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The exclusive world of one of the twentieth century’s most glamorous and alluring women, as seen through her private homes and gardens. Nicknamed "The Swan" by Richard Avedon when he photographed her iconic portrait in 1953, Marella Agnelli is not only one of the great beauties of the last century, but also the most elegant and cultured of that exclusive club.

Born the Neapolitan princess Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto, she became Marella Agnelli with her marriage to Gianni Agnelli, the Fiat industrialist. However, her innate style dates back to her New York internship with photographer Erwin Blumenfeld, and she was a Vogue contributor in the 1950s and ’60s as well as appearing in its pages. One of the most photographed women of the jet-set society, she was captured by Avedon as well as Irving Penn, Henry Clarke, Horst, and Robert Doisneau, among others. Agnelli collaborated with the best artists and designers of her day, with her many residences as their palette. From Italian interior design legend Renzo Mongiardino — who worked on her New York apartment alongside a young Peter Marino — to Gae Aulenti, the important Italian architect, who built her homes in Turin and Marrakech, Agnelli created a series of extraordinary houses and gardens, full of timeless elegance, invaluable art, and groundbreaking decorating ideas. With ten residences spread throughout Turin, Rome, Milan, New York, St. Moritz, and Marrakech, ranging from regally classic villas to ultramodern apartments, her impeccable taste shines through in these gorgeous interiors and gardens.

One of the famous modern fairy tales of love, glamour, and heartbreak, Marella Agnelli has become an icon of our times.

About the Author:

Marella Caracciolo Chia is a respected design journalist for Architectural Digest, the New York Times T Magazine, among other prestigious publications.

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Пролистать книгу Marella Agnelli: The Last Swan

Twenty-one houses in and around Marfa, Texas, provide a glimpse at creative life and design in one of the art world’s most intriguing destinations.

When Donald Judd began his Marfa project in the early 1970s, it was regarded as an idiosyncratic quest. Today, Judd is revered for his minimalist art and the stringent standards he applied to everything around him, including interiors, architecture, and furniture. The former water stop has become a mecca for artists, art pilgrims, and design aficionados drawn to the creative enclave, the permanent installations called “among the largest and most beautiful in the world,” and the austerely beautiful high-desert landscape.

In keeping with Judd’s site-specific intentions, those who call Marfa home have made a choice to live in concert with their untamed, open surroundings. Marfa Modern features houses that represent unique responses to this setting — the sky, its light and sense of isolation — some that even predate Judd’s arrival.

Here, conceptual artist Michael Phelan lives in a former Texaco service station with battery acid stains on the concrete floor and a twenty-foot dining table lining one wall. A chef’s modest house comes with the satisfaction of being handmade down to its side tables and bath, which expands into a private courtyard with an outdoor tub. Another artist uses the many rooms of her house, a former jail, to shift between different mediums — with Judd’s Fort D. A. Russell works always visible from her second-story sun porch.

Extraordinary building costs mean that Marfa dwellers embrace a culture of frontier ingenuity and freedom from excess — salvaged metal signs become sliding doors and lengths of pipe become lighting fixtures, industrial warehouses are redesigned after the area’s white-cube galleries to create space for private or personally created art collections, and other materials are suggested by the land itself: walls are made of adobe bricks or rammed earth to form sculptural courtyards, or, in one remarkable instance, a mix of mud and brick plastered with local soils, cactus mucilage, horse manure, and straw.

About the Authors:

Helen Thompson is a nationally known writer whose areas of specialty include interior design, architecture, and food. She was formerly a food writer and editor for Texas Monthly magazine and the Texas city editor for Metropolitan Home magazine. She has also written and produced articles for Architectural Digest, Dwell, Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Martha Stewart Living, Traditional Home, Veranda, and many other magazines. She is the author of The Big Texas Steakhouse Cookbook and The Mansion on Turtle Creek Cookbook.
 Casey Dunn is an Austin-based architectural and landscape photographer whose work has appeared in Architectural Digest, Architectural Record, Dwell, Interior Design magazine, the New York Times Magazine, and Paper City.

