Danube Views and Ancient Architecture Meet in Budapest Flat

Ramy Fischler Studio prides itself on the diversity of its work. Recent projects include a smart fridge, an Hermès perfume store in New York, a line of self-produced furniture, and Twitter’s office in Paris, where the French firm is based and in the process of implementing a new master plan to harmonize the café and restaurant terraces on the Champs-Elysées. From time to time, the studio accepts the odd residential commission. But as principal Ramy Fischler emphasizes, “If we take one on, it has to allow us a certain amount of creativity to develop something unique.”

Recently, an entrepreneur with interests in Hungary approached Fischler with what was certainly a singular assignment. He had bought five apartments in a new luxury development with sweeping views of Budapest—one for his own use, the others for guests—that he wanted decorated in more or less identical style. Fischler took the bait. “We spent a year on his unit, defining exactly what he wanted,” the designer says of the 3,750-square-foot, three-bedroom floor-through, which has an additional 1,100 square feet of outdoor space. “It wouldn’t have made sense to do something different in the others. The décor fits him like a glove and duplicating it means he can give people the same experience as staying with him, only they have their own space.”

The Apartment Design Reflects Vastu Shastra Principles

The client had another very distinct demand: The design should adhere strictly to the principles of Vastu Shastra, the traditional Indian system of architecture. “It’s used to determine the layout of everything from religious to domestic spaces,” Fischler says, noting that the ethos is “simple and frugal.” One of its precepts is that the center of a home should be an empty space free from obstructions like columns or staircases (a requirement satisfied by the apartment’s mid-floor entry hall). And each area in the house is related to one of the four elements—fire, water, earth, and air—to which distinct design rules and color palettes are attached.

Fischler admits that applying such edicts was not always easy, even given the apartment’s generous proportions. “The ideal locations according to Vastu Shastra for faucets, drainage, the kitchen, and so on were often in total contradiction to what was in place in the rest of the building,” he reports. Among the changes he had to make to his original plans was the position of the beds. “Normally I like to have them facing a window so there’s an equal amount of light on both sides,” he explains. “But that was impossible here because they needed to be turned toward the north.” Since the living area is in an “earth zone,” which requires furniture to be low and grounded, none of the seating could have legs or feet. Hence the custom sofas comprising large cushions perched on travertine-slab bases. And in an adjacent sitting nook with a somewhat Japanese aesthetic, two chairs have bronze arms and upholstered backs but no seats, the idea being that, supported by the frame, you sit directly on the floor.

Natural Materials Create a Tranquil Environment

Fischler’s overall aim was to create not only a tranquil environment decibel-wise but also a visually soothing one. “There’s a sort of sobriety and calm to the whole space,” he says. No doubt the principles of Vastu Shastra contribute to that, but he believes the rigor of the architectural detailing also plays its part. “For me, the framework has to be perfect. When each line is precise, it brings a sense of composure,” he asserts. “That’s always the goal I set myself.”

Inside the Budapest Flat Designed by Ramy Fischler Studio 

ramy fischler studio: frédéric alzeari; florence vlemelinx; xiao ye zhang; estelle tran

light is more: lighting consultant

safa: custom furniture workshop

au gré du verre: custom cocktail tables (living area)

maami home: side table

normann copenhagen: ottomans

rubelli: sofa fabric (LIVING AREA), PANEL FABRIC (SECOND GUEST BEDROOM)

epoca: custom sofas (living area), custom chairs (nook)

lasvit; manooi: custom ceiling fixture (living-dining area)

Gubi: lounge chairs (living area), armchairs (entry, guest bedroom)

Roll & Hill: chandelier (study)

ferm living: glasses, bowl (study), teapot (kitchen)

ligne roset: chairs (study, dining area)

Gaggenau: appli­ances (kitchen)

élitis: panel fabric (main bedroom)

d’argentat: custom nightstands

knoll: desk chair

oluce: table lamp

brossier saderne: custom sconces

Dedar: bed fabric (bedrooms)

holland & sherry: panel fabric (FIRST guest bedroom)

edel carpets: carpet (guest bedrooms)

ramy fischler collection: nightstands

manooi: custom sconces (GUEST bedrooms), custom candelabra (bathroom)

makro: tub (bathroom)

alape: sinks

Dornbracht: tub fittings, sink fittings

j.d. staron: custom rugs

tabu: wood veneer

through zsdrál art pop-up galéria: ceramics

Ghislaine Viñas Co-Designs Andra Hem, an Atypical B&B

If you can survive the 2-hour line to get into Andra Hem, Philadelphia’s chicest new night spot, you’re in for a rather delicious cocktail. The recipe: An ounce of hotel, a teaspoon of art, a twist of bar, a shot of lounge. Shake vigorously! Pour over ice and garnish with honey from the rooftop bee farm. Who is the crafty mixologist behind this spirited typological concoction? Why, it’s New York designer Ghislaine Viñas, teaming with her longtime friend and client/muse, art collector and dealer Paige West. The creative partners in crime have collaborated on too-many-to-count endeavors over just as many years. “Paige and I have been working together forever,” Viñas happily affirms. “One day we’re gonna be little old ladies, still designing projects.”

