Introspective Magazine

It’s not every designer whose website asks prospective customers to call, email or just “stop by our office.” Then again, it’s not every designer whose office is a neighborhood storefront. “People come in off the street every day,” says Damon Liss, whose design firm has been based in Tribeca for 20 years. “We’re part of the community.” That doesn’t mean Liss wants to hear from everybody all the time.

Rodrigo Salem doesn’t do things by half measures. A native of Lima, Peru, he spent two decades as a global tech executive for Microsoft and Facebook/Meta, living in Hong Kong, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro for extended periods and traveling to 80 more countries for business and pleasure.

July 30, 2023“I mean . . . insane,” says Jenny Walton with a giddy smile as she tries on a Belle Époque diamond-and-platinum tiara at Bentley & Skinner, in London’s Mayfair shopping district. Jewelers by royal appointment to the late Queen Elizabeth and the former Prince of Wales, now His Majesty King Charles III, the venerable firm is especially known for its collection of antique pieces by some of the finest makers in the UK and across Europe.

Henri Fitzwilliam-Lay appreciates clients who push her beyond her comfort zone. The first thing to know about the Canadian-born, New York–raised and London-based interior designer, however, is that her “comfort zone” begins where that of most clients end. Among the tools of her particular trade are richly saturated color, bold pattern mixing, adventurous blends of decorative periods and genres and extravagant yet carefully deployed flourishes (particularly in lighting).

Growing up as the scion of the Belgian Vanhamme family of luxury furniture makers, Lionel Jadot had his parents’ design studio for his childhood playground. He was given leftover fabrics and materials and went off to create.

As befits a master classicist, Thomas Jayne believes that fine design travels well and makes itself at home in any architectural context. The designer had the opportunity to prove his point when a Philadelphia client for whom he had decorated a four-story 1864 townhouse 20 years previously decided to downsize.

Toward the end of his life, in 2008, French designer Pierre Paulin was interviewed by architect Rem Koolhaas and contemporary-art curator Hans Ulrich Obrist and asked about his greatest regret. His answer was that he had not managed to commercialize a project known today as the Pierre Paulin Program. Developed between 1969 and 1972, the program was envisioned as a modular system of furniture components that could be combined at will, giving users the ability to design their own domestic interiors.

“PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THAT!” I hear myself saying, too sharp, too fast. I give tours at Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center, mid-century industrial designer Russel Wright’s home, studio and 75-acre property in Garrison, New York, about an hour north of New York City. We site educators are an eclectic group of Hudson River Valley locals.

Perched atop a hill on the Umbria-Tuscany border, Hotel Castello Di Reschio is the stuff of fairy tales. Once a crumbling ruin, the 11th-century fortress, often found swathed in ethereal mist, has been skillfully reimagined by Count Benedikt Bolza as an extraordinary hotel that marries quiet luxury and classic design with a touch of theatrical flair.

There aren’t many opportunities to see the work of some of the UK’s finest design talents all in one space, but the WOW!house offered just that. Earlier this summer, the showhouse enjoyed its second, hugely successful iteration at London’s Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, where it featured a host of exceptional designers — some established luminaries, others rising stars — from all corners of the globe. Representing the U.S., Los Angeles–based Mark D.