This influenced my career as a designer in two important ways. First, I have a deep love of the outdoors and carry a respect and curiosity for the complexities and genius of the natural world. I’m always up for a chat about biomimicry! Secondly, and more importantly, I was able to observe firsthand this massive period of growth, which means that I watched in real time the results of the decision-making on the part of design and development teams. The city of Denver is almost unrecognizable to me today. It’s obvious to see which parts of that growth were thoughtful and responsive to its context versus expansion for expansion’s sake.

Morris likes to say that we design buildings that stand out by fitting in. This philosophy, and the firm’s sensitivity to context, truly makes me feel good about the work we are doing. We are driven to design buildings that will still be relevant 100 years from now.

ID: Speaking of context, for The Huron in Brooklyn, the architecture reflects the neighborhood’s industrial past. What informed the interiors of that building?

BR: In line with the architecture, the interiors at The Huron are informed by the project’s post-industrial context on the Greenpoint waterfront, as well as the luminosity and artistry of the present-day community. The industrial influence can be seen both in the residential units themselves, and also in the amenity spaces. We selected materials that are authentic and sturdy and employed detailing that brings a sense of craftsmanship and elegance in order to soften the spaces. For example, in the condo kitchens, we balanced blackened steel hardware and fixtures with beautiful walnut cabinetry and Dolit marble counters. Together, the palette creates a strong but elegant canvas for the homeowners to make their own. It’s a combination that nods to the neighborhood’s past, but is squarely built for its future.

As with many of our projects, we looked to art for inspiration, and in this case, specifically to Edward Hopper. His use of light and rich cinematic hues in his paintings was extraordinary. We let his New York-centric work be a muse for the experience we imagined for the project’s lobby and amenity spaces. We selected rich and bold colors that are also soft and thought carefully about how each space captures the natural light of the waterfront site. There are 20 works of art chosen and developed specifically for the project, and almost all of the artists are from Brooklyn and New York City. Our narrative-driven art programs help bring a project’s story to life and often reinforce community connection.

ID: Where is Morris Adjmi Architects most active right now, and what are you seeing there?

BR: We’ve been working a lot in Southern cities—Charleston, Nashville, Atlanta, Raleigh, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Tampa, and New Orleans. There’s a Southern hospitality boom happening for us! It’s been fun for me to learn more about that part of the country. The people are so warm and welcoming. As part of the Atlanta Design Festival, we recently gave a public tour of our hotel project FORTH, which opened in June. I was gobsmacked at the positive feedback we received from the community. I knew that we’d built a beautiful project—that wasn’t what surprised me—it was how grateful the folks on the tour were that we’d brought a property to Atlanta of that caliber. They were saying good design isn’t just for New York and Los Angeles, and that they deserve spaces they can be proud of too!

ID: What were the guiding ideas for the interiors of FORTH, and how did artwork play a role?

BR: Very much drawing from its verdant setting near a portion of the Beltline, FORTH’s interiors look to nature to propose a new design standard for southern hospitality in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward. To imbue each space with a sense of place and craftsmanship, the team examined classic European and Americana traditions and looked to natural, hand-worked materials like stone, wood, and plaster. Working as a muse for many of the spaces, we layered into the narrative a focus on travel and exploration.

As you move up the building, floor-to-ceiling windows frame Old Fourth Ward Park, so the artwork was selected specifically to continue that experience inside. We focused on bringing that greenery through to the ground floor, including a forest entrance painted by local artist Jack Spencer that sits behind the reception desk; a large BDDW mountain tapestry that graces the adjacent wall; and a natural history-inspired diorama by artist Becca Barnet featuring ethically sourced taxidermied foxes, pinned butterflies, and natural foliage—all delicately gesturing to a dynamic, nature-focused experience. By the way, this diorama has proven to be a favorite of the Instagram-obsessed set.

ID: Looking back to 2012, the Wythe Hotel served as a catalyst for the firm. Is there anything about that work that still informs today’s work?

BR: We all feel proud that this project feels as fresh and impactful today as it did over a dozen years ago. That’s a real testament to the design of the project. And certainly, the design approach that helped define the Wythe, as well as its success, remains at the heart of our work. The project was deeply rooted in the history of Brooklyn, transforming an old factory building into something that felt fresh, modern, and welcoming while paying homage to the neighborhood’s past. Now more than ever, we are committed to creating hyper-contextual projects with a specific sense of place—a mission that I feel personally committed to as we’ve been speaking about responsible development.

ID: What’s next for you, and what are you most excited about these days?