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Пролистать книгу Marfa Modern: Artistic Interiors of the West Texas High Desert

The eagerly anticipated first monograph to celebrate the fifty-years-and-counting career of decorating legend Mario Buatta. Influenced by the understated elegance of Colefax and Fowler and the doyenne of exuberant American decor, Sister Parish, Buatta reinvented the English Country House style stateside for clients such as Henry Ford II, Barbara Walters, Malcolm Forbes, and Mariah Carey, and for Blair House, the President’s guest quarters. The designer is acclaimed for his sumptuous rooms that layer fine antiques, confectionary curtains, and sublime colorations, creating an atmosphere of lived-in opulence. This lavishly illustrated survey — filled with images taken for the foremost shelter magazines as well as many unpublished photographs from the designer’s own archive — closely follows Buatta’s highly documented career from his professional start in the 1950s working for department store B. Altman & Co. and Elisabeth Draper, Inc. to his most recent projects, which include some of the country’s finest residences. Buatta shares exclusive insights into his process, his own rules for decorating, and personal stories of his adventures along the way.

About the Author:

Mario Buatta is an internationally acclaimed interior designer known for his English Country House style. He has brought the refinement, comfort, and beauty of his designs to a long list of clients from the worlds of entertainment, business, fashion, and high society. Emily Evans Eerdmans received her master’s degree in fine and decorative arts from Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London and is a leading authority on antique furniture and interior design. She has authored The World of Madeleine Castaing and Regency Redux. Paige Rense is the editor emeritus of Architectural Digest, where she served as editor-in-chief from 1975 to 2010.

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Пролистать книгу Mario Buatta: Fifty Years of American Interior Decoration на сайте издательства.

More thoughts on decorating from one of today’s most versatile and accomplished interior designers, illustrated with his latest projects

Markham Roberts is renowned for his boundless creativity and ability to work in a wide range of styles. In this, his second book, he examines his working method, identifying the key elements of a project and explaining how he addresses them. He begins with his top priority: taking into account his clients’ point of view by interpreting their needs and reflecting their style. Other elements include establishing a sense of place, layering and embellishing to make spaces more personal and interesting, acknowledging the need for practicality in materials, and doing the unexpected, from upholstering walls to mixing disparate materials and styles of furniture. Throughout, specially commissioned photographs illustrate his solutions to the challenges each of these elements poses. He concludes the book with a chapter on a single project that encompasses all of the elements.

About the Author:

Markham Roberts trained with the renowned decorator Mark Hampton before opening his own firm in 1997. Since then, he has earned the reputation as one of the top decorators of his generation. Alison Levasseur is the Interiors and Garden editor at Architectural Digest. Nelson Hancock works as a photographer, curator, and professor of photography and cultural anthropology.
 
 

Each year the pristine beaches, lush pine forests, and picturesque New England towns of Martha’s Vineyard draw tens of thousands of admirers to this beautiful island. Some of these visitors have become part-time residents, building contemporary homes alongside the traditional Victorian cottages, sea captains’ mansions, and colonial farmhouses that comprise the island’s cultural and architectural heritage. Rarely does one find such a concentration of outstanding contemporary design.

Authors Keith Moskow and Robert Linn expand their 2005 survey of Vineyard residential design to present twenty-five new houses that extend the traditional Vineyard vernacular of shingled houses and cottages. Each of the architects has described the goals for the project and the source of the design. Some reference nautical themes, others environmental concerns, and still others appropriateness of materials and scale. A significant number rely on a plan strategy based on a series of pavilions to minimize intrusion in the landscape while still taking advantage of views and prevailing breezes. What links the houses is that they are all built to stand the test of time in the sometimes extreme marine environment and they respectfully break with tradition.

