Yabu Pushelberg Designs A Vegas Nightclub For Bruno Mars

2024 Best of Year Winner for Bar/Lounge

The Rat Pack meets modern glam at The Pinky Ring, Bruno Mars’s penthouse-inspired nightclub by Yabu Pushelberg inside the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The experience is one of being in a pop star’s private home, with guests entering through a mirrored hallway displaying the singer’s Grammy Award collection. They then emerge into the main lounge area, featuring a sunken conversation pit with banquette seating that gives the space a distinctly mid-century vibe. Farther in, the monolithic stone bar has a backlit mirror that reflects the glittering chandelier hovering above it all. Though the 5,000-square-foot lounge is prime for a social media moment, no photos are allowed. After all, you know what they say about what happens in Vegas.

Yabu Pushelberg Designs a Surrealist Rug Collection for CC-Tapis

Architectural and surrealist motifs distinguish Memento, a new rug collection by Yabu Pushelberg. Launched at a packed opening in the New York showroom of Italian brand CC-Tapis, the Tibetan wool rugs are knotted and carved by hand in a combination of dyed and undyed fibers. The seven designs, including Axo, Drift, and Echo, are memory dreamscapes. Their conception allowed Interior Design Hall of Fame members George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg, partners in business and life, to quietly reminisce on their shared history—creating mementos that can live on a floor or wall. Elusive and allusive, the references may be known only to the designers—but they’re beautiful to all. cc-tapis.com

10 Questions With… Superhouse Founder Stephen Markos

After starting in downtown Manhattan, Superhouse is expanding globally. This month, the gallery’s first international exhibition will open during Milan Design Week in collaboration with womenswear brand, The Attico. Back in the States, Superhouse fall programming includes debuts of historical works by artists and designers popular in the Downtown NYC art furniture scene in the 1980s and ‘90s, such as Elizabeth Browning Jackson, James Evanson, Dan Friedman, and James Hong. The November slot belongs to the first solo exhibition of emerging ceramic artist Ellen Pong. And the gallery’s first design fair presentation will be held during Design Miami/ in December in its Curio section

Interior Design caught up with Markos before he makes his way to Milan Design Week.

Interior Design: Could you talk about the evolution of Superhouse from an IG account to a physical gallery?

Stephen Markos: Initially, the Instagram account helped me build an audience, share my knowledge, and meet artists, collectors and business partners. Additionally, Superhouse presented both historical and contemporary design through innovative digital experiences, employing the 3-D skills of multidisciplinary artist Duyi Han and building a collaboration with Friedman Benda, OrtaMiklos and Guillaume Roux. I inaugurated the physical gallery with a solo show by Sean Gerstley and I have been lucky enough to fill the space with incredible art furniture and design by other talented artists and designers ever since.

ID: How effective has the pandemic been in this transition, both in positive and negative ways?

SM: While the pandemic delayed those plans a bit, it also created unconventional opportunities to exhibit work. For instance, in December 2020 Superhouse held a weekend-long group exhibition called “Super Group” that was such a hit that it has now become a semi-annual showcase of leading contemporary design. 

ID: With the rising popularity of online galleries and viewing rooms, why did you feel a need to open a physical space?

SM: There is no comparison to a physical space. Early in my career, I worked to launch the first fine art online auction platform with Artnet. Back then, it was exceedingly difficult to coax buyers into purchasing art online. But through Artnet’s diligent efforts, as well as those by other companies, buyer perceptions have changed. While furniture can certainly be purchased online, getting to experience the work in real life is so important to many buyers. Sitting in a chair, turning on a light, feeling the surface of a vase, or understanding the scale… The sensory information gathered from this in-person experience cannot be replicated online (at least, so far). 

ID: You used the virtual space and video games in your projects before. How do you bring a similar sense of experimentation to your storefront space? 

SM: Firstly, the “vitrine” is a non-traditional concept. While the art world has been using the concept for years (Anton Kern has its WINDOW, Paula Cooper has its vitrine on West 21st Street, etc.) I haven’t seen it used so much in the design world. Secondly, the context in which I show the work is critical. The pieces are typically exhibited in immersive environments where the viewer can be intimately surrounded by the design on the display. With Ryan Decker’s solo show “Feudal Relief,” the artist took the concept further, covering the walls and floor in digital prints replicating a stone-walled dungeon and transport the viewer into a wholly new world. The space is an approachable size that can be a laboratory for experimentation and (somewhat) easily transformed with each exhibition.