BR: We have two special hospitality projects on the boards right now. One is a collaboration with Four Seasons in Charleston, and the other is an adaptive reuse of a historic Beaux-Arts bank building in New Orleans. Aesthetically, they are very different projects, but they’re both deeply rooted in their context, and they’ve been very satisfying to work on. I can’t wait for them to be realized. The Southern hospitality boom marches on!

How This Earthy Sydney Home Embraces Multiple Eras

No matter how contemporary, every residence is informed by history. This was doubly the case for Australian firm Studio Prineas’ transformation of a home in Sydney. The clients purchased a house on a tree-lined street and brought in Studio Prineas to craft a warm residence that would encourage connection for their family. The firm, founded in 2004 by architect and principal Eva-Marie Prineas, has a reputation for understanding unique ways to integrate the old and the new. Studio Prineas’ work—both architecture and interior design—accommodated two generations and nodded to the existing architecture and landscape. “The process was a reinvention to suit our clients’ needs, and preserve and respect the heritage of the property,” Prineas explains.

The architect replaced older additions from previous renovations with a cohesive volume adjacent to the rear garden. In that living area, angular skylights and large windows bring in abundant natural light and frame views of the landscape. “Our clients fell in love with the mature gardens, therefore visual and physical connection to nature was a key part of their brief,” she notes. The space is anchored by a large Francesco Binfaré sofa in a hue that echoes the greenery outside.

Existing architectural elements also inspired the residence’s palette. “Throughout both the cottage and the new addition, spaces are bound by color-blocked applications of earthy, botanical tones derived from the home’s well-preserved heritage fireplaces,” she explains. Other materials in the home complement those tones—including brass, leather, and linen.  American white oak and rosy Tiberio marble add additional warmth. Vintage furniture is joined by contemporary pieces and colorful artwork. Lighting is a mix of mid-century classics, some by Le Corbusier, and contemporary fixtures, including a brass-and-glass chandelier by Snelling over the dining table. This embrace of eras helps create one united space for family members at various stages of life.

Take A Stroll Through This Family Home In Sydney

10 Questions With… Production Designer Liz Toonkel

How Liz Toonkel Crafts Immersive Worlds That Feel Authentic

Interior Design: How did you get started in your career, and what inspirations have you leaned on to sustain many varied projects over the years? 

Liz Toonkel: Growing up, I was a dancer and musical theater performer. I loved movies and would make films on my friend’s family video camera. I decided to study film at NYU because it felt like a medium that incorporated all of my interests. At NYU, I wrote and directed my own films, and collaborated with peers on their projects as a production designer. Then, I worked in film and television in New York for two years. After earning my master’s degree at CalArts in both Scenic Design and Art & Technology, I continued to balance collaborating as a designer and creating my own work, mostly in solo performance.

I worked my way up, starting as a production designer on tiny projects and simultaneously assisting established designers on larger ones. I have been lucky to collaborate with many of my film school peers on special films like Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. I am passionate about telling stories that reflect, comment, and contribute to our culture. And I’m inspired by learning about different people, and observing the way they inhabit space and how those spaces communicate who they are.

ID: Toward the start of the movie Skincare, celebrity skincare guru Hope Goldman notices that a new shop across the way has installed a neon sign, which surprises her as being potentially inappropriate. What does neon mean to you and how have you used it in your work?

LT: When I received the script for Skincare, it didn’t include a neon sign. I strove to be as accurate to the look and feel of 2013 as possible and wanted her rival Angel Vergara, and his salon Shimmer, to be cutting edge. While researching, I discovered that one of the biggest design moments of 2013 was Miley Cyrus’s Bangerz cover, which featured the album title in pink neon. That cover was the biggest influence on Shimmer and the neon sign is the focal point of the space, really evoking that moment in time. The director Austin Peters loved this idea when I pitched it and wrote the neon sign into the script afterwards. The neon sign in Skincare points to how Hope is stuck in an older social structure and is aghast at how the world is changing around her.

ID: In the film, Angel’s skincare studio across the street from Hope’s is positioned as a rival, potentially a dangerous one. When designing both skincare studios, how did you highlight their differences?

LT: I started with researching the period, knowing I would find answers about how to create the stark differences between them aesthetically. I immediately thought that Hope’s salon should have been renovated a few years prior, finally settling in 2010, and that Angel’s would be constructed right at that moment, 2013, highlighting the clear ideological divide between the two of them. With Hope’s salon, I pulled a lot from the aesthetician Kate Somerville’s book Complexion Perfection! from 2011. Her career is really in line with Hope’s, so her aesthetic fit perfectly: silvers, whites, Buddhas, reflective surfaces, a feminine airy feeling in the lobby, which is then juxtaposed with the Zen green and earth tones of the treatment room.