Let’s hope so! Each joint effort gets more intriguing. This 7,700-square-foot, four-story property, for instance, encompasses an intimate bilevel bar and, above, two one-bedroom floor-through suites. Although Andra Hem is the pair’s first full-on hospitality venture, the typology is not entirely without precedent: West makes an art form of giving her houseguests the hotel treatment. “It’s how Paige hosts friends and family,” Viñas notes of the Philadelphia native. “There’s always a minibar in the guest bedroom, a signature cocktail, branded towels, and things like that. It’s what spins her wheels.”

Envisioning the Design of Andra Hem, a Bar With Guest Suites Above

Artful Accents and Custom Designs Create an Inviting Interior

That goes for the décor as well, starting with the artwork that hangs behind the ground-floor bar, an 1800’s portrait from West’s private collection that lacked provenance so had minimal market value. The two had the canvas doctored with a layer of painted-on iconography—a bee, flowers, stylized waves—by Mark Mulroney, another frequent collaborator. (His quirkily surrealist murals also embellish the bar’s restrooms.) That retro-meets-futurist mashup encapsulates the entire project. “We juxtaposed a very traditional Swedish architecture layer with these wacky elements that tie into the overall narrative,” Viñas explains. Firmly in the trad column is the custom wall paneling, a concentric-square relief pattern based on one they’d encountered in an ancient Stockholm restaurant. In the wacky column, meanwhile, is Kim Alsbrooks’s framed miniature portraits painted on crushed beer cans. Lying somewhere in between classic and wack-tastic are David Trubridge’s swirly bentwood pendant globe upstairs, which call to mind barber poles or maybe sinister hard candy. “I get butterflies when I see those lights,” Viñas says. “Something about them ties back to a childhood memory I can’t quite place. I have a very beautiful emotional connection to these.”

The two floors of the bar are a pas de deux of similarity and difference. Viñas used the same furniture, paneling, and floral wallpaper on both levels, but altered the color palette (peacock-blue downstairs, mustard-and-black upstairs). She performed the same sleight of hand in the stacked suites, which share an identical layout and furniture plan but feature different fabrics—all bowl-you-over botanicals by mid-century Swedish icon Josef Frank. The trippy DayGlo-toned linen tenting the fourth-floor suite’s bedroom is Viñas’s favorite. “I could just stare at it all day; it’s so vibrant and exquisite.”

The riot of color and pattern that unifies the petite property is both a constant in Vinas’s work yet something of a departure. “I love when things clash, especially in small rooms,” she says. “Here, I really pushed for things to live together that shouldn’t, which was hard for me to do, because my design is so much about control.” It was worth it, she adds. “I loved being pushed outside my comfort zone.” All in the interest of putting guests into theirs, of course.

A Closer Look at the Colorful Cocktail Bar

Inside the Guest Suites at Andra Hem

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Ghislaine Viñas: jenna pino; jaime viñas; lauren mercuri; ashika amarnath

Stokes Architecture + Design: architect of record

bold lighting: lighting design

west collection: art consultant

harmony contract furniture: custom furniture workshop

coil + drift: glass pendant fixtures (blue bar)

vescom: curtain fabric

flavor paper: wallpaper

schumacher: banquette fabric

collector: custom tables (bars)

joss & main: ottomans

amazon: table lamps (yellow/black bar)

contardi: fabric pendant fixtures (blue bar), bedside lamps (suites)

lumen 8: custom sconce (exterior)

signs visual industries: custom plaque

imagine tile: custom tile (bath­room)

grout 360: custom grout

kjartan oskarsson studio: custom mirrors

fantini: sink fittings

schoolhouse: cabinet hardware

p.e. guerin: sink fittings (restroom)

established & sons: yellow pendant fixtures (suite)

david trubridge: pendant globes (yellow/black bar)

Wolf Gordon: custom wallpaper (lobby)

georgia lacey interiors: custom desk (suite)

through 1stdibs: desk lamp

ligne roset: sofa

Blu Dot: coffee table

kardiel: ottomans

kasthall: custom rug

design public group: white pendant fixture

57st. design: custom nightstands, custom media console (suites)

svenskt tenn: wallcovering, ottoman fabric

benjamin moore & co.: paint

designtex; hbf textiles: seating fabric

beautiful bed company: beds

This Tropical Modernist Miami Home is at One With its Surroundings

“This house is surprising for Miami,” admits Max Strang, founding principal of Strang Design. While the city’s name typically conjures up visions of South Beach residences packed on prime palm-tree-lined waterfront properties, he and firm partners Alexandra Mangimelli and Elizabeth Starr created something altogether different for a family relocating from Brazil. On an estate-sized oak grove just 20 minutes from downtown, the project accurately reflects the couple’s heritage in everything from the layout and materials to the landscaping and furnishings.

The house that originally stood on the lot was torn down, allowing a new one to grow from the ground up. The studio specializes in contextualizing homes to their immediate surroundings via use of natural materials, eschewing plain white boxes. Here, this approach translated to an earthy palette and the placement of plant life—and the structure itself—in a manner that blurs the line between building and landscape. “We were careful to work with existing oaks and gumbo limbos when siting the house,” Strang recalls. The firm designed planters to wrap the second-floor exterior, supplemented by aluminum privacy louvers that double as trellises, enabling vines to climb up the facade. “Eventually, the elevations will be partially enveloped in the growth,” he predicts.