About the Authors:

Keith Moskow and Robert Linn are principals of Moskow Linn Architects in Boston, a firm committed to sustainable, environmentally sensitive architecture. Moskow studied architecture at Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania, and has been a lifelong summer resident of Martha’s Vineyard, where he and Linn have completed multiple architectural commissions. He is the author of The Houses of Martha’s Vineyard, Sustainable Facilities, and Small Scale.

In his second book, Martyn Lawrence Bullard demonstrates how to bring a sense of luxury and glamour into spaces designed for comfort and modern living. As evidenced by the success of Live, Love, & Decorate, Martyn Lawrence Bullard is beloved for his ability to mix a broad range of styles in eclectic, sophisticated, yet always comfortable interiors. His trademark attention to detail, adventurous use of color and texture, and references to history are hallmarks of his style. Known for his commitment to quality, he travels the globe to source the world’s most beautiful objects. For this all-new selection of design projects, Bullard continues to draw upon these inspiration-filled experiences as well as his penchant for studying and collecting both vintage decorative arts and pedigreed antiques. This peek into Bullard’s newest cache of homes is inspiring in its mix of styles — from exotic chic to luxuriant modern — and will appeal to designers and homeowners with an eye for bold interiors. Included are a Connecticut country estate, a Balinese-inspired house in Malibu, Tommy Hilfiger’s pop art–filled beach house in Miami, and the Château Gütsch in Switzerland, once home to Queen Victoria and now a chic boutique hotel.

About the Author:

A star of the hit series Million Dollar Decorators, Martyn Lawrence Bullard is a regular on the AD100 and Elle Décor’s A-List. He designs eleven product lines for such renowned brands as Christofle, Haviland Limoges, Daum crystal, and Schumacher, along with his own eponymous fabric, furniture, and fragrance lines. Tommy Hilfiger is an American fashion designer.

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Пролистать книгу Martyn Lawrence Bullard: Design and Decoration

Country houses have always been the preferred locations for withdrawing, deceleration, and contemplation. This trend continues unbroken today, especially as the metropolitan areas expand and more and more city dwellers are escaping to the countryside. In addition to the conversion of existing buildings numerous new residences are being built. New building materials, groundbreaking techniques or a simple return to traditional forms of construction are defining country houses of today.

Masterpieces: Country House Architecture + Design presents projects from across the world which answers today’s aesthetic, functional and ecological demands, while at the same time underscoring the uniqueness of the location and the surrounding landscape. The selected works show different ways to re-evaluate the definition of the country with a contemporary design.

_Casa no Geres in Peneda-Geras National Park, Portugal (Correia/Ragazzi Aquitectos)
_Villa Vals, Switzerland (SeARCH & CMA)
_Aptos Retreat, California, USA (CCS Architecture)
_Kent House, Connecticut, USA (Gray Organschi)
_Element House in Seoul, Korea (Sami Rintala)

The first book on the architect's custom-built residences in California, tailor-made to the highest specification one could ask for.

This collection of visionary residences takes us on a tour of the height in luxury, designed to accommodate all amenities available--from the indoor gym and hair salon to the movie theater, champagne vault and wine cellar, cigar room, and wellness room. California Living looks at McClean's rise to prominence, from his first Bird Streets home in the Hollywood Hills to houses that drew attention from the likes of fashion designer Calvin Klein and the record-setting Bel Air home of Beyoncé and Jay Z. In addition to incorporating water in all of his designs, he makes extensive use of glass to eliminate the barrier between the indoors/outdoors. His sleek designs seamlessly integrate the outdoors taking advantage of the spectacular views and landscapes.

After an illustrated introduction, the portfolio section of twenty-four magnificent ultra-modern homes describes each house in detail with sketches and site plans, explaining the architect's work. McClean offers his reflections on these beautiful projects and the design strategies behind their creation, all completed in the past fifteen years. McClean Design has grown into one of the leading contemporary residential design firms in the fashionable areas of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, with projects throughout the Western United States and beyond to Hawaii and British Columbia.

