Boutique Design - September 2017 - 40

LIVING ROOM, VICEROY CHICAGO

WHEN AND WHY DID YOU REALIZE YOU WANTED TO
BE A DESIGNER?

I knew while living in Europe at a young age that I
wanted to make buildings, but I didn't yet understand
the distinction between architect, interior designer,
engineer, craftsman, etc. I just knew that I loved buildings and man-made environments. I was particularly
excited by historic buildings and loved the exploration
of places with stories. My grandfather taught mechanical engineering at New York University, my father was
a cartographer and my mother was an interior
designer after having studied fine arts, so I had rich
and diverse stimuli within my family that fostered my
interests. I was heavily interested in cultural anthropology and archeology and even studied both quite a
bit while I attended architecture school. But I was
always more compelled by creating something new,
rather than exclusively studying the past.
BEFORE FOUNDING YOUR OWN FIRM, YOU WORKED
AT WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING. HOW DID THAT
COME ABOUT?

My career at Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) was an
extraordinary experience at a world-renowned
company. I earned a position in it in the way that the
prior generation of Imagineers did, but that is rarely, if
ever, done today. I was in a management-training
program and had to work in a multitude of operational
departments before even being able to begin with the
design group. After fulfilling my daytime job responsibilities in operations, I worked at night in the Architecture & Facilities Engineering department. My work
was noticed, so I was brought into the Disney Development Co. (DDC), which was created during the company's major expansion era under Michael Eisner.
When DDC and WDI (the resorts and parks divisions, respectively) were consolidated, several DDC
personnel were transplanted into the older Imagineering group as a way of cross-pollinating the two
cultures. Fairly soon after the consolidation, I was
promoted to principal of design and interior architecture and relocated from the Glendale, California, WDI
campus onto The Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank,
California. Along with Roy Disney and [now-retired
WDI executive vice president] Wing Chao, the three off
us were fortunate to be given the honor of working out
of Walt Disney's original office suite-definitely
hallowed grounds. The breadth of what I worked on
and was responsible for is too much to list with any
degree of brevity. That said, Disney is still a very dear
and important client today and we're working with
Imagineering on multiple ongoing projects, some of
which are strategic efforts that over-arch design.
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boutiquedesign.com september 2017

HOW DID THOSE YEARS IMPACT YOUR OVERALL
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY?

The most important lesson from that time is that it's
always important to respect the guest at every level and
to never, ever, play down to a demographic of consumers
that one might think doesn't "get it." Regard the guest with
the ultimate respect, care, sincerity and intelligence, and
they'll reward you in ways that are immeasurable. My
team at TAL Studio and I are committed to guiding
design principles that have defined our work for almost
20 years. I believe in developing concepts that are intelligent, enduring and executed with care and precision.

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Boutique Design - September 2017

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