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NORDEX 2009:
The Artistry of Interior Design
By Craig Cross, Editor
I was fortunate to spend some time with our NORDEX 2009 presenters—Cecil Hayes, Nick Berman and Genarro Rosetti, and Allan Switzer—for a virtual roundtable about the artistry of interior design. Each revealed fascinating insight into their process, what appears below is just a sampling, and I look forward to hearing more of their stories in March.
Craig Cross, Editor
CECIL HAYES:
CC: Design is a means of telling a client’s story. If that story ever gets muddy, how do you help to clear up the message? Any examples?
CH: Every client has a story or a look they would like to achieve in their home. I have found it pays to take a lot of time in the beginning to understand the client’s desires. The creativity of interior design is used to tell the exact story the client is expecting. Presentation is of the utmost importance to keep the vision clear. Artistic renderings have been the best tool for me to show my clients my vision incorporated with their desires. The wonderful thing about artistic renderings is that it is less expensive to erase a design element on paper than it is to deliver decorative items that are disappointing.
CC: Tell me about a favorite tool in your toolkit—sketchpad, tape measure, graph paper, etc.
CH: My favorite tool is the tape measure because I am dealing with a pre-designed structure that demands I know the sizes of decorative items. The decorative items selected must be functional, beautiful and the correct size.
CC: I would think it essential to remain nimble as a designer, able to flex across multiple projects and multiple clients. How do you keep your design agility limber?
CH: As an interior designer, the creative mind is my greatest source. For me, every project is like a breath of fresh air, the substance of my imagination. Once I imagine my design concept, I search for products and sources that can bring the project to life.
CC: If we define artistry as the creative ability and skill of an artist, or the expression of this, then we can identify artistry in the smallest of details. Tell me about a moment where the artistry of a project, component or overall execution resonated for you. Did you learn anything from the experience that helps you infuse artistry into all of your projects?
CH: Artistry in interior design is not about creating a design from your imagination and developing it with you own natural resources or bodily limbs such as singing, dancing or sculpting. Interior design involves structural and functional elements such as space, which can sometimes limit what an artist would like to create.
Example: A penthouse condo gave me the chance to take a problem and turn it into an opportunity. There was a structural column in the middle of the floor that could not be removed. Instead of looking at the column as a problem, I found it to be a perfect place to create a room divider to house a portion of my client’s exquisite art collection.
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CECIL HAYES:
“I have found it pays to take a lot of time in the beginning to understand the client’s desires.”
cecilhayes .com
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NICK BERMAN AND
GENARRO ROSETTI:
“Like a watercolor, things we saw
one way surprise us and begin to run.”
bermanrosetti .com
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NICK BERMAN AND GENARRO ROSETTI:
CC: Tell me about a favorite project.
NB: About 18 months ago, I stopped taking design projects so that I could concentrate more
fully on my furniture collection and also because I was tired of the demands of client relationships. This was difficult because I was giving up one of my laboratories for ideas that generated many of the concepts for the Berman / Rosetti furniture collection. Ironically this proved to be the opposite as we became more prolific than ever. About a year ago a client who I had designed several homes for bought a second house in Sun Valley, Idaho, and asked me to just take a look at some preliminary plans a local architect had drawn up. One thing led to another and I found myself enjoying the process so much that I took over the job. They wanted a house that was very western—boulders on the fireplace, etc. And I asked them to trust me in interpreting what a house in Sun Valley should look like through my eyes. I completely gutted the house, reconfiguring all the rooms. I streamlined all the cliché western elements and created a contemporary, very open space filled with modern yet very textural elements that pay homage to the site’s materials.
I mention this as my favorite project because I rediscovered the joy of designing a space and the interaction of all the people it takes to achieve a successful project. Moreover, this elan led to a whole new series of pieces for the Berman / Rosetti collection that will forever remind me of what this job meant to me.
CC: If we define artistry as the creative ability and skill of an artist, or the expression of this, then we can identify artistry in the smallest of details. Tell me about a moment where the artistry of a project, component or overall execution resonated for you. Did you learn anything from the experience that helps you infuse artistry into all of your projects?
NB: Early in my career I decided to increase the scope of my work to include not only the interior design but the architecture as well. When I became responsible for the total look and feeling of the project, I was able to infuse it with my own sensibility as opposed to reacting to someone else’s vision. I realized that each element of the architecture would resonate later in the interiors and that I had the stewardship of their seamless interaction. With this in mind, every element became a chapter in the overall feel of the whole story. Ironically with this type of control comes the element of mystery. Like a watercolor, things we saw one way surprise us and begin to run. This is really where your artistry comes out because you are forced to make decisions out of chaos. This can be viewed as stressful or a wonderful
opportunity to trust your instincts and create something magical.
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ALLAN SWITZER:
CC: Tell me about a favorite tool in your toolkit—sketchpad, tape measure, graph paper, etc.
AS: I have many favorite tools. However, my sketchpad is a composite of notes, ideas and
drawings. It has become, over the years, a repository of works created and works dreamt
about. I simply don’t have the time to create all of the ideas I have – which is a good thing.
CC: I would think it essential to remain nimble as a designer, able to flex across multiple projects and multiple clients. How do you keep your design agility limber?
