Category: Awards

Geoffrey Bradfield Honored with The Albert Hadley Lifetime Achievement Award

Geoffrey Bradfield
Photo via Design2Share.com

New York School of Interior Design (NYSID) will honor Geoffrey Bradfield with the Albert Hadley Lifetime Achievement Award andLaurie D. Olin with the Thomas N. Armstrong III Award in Landscape Design at its annual spring benefit dinner on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at The Asia Society & Museum, 725 Park Avenue, New York City. Alexa Hampton, interior designer and NYSID trustee, is the benefit chairman.

“We are thrilled to recognize Geoffrey Bradfield and Laurie Olin for their considerable accomplishments in interior design and landscape architecture, respectively” said Patricia M. Sovern, chairman of the NYSID Board of Trustees. “Both designers have made outstanding contributions to their fields and exemplify brilliantly NYSID’s guiding principle that the successful design of an interior space improves human welfare.”

Geoffrey Bradfield, an Architectural Digest Dean of American Design, is one of the most international acclaimed designers of our time. He is known for the elegant and luxurious interiors he has created for private residences, offices, embassies, and resorts on virtually every continent as well as those of many yachts and jets that travel among them. Global publications have documented Geoffrey’s passion for art, his sense of glamour, and the magic and daring of his work. In addition toArchitectural Digest’s recognition of Bradfield in their “AD 100” and as Dean of American Design, he was named one of “America’s Elite 1000” in The Ultimate List, Millennium Issue, the Inside Story Behind America’s Top 1000 Names. The Robb Report included Bradfield in their list of “Top Ten Designers in The World” in 2011. His recent honors include: The American Cancer Society Man of Achievement Award 2012 and The Hyland Magazine Award for Design Excellence 2012.

Laurie Olin, founder and principal of OLIN in Philadelphia, is a distinguished teacher, author, and one of the most renowned landscape architects practicing today. From vision to realization, he has guided many of OLIN’s signature projects, which span the history of the studio from the Washington Monument Grounds in Washington, D.C. to Bryant Park in New York City. His recent projects include the AIA award-winning Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, PA and the current project to transform the David H. Koch Plaza at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Olin is currently practice professor of landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, where he has taught for 40 years. He is the recipient of the 2011 American Society of Landscape Architects Medal, the society’s highest award for a landscape architect. He is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and recipient of the 1998 Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

NYSID’s annual benefit dinner will be held at the Asia Society & Museum, 725 Park Avenue, in New York City, on Tuesday April 30, 2013. The evening begins with a cocktail reception at 7pm, followed by a dinner at 8pm. The dress is cocktail attire.

Tickets are available at $750 and $1,500 and tables for 10 at $7,500, $15,000and $25,000. For further information or to purchase tickets please contact Elizabeth Gray Kogen at (212) 472-4197 or ekogen@nysid.edu.

For The Love of Art

Frank Stella, Zane Bennet Contemporary Art
The Metro Show
This Week’s Hottest Events

The METRO Show is among several shows this week which will officially kick off New York City’s art fairs. This much anticipated five-day run will start on January 23 at New York’s Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea. When the doors open for the second edition of the METRO Show tomorrow evening, visitors will get to admire an array of fine and decorative arts from which to choose from. If it’s anything like last year, then it promises to be a veritable one-stop mecca for both seasoned and novice collectors and design aficionados.

As I pointed out earlier, the Opening Night is on Wednesday, January 23 from 6-7 by by invtiation only. Public preview starts from 7-9 pm, and the tickets are $75, either online or at the door. To obtain their hours of operation, visit their official website.

Le Petit Festival du Theatre

Le Petit Festival du Theatre 2010

My readers in Dubrovnik would be pleased to learn about the Le Petit Festival 2012, which will open with the opening of a photo exhibition by my all time favorite Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto at the Museum Marin Drzic. This year, the theme of Le Petit Festival 2013 will be the Beauty of the Woman. The festival will be open with the exhibition of iconic American photographer Robert Farber at the Museum of Art. Le Petit Festival du Theatre is a small but unique and popular cultural event held annually in historical Dubrovnik, one the most beautiful cities in the world. The backbone of this soulful festival is theatre in its many forms, from ballet to modern dance, classical to modern stage performances, Opera to Fado, collaborating all of the creations in its simplest and yet still magical form.

