

"A residence should be a place where you immediately feel at home," says the owner. In this exquisitely tailored urban oasis, comfort is paramount.

"I love anything that sparkles," she concedes.īut don't mistake such flourishes for flashiness. "So one way to make them visually interesting is to use reflective surfaces to bounce light around." His strategy was readily embraced by the client. "New York apartments rarely have the light that a house on a large property does," Smith notes. The piece, like the other shimmering accents found throughout the dwelling-the gold leaf on the library ceiling, the custom-made Nancy Lorenz glass panels on the powder-room walls-serves a purpose beyond mere decorative appeal. With a great and prominent location, this pre-war apartment building is one of the most elegant in Brooklyn, a reflection of the fact that it was designed by Rosario Candela, the most famous architect of luxury pre-war apartment buildings in Manhattan. "It has a classical form but with a playful, whimsical quality," Smith says. And then there are the furnishings that appear to straddle the historic-versus-current divide, such as the Ferruccio Laviani–designed baroque cabinet-on-stand, its ornate gold-leafed base crowned by a chest of red mirrored glass. One end of the room is anchored by a Doug Aitken illuminated wall sculpture spelling out magic-a piece that, not surprisingly, "has become a real focal point," the homeowner says. Elegance in the Sky: The Architecture of Rosario Candela is a compact one-room exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, curated by Donald Albrecht and designed by Peter Pennoyer Architects, that takes viewers inside a handful of those residences. In the living area a Mattia Bonetti acrylic-top cocktail table with a looping bronze base resides harmoniously near a Regency-style desk. "It's one of the first things I bought for the apartment, and it's among my favorites," the client says. The apartments at 1500, which boast unique and distinctive layouts, offer generous. Candela’s visionary approach is a triumpha rare living experience. In 1909, when he was 19 years old, Candela immigrated to. 1500 Lake Shore Drive is one of the most prestigious buildings in Chicago and the only one designed by Rosario Candela, who designed many of New York’s luxury apartment buildings. Russell that evokes the sun and moon with crystal spikes and Swarovski amber spheres. That architect was Rosario Candela, whose prewar Upper East and West Side apartment buildings are still among the most coveted in the city. Overhead is a contemporary chandelier by R. The dining room, for example, showcases a pair of custom-made Nancy Lorenz resin-and-white-gold tables that seem right at home surrounded by Louis XVI–style chairs. Says the homeowner, "I was looking to make it both as sophisticated and as kid-friendly as possible." Smith achieved this balance by leaving plenty of open space throughout (and using durable rugs and fabrics) while skillfully mixing new furnishings with antiques.
Architect rosario candela free#
For Smith, it was crucial to fashion a place where his client could entertain in style and where her son would feel free to play.
