i+D - May/June 2018 - 30

Contributors

1. Diana Mosher, Night & Day
"For me, great outdoor entertaining combines
a meal cooked and eaten outdoors," notes Diana.
"I love to stay outside as long as possible, and
dining by candlelight outdoors is a beautiful treat."
Indoors-particularly in a nightclub-is a different,
yet fun experience. "Vanity at the Hard Rock Hotel
Las Vegas is an award-winning nightclub that made
an impression on me," she says. "Designed by Mister
Important Design, a firm known for its exuberant
interiors, Vanity combines chic sophistication with
Vegas glam, including an abundance of bronze and
gold surfaces and a decadent chandelier featuring
more than 20,000 crystals lit from within." When
interviewing her subjects about nightclubs and
dayclubs (p. 42), Diana learned that distortion
is the true problem with hearing difficulties in loud
spaces-rather than music and background noise,
as most people believe. "When the acoustics are
designed properly, you should be able to carry on
a conversation," she offers.
2. Brian J. Barth, Mastering the Game
Although he brought casino design to life in
his "Mastering the Game" article (p. 32), Brian
admits he's not much of a casino-goer. "But, I do
appreciate the incredible attention to detail in some
of these spaces. The Bellagio is awe-inspiring-
a textbook example of the power of design to shape
our experience." What especially intrigued him
when researching the topic was the science behind
casino design. "One of my sources told me that
hospitals are the only other interior environment
he's worked on that is so exacting," he explains.
Brian enjoys his Canadian seasons, but particularly
loves growing food in his backyard, and then

cooking and eating it outdoors. "The growing
season is short here in Toronto," he says, "but we
pack it full with planting, harvesting, grilling, and
relaxing in our backyard paradise."
3. Ambrose Clancy,
ICONic Profile: Roger Thomas
According to Ambrose, a nightclub that left
him with a lasting design impression is "the old
Lennox Lounge in Harlem that recently fell prey
to the wrecking ball. A great jazz club that had
been around since the 1930s and was done in a
wonderfully over-the-top art deco style. It was
a warm, inviting place and everything your eye fell
on was a source of delight. Killer music as well,
and it jumped all night." He enjoyed interviewing
Roger Thomas for this issue's "ICONic Profile"
(p. 54), and was particularly "intrigued that a
special building was constructed on a Las Vegas golf
course to enclose a scale model of a new casino he
was designing. It took two years and he worked on
everything from carpets to chairs." Ambrose evokes
a lovely visual of one of his favorite outdoor spaces,
the beaches along the East End of Long Island:
"Lazy afternoons, moving toward long twilights,
with clambakes and dessert under the stars."
4. Barbara Thau, Understanding Branding
When interviewing branding experts for her
"Business of Design" article (p. 22), Barbara was
surprised by how much of their work is about getting
to the core of somebody else's, or a company's,
essence. "It seems when it's done right, there's a
real selflessness to that endeavor, which I found
refreshing," she reveals. Not surprisingly, "doing it
right" extends to her own experiences with casinos,

i+D - May/June 2018

nightclubs, and outdoor spaces. "George's at
Kauffman Astoria Studios in Queens, New York,
is a wonderful place to hear jazz: It's like being
transported to a 1940's Barbara Stanwyck movie,"
says Barbara, noting an even more personal
connection with the outdoors. "Summer in my
brother and sister-in-law's beautiful backyard
in Brooklyn, overlooking their carefully tended
garden, is a highlight of the season for me.
Family, good food, and silly, intergenerational
conversations are all we need for good times there."
5. Michele Keith, The Great Outdoor Room
Michele loves "'escaping' Manhattan in my own
flower-filled garden and visiting friends in their
outdoor spaces, all right here in the city. Each
is different, and fabulous in its own right: Some
focus on the views, others are fanciful aeries.
Some are city sleek, others evoke the jungle. All
are wonderful places to spend time with people
you enjoy." Such a personal viewpoint made her
article on outdoor rooms (p. 56) all the more
fun and interesting to write. However, she recalls
another time, another place equally as captivating.
"I lived in Paris when I was in my 20s and, thanks
to working in fashion, had an extraordinarily
fun social life," she explains. "One popular
nightclub-I don't recall the name-had a dazzling,
all-black ladies' room accented with crystal light
fixtures. Ahead of its time, it seemed the height of
sophistication to me."

Image 1: Rashidah De Vore/Image 2: Christine Nobel/Image 3: Kirk Condyles/Image 4: Dan D'Errico/Image 5: Andrew French

Casinos, nightclubs, outdoor spaces: Almost everyone has experience with at least one of these venues-and our
contributing authors in this issue of i+D are no exception. In addition to sharing some interesting encounters,
they offer their perspectives on what they learned when researching and writing their May/June articles.

i+D - May/June 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i+D - May/June 2018