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Bill Curtis and Russell Windham Curtis & Windham Architects, Houston Favorite room designed by anyone at any time. Bill: I always appreciate rooms that have appropriate scale and proportion to their purpose. The library at Kenwood House by Robert Adam comes to mind with its Roman- inspired architecture and beautifully colored decoration. Russell: I love the main room at Syon House by Robert Adam, because of the perfect geometry that's elaborated upon to the smallest degree. It's just about perfect architecturally. Top vintage design books in your library. Bill: Russell and I have collected books for 33 years, both of us having learned the importance of an architectural library from the practices where we apprenticed. While we have many copies one would expect in our library — Palladio, Adam, Soane, Lutyens, as well as the American greats McKim, Mead & White; Goodhue; Platt; Mellor, Meigs & Howe; and, of course, our own John Staub — we also are not limited to architecture. Books on gardens and decoration and curious texts are also useful: gentlemen's clubs of London, stables and kennels, golf-club structures, and small Italian farmhouses. Russell: We have an original set of McKim, Mead & White, of course. The set on Lutyens' work, Percier and Fontaine's original set, John Staub, John Russell Pope, and the list goes on. This question is like who to thank if one were to win an Oscar. The list is too long! Gardens or historical homes one must tour. Bill: I always try to see gardens, homes, and buildings whenever I travel. Recently, I visited the great sculpture garden landscape of Storm King Art Center in Upstate NY — a great creation for many reasons, but Storm King Wavefield by Maya Lin is a phenomenal vision and beautiful execution of ocean-like waves of earth and grass. Russell: To do what we do, one must have visited as many of Lutyens' works, where the gardens were designed by Gertrude Jekyll, as possible. Favorite design shops anywhere in the world. Bill: Pimlico Road, with many of the great English design shops, is a favorite. Russell: Jamb is a great one. The old one that was a must-see, at least twice a year, was Guinevere in London. Unfortunately, it closed this year. Favorite design/architecture podcasts. Bill: I am not yet a podcast listener. I know … Russell: Vitruvius and De Architectura by the BBC's In Our Time. Home scent. Bill: I like the comfort of the smells emanating from the landscape. The desert of Arizona smells its own way, just as the rainforests of North Carolina have their own scent. Russell: Jo Malone. What's next. Bill: We've just put the finishing touches on our new book, Building on Tradition (Rizzoli), coming out this fall. We're excited to travel to design events this winter where we'll have the opportunity to share the work with friends. Russell: More great work around the country and abroad. We're doing more diversified work in terms of style and type, and that sort of change is exhilarating. We're working on our new book. These sorts of endeavors are good for the soul. Bill Curtis and Russell Windham, with Ann Wolf and Ashley Holden, in conversation at Matt Camron Rugs & Tapestries, Tuesday, April 15, 2 pm. Tickets and schedule, go to texasdesignweek.com. Here and below, from the book A Vision of Place: The Work of Curtis & Windham Architects.