About the Authors:

Paul McClean grew up in Ireland, where he attended the Dublin Institute of Technology, graduating with honors in architecture in 1994. During this time, he traveled and worked for award-winning architectural practices in London, Dublin, and Sydney. After graduation, he arrived in Southern California and worked for various local architectural firms before establishing McClean Design in 2000. McClean is a member of the American Institute of Architects and works primarily in California and Hawaii. 

Philip Jodidio was born in New Jersey in 1954. He studied art history and economics at Harvard before moving to Paris, where he was editor-in-chief of the French art monthly Connaissance des Arts from 1980 to 2002. Jodidio has written over 90 books about contemporary architecture and art, including Tadao Ando: Venice, Tadao Ando at Naoshima, Tadao Ando Modern Art Museum of Ft. Worth, and I. M. Pei: The Complete Works for Rizzoli.

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Пролистать книгу McClean Design: Creating the Contemporary House

A lavish volume celebrating the centenary of McMillen, the storied American interior design firm

The story of McMillen is the story of American interior design. From humble beginnings in a townhouse on New York City’s East 55th St. in 1924, McMillen evolved into the premier interior design firm in the country under the intrepid leadership of Eleanor Stockstrom McMillen (later Eleanor McMillen Brown). This centennial volume, written by Ann Pyne, the current president of McMillen, traces the history of the company from the early years of experimentation through the lean years of the Depression and World War II, the so-called glory years of the 1960s and 1970s, and into the modern era, beginning in the 1980s. McMillen’s clientele has always comprised a who’s who of American movers and shakers, along with renowned corporate clients, and some of its employees — Albert Hadley, Mark Hampton, Tom Buckley, and Kevin McNamara among them — went on to become the major interior designers of the late 20th century.

Sumptuously illustrated with color and vintage black-and-white photographs of luxurious homes, as well as public spaces such as the Steuben Showroom and the Cosmopolitan Club, both in New York, plus exquisite period watercolors, this celebration of McMillen showcases the very best of design history.

About the Author:

Ann Pyne is the current president of McMillen, succeeding her mother, Betty Sherrill, who took over the presidency when Mrs. McMillen Brown retired. She has a masters degree in decorative arts from the Bard Graduate Center and an MA in English and American literature from Columbia University. She lives in New York.

Drawing on examples of their own instantly recognizable Minimalist-inflected designs, often evoking the work of Donald Judd, celebrated architects Messana O’Rorke demonstrate how to create a serene haven for modern living.

Founded in 1996 by Brian Messana and Toby O’Rorke in New York City, Messana O’Rorke is renowned for crafting spaces of sublime restraint and ethereal beauty. Their process utilizes a rigorously limited palette of materials orchestrated in an architectural language of distilled boxes, blocks, and containers that emphasize the qualities of space itself rather than the things that fill it. The apparent simplicity and serenity of Messana O’Rorke’s designs belie the astonishing richness and variety of the experiences they nurture.

The architects’ projects span a wide spectrum of residential and commercial assignments in multiple geographies — city, country, mountain, desert, coastal. Yet even as they adapt their fundamental design vocabulary to address differences in program and context, Messana O’Rorke’s signature remains unmistakable in the ways they carve space and light. Their designs simultaneously foster both contemplation and invigoration, repose and action. There is no straining for theatrical effect, no tortured architectural calisthenics, simply a search for order, clarity, and beauty.

About the Author:

New York–based architects Brian Messana and Toby O’Rorke founded Messana O’Rorke in 1996. Mayer Rus is the West Coast editor of Architectural Digest.

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Пролистать книгу Messana O'Rorke: Building Blocks

An American expat searches vibrant cities and quiet pueblos for the essence of Mexican style

Revealing the richly visual and cultural details that are the essence of Mexican style, design editor and photographer Newell Turner has done for Mexican design what legendary culinary pioneer Diana Kennedy did for Mexican food.

