As you may have guessed, I have been crazy busy this past week preparing for my first classes at F.I.T. It's a wild experience being on the other side of the desk and one I take very seriously.To get to know my students, I asked each one of them to share who their favorite interior designers are, and the results were interesting. The two names at the top of the heap? - drum roll -
Jamie Drake known for his fearless use of the rainbow in all its huesand
the well-muscled David Bromstad of HG TV's Color Splash, whose show reminds us that most people are still living under the tyranny of white walls...
and after...
what all this means, my dears, is that Color is In. And what's more transformative (not to mention cheap) than a can of paint?
Watch David in action here or take a walk down shocking pink lane chez Mr. Drake courtesy of NY Social Diary
And who would YOU have said?
Watch David in action here or take a walk down shocking pink lane chez Mr. Drake courtesy of NY Social Diary
And who would YOU have said?
Top Photo: Room for 2007 Kip's Bay Showhouse by Drake Design Associates
16 comments:
Jeffrey Bilhuber, David Mlinaric, Thad Hayes and Samuel Marx.
Very interesting that those two gentlemen are the top two. What is the median age of your class? The selections strongly indicate a certain generational shift and looser, more modern, far less traditional (in the general) preferences. And, perhaps, a lack of knowledge of the history of design? (Just guessing here.) I would never have thought of Blomstad, because I'm not a devotée of television decorating shows. But my personal choices would be (living) Isabel Lopéz Quesada and Jaime Parladé and (dead) Ruby Ross Wood and John Fowler.
I am so happy that COLOR has come back. I do love a white on white room, but not for me. Bright and bold, a little or a lot. What ever make someone smile. Enjoy your first days of school.
Excellent question, Aesthete. Most of the students are incoming first years - so about 18 or 19 years old - and from the tri-state area.
This exercise reminded me that the majority of the country has never heard of most of the designers past and present we talk about on the design blogosphere and that those who have the most influence over the most amount of people might not be the cognoscenti's pick (obviously I'm not talking about the talented Mr. Drake.)
It also brought me back to when I saw my first MC and Renzo Mongiardino rooms and how they they opened up a new world, far and away different from the Midwest where I grew up - and this is something all these new students of interiors will have the joy of experiencing soon - whether they respond to my sacred masters or different ones more in line with the new generation.
EEE - in love with this post - and your comments regarding the history of interiors. (Your students are so lucky.) And a reminder to stay current. I live too much in the past - all my favorites are dead.
KDM
KDM, Me too! - I have to remind myself to get my nose out of the past and enjoy today's John Fowlers and Frances Elkins! EEE
Television has had quite an impact hasn't it? Although I'm happy to see a new appreciation of colour, my favourite designers are from the past, I'm afraid. Geoffrey Bennison, John Fowler, Sister Parish. These days I love David Easton, Charlotte Moss, and I also like what I've seen by a Boston designer named Betsy Speert.
I agree with AAl. Youth, too much HGTV and lack of reading either history or literature to form a broader view. That's where you come in. You'll have to repeat this at the end of the semester and see if the styleometer has shifted any at all. I like MC, of course. Today, I'm impressed with Miles Redd and I like Tessa Kennedy. A rather theatrical thread weaves through my views. I am not worried about your brain, but please take care of your feet! Standing and teaching is much harder than most people realize! I know you are going to be fab!
I am mad about Vere Grenney right now. He has just appointed a Lutyens house with fantastic verve. See WOI latest.
Young People. I find it takes a great leap of imagination to see them as our future. Only joking. What a stroke of luck that those who cited the telly makeover bloke will be in your hands now.
EEE, an earlier comment must not have gotten to you. I am so glad you are there for these students! they are incredibly lucky, I bet you will have a wonderful experience- Will be interesting to ask the same question at the end of the class. I am wondering what if anything I could have come up with at that age- Humm? I may have said my grandmother (so naive).Today- maybe Nicky Haslam is my fav-certainly your students would enjoy some of his chameleon fashion choices, and for color Henri Samuel and strength.
When I was a design student at FIT (in the fashion
department to begin with) my inspirations were a far cry from that of my generation. I was looking at the tailoring of Norman Norell and Mainbocher, and my classroom projects reflected this. No one got it~at all!
And, along these lines, I recall at age 20 being influenced by a book called The Finest Rooms. Rose Cumming, William Baldwin and Mrs Parish were my idols and they were, at that point in time, either ancient or dead.
EEE! so glad to hear a report about class. I've experienced the exact same situation here in the Midwest with the same age group: these young girls will prattle on about all these HGTV "stars" yet they have never heard any of the names of leading designers published in magazines. Once I show them interiors of the legendary greats from early in the 20thc -- even Aesthetic Mmovement interiors from the previous century and explain the reasons behind design, their jaws drop and their own designs for their final projects improve. Good for you EEE! These students will be blown away with what you have to offer this semester. Please keep us updated.
EEE--
Yes, fortunate students! Based on the picks of the students, perhaps an intro to Miles Redd and Nick Olsen would be a great way to open up new horizons. I think younger students might really relate to their use of color, and Kelly's of course. Oh and Mr. Gambrel too.
Miles Redd, Steven Gambrel and Muriel Brandolini!
I just heard David Bromstad say on his show, "Splash of Color" that the reason museums use white walls is to make the pictures really stand out. He eloborated to say that if you go to any museum you will see this. I appreciate his plugging museums. I am sure if he thought about what he said he would know that museums probably never use white walls for just the reason he said that they would. Museums generally have dark walls so that the colors which are bounced off the use of white in the paintings themselves show up best. It was funny to me that David said this as if it was just such a known fact.
as you say, it's fantastic that David is encouraging his audience to go to a museum, but it seems like he should heed his own advice... I'm always coveting the rich, deep colors I see in museums such as as the Met, or the National Galleries in DC or London, or etc etc!... red - which is as far away from white as you can get - was considered the best color for picture galleries in the 18th century...
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