Angel’s salon makes Hope’s feel dated. Hope’s is a place of business and Angel’s is a party. It is less about the work happening there and more about Angel selling himself, which is right on brand for Hollywood and the beauty culture of the moment. It reflects the height of the times and again, the Miley Cyrus iconic Bangerz album cover, with its jungle green walls, hot pink accents, and lots of tropical plants.

ID: The film also includes several residences as well as a TV studio. How did you work to ensure those sets reflected the characters and enforced the narrative?

LT: When it came to the homes of the characters and the other spaces throughout the film, it was vital to show how each character is on their own journey of “making it.” Some have achieved that success and are in the process of losing what they’ve made, and some are faking it till they make it. Again, period research helped me to find the differences between these spaces. For Hope’s home, I decided it was renovated in 2009 (a stark mix of black, white, and red) while Angel’s was built in 2013 and flamboyantly so (chains in the guest bathroom instead of a door, a disco ball in the living room, jewel tones, animal prints). Hope is stuck in the past while Angel is already in the future.

ID: Can you tell us about your research process for Skincare?

LT: Even though 2013 was only ten years ago, the aesthetic was incredibly different from now. Magazines were my biggest resource, and I combed through them, taking in how looks changed from the early aughts through and beyond 2013. I also spent a lot of time watching reality TV and movies of the era like The Hills, The Rachel Zoe Project, and The Real Housewives of Orange County and Beverly Hills. Shows with people in similar states of ambition and desire as the characters in our film. I was struck by the fonts, layouts, and color palettes of beauty spreads from the era and how they reflected the popular colors of the time.

ID: What did you learn about the skincare industry through working on this film, and how did you bring that knowledge to designing these sets?  

LT: It’s really interesting that this film came out at a time when skin care was such a hot topic. The movie takes place at a moment when beauty culture was really shifting, and the current moment highlights how much the world of beauty is ever evolving. As a longtime skincare enthusiast, I had a knowledge base that I was excited to bring to the film.

I consulted with my facialist about her space and took inspiration from the details, including all the equipment and tools of the trade. And we consulted with beauty expert Liliana (Lana) Felleti, who provided some of the equipment and was present during the construction of the salon as well as for the shooting of the treatments. I learned a lot from them and have an even deeper appreciation for their skillsets.

ID: Can you tell us about how you wanted to support the narrative through the setting of Los Angeles? 

LT: As an Angeleno for almost 15 years, it is stunning to see the difference between the way Los Angeles is portrayed in the media and what the experience of living here is actually like. We wanted to create a real but stylized world that people from Los Angeles could relate to. We were inspired by films that don’t get made anymore, like To Die For, that have strong almost camp aesthetics. And the aesthetic of the paparazzi and reality TV. We are so used to those images that they have become a part of our culture and style, but how could we heighten them to point to the facade of our current American culture?

ID: You also recently worked on the film Emily the Criminal, also set in Los Angeles. Can you tell us about that project and how LA was depicted in those sets?

LT: We sought to capture a side of Los Angeles that is not normally depicted in movies, but that is very real to the people who live here (the real version of Los Angeles I created in Emily was why Skincare director Austin Peters wanted to collaborate with me). This version of L.A. is central to the story because the main characters Emily and Youcef are living on the edge in a place where the American dream is actually attainable by only a select few.

The movie version of Los Angeles that we have grown accustomed to is present in the viewer’s mind, but not on screen because this is what life is like in current day America. Americans have been conditioned to live in a world that no longer exists. To achieve this Los Angeles, director John Patton Ford and I sought out locations that don’t normally get shot for movies. It was important for the characters to live in the realest of places with no glitz or glamour, but that also reflected their humanity. Emily’s apartment is somewhere I and so many of my friends have lived in, but I never see on camera. A shitty liminal space between young adulthood and adulthood.

ID: And can you tell us about your recent work for the Hulu motel project?

LT: The Hulu motel was an immersive pop-up experience that I production designed. I have been lucky to design a number of these projects for different IPs and brands over the years. We created the Hulu motel at the Sportsmen’s Lodge and turned the entry, lobby, bar, five rooms, the pool and patio into spaces belonging to their respective IPs. These opportunities allow me to employ the skills that I bring to movies as well as the techniques I utilize in live performance.

When designing this type of event, I start by figuring out how the story of the IP or brand is told through the audience’s movement through space, and deciding how we can best direct them where to go and where to look. These experiences not only give guests a new way to engage with the brand in the moment, but also to capture it from their own point of view on their devices. So, I’m always considering what will be thrilling in the moment and iconic to capture and post on the other hand.