Elegantly organized around nine decisive decorative periods that have shaped México’s unique design journey to the present day, Turner establishes a visual dialogue with the reader that beautifully captures the depth and subtleties of the country’s aesthetic legacy. Ushered behind the walls, gates, and doors of private México, we are introduced to an intriguing world of interior design and architecture — including the highly developed civilizations pre-dating the arrival of Columbus; the Spanish colonial arts; the dynamic response to global movements such as Art Deco and Surrealism; and a rich survey of modernist and contemporary work. Woven intricately into this history is Turner’s own story of discovering the distinctive soul of México, where — in the spirit of memoirs in which a traveler discovers another country he finds himself along the way.

In this vivid volume of color, texture and contrasts, Turner examines the extraordinary range of Mexican design with the insight of a true devotee. The breathtaking photography shows how every room, courtyard, loggia — and even a chair, or an arrangement of flowers — are part of a rich design heritage. Turner spent his magazine career chronicling American style, and now his unerring eye has turned to México. We are invited to join him on a voyage as he explores the homes of Mexicans and other expats who share his passion for authentic México — both past and present — and are inspired by the country’s complex history and stunning landscapes.

About the Authors:

Newell Turner led the formation of the Hearst Design Group in 2012 and served as editorial director of Elle Decor, House Beautiful, and Veranda. As the editor-in-chief of House Beautiful, he won a coveted National Magazine Award for General Excellence — the industry equivalent of an Oscar. Earlier, Turner held senior editorial positions at House & Garden and Metropolitan Home, and was the founding editor of Hamptons Cottages & Gardens and its many sister publications. A trustee of the New York School of Interior Design, he lives in the Catskill region of New York as well as in Mérida, Mexico.

Susana Ordovás is a Mexico City–based journalist and creative director; she is a contributor to AD Mexico and Cabana.

The first monograph of the stunning residences designed by a contemporary master of traditional architecture.

A must-have for lovers of traditional or southwestern-inspired residential design, Michael G. Imber: Ranches, Villas, and Houses reveals the beauty of building from the rich architectural traditions of the desert southwest and Mexico.

A master of traditional forms derived from these regions, particularly of his native Texas, Michael G. Imber begins each of his designs by considering the land through watercolors and then develops his ideas in relation to climate and local historical references. The result is an array of ranches and houses that evokes the rural building traditions of the west, that is unafraid of the delights of classical ornamentation, and that is nonetheless wholly modern in its execution.

Here, in the first monograph devoted to the architect’s work, is a collection of masterful residential projects ranging in scale from bungalows to sprawling ranches, all presented in large-format photographs and accompanied by Imber’s extraordinary watercolor studies.

Design icon and AD100 Hall of Fame member Smith’s highly anticipated book of interiors — the first in nearly a decade — featuring extraordinary projects across the world.

One of the most original and respected talents in design, Smith is revered for his impeccable taste and style. Informed by a deep understanding of design history and the art world, Smith’s work is the ultimate in elegance and luxury, reflecting an uncommon sense of scale and drama and a deft use of craftsmanship and materials. His interiors have earned him enduring accolades throughout the industry, as well as a devoted following of notable clients, from Hollywood mega talents such as Shonda Rhimes to former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

This book is a celebration of Smith’s design aesthetic, a flawless blend of European classicism and American modernism. The projects range from a contemporary beach house in East Hampton to a Moroccan-influenced Mallorca escape, as well as two of Michael’s own homes, including his extraordinary apartment in a nineteenth-century palace in Madrid. Smith shares his inspirations and design process, and explores what makes a room truly comfortable: Can people relax on the seating? Is the furniture arranged to encourage conversation? Is there enough light, and is it flattering?

The book is both an inspiration and an education, from a virtuoso of design.