ID: Your interests range from the Radical era of the Italian design to artists flirting with the cyber space, how do you see curation as part of your strategy as a design dealer?

SM: I feel that my varied interests in design are important to my clients, bringing them exciting new work that they’ve never seen before and also re-contextualizing familiar, historical work in novel ways. Someone told me once that I am “blurring the timeline” as design is concerned. While I am flattered at such a statement (though I’m not sure how accurate it is), I do appreciate the idea of mixing aesthetics, materials, and periods to achieve my point of view.

ID: While queer artists are gaining a growing visibility, the design world seems slower in accepting similar representation. What have been some of the challenges of representing queer designers?

SM: Queer artists and designers are everywhere. What is interesting, however, is how some do not necessarily feel their identity is important in defining their work. My role is not to force artists into sharing their private life for commercial reasons, but to honor how they want to be represented. With that said, as more artists feel comfortable expressing this part of their identity, the greater the visibility of queerness in design we will all have. 

ID: “Ingrained” for example was dedicated to woodwork—how do you see a parallel between queer designers and certain materials? Fiber for example is a common material and wood is an interesting one.

SM: From my perspective, queer people are largely absent from the cultural discourse as it relates to specific materials or forms. Using sex and gender as a dividing line is more commonplace. For instance, women have traditionally been associated with textiles and surface decoration. Men, on the other hand, have been associated with wood and metal working. What I found through my conversations with artists and designers during “Ingrained,” however, is that contemporary women, non-binary and even cis-men find it hard to break into certain trades because of prevailing notions of how a certain material relates to sex and gender. 

ID: Performance and the making process are crucial elements of queer design today. How do you emphasize these steps that precede the finished work itself in your representation of the designers and exhibiting their work in your physical space?

SM: To me, this is one of the best parts of the job. Bringing people into the gallery, having them crouch under a table to see how the artist fitted pieces together to form the whole, or encourage them lift a vessel to feel the weight. I like to have them turn on or off the overhead lighting to get a sense of the ambiance a lamp might give and even have visitors smell a work are all ways to give the audience a sense of the material and what went in to making the work. It’s also a bit of a performance for me.

ID: You mainly work with young designers who came of age during the rise of the internet. What kind of parallels do you see between their physical works and the reality of a cyber space?

SM: Ryan Decker’s solo show Feudal Relief showcases the effect the digital world has on the physical. His works, while taking inspiration from Medieval art, have a computer-generated aesthetic, influenced by years of playing video games and creating digital art. The internet created an access to visual imagery and information that previous generations didn’t have. The masses of information consumed through online searches and experiences have created a prevailing contemporary style that blends aesthetics, references, and time periods. 

ID: What kind of reactions do you receive from collectors and the general public about the current panorama of queer designer as well as the future?

SM: Many collectors strive for diversity of representation in their collections. They are interested in supporting artists they might identify with or that gives them a window into a world they’re not accustomed to. Collectors and the public love learning about an artist’s background and how that may have influenced the work they produce.

10 Questions With…. Jane Atfield

“Designing with recycled materials was generally seen as being a bit weird and unconventional,” remembers the British designer Jane Atfield about the early ‘90s when she created her now iconic RCP2 chair with discarded plastic. “They were perceived as being of dubious quality and a ‘second best’ choice.” A furniture design student at the Royal College of Art at the time, Atfield found encouragement among her classmates, as well as her son, Noah, who enjoyed counting the vast range of radiant colors stemming from bits of suntan lotion and shampoo bottles used for the chair.

Upper East Side’s Emma Scully Gallery recently invited Atfield to revisit the chair, which now sits at the Victoria & Albert Museum’s collection, displaying a suite of chairs and a table in three new colors. RCP2 chair’s revival coincides with the design’s 30th anniversary and invites young designers and collectors to explore an early case study in environmental consciousness.

Soon after RCP2, Atfield opened her design practice MADE OF WASTE and continued her practice in sustainable design. Here, Atfield shares her path to creating sustainable pieces with Interior Design.

Interior Design: Could you talk about the changes you have witnessed in the design world in terms of environment consciousness since you first created RCP2?

Jane Atfield: We have this incredible and beautiful world that we are destroying. Wider recognition and understanding of this has been the biggest change in 30 years. Environmental awareness has gone from being marginalized to mainstream, and now there is a commitment towards nature and sustainability being at the heart of design. Many young designers especially are passionate about wanting to make the world a better place for everyone. Words such as eco-friendly, circularity, regenerative, net-zero and material ethics are embedded into their design thinking. Waste is increasingly being used as a starting point in furniture and everyday objects with imaginative new sources are explored, including agricultural, industrial and food remnants. 