ID: Your career has been varied, including experience in film, TV, advertising, performance, theater, visual art, as well as magic. What’s next for you? 

LT: My interdisciplinarity is something I’m really proud of, and I have a lot in the works! I am currently touring my one-woman vegan magic show Magic for Animals. As I tour, I am developing a new one woman show incorporating clowning and magic that I hope to bring to the Edinburgh Fringe in the next year or two. I am currently writing the screenplay for my own feature film that I will direct. Making my own feature has been a lifelong goal of mine and I feel ready to realize it. My film is inspired by my years as a teen with an overflowing and tenacious creative spirit. I can’t wait to birth it into the world! With my production design work, I have some cool stuff coming up, including a couple of films and a comedy special. I feel blessed to continue to make work both as a designer and as my own artist. I seek to keep honing my creative voice and to become more sophisticated at what I do.

Walk Through A Lush Pergola In Bogong Island Ecology Park

To revitalize and draw more visitors to Bogong Island Ecology Park near Shanghai, Wutopia Lab reenvisions the traditional Chinese pergola in new materials and a beckoning form.

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Wutopia Lab Revitalizes Bogong Island Ecology Park

• 10 architects and designers led by Wutopia Lab cofounder and chief architect Ting Yu
• 10,000 square feet
• 32 feet high
• 10 months of design and construction
• 10,000+ visitors

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Using Photoshop, Wutopia Lab illustrates the site plan and elevations for Emerald Screen Pergola, the firm’s new multi-arched pavilion at Bogong Island Ecology Park in Wuxi, China.

Wutopia cofounder and chief architect Ting Yu and his team were tasked with replacing an existing ¾-mile-long canopy, which had fallen into disrepair, with an architecturally dynamic, photo-worthy centerpiece.

Construction workers spent four months on-site building Emerald Screen Pergola from bent tubular steel panels inset with steel mesh, all later painted white.

Yu drew inspiration for the structure from an Imperial-era handscroll depicting walled gardens, a wisteria covered pergola, and structured paths in a lush landscape.

Wutopia Lab modernized the typology of traditional bamboo pergolas into stacked and overlapping mesh panels.

Like leaves, the curved panels vary in height and width and will eventually be covered in climbing jasmine, ivy, roses, wisteria, and honeysuckle.

An aerial view captures the top of the pergola and its flowerlike configuration.

An incentive for the Emerald Screen Pergola is to make it a site for wedding photo shoots.

The structure follows a long, winding path—Yu refers to it as “dragonlike,” and, in China, the mythical animal symbolizes wisdom, power, good fortune, and wealth.

Unlock The Magic Of Numbers In This Captivating Installation

Emmanuelle Moureaux is obsessed with numbers. And colors. And using both to “express time, experiences, and emotions,” the architect-artist says. Timeline, her recent installation, and her first permanent one in Paris, goes further to “symbolize the diversity of people and moments of life.” Fittingly, Timeline occupies the eight-story atrium of Le Lumière, the city’s largest private office building that’s also home to restaurants, shops, Kedge business school, and parking facilities, averaging thousands of visitors a month.

To produce the commission curated by By Art, Moureaux engineered a custom frame, attached to the atrium’s truss beams, from which 3,200 steel numbers are suspended in tidy rows. The bottom-most numerals are the years 2023 and 2024, increasing to beyond 2100 as the rows rise 60 feet, and shift in color from reds to yellows to blues, evoking the passage of time. “The building’s glass roof is an integral part of the artwork, which is an abstract visualization of a ray of sunlight penetrating through,” Moureaux explains.

Timeline is the 47th iteration in Moureaux’s 100 Colors series, the first of which appeared in Tokyo more than a decade ago. (No. 48, composed of thousands of paper butterflies in 100 different shades for a Lancôme exhibition in Shanghai, featured in our pages last March.) “I will continue to exhibit 100 Colors all around the world,” Moureaux says. She’s currently planning no. 53 to appear this spring, back where it all began, in Tokyo.

Wangen Tower Surfaces As A Bold Landmark In Southern Germany

Wangen Tower, a collaborative effort between two University of Stuttgart research institutes, pioneers a humble building material into a soaring, staggering landmark in southern Germany.

Behind the Design of Wangen Tower

Relax Inside This Oasis In Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru

At Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru in India, Enter Projects Asia builds a rattan wonderland where travelers can shop, dine, and retreat into biophilic bliss.