About the Author:

Michael S. Smith is one of the most talented interior designers of our time, continuously named to the AD100 since early in his career and regularly recognized for his contributions to international culture and the arts. In 2010, Smith was appointed by President Obama to serve on the Committee for the Preservation of the White House.

The newest book from acclaimed designer Michael S Smith showcases his exceptional take on kitchens and baths, the busiest yet most personal rooms in a home. Legendary designer Michael S. Smith has stories to tell about kitchens and bathrooms-those he has designed himself, and those that inspire him. In this fascinating and inspirational book, Smith, who has his own line of kitchen and bath fixtures for Kohler, explains how these rooms define a house.

Kitchens and bathrooms are among the most expensive and labour-intensive rooms to design. But they are also opposites, the most public and private zones of a house. In three in-depth case studies and dozens of supporting examples, Smith discusses his design process for these rooms, from big-picture issues such as the social engineering of the kitchen’s layout to details large and small, including the importance of choosing the right cabinet, which can be a crystallization of the architecture of the house, as well as countertops, fixtures, floors, hardware, and more.

Also including a sampling of dressing rooms and breakfast rooms, along with a comprehensive resource section, this is a uniquely sophisticated take on a subject of perennial interest.     

About the Authors:

 Michael S. Smith, one of Architectural Digest’s 100 Top Designers and the winner of Elle Decor’s Designer of the Year Award in 2003, is regularly featured in Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, and House Beautiful.

Christine Pittel is a senior editor at House Beautiful whose writing has also appeared in the New York Times and House & Garden.

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Пролистать книгу Michael S. Smith Kitchens and Baths на сайте издательства.

The newest book from acclaimed designer Michael S Smith is an in-depth look at how to create the perfect American house.

The newest book from acclaimed designer Michael S Smith is an in-depth look at how to create the perfect American house. Michael S Smith: House and Home is a rare opportunity to experience in great detail the work of this renowned designer. Michael S Smith transformed an ordinary house and its outbuildings into an extraordinary suite of rooms that display the best of this design superstar’s work. As he walks the reader through its myriad rooms and gardens, explaining each decision made, Smith provides a complete, invaluable up-to-date design vocabulary that every homeowner and design aficionado is keen to know, from the initial renovation plans to the finishing details, indoors and out. Interviews with the architect, Oscar Shamamian, the landscape designer, and various craftsmen help Smith guide the reader through the process of creating a house, and in so doing provides a blueprint for anyone building or renovating their dream home. Richly informative, this is a visually stunning, indispensable guide to designing an unforgettable house, one decision at a time.

About the Author:

Designer and author Michael S Smith is considered one of the design industry’s most respected talents, with an international profile of residential and commercial clients. He is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including multiple times on Architectural Digest’s "AD 100" list. He has also been named "Designer of the Year" by Elle Decor. The author of three previous books, The Elements of Style, Houses, Michael S. Smith Kitchens and Baths, his projects have been featured in many noted publications. In 2010, Smith was appointed by President Obama to the Committee for the Preservation of the White House. Christine Pittel is a writer and senior editor at House Beautiful.

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Michael S Smith: House and Home is a rare opportunity to experience in great detail the work of this renowned designer. Michael S Smith transformed an ordinary house and its outbuildings into an extraordinary suite of rooms that display the best of this design superstar’s work. As he walks the reader through its myriad rooms and gardens, explaining each decision made, Smith provides a complete, invaluable up-to-date design vocabulary that every homeowner and design aficionado is keen to know, from the initial renovation plans to the finishing details, indoors and out. Interviews with the architect, Oscar Shamamian, the landscape designer, and various craftsmen help Smith guide the reader through the process of creating a house, and in so doing provides a blueprint for anyone building or renovating their dream home.

Richly informative, this is a visually stunning, indispensable guide to designing an unforgettable house, one decision at a time.