Plastics were seen as a wonder material in the ‘90s. Now, there is a growing back lash with the anti-plastic movement. Even if all plastic chairs are from recycled sources, the effects of this are diminished if we are still drilling new oil fields. Designers are increasingly aware of the social and political environment they work in with issues like climate justice extending the climate change debate along with problems like greenwashing.

ID: Do you remember the reactions to your idea of designing with recycled material three decades ago?

JA: In the early days, I used to have a shopping bag full of recycled plastic samples that I would take to designers to try and entice them to incorporate the recycled material into their work. We made up some customized sheets for Philippe Starck, although the project did not progress. Jasper Morrison thought the material was ugly! However, the London-based architect Ben Kelly was really positive and used it extensively for desks and benches for the London Science Museum children’s center. MADE OF WASTE also sold the recycled plastic sheets directly to the public who used it for things like kitchen and bathroom surfaces.

ID:  How much information was available back then about the possibility of using recycled material in design?

JA: It was not easy to get information in those pre-internet days. Trade shows were important sources and also material libraries or contacting companies directly on the telephone or by fax.

ID: What type of role did MADE OF WASTE play in your exploration of recycled plastic over the years?

JA: MADE OF WASTE was set up in 1993 to research and develop recycled plastics using the U.K.’s post consumer plastics, and the resulting construction sheet materials were made available to architects and designers. Following on from developing the HDPE plastic from post-consumer bottles, other sources of raw material, including HIPS yogurt pots, Marks and Spencer coat hangers and discarded cling film from the catering industry, were evolved. I would often experiment with these materials in furniture design and explore their working properties before making them more widely available.

ID: Could you talk about your process of collecting plastic tubes and bottles back then? Are there moments and interactions that stayed with you?

JA: I started experimenting with recycled materials when, during my second year at the RCA, I came across a curious blue material sample on the desk of a fellow student studying sculpture.  They had bought it back from a New York trade fair, but the manufacturer’s name wasn’t on it.  I eventually found out it had been made by Yemm & Hart, and I got in touch with them to see if I could import some larger pieces. I was very interested in their approach and how they were connecting new materials with a wider societal context, namely the problems of plastic waste and using this as a resource. There was potential to incorporate the material into furniture, and it seemed like a good antidote to the slick, style driven furniture of the ’90s. Stephen Yemm shipped over some sheets for me to explore, and we started a dialogue over the material. I designed some furniture with it and this led to a commission for a student bar at the University of Westminster with the architect Joe Hagan in 1994.

In time, the need to find a way to fabricate the material in the U.K. was apparent, using our own plastic waste, as it was expensive and environmentally unfriendly to ship it over the Atlantic. This involved liaising with community recycling schemes to source the HDPE plastic bottles derived from discarded shampoo, detergent and milk containers which were then color sorted and chipped. Searching for the correct machinery to press the chips into construction sheets proved difficult, and in the end we used presses intended for manufacturing plywood at a factory in West London. The colors in the finished sheets reflected those of the plastic bottles in public circulation. When a new color was introduced by a bottle manufacturer—I remember a bright blue detergent—it was exciting to see it go from a supermarket shelf and later turn up integrated into the recycled plastic sheets. Ways were explored to develop community production facilities using local waste, for example, to recycled school plastic waste into classroom furniture. I remember approaching Camden Council with this idea, but there was unfortunately no investment for such schemes. In fact, it was difficult to get anyone to invest in MoW.

ID: The process somewhat dictated your aesthetic: Victoria & Alberts’s web entry about the chair, for example, says, “This chair is not painted as you might at first think.” Could you talk about this idea of prioritizing the material and process over the aesthetic?

JA: The recycled plastic was decorative without being decorated. I loved its expressive qualities, its directness and integrity. In order for this to sing out, I needed the design of the chair not to compete. Hence it was kept very simple with no emphasis on formal innovations. I wanted the chair to be archetypal so you would look beyond its function and focus on what it was made from. The first chair RCP1 made from the Yemm & Hart material was a version of Rietveld’s Crate Chair, using the recycled plastic as if it was reused plywood. The second chair, the RCP2, was inspired by his Military Chair of 1923. These references to Gerrit Rietveld were influenced by my Dutch modernist professor at the RCA who loved the DeStijl movement. The material has its own inherent aesthetic, dictated by the flowing pattern of the chipped up plastic bottles when heated and compressed during manufacture.