For the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill–designed Terminal 2 at India’s Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru, Enter Projects Asia principal Patrick Keane and team used Maya, Grasshopper, and Rhinoceros software to develop the forms and fabrication processes for a nearly 3-acre landscape of five sculptural rattan pavilions.

The layout of the pavilions takes inspiration from the 20th-century garden city movement, upon which Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) is planned, introducing a meandering informality that’s more like a stroll in a park than a direct point A to point B passenger traversal.

• Five pavilions
• 5 ½ miles of rattan
• 22 months of design + construction
• 85 designers, weavers, welders, and installers led by architect Patrick Keane

“We took the plant-based materials—rattan, reeds, bamboo—found in Southeast Asian wellness retreats to the typically utilitarian, urban space of an airport”

An elevation diagram relates the size of two pavilions to a Boeing 747 and a Concorde.

The eight-month design process included fit tests for the 168 modules comprising the pavilions, their structural supports made of aluminum tubing wrapped with rattan.

At EPA’s factory in Bangkok, the modules were handwoven by Thai craftspeople before being shipped to Bengaluru, where more than two dozen workers would complete the complex installation.

EPA’s rattan pavilions are part of what SOM has dubbed a 4 million-square-foot “terminal in a garden,” with the firm’s cross-laid ceiling of engineered bamboo, and tiered planters, 700-year-old olive trees, and other natural elements by landscape architect Grant Associates that are irrigated with rainwater harvested on-site, all of which has led to LEED Gold certification.

The pavilions house high-end retail, a Wolfgang Puck steakhouse, and lounges, the density of the weaving varying from tight, to conceal back-of-house functions, to open and airy.

10 Questions With… The Curators Of ‘Constructing Hope: Ukraine’

On view at the Center for Architecture in New York, the exhibition “Constructing Hope: Ukraine” presents the work of over one dozen practitioners using architectural concepts and strategies in support of Ukraine. The show illustrates that more than two years after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, local organizations and multidisciplinary firms have mounted creative and inspiring responses to support Ukrainian resistance and reconstruction. Bringing together a range of projects, the exhibition sheds light on how architecture can support communities with thoughtful and groundbreaking strategies.

“Constructing Hope,” on view through September 3 at 536 LaGuardia Place, was curated by Ashley Bigham, Sasha Topolnytska, and Betty Roytburd. Ashley Bigham is an associate professor at the Knowlton School of Architecture and co-director of Outpost Office. Bigham is also a collaborative partner and visiting faculty at the Kharkiv School of Architecture in Ukraine. Sasha Topolnytska, a Ukrainian-born and American-trained architectural designer and educator, is currently an adjunct professor at Spitzer School of Architecture at the City College of New York and a founder of Farmmm Studio. Betty Roytburd, a Ukrainian-born artist, activist and mental health worker living and working in New York City, co-founded SPILKA NGO and is currently pursuing a Master of Social Work at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College.

Interior Design asked the three curators to discuss the exhibition’s themes and components, as well as its message to the world.

Learn More About “Constructing Hope: Ukraine”

Interior Design: Can you tell us about the ways you are each connected to Ukraine and how that impacted the exhibition?

Sasha Topolnytska: I was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and moved to the United States when I was 17. I studied and trained as an architect here, and even started a family. With most of my adult life in the U.S., my life in Ukraine felt almost distant. However, the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has been one of the most traumatic and pivoting events of my life. It reminded me how important my Ukrainian culture is to me and that preserving and sharing it with others is essential, especially when it is actively under the threat of destruction.

Betty Roytburd: I was born in Odesa, Ukraine, and moved to New York when I was 10. Since then, I have been consistently traveling to Ukraine to spend time with family, friends, and loved ones who continue to live and work in Ukraine. At the start of the full-scale invasion, together with a group of other Ukrainians and friends, I co-founded a nonprofit organization that hosted dinners, music shows, and cultural events to raise money for mutual aid and volunteer efforts in Ukraine.

Ashley Bigham: I first traveled to Ukraine in 2008 as an undergraduate architecture student. I quickly became fascinated with the architecture, and took it upon myself to study a part of the world frequently overlooked in American architectural education. In 2014, I moved to Ukraine as a Fulbright Fellow to pursue a year of research that coincided with the Revolution of Dignity. Witnessing the revolution first-hand helped me understand Ukraine’s long fight for democracy, freedom, and dignity, and solidified my desire to support that fight. In the years following, I partnered with Ukrainian architecture schools and taught travel courses where American architecture students could visit Ukraine. During the past decade, it has remained my mission to share the incredible artistic achievements of Ukrainian culture with the world.