The project, Strang continues, “presented an opportunity to marry our firm style, which we describe as ‘environmental modernism,’ with the more tropical modernism of the Brazilian aesthetic.” An H-shape footprint creates a series of wings, a configuration that allows light to spill into every corner. Multiple rooms feature floor-to-ceiling glass pocket doors that open onto a pool, abetting an easy rapport between indoors and out while upholding a strong sense of privacy. The sliders are also practical: “Miami is hot as hell, but as long as you have generous shade and a little bit of a breeze, you’re fine,” Strang notes. Starr adds that the openness of the layout suits the clients’ lifestyle: “How the family entertains informed the variety of seating areas and the circulation between them, as well as the creation of interior and exterior spaces that flow into one to another.” The latter include a patio-adjacent club room equipped with an exhaust system to handle cigar smoke.

The furnishings, many of which were collected by the owners over the years, pay poetic homage to the concept of relocation. The living room contains midcentury pieces by Jorge Zalszupin, who moved to Rio de Janiero in 1949 after fleeing his native Poland to escape Nazi persecution, and Jean Gillon, born in Romania and later based in São Paulo. Both were known for their use of local materials and traditional furniture-making techniques. Also inhabiting several rooms is seating by Sergio Rodrigues, frequently referred to as the father of Brazilian furniture design, who made languorous pieces that responded to his country’s tropical climate and easygoing way of life. They’re right at home here.

While the palette is predominantly earth-tone, with travertine flooring and abundant teak paneling, generous moments of color are provided by the homeowners’ art collection. Works on display are drawn from an international roster, including Ethiopian talent Elias Sime; Munich-born New York–based Janaina Tschäpe (who was raised in São Paulo); and Amir Nikravan, an American artist of Iranian and Mexican descent. The design team provided settings that create a rich, varied backdrop. One piece, Sime’s Tightrope: I Want to Slow Down and Think, 2017, a collage of repurposed electronic components, was bought while the house was under construction, “so we had to find a wall that would work,” Mangimelli says. A secondary seating area in the main living space became the designated spot. “The piece really looks like it was meant to be there,” she notes of the serendipitous result.

In keeping with South American tradition, the kitchen is not the central hub, but rather positioned off to one side of the floor plan. That said, it’s no wallflower—note the dramatic geometric-patterned backsplash tile. “It was definitely the right way to go,” Mangimelli says of the attention-grabbing encaustic mosaic.

Although the residence is well-suited to entertaining, it does have a public/private divide, with the more tucked-away second floor housing bedrooms, a family room, and a gym. One wing is devoted to guest quarters and the two childrens’ rooms, the other to the primary suite. Despite the home’s generous size—10,000 square feet—it contains only five bedrooms. The intent was to create spacious sanctums, Mangimelli says, “rather than see how many bedrooms we could fit.”

As for the 1.5-acre plot, the clients’ request was a garden that gives joy. To accomplish this, Strang Design collaborated with La Casona Garden to create a “manifold sensory experience of sight, smell, hearing, and taste—a garden of earthly delights,” landscape designer Ana Miron explains. Plantings are diverse, a mix of ground cover, flowers, small bushes, and various sizes of trees, designed to complement the oaks. Native species are included, as well as a section certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a wildlife habitat, with the land offering ideal conditions, Miron says, “for companion species, birds, bees, butterflies, and squirrels.” And, of course, the property’s human residents.

strang design: maria ascoli, vanessa arteaga peña, viviana conley, catherine crotty

la casona garden: landscape consultant

francisco cuello jr.; henry vidal & associates, inc.: structural engineers

jorge g. maldonado: civil engineer

contemporary builders, inc.: general contractor

david krynauw through southern guild gallery: chandelier (dining room)

restoration hardware: armchairs, tables (patios); beds (primary bedroom, daughter’s room)

apparatus studio: ceiling lights (club room, primary bedroom)

mia cucina: cabinetry, countertop (kitchen)

artistic tile through ceramic matrix: backsplash tile

subzero-wolf: wall ovens, cooktop

ligne roset: ottoman (daughter’s room)

Duravit: toilet (primary bathroom)

vola: sink fittings

opustone: travertine

es windows: windows

dn design studio inc.: millwork

Dufner Heighes Transforms a Historic House in Pelham, New York into a Modern Family Home

Flip back a page, please. Now, kick up your feet, relax—here, have a cocktail—and observe this intriguing wood-paneled room: the resolutely leafy view, that groovy triangular window, the serene quiet, the vintage-heavy furniture scheme. Bet you think this is the living room of some cozy ’70’s-mod cabin on a remote rural plot, right? Well, surprise! In fact, this is the second-floor sitting room of a painstakingly preserved century-old Edwardian-style manse within shouting distance (although please don’t; the baby’s sleeping) of the Bronx.

Dufner Heighes was the firm tasked with future-proofing the historic Pelham, New York, house for a growing family. The 7,100-square-foot dwelling has an intriguing back story. Previous owners include the island nation of Barbados, which used it as an embassy, and a Coca-Cola executive who frequently hosted President Eisenhower there back in the 1950s. Another head of state, George Washington, reportedly stayed on the property, too, in a structure that once stood on this abode’s exact footprint. That provenance piqued the interest of Erica Holborn, CEO of Sandow Design Group (Interior Design’s parent company) and a self-professed real-estate enthusiast. “I’m a house-with-a-story person,” she admits.