ID: How did you reconnect with Yemm & Hart three decades later?

JA: Emma [Scully] approached me last summer to suggest a re-edition of the chair using the original Yemm & Hart recycled plastic, with the chairs to be fabricated in New York. I had not been in contact with the company for over 20 years and was delighted to find they were still in business in Missouri. Stephen Yemm sent me lots of samples and the original Confetti multi-colored recycled plastic was still in production.

ID: What material and visual differences did you adopt in this new iteration?

JA: We decided to re-issue the chair in three color ways, the original Confetti, a blue version, and a newer black and white one. I specified the original ‘satin’ finish and it was very noticeable how the quality of the materials had improved with no paper labels or holes in the surface. The materials thickness remained constant throughout the sheet and hence the new RCP2 chairs could be made with greater precision, using CNC routing.

ID: What are some of the current sustainable design techniques that you feel inspired by?

JA: I love the idea of car-free cities, with the streets given over to bicycles and pedestrians such as the Superblock program being implemented in Barcelona aiming to increase shared public spaces, sociability, biodiversity and reduce pollution.

I am inspired by nature-based ideas including re-wilding projects, both rural like at the Knepp Estate in southern England and in cities such as the London National Park City proposal which aims to fully integrate people with nature and create green corridors connecting gardens, parks, woodlands, playing fields and allotments. Also I am encouraged by tree planting and the resurgence of community gardens and vegetable growing projects. The U.K. activists group Extinction Rebellion certainly gives me hope. They offer creative techniques and opportunities to help us face reality. Also offering hope is the increase in building with sustainable, natural materials and finding ways for all existing buildings to be recycled, along with progressive ideas for more communal living.  Projects such as El Catllar in Catalonia, Spain are converting old buildings into shared living, growing and working spaces to create a sustainable community.

Calls for dematerialization also resonate with me and the challenge of how to make that widely fashionable by celebrating less stuff. How can we go beyond ownership and focus instead on sharing and on forming new relationships, human and ecological together?

ID: The new collection also includes a dinner table which signifies gathering and community. How do you see design’s role today in social change?

This time of transition requires big shifts in deep-rooted behaviors and requires designers to have strongly held values, in addition to creativity and resourcefulness, that they can share in collaborations. There aren’t enough people thriving in the world, so design’s role must help improve lives for as many people as possible.

‘Ingrained’ Exhibition Explores Works in Wood By Women and Non-Binary Artists

“Ingrained,” a show of work by six women and non-binary artists and designers, opened at Superhouse’s petite Vitrine gallery in Chinatown, Manhattan. On view Saturdays and Sundays (or by appointment) through May 8, the show challenges the traditionally male-dominated field of woodworking. Delectable stacking jewelry boxes by Queens-based artist Sarah Burns commune with Natalie Ochoa’s wall-mounted cabinet of found objects. Nifemi Ogunro’s sculptural carved stool is in conversation with bentwood laminated seating and lighting by RISD grad Isabel Rower. Montreal-based Myriam Simard-Parent constructs a scaled-up rolling basket in a checkerboard of cherry and poplar wood. Shaina Tabak constructed a pair of floor lamps: one a double-helix of white oak and cedar and the other a pleated planar take on marquetry. 

“This exhibition does not purport to be a conclusive survey of women and non-binary makers working with wood, as most of the artists and designers on view are just from New York City,” says Stephen Markos, founder and director of Superhouse. “But it is meant to generate discourse about the lack of representation today and in some small way work to rectify that disparity.” A worthy effort indeed.

10 Questions With… Romain Jouffre and Olivier Garcé

When talented people join forces, the result often is astonishing. This holds true for Romain Jouffre, who helms Ateliers Jouffre, and Olivier Garcé, cofounder of Garcé & Dimofski. The two decided to work together on a new space in Long Island City, New York, which opened last November. The Jouffre workroom and showroom pays tribute to the French savoir-faire of highly skilled artisans who produce made-to-measure pieces for renowned interior designers including Rafael de Cardenas, Drake/Anderson and Pierre Yovanovitch, among others. Through a poetic scenography, Garcé & Dimofski created a mesmerizing space well worth a visit. 

Interior Design: Why did you decide to open a new space? 

