I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design and on todays episode, you are going to hear from an incredibly talented Charlotte based creative who started as an architect and transitioned to designer. Ashley DeLapp is not the first creative I have spoken with that went the design route from other endeavors and there have been a few you have heard from in the past that started as architects as well. Ashley holds a BA in Architecture from the University of North Carolina and after spending 10 years as an architect, opened her own design firm in 2009.
Ashleys work is theatrical, bold and one of the things that you will hear as we explore her work is both a scientific approach to space and space management combined with a fearless use of color and materials. Now, keep in mind that with application of the bold comes the more often than not sales approach to the client. Selling these bold ideas must be easier when there is a heavy attention to detail in space management and using a space to let the work breathe. These are just a few observations, you will hear more, I promise.As a matter of fact, if you have been listening to the show for a while, you know about the deep design dives we take together and in this episode of the show, we go deep so make sure you check the show notes for a link to Ashley’s projects and follow along provided you are not driving! So, let’s get to it. You are going to hear from Ashley DeLapp, right after this.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience. Episode 271 featuring Mitch Altman
Design Hardware – A stunning and vast collection of jewelry for the home!
Thank you Ashley. Loved our time together. Love the work.Thank you to my partners, sponsors and friends of the show, ThermaSol, Moya Living, Design Hardware, ICAA SoCal Chapter and the Oasis Alliance. And thank you for taking time to subscribe and listen to the show. I appreciate you, more than you know. Thank you for the emails with show and guest suggestions as well as those just to say “hi”. Please, keep them coming. Thanks again for listening, until next week, be well and take today first. -CXD
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design. Today on the show, you are going to hear from Roberta Mantenuto, CEO of Fittes, formerly Aria Vent and sometimes the biggest changes from changing the smallest details. This is one of those occasions, to me at least. Fittes Co. is the Canadian company revolutionizing the vent and register business. They created a modular air vent and you know what I love most about this? For the longest time, we just used what we had available, contractor grade from the big box or perhaps a boutique brand that made the same thing, but with nicer finishes. Fittes now has a full line of framed and flush mount covers, vents, outlets and drains.It’s just such a simple idea and that is what I love most about this story. I sit down with Roberta, CEO and co-founder of Fittes and daughter of company co-founder and inventor, Paolo. One part of this story is in the simplicity of the idea, another is the elegant execution of the concept. The third idea is the scaling up and recent name change to stay current. The final piece for me, is the story of a father-daughter duo making something happen and executing on this simple idea in a very big way.You are going to hear my conversation with Roberta Mantenuto, right after this.
Thank you Roberta for the time. Love the idea, love the company and as a girl dad, love the family partnership dynamic. Thank you to my partners and sponsors ThermaSol, Moya Living, Design Hardware. I truly appreciate the partnership. And thank you for listening, downloading and subscribing to the podcast. Please make sure you are subscribed so you get every episode of the show the moment its published. Please email me with suggestions and show ideas, love the input. Email is convobydesign@outlook dot com and on Instagram @convoxdesign with and “x”. Thanks for listening. Until next week, be well and take today first. -CXD
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with another installment of the Design Leadership Series and this week, I am going to share with you. This group was recorded live from the Design Hardware showroom on Third Street in LA. This was an amazing group and with 12 creatives there, it was the biggest event we recorded to date.Keep listening, you’re going to enjoy this.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience. Episode 271 featuring Mitch Altman
ICAA Southern California – SoCal is Southern California’s preeminent resource on classical architecture and the allied arts.
I started hosting these events in 2017. I realized after a design festival, that the panel conversations, while interesting, did not contain the same power as the conversations that followed. Groups of creatives getting down to the brass tacks, sharing what they really think without the audience. These gatherings are more “happening” than anything else. It places the creatives in a safe space with colleagues free to discuss what is really happening, get a little commiserating in and then getting to the challenge of addressing these issues. These events are powerful and I’m really proud to share them with you. This conversation has also aired on Doctoring Up Design, the Design Hardware podcast. You are about to listen in on a real workgroup discussing the issues designers, architects and builders face today. The following conversation is between 12 creatives and at times, it gets complicated, just like conversations in the real world.
This conversation was not intended for you to blow through while multi-tasking. There is a great deal of material here and it is intended to be listened to over time and re-listened as well. It is worthy of saving and added to your resource library.