When Holborn and her husband, Andrew, first saw the property listing, they deemed the eight-bedroom too big for their needs. Fast forward a year later. Their Dufner Heighes–designed Sutton Place apartment was getting a bit too snug for their expanding family (especially with WFH in the mix), and their upstate getaway, a 1970’s A-frame designed by Frank Lloyd Wright protégés, was too far from the city for full-time residency. Plus, the Holborns got an offer on the latter that they couldn’t refuse. So when the price dropped on the Pelham place around the same time, they finally took a look—and were sold.

Among the structure’s many attributes was that it had been pristinely restored, from the oak millwork to the original hardware. “It was a perfect situation, because the previous owners had updated a few things, like the kitchen, but restored everything else—stripping layers of paint off moldings and all that stuff no one wants to deal with,” notes Daniel Heighes Wismer, firm copartner with Greg Dufner. In short, it was practically turnkey. Early site visits suggested the project would be primarily decorative and cosmetic: reupholstering some existing furnishings, buying new items to fill in a few gaps, replacing antique light fixtures with more modern designs, updating cabinetry, hanging artwork. Midway through planning the new kitchen, however, it became apparent the current footprint was underscaled for the size of the house and had an awkward, dinky island unsuited to cooking and dining. “During one of our meetings with the team from Bilotta, with whom we were designing the kitchen,” Wismer recalls, “someone questioned whether we could tear down a wall to annex the adjoining butler’s pantry—and that changed everything,” necessitating plumbing and electrical rerouting plus new structural steel. “My dream has always been to have a butler’s pantry,” Holborn sighs. “And then I finally buy a house with one—and promptly take it out!”

The monthslong renovation was well worth it. The new scheme is much brighter and airier, with a long Arabescato Corchia marble island that seats four, plus a window-wrapped breakfast nook. Dufner Heighes deployed two patterns of Artistic Tile terrazzo flooring, one incorporating marble chips, to create area rug–like accents that delineate spatial zones. Shaker-style cabinetry is simpatico with the period architecture yet modern enough to suit the décor. The same flooring and cabinetry also extend into an adjacent space, a former family room that now serves as a storage-packed mudroom.

The reinvention of a living space as service-oriented hub made sense, given the floorplan already offered a generous number of hangout areas, including the ground-floor salon and contiguous sunroom, a second-floor playroom for two-year-old Marlowe and baby Bodhi, a sitting room off the primary suite, and the family and game rooms that anchor the daylit basement level. “The challenge,” Dufner says, “was how to make each living space feel like it had a unique function and purpose.” Seating in particular was selected with specific activities and postures in mind. Thus the salon’s more upright Bob sectional, its firm, snakelike form perfect for perching with a glass of wine; the sunroom’s more lounge-y Bouroullec Brothers Ploum sofa, a holdover from the upstate house (albeit newly reupholstered); and the super deep, nap-conducive sofa in the family room, where TV viewing occurs.

Though the house has a traditional layout, with discrete rooms, they open graciously onto each other, and curating sight lines was particularly important. Many features were considered holistically so they would work together from room to room. On the first floor, for instance, “there are points where you can see the ceiling fixtures in the sunroom, living room, entry hall, and the dining room all at once,” Wismer explains. “So the lighting we specified all needed to work within their respective rooms and also as a cohesive group.” Furniture and other accents were chosen and placed similarly, he adds. “There was a balancing of where we could go a little wild and where something had to be toned down so it wouldn’t get too heavy or layered.”

Speaking of going a little wild, check out the dining room wallpaper. The pattern, a trippy graphic confection in riotous hues, tents the room, extending up from crisp wainscoting lacquered a mercurial green-gray color. The op art patterning is the perfect jazz riff on the abode’s 1914 bones. “The contrast between historic and modern is just so great,” says Wismer. A sentiment that summarizes the project top to bottom.

knoll: sofa

dunbar: side table

design for macha: ceiling fixture

through noguchi shop: floor lamp

garrett leather: armchair shearling

kvadrat: side chair fabric

blå station through scandinavian spaces: sofa

house of finn juhl: chairs

Gubi: coffee table

aronson’s: rug

bd barcelona through ddc: green side table.

