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The founder of Rockwell Group—the firm that recently created the Trump Soho New York shown above—on how the downturn has changed the design industry.
By Matthew Hall
These days, David Rockwell’s theatrical roles are strictly behind-the-scenes affairs—he has designed the stage sets for a variety of Broadway plays, including “Hairspray,” “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Elf.” But as a youngster, Rockwell actually trod the boards in a variety of community theater productions, playing such parts as Winthrop in “The Music Man” and a Siamese twin in “The King and I.” He was cast as those characters by his mother, who was a vaudeville dancer/choreographer. “My interest in lighting and the importance of movement through space were formed through the many days and evenings I spent in the theater with my mother and my brothers,” he says.
Rockwell also spent some of his younger years in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he gained an appreciation for the roles that color and spectacle can play in creating memorable environments. “In Guadalajara, it seemed like every rule I knew was broken: kids played soccer in the streets; dogs romped on the roofs and not on the ground; people sold food on the street. It was an extraordinarily exuberant world, and I loved the public life there: the marketplace, bullrings and mariachi bands in the square.”
Building on those early influences, Rockwell has emerged as one of the design world’s true Renaissance men. Projects created by the architect’s New York-based Rockwell Group span a wide spectrum of sectors, including hotels, stage sets, restaurants, retail spaces, museums and even a playground. In honor of his high-profile work in boutique hotel design—where his firm’s recent creations include the Andaz Wall Street, Trump Soho New York and Ink48 hotels—he was named Boutique Design’s Designer of the Year for 2010.
BD: The Ink48 Hotel has been named Best Hotel in this year’s Boutique Design Awards competition. In what ways does that project reflect your firm’s goal of creating “immersive environments”?
Rockwell: The story we wanted to tell with the design of Ink48 is that the hotel is simultaneously in the center of the city and off the beaten path—so there is a sense of discovery and surprise that we incorporated at a number of different levels. For example, the original robust concrete columns remain central features of the lobby; horsehair brushes make up the feature wall in the elevators; the tables in the restaurants are made with copper and blackened metal; and there are industrial felt inserts in the guest room millwork.
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