ID: What were you most considering when bringing this group of practitioners together in one exhibition?

ST: Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, famous international architects have proposed grand, sweeping ideas for rebuilding Ukrainian cities like Kharkiv, which has been under continuous attack since the start of the invasion. While it is essential to bring international practitioners to the table in a conversation about reconstruction efforts, we believe that the most critical work is being done by grassroots initiatives inside and outside Ukraine, led by Ukrainians, often in collaboration with international partners. In our exhibition, we focus on collaborative community-led projects that highlight Ukrainian culture and the importance of preserving it in every future reconstruction project. We invite international audiences to learn more about Ukrainian design culture and the importance of preserving it in any rebuilding efforts.

ID: What were the concepts that drove the design of the exhibition, including its physical and thematic arrangement?

AB: It was always vital for us to balance the ideas of hope with the realities of war in Ukraine. In addition, the exhibition’s content should be accessible to a diverse audience who may know very little about Ukraine. We quickly realized that hope was not an abstract concept or a choice; it is the actions of designers and citizens that provide the hope necessary to move forward. The idea that all people, no matter their training or physical ability, have something to contribute to war recovery efforts is a powerful and universal narrative in the exhibition.

ID: Could each of you tell us about a practitioner or element that felt especially meaningful?

ST: Repair Together is a self-organized grassroots organization engaging volunteers worldwide to rebuild villages and homes in the Chernihiv region. Rave Toloka is their initiative during which volunteers clean up rubble caused by Russian aggression to the music of DJ sets. The title of this project is based on the ancient Ukrainian tradition of mutual assistance called “toloka,” which involves people gathering and working together to address urgent community needs. They also have been fixing people’s damaged homes and constructing new ones. Most of the team members and volunteers of Repair Together do not come from architectural or construction backgrounds. Yet, they are actively using architectural strategies to respond to the present needs of their community.

BR: It was crucial for us to communicate to our audiences how hope is ingrained in virtually every decision involved in reconstruction projects amidst ongoing destruction. This is powerfully illustrated by the work of Livyj Bereh (Left Bank), a volunteer organization led by three friends from Kyiv: Vlad Sharapa, a 38-year-old former construction worker, Ihor Okuniev, a 35-year-old multimedia artist, and Ksenia Kalmus, a 36-year-old florist. Livyj Bereh integrates immediate aid with long-term vision, creatively documenting their work through photography and historical archiving. Having originally come together to distribute mutual aid, they have since focused on restoring roofs in war-torn villages, supporting regional economies by employing and training local workers and preserving Ukrainian cultural heritage. Their approach unites urgent actions with poetic attention to detail. Members Vladyslav and Ihor have recently enlisted in the Ukrainian armed forces.

AB: The exhibition includes two chair prototypes designed by architecture students from the Kharkiv School of Architecture, each responding to different needs brought on by the war. One of the chairs is compact and lightweight so that it can be mobile as people move in and out of bomb shelters, and the other is reconfigurable to help adapt to the many different needs of students during the day, including resting and studying. These students are pursuing a degree in architecture, despite the difficulty of war, because they are dedicated to learning the skills and knowledge they will need to rebuild their society. Their optimism, hard work, and determination inspire me daily.

ID: Can you explain the story behind the full-scale prototype of a bed designed by the Ukrainian NGO MetaLab?

ST: The gallery has a beautiful connection to the street, with a large storefront looking into a double-height gallery space. We wanted to take advantage of this unique view and suspend a modular bed system designed by the Ukrainian NGO MetaLab, which provides temporary emergency accommodation for internally displaced people in Western Ukraine. By separating the bed into separate pieces in the double-height gallery space, similar to the architectural representation technique of exploded isometric drawing, we wanted to show the prototype’s simple yet clever design. 

ID: What can you tell us about the Oberih publication and how Understructures brought it to life?

BR: Oberih, which translates from Ukrainian as “an item that protects,” is the name of a publication by Understructures, a collective of friends who are artists, architects, and designers. The book features a collection of personal stories about objects that offer solace and protection, gathered during the early months of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These stories—initially shared as short texts, images, voice messages, and social media posts—beautifully capture how we find comfort in the symbols of home during times of crisis. Since 2022, Oberih has raised over $40,500 for grassroots volunteer efforts. Since early 2023, Understructures, alongside Ukrainian activist Olena Samoilenko, has been delivering crucial medical aid to vulnerable populations unable to evacuate in the de-occupied Southern region of Kherson, which has been devastated by flooding and ongoing Russian attacks. Victor Gluschenko, a founding member of Understructures, is currently on the frontline as part of a volunteer air reconnaissance unit. Many of the initiatives funded by Oberih are featured in this exhibition, highlighting how creative collaboration can bring hope and protection in the darkest times.