Fredericia: daybed

lawson-fenning: vessels

bilotta: cabinetry

Artistic Tile: flooring

seungjin yang through the future perfect: pink stool

Blu Dot: yellow ottoman

through noguchi shop: pendant

Louis Poulsen: pendants

voutsa: wallpaper

e15 through stillfried wien: table

Carl Hansen & Son: chairs

iittala through fiskars group: glass birds

bd barcelona through ddc: credenza

aronson’s: rug

mitchell gold + bob williams: sofa

aronson’s: rug

Carl Hansen & Son: Lounge

Blu Dot: side table

through john derian: artwork

ligne roset: sofa

iacoli: coffee table

CB2: side table

Artistic Tile: flooring, counters

bilotta: cabinetry

Carl Hansen & Son: chairs, stools

e15 through stillfried wien: table

Louis Poulsen: pendants

casey johnson studio: custom table

Blu Dot: ottoman

through john derian: flowers

aj madison: appliances

lee jofa: wallpaper

through design within reach: rocking chair

dunbar: sofa

house of finn juhl: coffee table

floyd: shelving

stokke: crib

rejuvenation: ceiling fixture

nessen lighting: gold lamp

&tradition: coffee table, ottoman

Carl Hansen & Son: green lounge chair

mitchell gold + bob williams: sofa

aronson’s: rug

kvadrat: mama bear chair fabric

zak & fox: club chair fabric

design for macha: ceiling fixture

michael robbins: bench

lawson-fenning: bed

once milano: quilt

aronson’s: rug

flavor paper: wallpaper

Gubi: mirror

visual comfort through circa lighting: table lamps (sitting room, dining room, family room, bedroom); ceiling pendant (living room, dining room, foyer); floor lamps (living room, nursery); reading lamp (living room)

through furniture from scandinavia: items from fredericia, house of finn juhl, gubi, carl hansen & sØn, louis poulsen, and &tradition

Pophouse Captures the Collaborative Spirit of Rock Ventures for its Detroit Headquarters

2022 Best of Year Winner for Medium Corporate Office

The infill of an office building in a downtown Detroit complex had just been completed when Pophouse decided to blast an enormous hole through two floors of it. The firm was planning the new headquarters of Rock Ventures and the Rock Family of Companies, and the designers envisioned a monumental spiral staircase at the point where angled sides of the complex meet. The staircase, the central feature of the project, would not only connect the lower and upper levels of the 50,000- square-foot office but also unite the multiple teams housed there, creating serendipitous opportunities for employees who don’t normally work together to come into contact while going up and down the stairs, fostering a sense of being part of a larger enterprise. But, of course, demolishing brand-new construction would be expensive and disruptive.

Another client would almost certainly have said no. But Jennifer Gilbert, the founder and creative director of Pophouse, had the ear of her client, Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Rock Ventures, Rock FOC, and Rocket Companies, to whom she has long been married. And as his wife and partner in many ventures, she is part boss, too, and was thus able to call the shots much more than is usually the case on the commercial projects the studio works on—with stunning results. “Wearing the creative director hat and some of the owner hat was great,” she recalls.

Not that she was doing the work alone. Just as her husband’s business has grown—it began with his founding of what would become Quicken Loans in 1985, and the Rock Family of Companies now includes a portfolio of more than 100 diverse entities including Rocket Companies, 100 Thieves, Stock X, Dictionary.com, and the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers—so, too, has Pophouse. The firm, which is also part of the Rock FOC, prides itself on a data-driven approach to design that incorporates the latest findings on things like biophilia. So when Rock Ventures and the Rock FOC were ready to move from cramped former quarters elsewhere in the complex to a roomier, more sophisticated space, Pophouse was up to the job.

Chrissy Fehan, the firm’s design director, and her colleagues fleshed out a scheme that incorporates multiple circular spaces, not the least being the spiral stair in its airy atrium, based in part on research suggesting that such spaces spur creativity. The first is in reception, on the lower floor. Here, under backlit stretched fabric, a terrazzo floor is modeled on Detroit’s hub-and-spoke street grid. The waiting-area gallery just beyond is circular, too. Where circles were not possible, Pophouse rounded the corners of private offices and installed curvy furniture through­out, notably plump Pierre Paulin chairs in reception, a long and winding sofa by Koz Susani Design in a lounge, and an impressive 16-foot-diameter conference table in the boardroom, which itself is round in shape.

Also key to the office’s concept is lively artwork, on which Pophouse collaborated with Library Street Collective, a downtown Detroit gallery that focuses on artists, both local and not, who push boundaries. One standout piece, by Faile, anchors the grand staircase: It spirals down to a colorful round of inlaid mosaic tile incorporating such words as “heart,” “hope,” and “dream.” “It embodies all the great work happening in our city,” says Fehan, who came to Detroit for college and then stayed. Pophouse surrounded the installation with a C-shape bench made of modular sections that can be removed so the area can be used for events. The inclusion of works by local artists Jason Revok and the late Charles McGee underscore the Detroit-proud theme.

Then there are the basketball-related installations. A wall in Dan Gilbert’s office is devoted to a Tyrrell Winston assemblage comprised of dozens of deflated basketballs, including, of course, a couple from the Cavaliers. Outside his office, a room-size walk-in closet has a shelf with autographed balls plus, hanging from clothing rods, various team jerseys from which a lucky visitor might get to make a selection to take home. “We used to have all the Cavs things stuffed in a storage closet,” Jennifer Gilbert says. “Why not celebrate it?”

She and her team also paid homage to her husband’s “isms”—sayings such as “yes before no” and “simplicity is genius”—in the auditorium, where Cody Hudson rendered them on acoustical wall panels; rift-cut white-oak millwork here and throughout the headquarters further dampen sound. For the auditorium’s seating, the designers used sleight of hand: a benching system that incorporates Eames Molded Plywood Dining Chairs, minus their chrome legs.

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Equally inventive is a wall of preserved moss near a part of the office devoted to the Rocket Community Fund and the Gilbert Family Foundation, the philanthropic organizations the couple run that are devoted to growing opportunity and equity in Detroit as well as other national and international causes. The moss maps out Detroit’s municipal districts in varying shades of yellow and green. Small wooden boards that slide in and out of sleeves embedded in the plant matter are laser-engraved with stories about the work being done by their organizations.