The Museum of Art in Dubrovnik
Le Petit Festival du Theatre 2011
Le Petit Festival du Theatre 2009
Le Petit Festival du Theatre 2007
Le Petit Festival du Theatre 2012

Winter Antiques Show

Established in 1876, The Fine Art Society (one of the dealers who is showing at the fair), specializes in 19th and 20th century British art and design
Photo via Faslondon.com
The 59th Annual Winter Antiques Show will take place at the Park Avenue Armory. This fair has long been branded as THE institutional art + design show for decades on end. The Show provides curators, established collectors, dealers, design professionals and first-time buyers with opportunities to view and purchase exceptional pieces showcased by 75 experts in American, English, European, and Asian fine and decorative arts. he opening night party is on Thursday, January 24th, and the show opens to the public from January 25th until February 3, 2013. To purchase tickets visit www.winterantiquesshow.com.
Interiors Awards

On Friday, January 25th, a number of fantastic architectural interiors will be honored, a Designer of the Year will be named, and Michael Graves, FAIA, will be recognized with the Legend Award at the 34th Annual Interiors Awards presented by Contract. The who’s who of the design world will gather at Cipriani 42nd Street to celebrate the Interiors Awards. Contract—the leading magazine for commercial architecture and interior design—will recognize projects worldwide in 13 market segments. Contract Editor in Chief John Czarnecki, Assoc. AIA, will emcee the event and will present the 2013 Legend Award to Graves—the first Designer of the Year (1981) to also receive the Legend distinction. 

Tickets for this premier event are available for purchase at www.contractdesign.com/interiorsawards2013
Cipriani New York
Iconic:Graves designed Alessi Electric Blue Bird Kettle
Majestic: Michael Grave’s St. Coletta School, Washington, D.C.
photo via Providence Journal
Michael Graves
Photo credit Barry Johnson

Red Carpet Moments at The 70th Golden Globes Awards

Helen Mirren, Dress by Badgley Mischka.
Photo:Jason Merritt/Getty Images via New York Magazine

“You Wear It Well”

Perhaps the chilly weather in Los Angeles yesterday left many scrambling for a second choice of outfit for the Golden Globes because the fashion was overall pretty awful. Even some of Hollywood’s best dressed were left looking like they didn’t bother to look at a full-length mirror. But amidst all of that, they were those who weathered the fashion storm and came out on top. This list comprised of a charming group of celebrities who were on my “fashion radar” during the Golden Globes’ red carpet moments. Who did you favor?

Gabrielle Douglas
Photo:Andreas Branch/Patrick McMullan, via New York Magazine
Naomi Watts, Dress by Zac Posen, clutch by Salvatore Ferragamo, shoes by Casadei.
Photo:Jason Merritt/Getty Images via New York Magazine
Bradley Cooper
John Shearer / Invision / AP /via Los Angeles Times
Lucy Liu, Dress by Carolina Herrera, jewelry by Lorraine Schwartz.
Photo:Jason Merritt/2013 Getty Images, via New York Magazine
Jessica Chastain, Dress by Calvin Klein Collection
Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP via Los Angeles Times
Julianna Moore, Dress by Tom Ford.
Photo:Jason Merritt/Getty Images, Photo via New York Magazine
Julianne Hough
Jason Merritt / Getty Images via Los Angeles Press
THE BADLY DRESSED
Lena Dunham, Dress by Zac Posen
Photo:Jason Merritt/Getty Images, via New York Magazine
Halle Berry, Dress by Atelier Versace
Jason Merritt / Getty Images via Los Angeles Times
Katharine McPhee
Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP / January 13, 2013 via Los Angeles Times
Mayim Bialik
Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP via Los Angeles Times
Kerry Washington, dress by Miu Miu
Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP via Los Angeles Times
Eva Longoria, Dress by Emilio Pucci.
Photo:Jason Merritt/Getty Images via New York Magazine
Kaley Cuoco
Jason Merritt/Getty Images via Los Angeles Times
Kristen Bell
John Shearer / Invision / AP via Los Angeles Times
Jennifer Lopez, Dress by Zuhair Murad, clutch by Jimmy Choo.
Photo:Jason Merritt/Getty Images via New York Magazine

East & West Coasts Celebrations

High Praise
Did you know that the stylish editor in chief of Interior Design Magazine, Cindy Allen, was bestowed an Honorary Doctorate on May 16th, 2012 by the Academy of Art University? It all took place in San Francisco, where the AAU president, Dr. Elisa Stephens, through a special reception at the school to honor this visionary New York-based editor, who has been heading Interior Design Magazine for the last 10 years.

