born in 1958, michael gabellini grew up in pennsylvania, usa.
he studied architecture at the rhode island school of design
and in 1981 graduated, having received a degree in fine arts
a year previously. amongst spending time in london, uk and
italy, gabellini then went to gain 4 years experience with
kohn, pedersen & fox. gabellini founded the architectural
and interior design firm ‘gabellini sheppard associates’ in 1991
(partners are kimberly sheppard and dan garbowit).
since then they have worked on the restoration of important
architectural landmarks such as the fifth avenue facades of
the rockefeller center and the former AT&T building.
the studio designed interiors, showroom facilities, restaurants,
and corporate headquarters (for jil sander, giorgio armani, and
bergdorf goodman, among others). gabellini’s experience in
contemporary art has earned him commissions by numerous
galleries and museums including the solomon r. guggenheim
museum and the marian goodman gallery.
in addition to his studio work, michael gabellini has lectured
at numerous academic institutions, and currently teaches
a design seminar at parsons school of design in new york.

related links:
http://www.gabelliniassociates.com

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designboom met michael gabellini at the swarovski
'crystal palace' show in milan on april 5th, 2006. 
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what is the best moment of the day?
twilight, twilight on.
late afternoon into early evening.

what kind of music do you listen to at the moment?
I would have to say that would be classic jazz
and also brazilian music.

what books do you have on your bedside table?
'chronicles', bob dylan's memoirs.

do you read design / architecture magazines?
yes, but I prefer more lifestyle culture magazines and
certainly any contemporary art magazines.
we are very connected to that world.
for us, it is a very good source and way to freshen our minds.

where do you get news from? newspapers, radio?
herald tribune, new york times and w magazine,
absolutely, everyday of the week!

do you notice how women are dressing?
do you have any preferences?
well, I prefer that women dress!
they always change.
seasonally, women change much more than men.
its about colour and pattern, much more whimsy,
that you see in women's dress,
from couture to prêt-à-porter to blue jeans.

what kind of clothes do you avoid wearing?
usually very very colourful clothes.

do you have any pets?
no pets.

when you were a child,
did you want to be an architect?
no, but a designer. I grew up in pennsylvania, outside of
philidelphia, near the knoll factory.
there were many designers working there at the time, 
from harry bertoia to eames to george nakashima.
my father is an interior designer and this sort of aclimated
the perspective choice with design. these people were
also family friends. it all helped me in seeing how design
could really effect and enhance everyday things,
in a very simple way.

where do you work on your designs and projects?
I think that everyone has their favourite chair in which
they like to read, or a favourite place in which to take a nap.
at the office we are 30 people, sometimes I need to seclude
myself to concentrate. I like to work at home too, because
it's peaceful, there is terrific light and there is not the chaos
of studio life.

do you discuss your work with architects and designers?
very much.
it’s important to seek out and look for collaboration.
our model is to keep our office as small as possible and
very taut.

describe your style, like a good friend of yours would
describe it.
if I think about it, in terms of function (which is the
program of our space) it's architecture plus interior
plus the garden. however it’s something that is very
intergrated. we convey spaces that go beyond their primary
function, that go further than the idea of spaces that you
can occupy and feel good in.
we are very image orientated, so our environments are
a sort of frame, whether in public space or private space -
we are providing a very clean graphic.
 
please describe an evolution in your work,
from your first projects to the present day.
well, hopefully we have evolved!
but maybe I’m only doing the same thing as when I
started out - sculpture (which is my love).
I like thinking about things geometrically and mathematically
(for example the ‘hover’ chandelier for swarovski’s
crystal palace is a mathematical model of floating pixels.
a shattering of a crystal or the capturing of falling rain).
I feel my professional evolution as something quite natural.
as long as you look at projects as individual portraiture
- a moment in time, where you are ... and with what you have
learnt - I think about it like a musician, playing an instrument.
its about simple performance on a daily basis...
how you hone a craft. in my case how I refine different
perspectives of space, proportion, light and materials.
something that looks at the end very natural and simple.
something you build with value added.
thats what we are always looking for in our work.
if you were to ask me if I have evolved to have more
pleasure in our work, through the process and the
relationships with our clients, then yes.
 