If it’s not already clear, Dan Gilbert is a Detroit native, his wife grew up in one of its suburbs, and together they are dedicated to revitalizing the Motor City. A dozen years ago, Dan Gilbert relocated Rock Ventures and the Rock FOC to the then-languishing downtown, and, in the years since, Bedrock, a real estate company he controls, has been redeveloping properties in the area. Last year, the couple announced a $500 million pledge to build opportunity and equity for all Detroit residents who have faced systemic barriers to economic and social mobility. The city’s comeback and the Gilberts appear to be inextricably entwined.

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Pophouse: jordan wills; sarah davis; allen largin; monica pace; lauren burnheimer; nicole pelton; brandon bartel; makyle welke; alessandro pagura

ghafari associates: architect of record.

library street collective: art consultant

abd engineering & design: acoustician

bluewater technologies group: audiovisual

mod interiors: woodwork

whiting-turner: general contractor

m cohen and sons: stair fabrication (atrium)

nienkamper: sofa (gallery)

Kvadrat Maharam: sofa upholstery

ligne roset: chairs (gallery, reception), tables (boardroom lounge)

massproductions: tables (lounge)

noom home: chairs

kvadrat: chair fabric

urban electric co.: sconces

axis lighting: linear fixtures

vogue furniture: custom desk (reception)

artisan tile inc.: custom terrazzo

bernhardt design: ottoman (reception), guest chairs, table (office), chairs, ottomans, table (breakout

herman miller: task chair (reception), workstations (work area)

Cumberland Furniture: sofa (boardroom lounge)

artifort: chairs

grand rapids chair company: chair (phone room)

matter made: lamp

Arte: wallcovering

planterra conservatory: moss wall (philanthropy gallery)

halcon furniture: casegoods (office)

fiandre: floor tile (auditorium, boardroom)

acoufelt: acoustical baffles (office area)

Tom Dixon: ceiling fixtures (closet)

Coalesse: chairs (boardroom)

carlisle wide plank floors: engineered flooring

fusion lighting; luminii; prudential lighting company; usai lighting: lighting

barrisol: stretched ceiling

armstrong: acoustical ceiling

Add tag via side panel:

certainteed; navy island: acoustical paneling

Benjamin Moore & Co.; Dunn-Edwards; Farrow & Ball; Sherwin-Williams Company: paint

10 Monochrome Seats in Surprising Shapes

Sit back and unwind in these bold seats that prove a monochromatic palette is anything but boring.

Menu

Matias Møllenbach and Nick Rasmussen’s Ready stackable chairs in beech and lacquered oak veneer by Menu.

Delo Design

Arsenii Brodach and Anastasia Gulyaeva’s Nra chair in powder-coated steel and enameled birch plywood by Delo Design.

MoMA Design Store

Visibility’s Champ aluminum, tubular steel, and painted ash stacking stool in Mint by MoMA Design Store.

EDITS

Richard Trory’s Circus Wood lacquered white-ash chair in Ultramarine by EDITS.

Larissa Batista

Domo upholstered wood chair in blue by Larissa Batista.

Popus Editions

Yannick and Fanny Gicquel’s Giovana sofa with beech and particleboard frame by Popus Editions.

Ligne Roset

Sebastian Herkner’s Taru polyester-upholstered lounger with polyurethane-foam cushioning, particleboard and plywood frame, and tubular-steel base by Ligne Roset.

Dauphin

Jessica Engelhardt’s Cempa Alfresco polypropylene and anodized aluminum chairs by Dauphin.

Hay

Doshi Levien’s Quilton sofas in plywood, pine, beech, and polyurethane by Hay.

Emeco

Barber Osgerby’s On & On stackers of recycled ​polyethylene terephthalate and glass fiber in Cypress Green, Stockholm White, and Coral Orange by Emeco.

Interior Design Hosts December Virtual re:Source

A very special thank you to our re:Source sponsors who made this event possible:

Hauvette & Madani Updates a 1980s Paris Apartment With Eclectic Accents

If there is one material the Parisian interior design duo Samantha Hauvette and Lucas Madani loves more than any other, it is wood. “Each time we do a new project, we always try to find a new type,” Madani says. In recent times, they have developed a particular passion for stained, varnished maple. “It reminds us of walnut burl,” Hauvette explains. Whatever the variety, they are mostly drawn to the interesting forms of the grain. “We don’t use many colors or patterns in our work, and wood allows us to create interiors that sing,” she adds.

Thus, in many ways, this 1,720-square-foot duplex apartment for repeat clients, a young family, in Paris’s tony 16th arrondissement was something of a godsend. Located on the top two floors of a rather commonplace 1980s building, it was decorated by its original owners in a distinctly Art Deco style and clad almost entirely in oak paneling. The lower level is home to not only the public spaces but also two bedrooms and two bathrooms; up above is a reading space on a mezzanine and a parental suite that opens directly onto a 215-square-foot terrace.

Over the decades, the wood veneer had lost something of its luster as well as its original color. “The apartment itself is very light and had been bleached by the sun over the course of nearly 40 years,” Madani notes. For the designers, there was no discussion about whether the oak should be kept. Miraculously, they managed to salvage all of the panels, sanding and then staining them a dark chestnut hue. “We love to use wood in tones that are not so obvious,” Hauvette asserts.