This is kicked off by Michele Solomons with Design Hardware asking about the experience designers have with their showroom partners. It’s an important question and one on just about every designers mind. From there, this chat takes on a life of its own and if you follow closely, there are nuggets of design business gold to be found.
Before we listen in, I thought you would like to meet the participants:
So those are the participants. This is the full conversation. Enjoy listening in.
That was a fun and incredibly talented group. Great job, designers! Thank you for your time. Thank you to my partners and sponsors, ThermaSol, Moya Living, Design Hardware, The Oasis Alliance and the ICAA SoCal chapter. And a special thanks to you. Thank you for downloading, streaming and supporting the show. If you have anything to suggest for a future episode of the show or a guest from whom you would like to hear, email me Convo By Design at Outlook dot com or on Instagram @ConvoX Design with an “x”.Thanks again for listening. Until next week, be well and take today first. -CXD
When I first moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, I mentioned in the show that something I was most excited about was seeing new things that many if not most have never seen. There was something on my list from day one and I finally had the chance to go and do this. Visit Price Tower. For those not familiar; The Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma is an absolutely exquisite creation of Frank Lloyd Wright. It is constructed of concrete in a very unique shape. Four quadrants based on the geometry ofa 30-60-90 double parallelogram.It was based on the idea for a Manhattan cluster of buildings designed and then scraped in 1929 due to the great depression. The Price Tower was designed and built for Harold C. Price to serve as the headquarters for his oil and gas pipeline company. The building was designed to be mixed-use and was opened to the public in February, 1956.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience. Episode 271 featuring Mitch Altman
ICAA Southern California – SoCal is Southern California’s preeminent resource on classical architecture and the allied arts.
Materials Used: The building is primarily made of concrete with heavy use of wood, copper and other materials regularly found in Wright’s work. heavy use of copper, stamped concrete in Cherokee Red can be found alongside the natural wood and use of greens and golds. The wallpaper used as well as fabrics designed for Schumacher as part of his Taliesin line can be found as well as his unique style of lighting and a significant amount of art are all present. There are unique pieces present that were designed and then sent to local companies to create. They include cast aluminum chairs by the Blue Stem Foundry
Mixed Use. What makes this building unlike any other example of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture is that this is a “skyscraper”, to be considered by him and others as the only one he ever built. FLW was interested with how people lived. His definition for a skyscraper was not dissimilar to how streets showcase horizontal society, this was made to be vertical an accomplish similar purpose. As such, this was his example of a live/ work environment and incorporated many floors to serve as separate zones for separate purposes. Because the building is supported by the four elevator towers and not the floors themselves, FLW was able to imagine the space almost like a tree with the elevator columns as trunk, floors as branches and copper installation as leaves.
My Experience: This visit was amazing for me. I received an incredible tour by a gentleman named Price Connors and later sat downwith Price for an interview which you are about to hear. If you check out the show notes, you will find links to some IG reels showcasing video from this visit. Of note, check out how FLW wanted you to live in the spaces he creates. Check out the amazing views and try to imagine as I did that you were in a tree house, because that is how it felt to me.
The day I visited, I learned that the building has been sold to Copper Tree, Inc. for the debt and a $10M promise to refurbish the building. I had never heard of Copper Tree and thought, what a unique name for a company interested in refurbishing this particular building. I did a little digging and learned that Copper Tree is a relatively new company, an investment company created for the purpose of acquiring and preserving iconic buildings.
I sat down with Price Connors who is an absolute wealth of knowledge and who both gave e a guided tour of The Price Tower, and sat down for an extensive interview about this truly unique project. I hope you enjoy hearing from Connors as much as I enjoyed speaking with him. For images and video shorts from my time at The Price Tower, visit us on Instagram, @convoxdesign with an “x”. You are going to hear from Price Connors, right after this.
What an absolutely amazing experience. Thank you everyone at The Price Tower for making the visit possible. Thank you Price for speaking with me and the amazing tour. My hope here was to share this extraordinary piece of American architecture with you. I know that many if not most in the US have no plans to visit Bartlesville, Oklahoma and I imagine it even more challenging for our international listeners.I do encourage you to check out the videos, images and extra content on Instagram, @convoxdesign with an “x”. Thank you for listening, until next week, be well and take today first. -CXD
. Today on the podcast, we are taking it outside for a conversation with James Doyle principal and Justin Quinn, partner of James Doyle Design Associates.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience. Episode 271 featuring Mitch Altman
ICAA Southern California – SoCal is Southern California’s preeminent resource on classical architecture and the allied arts.