Romain Jouffre: This new move marks a big step in the history of Jouffre. Our teams continue to grow and take on more and more ambitious projects. We were maxed out in our former space and we also wanted to buy our own building to create a space exactly according to our needs and tastes. 

ID: How is the space organized? 

RJ: At this new address, people will find the workroom with all our artisans for upholstery, window treatments and carpentry; an area with our collections of fabrics from our favorite textile designers such as Rruka, Tara Chapas, Perrine Rousseau, Maison AD or Sam Karsten, to name only a few; and our new showroom at the entrance of the building, which was designed by Garcé & Dimofski. 

ID: What convinced you to work together? 

RJ: Olivier, who is my friend, and I have a fantastic relationship. I’ve always loved his and Clio (his business partner and wife)’s taste. I trusted they would be 100% dedicated to showcase our craftsmanship. 

Olivier Garcé: I was interested in working on this project for the challenge to bring in one majestic room all the handcrafts and knowledge of Ateliers Jouffre. Romain and I share the same passion for architecture and design, and it was natural to create an aesthetic that would reflect the company. 

ID: How would you describe the whole space? 

RJ: It reflects who we are and what we love. It is bright and very open, without any private offices. There is a huge family kitchen that feels just like home. With the team we really like to be together and we consider ourselves a family. Creating a space in which we could keep on developing that culture was important to all of us.

ID: What was the biggest challenge to design the showroom? 

OG: It was to achieve elegant curves in an existing industrial space. We were interested in showcasing as much as possible one of Ateliers Jouffre’s main crafts, which is featured in particular through the curtains.

ID: What was the main source of inspiration for the showroom?

OG: Our source of inspiration came from artist Pierre Le-Tan who illustrated snippets of daily life on the covers of The New Yorker. We set up the objects of the exhibition as elements emerging from an illustrated dreamscape. 

ID: What is the theme for the scenography of the showroom? 

OG: Based on the theme “eclecticism,” it poetically approaches the idea of a figurative universe, which reflects different styles and eras and is the result of the exceptional French savoir-faire.

ID: What is the creative concept behind the showroom? 

OG: We are trying to share a story where the objects become the messengers. Among them are a sculptural wooden black lacquered floor lamp by Minjae Kim, a lava stone coffee table by Ian Felton and surrealist paintings by Garance Vallée, to name a few. 

ID: What are some of the collaborations showcased in the showroom? 

RJ: The central space of the showroom is reinforced by the presence of a carpet designed by Manufacture des Tapis de Bourgogne and a curved sofa designed by Garcé & Dimofski specifically for this setting. Additionally, our designers Steve Avakian, Eric Nakassa and Taylor Scott Ross imagined three upholstery pieces. It’s also a space where we are introducing our partners at Par Excellence. Adjacent to the showroom in the new photo booth, iconic pieces from Maison Royère are presented—all created from the designer’s personal archives and all manufactured in France by the best craftsmen. 

ID: What are your projects/ambition for the next few years? 

RJ: We are working hard to become the most high-end and prestigious upholstery workroom in the United States and we needed a space to represent our ambition and goal. We want to train new generations of artisans and spread the love that we have for this beautiful and century old fine profession.

OG: With my partner Clio, we have just launched our design studio, Garcé & Dimofski, in Lisbon, Portugal and we will open our gallery this summer. We are also currently working on several residential projects. 

Sella Concept Creates Inspiring Office Design in NYC

For their first project in the United States, executed and completed with architects at Gensler, London-based design studio Sella Concept tackled the challenge of working from across the Atlantic during the pandemic. Offering an ode to American design with a British touch, the team created the new 3,000-square-foot office of Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners in New York City, which is nestled in a glass, steel, and brick building by ODA.

“We designed the project remotely after our first site visit, which took place prior to lockdown rules,” remembers Tatjana von Stein, director and cofounder of Sella Concept. “Responding to a new era of office values, we emphasized on gentle movements and apertures within the space.”

Flexibility and connectivity for employees and clients are at the heart of the concept. Nods to industrial design, reflected through the exposed brick columns, combine with Sella Concept’s aesthetic, which is characterized by soft curves and raw textural elements, such as the poured concrete floor and curved plaster wall. Dedar and Maharam fabrics coat the Sella Concept-designed bespoke banquettes while soft leather-like tabletops, Allied Maker lighting fixtures, and Fireclay tiles add warmth to the space. Complete with a live tree, the office makes for an inviting space that stimulates creative thinking.