Due to their decision to maintain the paneling, few structural changes could be made. The pair simply removed a sliding partition between the dining room and kitchen. Most of the architectural elements also predate their intervention, whether it be the cursive brass staircase banister, the marble-and-brick fireplace, or the building’s elevator shaft whose cubelike top pops up next to the mezzanine. Among the few modifications they made to the interior envelope are the trumeau mirror in the sitting room and a full makeover of the primary bathroom, with its new 1930s-style oak vanity.

Rather fittingly, one of the duo’s greatest design inspirations is Art Deco maestro Jean-Michel Frank. Others include the Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby movie High Society and the spirit of the Seventies. “We don’t necessarily like objects in orange plastic,” Madani points out. “It’s more the approach to lifestyle and the freedom we associate with the decade.” One designer whose work they were particularly keen to integrate was Pierre Paulin—an alumnus of the prestigious École Camondo in Paris, where Hauvette and Madani first met as students. They set up their eponymous practice in 2010 shortly after graduation. “We love the curves of Paulin’s furniture and his irreverence,” Madani enthuses. “He created forms that had never been seen before.” Shapes that provide a perfect counterpoint to the more rigid, rectilinear nature of the apartment’s shell.

The notion of contrast is inherent to Hauvette & Madani’s work in general. One word that constantly crops up in conversation with them is équilibre—French for equilibrium. They achieve that balance partly by combining furniture from different eras—not an original concept per se, but they do so with particular flair, creating intriguing juxtapositions and dialogues between different pieces. “Sometimes we even take pieces that don’t look so great solo, but they really come into their own once they’re combined in the right way,” Madani notes.

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In the sitting room, a painted-wood vintage console by André Sornay converses with Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s angular Facett sofa, while a parchment-clad ’70s cocktail table by Aldo Tura sits on a traditional Mauritanian reed-and-leather rug. One of the apartment’s most bravura gestures, meanwhile, is perhaps one of the simplest: the huge Isamu Noguchi paper pendant over the dining room table. “We tried lots of other things beforehand and they sort of just disappeared,” Hauvette recalls. “We needed something that was both large and light in order not to weigh down the atmosphere. The wood paneling is already very present.”

Pale tones throughout help to freshen things up further. A cool blue was chosen for the main bedroom. The décor in the small kitchen, a moodier tone of blue, was created in collaboration with the Parisian decorative painters Austin Redfield Tondini and Violette Bonis Dattner, who are famous for their custom patinated finishes. “There’s something a little dated to their creations,” Madani asserts. “They give the impression they’ve been there forever, which is exactly what we were looking for. We hate interiors that look spick-and-span, extremely new. Once we hand over the keys to each of our projects, the goal is for people to imagine, This is how things have always been.”

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through twenty first gallery: ceramic plate (mezzanine)

atelier areti: bookshelf

servomuto: sconces (entry); floor lamp (sitting room)

india mahdavi: vase (entry)

through valerie goodman gallery: ceramic dishes (entry, dining room)

wever & ducré: sconces (sitting room)

through galerie philia: light sculpture

ligne roset: sofa

through the invisible collection: accent pillow

dust and form through boon: white ceramics

through galerie negropontes: candlesticks

monoprix: stool

shut up and relax through boon: jug

abid javed through boon: vase, monolith

maison de vacances: armchair fabric (sitting room); blanket, pillows (bedroom)

through le vide dressing d’une parisienne: vintage wood bowl (sitting room); teapot (kitchen)

redfield & dattner: custom painting (kitchen)

heerenhuis: table (dining room)

fratelli levaggi: chairs (dining room, bedroom)

through theoreme editions: vase (dining room)

through galerie mcde: sconce (bedroom)

cassiom: sculptures

couleur chanvre: bed linens

pretziada through boon: rug

the socialite family: headboard

dcw éditions: mirror-mount sconce

vitra: swing-arm sconce

astro lighting: sconces (bathroom)

jean roger through the invisible collection: candlestick

frama: stool

through galerie française: artwork

trudon: candles

Ghislaine Viñas Creates a Calm Yet Vibrant Getaway in Palm Beach, Florida

With the constant drama of crashing waves right outside, creating a beachfront home that feels restful can prove surprisingly challenging. But New York–based interior designer Ghislaine Viñas ran with that sense of theater at this 3,900-square-foot ground-floor condo in Palm Beach, Florida, artfully drawing in the colors and movement of the water visible at every turn through floor-to-ceiling windows.

This is Viñas’s second project for the clients, the first being their Manhattan apartment. (A third project is also underway.) The owners, a married couple with two teenagers, wanted a getaway where they could relax and spend time with relatives, many of whom live in the area. Because of their past collaboration, Viñas was able to nail the brief right out of the gate. “They wanted a feeling of joyfulness and relaxation—but in an energetic sort of way,” the designer says. Comfort, she adds, was paramount. She also knows the clients to be modernists with an abiding love of midcentury furniture; the wife grew up with Arne Jacobsen Egg chairs, Eero Saarinen Womb chairs, and many other iconic pieces in her childhood home. And because this is a beach house, everything had to be easy to upkeep. “It’s supposed to be a stress-free living environment—it’s not supposed to be fussy!” Viñas says.

