Contract - January/February 2014 - 52

By John Czarnecki

That person was Krista Ninivaggi, who has
Until this decade, SHoP Architects had been
quickly developed a SHoP interiors team virtually
celebrated for its body of work in architecture and
from scratch since her start in January 2011 after
urban design, not necessarily interiors. But that has
years of experience at AvroKO and Rockwell Group.
changed. SHoP now boasts interior design as one of
With SHoP, she has accomplished a great deal-
its areas of expertise, and that is thanks largely to
building an interiors staff from a dozen designers
Krista Ninivaggi.
last summer to 20 now and likely 30 later this year,
SHoP Architects has rapidly built a reputation
and leading the design of the interiors of Barclays
as one of the most influential New York architecture
Center in Brooklyn, Shopbop headquarters in
firms of the 21st Century, and its work is now known
Manhattan, projects in Botswana and Washington,
internationally. Founded in the late 1990s by five
D.C., as well as the firm's own new office in the
Columbia University architecture classmates, the
Woolworth Building.
firm has now grown to about 160 employees, and
SHoP's leadership has entrusted Ninivaggi,
is recognized for work such as the zinc-clad Porter
who is in her 30s, to guide the firm's interior design
House on Ninth Avenue in New York, an office for
business, and that move has proven to be an
Google, and large-scale urban design projects,
incredibly intelligent one. SHoP is now a major player
such as the East River Esplanade that is redefining
in the business of interior design, and that was not
Lower Manhattan's connection to the water. In
the case just a few years ago. With verve and style,
2009, the firm won the National Design Award
and a business-savvy moxy, Ninivaggi has singlein Architecture Design from the Cooper-Hewitt,
handedly made certain that interior design is of
National Design Museum.
equal importance to architecture, urban design,
That same year, the recession slowed the
and construction at SHoP. The firm is now becoming
entire architecture and design industry, and SHoP
known for its well-executed interiors that are not
focused on planning for its future. It had already
begun SHoP Construction in 2007, and ventured into prescribed or predictable in type or aesthetic.
For her accomplishments, Contract names
other areas such as sustainable technology research.
Krista Ninivaggi as the 2014 Designer of the Year.
While the firm had completed interiors for some
buildings that it had designed, the firm's calling card She is the 35th winner of the award.
was not interior design. With this in mind, and to
avoid having clients turn to other firms to design the Scripting the night
interiors of a SHoP building, the firm aimed to make "I'm a proud Jersey girl," Ninivaggi says, "but I was
always incredibly attracted to the city." She grew up
interiors a part of its full-service scope.
in New Jersey, just outside of New York, but knew
SHoP founding principal Gregg Pasquarelli
that the city would be her home. After internships
explains: "While we had done some interiors as
at the Guggenheim Museum and Gwathmey Siegel
primarily an architecture firm, interior design is
& Associates Architects, she graduated from Rhode
really just a different skill set. And there needs to
Island School of Design (RISD) with both Bachelor of
be that ability to connect on different levels, rather
Fine Art and Bachelor of Architecture degrees and
than just thinking about the building. We knew that
we had to bring in some talent to help us move to the moved to New York permanently. She enjoyed the
nightlife of the city, which translated into a love
next level. When SHoP decided to really invest in an
affair with hospitality design.
interiors department and to grow that business, it
"I started going to places that were fantasy
was clear to me and my partners that there was one
worlds that had been designed by David Rockwell
person we wanted to lead that practice."
52

contractdesign.com

january | february 2014

http://www.contractdesign.com

Contract - January/February 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - January/February 2014