ID: And how do the graphics—inspired by taped windows—by Aliona Solomadina, enhance the exhibit and the story it aims to tell?

ST: The taped windows, typically found throughout Ukraine during the ongoing war, inspired the graphic identity for the exhibition. Ukrainian people often tape their windows in intricate, crisscross patterns to protect their homes from shattering glass during explosions. This practical solution has become a visible symbol of resistance in Ukraine and one we used as an organizing design feature in the exhibition.

ID: Shigeru Ban’s Paper Partition System is also included. Can you tell us about how local firms made use of the system and if it can point towards how international firms can potentially support this ongoing effort?

AB: In the first weeks of the war, Shigeru Ban contacted designers in Ukraine to share his design for lightweight partition systems made of cardboard. Ukrainian architects then adapted his system to construct temporary shelters in gymnasiums or large halls to house internally displaced people. They also modified the designs to use surplus local building materials like metal construction fencing. It’s important to note that Ban first designed the Paper Partition System following a devastating earthquake in Japan. Similarly, we hope that others can utilize design ideas featured in our exhibition to respond to other humanitarian disasters. Unfortunately, we know that many people worldwide currently need life-saving shelter and spaces of dignity. Design is at its best when shared widely and adapted locally.

ID: What surprised you as you put together this exhibition?

BR: As an artist and mental health worker, working on this exhibition offered me a unique opportunity to engage with architecture in a deeply immersive way. I have been inspired to learn about ways architecture and storytelling both involve creating and shaping worlds. Working on this project, I was particularly struck by the connections between various disciplines in the work of the architects, artists, and creators. The creative ways the participating initiatives tackle questions related to mental health in the communities they are serving have been something I continue to reflect on and think about. The process of presenting the projects in this exhibition has highlighted the multifaceted and interdisciplinary nature of recovery work and prompted me to consider how different elements in our daily lives can truly make a place feel like home for every individual.

ID: The message here is a hopeful one. How did putting this together impact your perspective on the war or your own outlook?

BR: The work showcased in this exhibition is inspiring on multiple levels. It shifts the perspective from viewing Ukraine solely as a place of conflict to recognizing it as a place with much to offer and share. By employing skill and knowledge exchange, these projects illustrate the profound impact of collaboration and resilience. Mutual aid projects also build solidarity. Much of the work demonstrates that those on the front lines of a crisis have the best wisdom to solve the problems and that collective action is the way forward. On a larger scale, my greatest hope is that these approaches will inspire societal change and highlight the power of ingenuity and collectives, both in small-scale initiatives and in fostering a broader sense of unity, solidarity, and support in Ukraine and internationally.

10 Questions With… Noz Design Founder Noz Nozawa

For a long time, the team was just me. Then it was me and one person. During the pandemic—a wild time to grow a company—we added two more people to become a team of four and have been anywhere between three and five ever since. I love having talented designers with project management skills on my team, and I cannot recommend enough having a badass design assistant who is up for anything.

ID: Can you tell us about how jewelry influences your firm’s work?

NN: Until I got the chance to design a lighting collection, jewelry was really more of a hobby. After spending all workday looking at homes, rooms, and sofas—large human-scaled things—it rests my eyes to focus on earrings, necklaces, and pendants, with their teeny gems and incredibly tiny details. Through the process of designing light fixtures, though, it has been cool to learn how many of the processes in jewelry—like stone faceting, metal casting, and chain making—are similar to the ways lighting is manufactured.

ID: You’ve recently released a debut lighting collection. How did you get connected to Corbett Lighting, what was the collaboration like with them, and what’s your favorite piece?

NN: Collaborating on a collection for Corbett Lighting has been such an amazing experience. I knew I wanted to create chandeliers, sconces and pendants inspired by antique and vintage jewelry. By total fate, “jewelry inspired” was on the brand’s vision board. Between my drawings of ridiculous ideas and their amazing in-house design team who know how to create lights that can be manufactured at a high quality within price points that work for their customers, I have learned so much and loved the whole process. The Tragus pendant is a special one to me—I really wanted them to have “chandelier energy.” We achieved this through nesting an etched glass shade over a clear glass shade, and using three chains with an oversized canopy, to offer the feeling that you’ve got more than a single point of light coming down. I would love to see multiples of these across a kitchen island.

ID: You’ve said that part of your intent when designing interiors is to make spaces feel like they are collected over time. What does that mean to you and how do you design for that feeling?