Interior Design Magazine Editor in Chief, Cindy Allen

In addition to spearheading this most prestigeous trade magazine, Cindy Allen also handles the selection of inductees into the Interior Design Hall of Fame at the annual event, which she co-hosts with publisher Mark Strauss. She also presides over the Best of Year Award competition, honoring the best in product and interior design. And here’s some more good news: Cindy Allen was recently appointed chairwoman of DIFFA.

Cindy Allen
Cindy Allen, Elisa Stephens, Laura Blumenfeld
Laura Blumenfeld, Cindy Allen, AAU Student
Elisa Stephen, Arthur Gensler, Cindy Allen
Photos courtesy Strohl & Co.

FOOD AND MIGRATION
The second edition of the International Migration Art Festival took place without a hitch this week. The celebration started on Tuesday night at Eataly, where the exhition Sport Your Food opened, and a second show followed at Wook & Lattuada Gallery, yesterday evening. The idea behind Sport Your Food was to assumed that in the second decade of the 21st Century, gastronomy is generally considered to be an art form rather than a mere physical requirement. Five artists and five chefs were asked to work in pairs on a common theme – creating a recipe and the other a work of art. All this was brilliantly done to coincide with the 2012 London Olympics. This charming event came equipped with holograms, ravioli, biscuits, sandwiches, fillets of fish, video installations, paintings and photographs.
Ferrarelle water for guests
Gregg LeFevre (photographer and sculptor) and Massimo Bottura (chef)
Gregg LeFevre (photographer and sculptor) talking to Giorgio Faletti (Italian best-selling writer)

Grana Padano

Rossella Canevari (writer, screenwriter and artistic director of IMAFestival), Giorgio Faletti (Italian best-selling writer
and Elena Manzini (producer and lawyer)
Eataly at 23rd street between 5th and 6th Ave.
Photos courtesy Arturo Stanig

The New York School of Interior Design honors Jack Lenor Larsen and Thomas Woltz

Jack Lenor Larsen, and Thomas Woltz honored by The New York School of Interior Design
Jack Lenor Larsen received lifetime achievement award, and Thomas Woltz, the Thomas N. Armstrong III Award for Landscape Design. Last night, The New York School of Interior Design honored textile pioneer Jack Lenor Larsen with a Lifetime Achievement Award and noted landscape
designer Thomas Woltz with the school’s first Thomas N. Armstrong III Award in Landscape Design at its 2nd annual Spring Benefit, held at The Metropolitan Club, in New York. While receiving his award, Mr Larsen humorlessly pointed out how delighted he was to be in a room which made him looked younger.

Patricia Sovern (Chairman of the Board of the New York School of Interior Design), Jack Lenor Larsen, Thomas Woltz. Photos courtesy Photography by Annie Watt ©
NYSID Spring Benefit at The Metropolitan Club
Thomas Woltz, Patricia Sovern, David Sprouls
Lou Gropp , long-time former editor-in-chief of House Beautiful, Jack Lenor Larsen

“I was lucky enough that I could go out and do
new things that I did not know how to do yet.“
 – Jack Lenor Larsen
Marilyn White, Mario Buatta
From Left: Patricia Sovern, distinguished guest, Inge Heckel, Jack Lenor Larsen

“The New York School of Interior Design is proud to celebrate the achievements of these two design luminaries for their innovative and distinguished careers, and to launch the Thomas N. Armstrong III Award in Landscape Design, in memory of our late trustee’s devotion to landscape design.”
–Patricia Sovern