AS: A designer is constantly looking at the world, at images, at other designs and publications in the design field. Every project has its own demands and requirements, and as a designer you must be able to step out of your comfort zone in order to be able to access and integrate what is new and what is applicable. This agility is enhanced by life: just as we must deal with situations in life as they arise, so, too, in design you must have flexibility and ingenuity to be able to meld your talent to meet the requirement. It is the work itself that keeps my agility sharp and able to focus on each different project as necessary. But I do look at everything I possibly can.
CC: If we define artistry as the creative ability and skill of an artist, or the expression of this, then we can identify artistry in the smallest of details. Tell me about a moment where the artistry of a project, component or overall execution resonated for you. Did you learn anything from the experience that helps you infuse artistry into all of your projects?
AS: Artists look at the world with different eyes than civilians, and yet at the same time everyone is an artist in their own way. Artistry for me is my ability to look at something and see it in a unique way; it is the means of identifying a different viewpoint and the ability to express that particular viewpoint to an audience in whatever form I choose. Whatever that form is, the work needs to be able to convey the message directly and clearly, or to create a point of reference that conveys the message indirectly. True artistry is the ability to convey your message in a manner that even the artist is unable to pinpoint in any other way than through the medium of choice.
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ALLAN SWITZER:
“My sketchpad is a composite of notes, ideas and drawings. It has become, over the years, a repository of works created and works dreamt about.”
williamswitzercollection.com |
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2009 SDC ESSENTIALS:
With Kathy O'Kelley
Winston Churchill wisely proclaimed that mountaintops inspire leaders, but valleys mature them. We find ourselves traversing a new valley in 2009, or one we haven’t seen in many years, but my enthusiasm keeps me looking ahead to what inspiration, what discovery this travel may deliver.
Historically, challenging times have seen the birth of tremendously fresh, dynamic thinking. I make no promises, mind you, but am engaged in the challenge to stay smart and flexible, and genuinely anticipate the results. Success stories are being whispered, I think for concern of appearing boastful, but
people are making connections. With a little work we can cultivate opportunity.
New ideas or resources often beget those desired opportunities. We’ve learned of exciting new
arrivals—there are some favorites on pages 6-7—and you’ll have the chance to see these new arrivals and meet manufacturers at NORDEX, March 11-12. We are very excited to welcome Cecil Hayes and Allan Switzer as our keynotes, and are eager to introduce a networking luncheon and presentation Wednesday with Nick Berman and Genarro Rosetti of Berman / Rosetti.
Our goal for the Third Thursday lecture series this year is to stir ideas with presentations that provoke and inspire your work. From business and marketing topics, to color or finding your creative voice, we are excited about the series and look forward to seeing you there.
Challenge times? Truly, but with support for and from the design community, I believe we can find our way. I hope what you’ve read here and found at the design center has inspired you. Thank you for your support, and I look forward to our continued progress.
Kathy O’Kelley
Senior Property Manager
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The new year will ask the design industry to create interiors that are inviting, warm, uplifting,
light-infused—interiors that convey depth without being dark. This is a definite response to a society
seeking greater meaning and more personal expression in their homes. “It’s time to…..create rooms with more soul,” says Elaine Miller of decorno.blogspot.com. And 2009, in particular, seems to be offering us that opportunity. It has a special quality about it – hope mixed with optimism – a fresh start – perhaps even magic.
Carte Blanche
WHITE—As new beginnings go, what could be more clear and crisp and clean than white? The evolution of white is positively exploding, going from a general trend in 2007 and 2008 to a dominant force moving forward, with warm whites taking the lead. The use of white-on-white is absolutely everywhere—floors, walls, trim, furniture, accessories, chandeliers—and the impact is huge, from formal to new traditional to mid-century and modern styles.
WHITE as background is no longer allowed to be ho-hum as accent colors of lime green, saffron, coral red, marine blue and plum make it exciting again—and with grey the look becomes tremendously sophisticated. It is important to note that neon colors still provide a framework for the continuing retro look of the 60s and 70s (who knew?), but elsewhere have morphed into a less eye-popping and more appealing and, quite frankly, more useful color story: vibrant versus neon – colors that continue to make the eyes dance but with greater grace and more depth.
WHITE with BLACK—Add dramatic doses of high-contrast black along with crystal and mirrored details and we are suddenly transported to the glamour and fantasy of old Hollywood. The re-emergence of this grand gesture style is embodied in the rediscovered work of 1950s designer Dorothy Draper, who is legendary for her powerful use of white with black and bold accents. Whether vintage or contemporary, in all of its many manifestations, white with black will continue to provide a larger than life option for
redefining our reality.
Accessory du Jour
The étagère is a natural for a top spot in home furnishings for 2009. Without a doubt, it is a by-product of our growing desire to create and inhabit deeply personal environments with more soul. The exciting assortment of new étagères and bookcases offers fabulous vehicles for surrounding ourselves with our collections, our art, our travels, our histories (and our quirks!). Unlike the 1980s, when ‘personal’ was a display of who we wished to be, 2009 promises to be a time of inner reflection as well as an expression of who we really are as individuals, as families, as a culture. The étagère will tell all of our stories, with versatility and panache!
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