Interior Design’s Top 10 Stories Reflect 2022 Design Trends

As 2022 comes to a close, we’re taking a look back at our top stories of the year and the design trends they showcase. From sustainable spaces to maximalist interiors to artful offices that prioritize connection, here are Interior Design‘s top 10 reads.

1. The Winners of the 2021 Best of Year Awards

The Best of Year Awards highlight the best and brightest projects, products, and people in the design industry. From dazzling hotels to colorful modern tile collections, the 2021 Best of Year Awards showcases the year’s most remarkable work. Read more.

Read more: See the projects and products winners of the 2022 Best of Year Awards.

2. The 2022 Top 100 Giants Unveiled

Interior Design‘s Top 100 Giants takes a look at the state of the A&D industry. As we entered the third year of the pandemic, the omicron variant was on the rise at the time of publishing. However, optimism prevailed and economic indicators gave credence to positivity. The Top 100 Giants represent the interior design firms leading the pack in a continually shifting landscape. Read more.

3. Gensler Designs TikTok’s New York Office

When TikTok touched down on American shores, it laid claim to the world’s most downloaded app. The same holds true in 2022, which is also when the company expanded to Manhattan, staking out 150,000 square feet for 1,000 employees across the five top floors of the 58-story H&M tower—fittingly steps from Broadway and its myriad dance numbers. The Gensler project captures the soul of New York City. Read more.

4. A Beaux-Arts Building Gets a Modern Makeover 

After a six-month search for the right space for tech company Guidepoint, the designer, Neal Beckstedt Studio, and client found the ideal site in Chelsea: the entire 38,000-square-foot second floor of 675 Avenue of the Americas, a landmarked beaux-arts stunner built in 1900 as the Adams Dry Goods department store. They left much of the original brick exposed and enlivened the palette of blacks, whites, grays, and beiges with shots of a hot yellow taken from Guidepoint’s logo. Read more.

5. 13 Highlights from the 2022 La Biennale di Venezia

Postponed by one year and overcoming the uncertainty of the global pandemic with a bang, the 2022 edition of La Biennale di Venezia opened its doors in May. Titled “Milk of Dreams” and curated by Cecilia Alemani, the 59th International Art Exhibition in Venice pivoted to account for the ever-shifting global climate. The Ukrainian pavilion prepared for 2021 was replaced with a more current response to the invasion of the country. The 213 artists from 58 countries featured in the Central Pavilion (Giardini) and in the Arsenale offer more than a dash of escapism, with a dreamy alternative reality frequently found among the 1,433 works on view. Read more.

6. Healing Elements in a Space for Transformative Medicine

If ever there were a multilayered hybrid collaboration, it is the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine. A long, narrow new-build oriented on a north-south axis not far from the University of Southern California’s campus, it encompasses 84,000 square feet across five floors, and includes 3,500 square feet of coveted outdoor space. HLW completed the structure’s core and shell architecture. RIOS handled the remainder of the project, which took three years to complete, just as COVID-19 hit the scene. Read more.

7. An Eco-Sensitive Update by Hickok Cole

After nearly 30 years, the mechanical systems in the American Geophysical Union’s once state-of-the-art headquarters in Washington were reaching the end of their useful life. But rather than design a new structure from scratch, Hickok Cole was asked to modernize the 1993 Shalom Baranes Associates–designed building to meet net-zero energy goals and create a game-changing case study for the industry. Read more.

8. A Modern Office in Seattle

Called the Prow, the single-story, 3,700-square-foot building is a deliberate departure from the multistory steel, glass, and concrete structures of Expedia’s main campus. Seattle’s outdoor-focused, athletic vibe was embraced in the design. The common end for this ancillary structure was a biophilic sanctuary that celebrates the landscape in both form and function. Read more.

9. Interior Design’s 2022 Hall of Fame Inductees Revealed

Interior Design announced the 2022 Hall of Fame honorees, recognizing five illustrious designers and creatives who continue to innovate the field. After a two-year pause during the pandemic, the magazine’s prestigious architecture and design awards gala returned to its in-person format December 7 at The Glasshouse in Manhattan. Those honored include Mavis Wiggins, managing executive, studio creative director of TPG Architecture (pictured above), Yves Béhar, founder and chief designer of fuseproject, Will Meyer and Gray Davis, founders of Meyer Davis, and a special award to artist and activist, Claudy Jongstra. Read more.

10. HOK Designs an Office for Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern, the freight rail operator, envisioned a timeless concept where track workers and administrators alike would feel at home, with ample flex spaces to help the 3,000 on-site employees meet and collaborate. With a vision as a tech company, robust amenities—fitness center, food hall, game room, childcare center—would help the company compete for talent against the likes of Google. Read more.