Elsie St. Léger (centered) and distinguished guests
Ellen S. Fisher, Ph.D. (NYSID VP for Academic Affairs & Dean), and distinguished guest
From left: Marc Gilbertson, Geoffrey Bradfield, and Roric Tobin
Distinguished guest
Distinguished guests
Lynn and Noel Jeffrey
Thomas Woltz (pictured on the screen)
Jack Lenor Larsen accepting his Lifetime Achievement Award at The Metropolitan Club
Distinguished guest
Thomas Woltz
Vyna St Phard, Jack Lenor Larsen
Photo courtesy High End Weekly™
Distinguished guest, Margaret Russell (centered) and Phillip Gorivan
Patricia Sovern, Cynthia Hazen Polsky
Vyna St Phard
Photos courtesy Photography by Annie Watt ©
Lou Gropp, long-time editor of House Beautiful Magazine and former NYSID trustee, presented Jack Lenor Larsen with the Lifetime Achievement Award. In memory of his father, Whitney Armstrong honored landscape architect Thomas Woltz with the first Thomas N. Armstrong III Award in Landscape Design. In September 2012, the school will continue their celebration of Larsen’s professional achievements with a major retrospective filling their 69th Street Gallery.
Jack Larsen arrived in New York in 1951 to open his first design studio. This was at the beginning of the modern movement, and Larsen immediately understood that less is more, as the nation was influenced by the post war decade. Larsen became instrumental in revealing how textile design can be used to reinvigorate the modern architecture of that time. Over the years, he proved to be much more complexed as a designer, and is still known as the quintessential modernist, who was lured by the past, but admired many styles – especially tribal design. His friends and critics would agree that he is a major force in the world of design, a tireless traveller, successful entrepreneur, a passionate collector of other talents, and a friend to other artists.
During his acceptance speech, Jack Lenor Larsen also pointed out that when he began his career, he was lucky enough to have started as someone who “did things that he did not know how to do yet”. And as a society, we should appreciate the beautiful, and natural things surrounding our every day lives, especially living in a world when just about everything is mass produced. He encouraged his friends and colleagues that were gathered together, to celebrate their individualities. He quoted his long-time friend Carl Sandberg who once told him while he was in college to “let us be different from other people, if being different comes easy and natural.”

The New York School of Interior Design Honors Jack Lenor Larsen and Thomas Woltz

The New York School of Interior Design will honor visionary, scholar, world traveler, and authority on traditional and contemporary crafts, Jack Lenor Larsen and Thomas Woltz,  at its annual spring benefit, on Wednesday, April 18 at the Metropolitan Club.

Jack Lenor Larsen
Photo credit: Roberto Dutesco

Mr. Larsen will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award and Mr. Woltz, who is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and owner of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, will receive the school’s first Thomas N. Armstrong III Award in Landscape Design. This year’s Benefit co-chairs include Mario Buatta, Ellie Cullman, Philip Gorrivan, Amy Lau, Stephanie Odegard, Campion Platt, and Barbara Slifka. The Vice-chairs include Graham Arader, James Druckman, Marina Kellen French, Hugh Hardy, and Mary Ellen and Richard Oldenburg.

Thomas Woltz
Photo credit: Will Kemer Photographer

Thomas Woltz works between offices in Virginia and New York, he has led designs of a broad range of institutional projects in the US and abroad including The Peggy Guggenheim Sculpture Garden in Venice, Italy, The McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, Round Hill, Jamaica, the National Arboretum of New Zealand and a Master Plan for the conservation of 42,000 acres of Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles. Many of Thomas’ projects focused on restoration of damaged ecological infrastructure within working farmland and create models of biodiversity and sustainable agriculture. Thomas serves on the Board of Directors of The Cultural Landscape Foundation, and is an avid gardener.

“We are very pleased to salute Jack Lenor Larsen and Thomas Woltz,” said Patricia Sovern, Chairman, Board of Trustees. “Each of these men has enriched the textures of our lives and the quality of the built environment. We are particularly proud to launch the Thomas N. Armstrong III Award in Landscape Design, honoring our late trustee’s devotion to landscape design.” According to Sovern, Armstrong’s son, landscape architect, Whitney Armstrong, will present Woltz with the award.

Tickets for the benefit start at $500 and $1,000 per person. Tables of 10 can be purchased for $5,000 (Supporter), $10,000 (Benefactor), $15,000 (Connoisseur) or $25,000 (Patron). To purchase tickets or for more information contact: Monica Cheslak at 212-472-1500, or email: mcheslak@nysid.edu.