My cellphone rings the Friday prior to a July 4th weekend as I was requested to visit an active project of Madison and 5th Avenue on the Upper East Side of New York City. The project was an aggressive renovation of a historic Brownstone nestled quietly on a prestigious residential block of mansions occupied by Donatella Versace, Edgar Bronfman Jr., Tommy Mottola, and Ivana Trump.
The project was to create a modern gallery space adorned with floating white lacquered walls, polished white quartz agglomerate floors and seamless coved ceilings with adjustable recessed lighting troughs. Three adjoining buildings were being undermined as entire sections of brownstone and bricks were pinned and removed to create large open expanses vertically and lengthwise.
The projects design was stunningly original and bold and certainly right up my alley however I currently was a full time supervisor of a high end architectural interiors company so my time was well occupied. Not wanting to loose out on the experience and challenge I asked my friend the projects supervisor what was the estimated completion date in which his response was Mid October to coincide with the International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show.
With an impossible schedule of little more than three months I laughed and boldly stated to my friend and colleague entrusted with the responsibility of completing this project this was definitely impossible. Secretly my own internal thought was due to scheduling conflicts I wouldn’t be able to help build this amazingly chic space.
My laugh and comment was responded to by an Italian statuesque and charismatic handsome man in a high fashion designer suit. His smile and presence commanded my fullest attentiveness as I hung on his every word. He played to my masculine ego noting he had heard that I was the one person that could get this project done.
As an overly confident decision maker I quickly decided I could take on this projects aggressively short schedule and extreme detail under certain conditions. First I couldn’t leave my existing project until it was closer to completion and my entire crew would need to come along with me and only for the rates I requested and therefore the job would need to operate round the clock and seven days a week. In order to supervision I would need to live onsite and I would build our portion of the project as a second job.
The owner/designer agreed to all of my terms and offered his 5th ave apartment as suitable sleeping quarters which I firmly denied. The only way I felt I could build this project, I had to sleep onsite inspired by a close friends father who was the lead surveyor in the building of New Jersey’s Great Adventure theme park. He lived in a job site trailer awakened every few hours to provide points and elevations for the various trades to keep the project moving round the clock.
My closest friend Mark was to be my lead carpenter and stay onsite with me as we undertook what seemed to be the impossible.
My requests were immediately accepted by a smile and the owner calling his staff ordered mattresses and Egyptian cotton bedding for my what would prove to be a less than peaceful job site quarters. Uncertain to what challenging circumstances I had just committed my crew and friends too I began to review the projects piles of detailed architectural drawings.
Upon removing and repositioning some of the buildings structural loads and foundations we were to frame floating drywall partitions backlit with low voltage festoon bulbs. Horizontal reveals ran vertically around the space with integral art hanging systems for the soon to be hanging Lichtenstein and Warhol’s. Leveled mud beds were to be set to hold the expansive slabs of white marblesque quartz.
Hundreds of recessed art lights incrementally placed in the high ceiling were to be controlled by a single switch at the entryway programmed to control the various light scenes dependent on the spaces current use. Small slots were to be run around the space to provide the necessary proper climate for 18th century Rococo antiques to be placed on internally lit Plexiglass totems.
Reviewing the painstakingly detailed drawings with the Owner and head architect the design and vision became focused and clear like a Baroque painting. The juxtaposition of modern clean bright white space adorned with modern paintings and antiquities of province.
As we talked and the project explained to me I was excited and charged. Sitting in a chair listening to the vision and details I began to hear the electronica music playing thru the invisible recessed speaker system as I sipped a martini discussing the seamless stainless steel cyclone stairs. I clearly saw the completed vision.
And then my heart sunk….the music stopped and my brain began to race. The details of custom brass door hardware from New York’s only remaining foundry mounted to the massively thick reclaimed door I began to see the project challenges.
Where was the massive amounts of required ductwork and mechanical equipment. How do you have tens of thousands of watts of lights powered from only one switch. How do you get a one piece thousands of pounds stainless steel corkscrew cyclone stair into the buildings historic facade.
As I asked my new designer boss the technical questions that would certainly make my job almost impossible to achieve he responded with the secret to design and project execution…. “You visualize it done and work backwards from there”. In which I boldly responded “some of these things are almost impossible” and his response is “ Michael never compromise. If you need to…break the rules.” And with that he stood up, gave my sinking shoulders a pat and stated “ I’ve 100% faith you won’t let me down”.
And then I didn’t see him for weeks. Off he was traveling the world designing and creating some of the worlds most renowned spaces. And me… I went to work.
I give you all that you want
Take the skin and peel it back
Now doesn’t that make you feel better
Trent Reznor
As a leader of men I decided to make this happen. My future path as a designer and creative clearly laid before me and I saw the vision in its completed form. But how to get there….
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
General George Patton
Calculating lighting loads and BTU’s I worked with Lutron and mechanical engineers arguing that what they deemed not feasible in reality was absolutely possible.
Requesting special considerations from New York City Landmarks and the building department while kindly requesting from the blocks influential neighbors to bear with to endless noise and deliveries. Feeding the parking meters nonstop for our materials and dumpsters taking up precious parking spaces, we sidestepped the rules.
Pushing the boundaries of the materials and the crew we continued to trudge on. When moral was down and tempers flailed I would again remind people of what we were building and why and to keep the eye on the prize. The projects vision.
“Nothing is Impossible”
Kevin Roberts CEO Saatchi and Saatchi
Months went by and the building continued as materials were ordered and installed. Mistakes were made and remedied as we integrated Architectural details with behind the scenes infrastructure. Audio visuals structure cabling ran alongside climate controls and low voltage light feeds. The never ending octopus properly labeled and diagrammed for the necessary programming and commissioning of the equipment. Daily I would answer questions on details with clarity and confidence as I often solely understood the full picture.
With perseverance of the owners team of architects, designers and contractors and we saw we were gradually came to completion. The owners visits became slightly more frequent as the project was finalizing and he was able to display his forte…. The final execution of the vision.
Walls were dry walled and level 5 skim coated under raking light. Gloss white lacquer paint applied in continuous coats to maintain a wet edge. Lighting scenes were programmed into the Graphik Eye lighting system as the floors were sealed and polished.
Moving and delivery trucks lined the streets and Starfire glass was installed around antique colonnade tables. Modern art was hung from the specialty art hanging system to minimize wall damages. And Yves Klein coffee table appeared and carefully placed as experts installed the Yves Klein blue pigment. Caterers loading the space with glasses and wine for the grand gala.
Dressed in my best Purple-label Ralph Lauren I watched as some of the worlds top designers, collectors and celebrities entered the packed gallery. Often I checked for the expression of the owner, the master planner and designer who visualized this event and built the space specifically for it. Never once was he asked to compromise his design or vision and never once did he change his mind.
To this day I owe him for my understanding of vision and compromise. My abilities to see what isn’t there however…. someday it will. Walking away from the experience I’ve learned how to fight and how to win by keeping my eye on the prize….The Vision.
