Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1532781
S ix years ago, Adam Cook sketched out a showroom concept to Bocci, quit his job in the furniture industry after a decade, and launched his contemporary furniture, lighting, and rug showroom Shop on the second floor of Decorative Center Houston. Featuring contemporary, mostly European collections new to Houston, such as Walter K., Bensen, CC—Tapis, and Zanat, the showroom was a quick success, and now Cook has opened a second outpost on the first floor of Decorative Center Houston. The original 2,500-square- T his season begins with a promising addition to the dialogue between art and design in Texas: the opening of Vivianne Falco Gallery in the 4411 Montrose Gallery Building. Directed and founded by art dealer Vivianne Falcó, the gallery occupies the former space of Assembly (a gallery/agency that still maintains a digital presence) and, intriguingly, the original site of Peel gallery, a greatly mourned destination for design with a side of art. Falcó has big plans for this 1,300-square-foot space. Formerly a gallerist in Mexico City, where she was raised, her background includes curatorial projects for several Mexico City museums. Living in Houston for the past three decades, she is also co-steering efforts to open a design museum. Falcó says of her minimalist, museum-level aesthetic and devotion to the tenets of Italian Radical Design movement: "The gallery will host exhibitions of local and international designers, focusing on original, one-offs, or limited-edition pieces, showcasing how design has transformed into one of the most important branches of the arts in the 21st-century." In Falcó's stable: museum-collected, internationally exhibited architect/ designer Mauricio Rodriguez Anza's sleek take on Radical Design, showcased via chairs and sculpture in his upcoming solo: "Design Extended," March 7 through April 26. Also in her curatorial queue: Barcelona designers Javier Mariscal and Oscar Tusquets Blanca, making their Houston debut later this year or early 2026. @viviannefalcogallery. Catherine D. Anspon Left: Adam Cook foot Shop upstairs will now gear more toward commercial clients, while the new 3,000-square-foot showroom on the first floor focuses on residential, with a large, dedicated Cassina space with its own entrance. "Cassina is a really historic brand based outside of Milan with a rich cultural heritage, especially with wood and upholstery," Cook says. The design for the new space was approved with Patricia Urquiola, creative director for Cassina, and marks a beautiful representation for the brand in Houston. The multi-line side of the new showroom features two new lighting collections, Louis Poulsen, and Lambert & Fils along with mainstays Bocci and Gabriel Scott. New upstairs is a young Danish furniture company called NORR11, which Cook describes as "a new, clean line with a fun spirit — something interesting that we haven't seen already." Shop, Decorative Center Houston, 5120 Woodway Dr., Suites 241 and 115/117, shopcalledshop.com. Anne Lee Phillips Design Rising: 4411 Montrose Arrival Shop Called Shop Part Deux Vivianne Falcó; Mauricio Rodriguez Anza's Chloe Chair, 2014, at Vivianne Falco Gallery CHRIS LARSEN JOSH CALHOUN 58