what project has given you the most satisfaction?
a recent project that we are thrilled with, is the rockefeller
centre and the observation deck at 30 rockefeller centre
(in terms of being involved from a basic point of view but
also from the completion of it). with the experience of
'top of the rock', a space in which we collaborated with a
number of creative and technical consultants along with
tishman speyer properties who are redeveloping the
rockerfeller centre. this project became this birds nest in
which it simply takes people up 70 stories (on 3 floors above
the rainbow room) to have a view of of the city.
this space has been closed for about 18 years so
it was the first opportunity to re-develop a really wonderful
public place that people can just be in the centre of the
city and see it.
it was a very complex and very complete design process
...thinking about everything from the graphics and way
finding how to organise the space to move people,
as approximately two and a half million people pass,
vertically, from the ground floor up to the top of the building
on an annual basis. like a series of a film reels in the way
it is edited, we put together a number of narratives and
spatial places in-which this narrative of going up
and ultimately seeing the view unfold.

who would you like to design something for?
on a public level a library-lounge, i would like to
really think about public library space.
something which at the top is a place of knowledge,
a place to access information on different levels obviously
some sort of technical library,computer library not limitting
the space to just the books themselves. for me books are
something that in their physical form are not relics but living
objects that really invite a multitude of ways to get involved
with. so for me it would be about creating a library that is very
informal by which to access and break down the bureaucracy.

is there any designer and/or architect from the past,
you appreciate a lot?
certainly luis barragán as a primary designer of poetic
space and mies van der rohe in-terms of precision and
typologically readjusting space. alvaro siza in the sense
of sublime, although I do not know if he would agree,
with this kind of idea of the natural within architecture rather
than seeking perfect precision or domination over space.
for me it is really how the space evolves and his buildings
are already, in terms of their shape, sculptural, fluid in the
way which there is something that just opens up and creates
an embrace. also the italian master carlo scarpa in his work
i find there was a fascination with the obsession of detail.
 
and those still active, are there any particular ones
you appreciate?
many! very many! (laughs) give me a moment! ...
I really appreciate scandinavian, and the north, they
have had modernism in their culture for centuries.
the way that you think about modernity not as something
that is a style that has a classic or present
or even this future sort of attitude, but for me certainly in
northern countries in the way that they think about craft,
as a lineage of craft culture that runs through the country.
but the way in which art history is constantly linked and so
that there are beautiful objects that are accessible and
formal from their cars to their dinner plates to the things that
children play with. there is a way of looking at daily objects
that really have fetishistic pleasure quality to it.  
they just look great, work really well and they just look really
normal but at the same time they are elevating things just
a little bit as they themselves are evolving.
so lets say certainly the north, in italy I've personally had a
very strong affiliation and a certain feeling of culture from
the ancient to the new to this slicing future and the way in
which the culture like italy can achieve this balance by being.

what advice would you give to the young ?
just do it! this is your time, there has never ever been
a better time for young designers to inhabit the world of
design. its an ecosystem that is percolating and is allowing
talent to rise through engineering and technical advance.

what are you afraid of regarding the future? 
the environment would be the number one thing.
the environment is being ravaged world wide,
pillaged and taken advantage of in an extreme way.

as a designer whether your designing a fork, a light bulb
or an urban plan, designers have the upmost responsibility
to help people get the most value from life.
in the end that’s all we have, life.

as a designer, the work that you do, should add value
either in a programatic way, a functional way
or in the way you choose and use your materials ...
in terms of what is coming out of industry
(and not only the energy companies to car industries).
we are simply one generation behind where we would need
to be in order to actually be able to get to a even stable level.
a kind of respirator level, in which the earth can in effect take
care of itself again. for us and me personally it very important.

also health...

the health policy in the united states, which is quite scandalous
because there isn’t one and I think that the health of the country,
of individuals, of the communities are all based on proper
medical health... which at present is not there!