NN: To me, the art of being an interior designer is to create magic for your client’s homes, without it necessarily looking like you were there. That magic, I think, is achieved by layering different styles and pieces from different eras (of design and literally old vintage/antique pieces) to create complete rooms that feel like they were started a long time ago and are, perhaps, still in-progress. The rooms are canvases for living, which means they could continue to evolve and gradually change over time. That’s what being “collected over time” means to me. I love this way of designing because it makes it natural—if not absolutely necessary—to thoughtfully incorporate our clients’ own belongings.

ID: Can you tell us about the clients for the Rainbow House and how you responded to their brief?

NN: Our Rainbow House clients are truly an iconic San Francisco family—loving, generous, wildly colorful, bold, and fun. Their vision board included many different explorations of technicolor spaces, and their design brief was simply: “Rainbow.” We interpreted that literally as an ombre rainbow runner in the foyer as the introduction and “welcome zone” in the house. Then, we played with maxed-out colors in different rooms, allowing the full house to feel like a rainbow of vivid hues—rather than each individual room trying to present as a complete “rainbow.”

ID: How did the Japanese Tree House project grow over time, and how did your firm respond to the expanded renovation?

NN: Our Japanese Tree House project started as an interior renovation of the kitchen and a couple bathrooms, including creating a Jack + Jill bathroom between the two kids’ rooms. The scope grew ultimately to a complete gut renovation of the house—in part because the original architecture, which was very industrial-modern, felt best preserved and incorporated into the California-meets-Japanese style intended for the house, only by really reconsidering the design of the whole home. Being able to design the home as a complete ecosystem, inclusive of floor finishes and new Japanese-inspired hidden storage, and furnishings, was a dream for our team. We were happy to rise to the opportunity.

ID: Can you tell us about the landscape for the Mill Valley Redwoods House, and how the outdoors changed the interior work?

NN: This project is uniquely a “house” composed of multiple separate structures in the redwoods of Marin County. To get from one part of the “house” to the next, you must go outside and walk through the yard! The pool house—which actually is its own separate “house” in some ways—was designed by the original architects to have two window walls that completely open up for a fully indoor/outdoor living style. This property was designed this way already, and we simply had the privilege of selecting furnishings and decor (besides the renovation we did in the kitchen and primary suite) that achieved the level of indoor/outdoor desired by our clients in each zone.

ID: How did you select specific furnishings to outfit the Mira Penthouse? 

NN: This project was inspired by the views that only San Francisco can provide: A stunning juxtaposition of the victories of manmade structures (the Bay Bridge, high rises, and beyond) and the breathtaking natural landscape of our bay, Treasure Island, and the East Bay beyond. Since our architecture in the penthouse was linear with nuanced angles throughout the home, I wanted our furnishings to echo the contours of the land beyond the windows. So, we were intentional about soft, curved sofas, organic swooping chandeliers, curvy, and boulder-shaped rugs, and even a dining table with a base that literally looks like a rock.

ID: What projects are upcoming and what excites you most about them? 

NN: Soon we’ll have a chance to photograph some of the more weirdo-traditional projects we’ve been working on for years, and I cannot wait to share these spaces with everyone. And I’m also working on my first-ever international project: a small restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland.

ID: What would be a dream project for you?

NN: I suspect this is many a residential interior designer’s dream project, but I want to design a boutique hotel where the rooms are so different that you can specifically select which room you want to stay in. There’d be a fabulous rooftop restaurant and bar that locals and hotel guests all can enjoy together—and maybe room for a small private club.

Go On A Treasure Hunt Through Houghton Hall’s Verdant Acres

An expansive residence east of London, Houghton Hall was built in the 1720’s by Georgian architects Colen Campbell and James Gibbs for Great Britain’s first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole. Still in use as a home—the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, a descendent of Walpole, and his family currently reside there—the estate also hosts public outdoor exhibitions on its grounds by world-renowned artists, present and past (Anish Kapoor, Henry Moore).

This summer, Antony Gormley joins the former category with Time Horizon, a multipart installation originally displayed in 2006 at the Parco Archeologico di Scolacium in Catanzaro, Italy. Here, its 100 cast-iron “bodyforms” sprawl across Houghton’s 300 verdant acres, encouraging a treasure-huntlike exploration and a reflection on space, nature, and humanity. The journey may take visitors to the Walled Garden, where two figures mix with a formal rose parterre and a glasshouse, or behind the main house, where several more have been placed on the lawn of the 13th-century St. Martin’s Church. Only one sculpture is indoors, out of sight from the white fallow deer known to dart past the others.