Since he was invited to update the White House’s décor in 2009, Michael S. Smith has been knighted with a rare and coveted interiors title: the President’s Decorator. But the Southern California native has kept busy since his foray in the Oval Office, adorning his own Manhattan condo with French-made panels while also slowly crafting what he calls the perfect American country home. Smith documented the latter in his fourth book, Building Beauty: The Alchemy of Design, a fantastic, step-by-step look inside Smith’s method for combining European classicism with American modernism (released today by Rizzoli). West Coast editor Krista Smith recently caught up with the designer about scavenging limestone from Italy, his love of high-low decorating, and his best memories from the White House. Highlights from their chat:

Krista Smith: So what inspired this book?

Michael S. Smith: When I started working on this house, I just knew that it was going to be a special project. I could tell very early on that everybody who worked on it was very proud of their work and very invested, not just in a business way. It transcended that. Everybody knew what they were working on was going to be really special. From the land, from the quality of the way it was built, from the pursuing of all these materials, like limestone in Italy and tile in Colombia — all this stuff that was being done specially for the house, it was something that should be freeze-framed, so people would understand what it was like to be involved in the process.

I’ve heard it referred to as the perfect American country house. What does that mean to you?

The American version is clearly more simple and reductive. This is a perfect scale, in the sense that it fits into the old Newport or South Hampton or Palm Beach or Montecito model house in terms of scale. There was a desire to keep it much more informal and casual in feeling, almost modern. It captures this idea of this beautiful house that is in itself architecturally so interesting on this physically beautiful piece of land, so you have this great harmony of two things that work really well together.

When people think Michael Smith, they think four books, beautiful antiques, very expensive, rare. But I happen to know that you also have Pottery Barn chairs and a Crate & Barrel sofa.

I think it’s about having a smart editorial eye and understanding what there is out there. There are great things at flea markets; there are great things at Crate & Barrel; there’s great stuff on eBay. CB2, Room & Board, and Anthropologie have made really good design accessible. One of my jobs is to understand when to use something that’s not expensive. In the case of this house, there are some curtain fabrics that are like $20-a-yard fabric, or remnants that I bought at a fabric store in England, Indian fabric that I made into Roman shades in some of the bathrooms. Part of it is to look at things for their inherent beauty and quality and not necessarily be tripped up by their cost, high or low.

You helped decorate the White House — that’s a very special and unique position to be in.  What thing are you most proud of that you were able to bring into that environment?

There are so many interesting craftspeople, artisans, and artists who are now part of the fabric of what the spaces that I worked on are. There are new voices in the building that weren’t there before. In the case of the Oval Office, the craftspeople who made things, or people who contributed their efforts to it. . .  To know what that does to someone who’s a person who makes carpets in Michigan or makes wallpaper in New York state — that actually touches them. They feel that they’re a part of history.

As a designer, you don’t seem very sentimental. You’ve basically swapped house for house. You’re re-doing an existing property in Palm Springs, you had a very old-fashioned home in L.A., and now you’ve migrated into an extremely modern home. And you just finished renovating the apartment in New York City.

I think part of my job is to stay crisper and more focused on somebody else’s taste and focus on their objects, therefore mine have to take a backseat in a weird way. I become very interested in an intellectual idea. My apartment in New York is really French because I wanted to see, technically, what I could have done in terms of having paneling made in France and go through that process and have it be educational. I don’t necessarily always need the physical objects. That being said, I have a real attachment to some things, pieces of art that I love, or things that mean something to me in a certain way. Part of my job is to immerse myself in an idea, whether it comes from the client or myself or the architecture of a space. You can’t do that if you’re carrying around, literally or figuratively, all these other ideas that you can’t let go of.

Jasper is the name of your fabrics-and-furniture line, but it’s also the name of your dog. When is the dog line coming out?

I would love to do a dog line. I have to ask him. He’s very busy

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Пролистать книгу Michael S. Smith: Building Beauty: The Alchemy of Design на сйте издательства.