Higher Purpose
Designers, manufacturers, and students worked together for New York’s Dining by Design, benefiting DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS.
Theme: The elephant in the room, aka the ongoing battle against HIV/AIDS, was represented by an 8-foot-high galvanized-steel version.
Mentor: Barry Richards of Rockwell Group.
Theme: To convey the light within, a vinyl wall graphic and luminous Formica surfacing evoked the sun’s rays, an inspirational setting fabricated with Shawmut Design and Construction.
Host: Novità Communications.
Theme: A vintage Underwood typewriter centerpiece, wall text by abolitionist Sojourner Truth, and paper-boat chandeliers made from articles on the epidemic alluded to the power of facts.
4. Jeffrey Beers International
Hosts: Maya Romanoff and AKDO and Walters.
Theme: To salute David Bowie’s philanthropic efforts against HIV/AIDS, a twinkling glass-bead wall covering mimicked the swirling patterns of a jumpsuit he wore in 1973.
Host: The Rug Company
Theme: Inspired by a rug David Rockwell designed with his daughter, Lola, 400 strands of dip-dyed wool formed an enclosure that created a contemplative environment to reflect on HIV/AIDs.
6. Arteriors
Theme: An ode to the scarab beetle, once revered in Egypt where the brand’s founder has familial ties, featured gold-leafed iron chandeliers glinting like their shells.
Hosts: S. Donadic and Fendi Casa.
Theme: Painted MDF partitions fringed in silk wisteria recalled the hues of Dutch 17th-century still lifes, a monochrome scene representing unity.
8. Gensler
Hosts: Gensler and Knoll and EvensonBest.
Theme: Revisiting a tale of hope and healing, 1,000 paper origami cranes, symbolizing the New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS, flew above Harry Bertoia chairs.
9. Rapt Studio
Theme: An exterior clad in dichroic film drew attention, but the all-black interior with a designated spot to stow cell phones stripped away distractions, so diners could focus on human connection.
10. Perkins + Will
Hosts: Perkins + Will and Steelcase and Empire Office and Coalesse and Viccarbe and Designtex and Flos.
Theme: Before dinner began, guests chose their own Piero Lissoni stool from a cubby, an allusion to the power of individuals.
Host: Benjamin Moore & Co.
Theme: A trellis with Moorish arches strung with bronze lanterns was painted in the manufacturer’s color of the year, Caliente, transporting guests to a Moroccan garden at night.
Theme: From linen-wrapped lanterns to painted cardboard tubes, all elements were made from donated materials in a cylindrical shape, symbolizing unity.
Mentor: Tyler Wisler Home.
13. Matthew Goodrich and Kendall Lowe
Host: Design Within Reach.
Theme: Inspired by the surrealist theme of revelation through concealment, some chairs, the chandelier, and all artwork were covered in silk.
14. New York School of Interior Design
Host: New York Design Center.
Theme: Riffing on how New York’s mass transit system brings everyone together, hollowed out forms mimicked a subway tunnel and actual Metrocards accessorized tables.
Host: Franke.
Theme: Canopies of oak-veneered MDF incorporated niches showcasing the manufacturer’s fixtures, all in polished stainless steel, for a gallerylike setting.
Host: Sunbrella.
Theme: Dorothy Draper, Elsie de Wolfe, and Sir John Soane, their first names embroidered on the acrylic slipcovers, were guests at the fantasy dinner party tableau.
> See more from the April issue of Interior Design
