Designing the 21st Century Daniella Ohad

I am a long-time admirer of the work of architecture firm Sawyer Berson because I can see myself living in every one of the houses they create—every apartment, every interior, and every garden. Their homes, whether modernist, Federal, or traditional, are always so airy, beautiful, chic, and inviting. They are dazzling in their elegance as they make your heart drop, because Sawyer Berson have mastered all fields of architecture. Their homes are thoroughly researched, beautifully executed, and meticulously furnished to the smallest detail, with landscapes that are simply divine. They have famously created homes for stars, but it is lesser known that they have also built community gardens for Bette Midler’s NY Restoration Project and the kitchen garden for the God’s Love We Deliver which provides meals for the needy.

Brian Sawyer, co-founder of the firm, is my guest today. He received his Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Virgina and worked with the Central Park Conservancy in restoration projects before joining Robert AM Stern, rising to the head of the landscape architecture department.

The design world has lost one of its most important and brilliant legends. Gaetano Pesce died last month at 84, leaving an enormous legacy behind. During his six-decade career, he held a special position in contemporary art and design; always remaining provocative, surprising, and interesting. He was an architect by training, but devoted his life and career to design, creating innovative furniture and objects that were at times eccentric, at times radical, and always colorful. They may appear to be playful and whimsical at first, but if you know how to read them, you’ll find that they are filled with social, political, and contemporary narratives. Participating: Marc Benda and Sara di Gangi.



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Have you ever asked yourself what is the lifespan of furniture copyright? Whether design objects are protected as intellectual property? As the market becomes flooded with copies and fakes, and the web is filled with design masterpieces of the past, poorly produced and sold inexpensively, this question has become more and more relevant. Mark Masiello knows the answer. He founded a company called Form Portfolios and its mission is to preserve, guard, and advance furniture through licensed reeditions.

Frank Gehry, the architect we all love to love. Even since he completed his Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in 1997, Gehry became a favorite architect by everyone. By the public, by architects, and by the architecture criticism community, a true celebrity, who turned architecture into popular enterprise, and at 70, Gehry launched a second and super successful chapter of his long career, the leading architect of the millennium. Jean-Louis Cohen, the award-winning French architect, architectural historian, and curator, has published the latest monograph on Gehry, which comes to illuminate some of his best buildings.

Recent years have witnessed a growing attention to the study of female artists, architects, designers and their contribution to the story of modern design. Jane Hall’s book Woman Made: Great Women Designers comes to tell the story of 200 pioneering female designers from 50 countries, who have worked in the past 100 years in furniture, textiles, and lighting design. Some helped shaping the industry, some made history, some created work that has been recognized as groundbreaking despite difficulties to express their voices, and together they formed an enormous body of work created exclusively by women.

Swiss industrial designer and innovator Yves Behar has created a global and influential career in product design always fusing design, technology, and sustainability. He has worked with endless brands in various industries and the products he created throughout his career are the topic of a new monograph Designing Ideas, published by Thames and Hudson. It brings us to the forefront of the world of industrial design, where robots, technologies, futuristic solutions, and new materials have pushed the field to its 21st-century identity.