Although the living area’s coffered ceiling was deemed worthy of preservation, one element original to the 1980s condominium that absolutely needed to go was the “hideous” dark-cherry woodwork in the kitchen and bathrooms, which felt very heavy and contrary to the open and airy atmosphere Viñas was aiming for: “We cleaned out everything and created a fresh, white, invigorating space.” She left stonelike ceramic-tile floors in some rooms, including the living area, but specified white-ash planks for the three bedrooms and installed new baseboards and architectural lighting throughout. She also opened up the kitchen to the public areas and added an eating bar with high stools—perfect for breakfasting, lunching, and general hanging out. Shaker detailing on the cabinetry doors echoes the gridlike coffers overhead. “It’s not a look-at-me kind of project, so the little details are important,” Viñas explains.

As for the palette, the clean white base is spiked with serene oceanic blues, soft corals, and moments of terra-cotta, plus Viñas judiciously placed more intense accents throughout. The wife loves bold hues, especially when they jump from warm to cold tones. Viñas accomplished this chromatic sleight of hand by letting artwork and a few carefully chosen pieces do the heavy lifting. For example, the custom-colored yellow poufs in the living room and a series of hanging lamps in the octagonal entryway, the rainbow shades of which were woven using recycled soda bottles as a sort of armature.

Just below that fixture, the classic Saarinen laminate-top pedestal table was a natural choice given the wife’s love of the classics. It softens the room’s hard edges, as do the round ombré rug and custom crescent-shape wall-mounted consoles. “The repetition of circular forms is very pleasing and relaxing,” the designer observes. Ditto the pair of paintings by Ludwig Favre that Viñas describes as “other-worldly underwater-y”: fantastical compositions of tropical leaves mixed with flashes of bright color.

Comfort was taken to what some might call an extreme: The clients asked to test-drive every chair and sofa before they agreed to live with it. (The Egg chairs, of course, didn’t need to interview for the position.) Wherever possible, Viñas used performance fabrics for seating upholstery, many from her own line for HBF Textiles. The L-shape sectional in the living room—substantial and deep enough to provide plenty of room for family gatherings—is clad in her Sister Solid polyester-acrylic, while dining room chairs sport her Sir Stripe-a-lot Sunbrella.

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In the middle of the apartment, Viñas created a cozy media room, which can be shut off with glass doors to provide privacy without skewing cavelike. Two walls are dressed in another of her designs, Wild Thing for Flavor Paper, a tropical-leaf motif that can, in certain colorways, be quite wild indeed. Here, though, Viñas specified a custom shade—a subdued sand—which allowed her to introduce riotous pattern without overwhelming the smallish space.

The primary bedroom started with the view; namely, “how the color of the ocean changes all the time as the sun hits it,” Viñas reports. “And how, when the sun goes down, it transforms from green to blue in a really beautiful way.” She pulled those hues into the carpet (Vestry Street, one of her designs for Aronson’s) and lounge chairs (upholstered in a blue-and-coral stripe) and even the ombré walls, which transition from soft blue to white. “The room has a beautiful tranquil feeling,” she says, stating the obvious.

Although everything is done with great subtlety, the overall effect is quite striking, a sophisticated yet unpretentious take on the prototypical beach house. “It is definitely the kind of place,” she notes, “where, when you walk in, you say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so glad I’m here; it makes me feel good.’”

george beaver: general contractor/builder

custom cabinetry: woodwork

aronson’s floor covering: custom rugs (living area, primary bedroom, entry, media lounge)

republic of fritz hansen: egg chairs

designtex: fabric (living area)

Property Furniture: poufs

Knoll Textiles: fabric

ligne roset: sectional (living area), sleeper sofa (media lounge)

hbf textiles: sectional fabric (living area); chair fabric (dining area)

interiors by laura: custom head-board fabrication (boy’s and girl’s bedrooms)

nectar: bed bases (boy’s and girl’s bedrooms)

febrik: bed and headboard fabric (boy’s bedroom)

the rug company: custom rugs (boy’s and girl’s bedrooms, entry)

cappellini: cabinet (dining area)

moroso: chairs

edelman leather: seat leather

dualoy leather: arm strap leather

material through scandinavian spaces: table

romo: headboard fabric (girl’s bedroom)

serena and lily: hanging chair

cowtan and tout: cushion fabric

zero through global lighting: sconces

flavor paper: wallpaper (girl’s bedroom, media lounge)

rich brilliant willing: chandelier (kitchen)

i colori through stone source: backsplash tiles

Design Within Reach: stools

richard schultz through knoll: chairs (patio)

acdo álvaro catalán de ocón through for me lab: lighting pendants (entry)

knoll through design within reach: table

regeneration: credenza (primary bedroom)

calico: wallpaper

rh: platform bed

perennials: upholstery

knoll through evensonbest: bench

herman miller through design within reach: lounge chairs

Janus et Cie: fabric

lekker home: side table

louis poulsen through ylighting: table lamps

kvadrat: curtain fabric

vitra: lounge chair

david sutherland: fabric

lepere: side tables

collector nyc: ustom consoles (entry, hall); custom coffee table (living area); custom bedside tables (primary bedroom); custom mirror (hall)

artstar; scad artsales: artwork