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SEPTEMBER | PAGE 89 | 2015 THE SPACES YOU DESIGN ARE MORE LIKE SCULPTURE THAN ROOMS. Many of our spaces are simply drywall and a hard-surface floor, but we have spent a great deal of time manipulating the volumes and planes with careful sculpting and careful lighting. I use light in places you would never expect. I use mirrors, too, though they are not really visible as mirrors. I think luxury comes in the subtle balance of moments of calm and points of visual excitement and in the way a space makes you stop to look and consider. I do not like predictability and I do not like matching everything. My best palettes are pulled the morning of a presentation, as they are fresh, spontaneous and not overworked. As an art major, I learned that knowing when to quit is your best skill. A sketch is profound and an overworked drawing is just that — overworked. HOW DO YOU TURN CORPORATE OFFICES INTO SUCH EPIC SPACES? I find office design to be the most underrated thing in the world. It's hard to understand why so many do not see the importance of having inspiring office environments. Haynes and Boone asked me to create a space for their Houston law firm that would inspire and set them apart from their competition, in both hiring and maintaining their attorneys. YOU'VE GOTTEN A LOT OF ATTENTION AND AWARDS FOR YOUR DESIGN FOR THE CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS FOR THE UNITED TALENT AGENCY. WHAT WERE THE CHALLENGES THERE? You have to understand what their culture is like — think Johnny Depp. They needed a space that could draw talent, or inspire an agent to work for UTA versus someone else. We talked to the agents. They asked their clients what they thought, so we got a lot of the actors' input. For example, people in L.A. don't walk. Most people drive and arrive in the garage. So, we dropped the lobby down into the garage, and designed a big stairway connecting it to the offices upstairs. And in the garage- level lobby, we created very nice single bathrooms with small details like great lighting and full-length mirrors that make clients feel like they have privacy to freshen up. In UTA's older offices, there was no personal space. The actors felt like they had to be on show. We designed it so that they can get up to each office without being paraded around. We also created outdoor spaces for the offices, where they can take a client for tea. HINTS ABOUT THE DESIGN FOR THE NEW HOTEL ALESSANDRA? There will be nothing like it anywhere. It will have an old-world European elegance, but in a contemporary building. I was inspired by trips to Spain and Milan, with fabulous terrazzo patterns. There will be a lot of pattern. Also we're using curved shapes and arched elements in ceilings. WHAT'S IT LIKE BEING A WOMAN IN A MALE-CONQUERED PROFESSION? I grew up with a father who taught me that I needed a career, so when medicine didn't work out, I switched to architecture. I never really thought about it as a man's field. The time pressure of a design or architecture career is tremendous, so having a family and rising to the top of your game are an effort, to say the least. Once in a while, when the guys are standing around taking credit for your ideas (not the design ones, as they figure you might know how to "design," but the structural, mechanical or project siting big ideas), I do get a little annoyed. But, it's a team effort at the end of the day, and I always end up giving those big ideas away. In my studio there is, of course, none of the man/woman thing. We all work hard, and we all have each other's backs. WHAT WOULD SURPRISE PEOPLE ABOUT YOU? My standard poodle, a rescue who came with the name Lilly Bunny, always has her toenails painted the latest It-color, and she wears a Fifth Avenue cut. Right now, she's wearing a great '40s mint-green polish that has a little gray in it. YOUR TWO HOMES? I've been restoring my George Nelson home in Montauk that I bought a few years ago. It's the cobbler's shoes — everything else at work comes first. I'm trying to be respectful of Nelson's design. There are a lot of quirky angles and odd things, but they work. Like the doors don't open 90 degrees, and a lot of the furniture is built in, so I'm leaving that. I've really been neglecting my home in Houston, but next year it will be the total opposite! PERSONAL MANTRA? Always invent, and do not take design for granted. St. Regis Aspen Resort, Aspen The Surrey, New York Haynes and Boone, Houston The James Royal Palm, Miami Beach Paul Hastings LLP, Frankfurt, Germany ERIC LAIGNEL ERIC LAIGNEL BENNY CHAN ERIC LAIGNEL ERIC LAIGNEL Lauren Rottet's George Nelson-designed home in Montauk, New York.