James and Justin have the stated goal to create beautiful and innovative landscapes that deliver world class design while enriching the lives of those fro whom the space was crafted. And to do so with clear vision as it relates to creating an authentic sense of space. A while back, you probably heard the BookLook review I offered on their absolutely stunning tome called Intersection of Art and Nature. This is a firm that lives and delivers upon the promise behind the work and because of that, I am really thrilled to share this conversation with you. This is James and Justin from James Doyle Design Associates. We’ll get to that right after this.
Thank you James and Justin for your time. Loved our chat as much as I do your work. Thank you for listening, downloading and subscribing to the show. If not already, please make sure you are subscribing to the show. You can find Convo By Design everywhere you find your favorite podcasts. By the way, with over 450 episodes, perhaps you’d like to check out some of the past episodes.
Thank you to my wonderful partners and sponsors, ThermaSol, Moya Living and Design Hardware. Without you, I would not be able to do this and for that, thank you. Thanks again for listening. Be well and until next week, take today first. -CXD
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with the third installment from a live event at the Soho House studio in West Hollywood, California. Candace Hickman of Soho House Design has has followed a really interesting path along the way to a 15+ year career in hospitality design, from boutique restaurants in Hong Kong, to flagship properties for Soho House & Co.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience. Episode 271 featuring Mitch Altman
ICAA Southern California – SoCal is Southern California’s preeminent resource on classical architecture and the allied arts.
I met Candace in the living room of the Soho House – Melrose studio, a building that has some serious design history after serving as home base for Rose Tarlow in the West Hollywood Design District. The building itself deserves mention for a few reasons. It is the only showroom of its kind that I know of in the design districts of Los Angeles with an A-Frame built into the architecture placing windows in want is similar to a central atrium allowing for natural light to flood the space. This makes the showroom bright during the day and moody at night allowing designers and clients alike to see the furnishings in different types of light and space. The Soho House line is create, unique and designed to foster conversation and silent enjoyment alike. Candace and I sat to talk about this and other topics on an afternoon in May when Soho House so generously offered to host the Convo By Design 10th anniversary party. An event for a small, incredible group of industry insiders, designers and architects, most of which who have appeared on the show. The event was also sponsored by SoCal Design Magazine, Southern California’s premier design publication.
In 2005 Candace was approached by Soho House to lead design for the Soho House Hong Kong development, given her established prominence in the Hong Kong interior design world. Relocating to Soho House’s New York design studio, she became established as the Design Director for North America, soon completing her first project at Little Beach House, in Malibu.
Candace has since led interior design for seven Soho House properties, each project noteworthy for its crafted references to locale. Significant examples include Dumbo House – a club space perched above the historic Empire Stores building in Brooklyn, NY – and Soho Warehouse at the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles – an adaptive reuse of a former warehouse, to a 40-bedroom hotel compound. As Lead Designer, Candace has liaised directly with high-profile private clients, bringing Soho House design nuance to their personal residences. Her work has been featured in Architectural Digest, The New York Times and Elle Décor as well as others. We talk about this and so much more, right after this.
I cannot tell you how thankful I am to Soho Home for hosting this event, thank you Candace for making the time to speak with me. Thank you to all the amazing designers, architects, insiders and publicists who came out to celebrate with me. Thank you to my sponsor partners, ThermaSol, Moya Living, Design Hardwarefor your continued support, I greatly appreciate you. And thank you for listening, subscribing and downloading the show. My goal is continue bringing you the stories behind sublime design as well as a podcast that allows those in the industry to up your design game through inspiration, information and opportunity. Until next week, be well and take today first. -CXD
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with another installment of The Showroom featuring another exceptionally talented member of the design community. One of my all-time favorites for the little things she does. Her attention to detail and the manner in which she tells her stories through the work are exceptional. We talk abut music too, one of my favorite topics and hers as well. Love this chat and I know you will too, this is Brigette Romanek, live in the showroom.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience. Episode 271 featuring Mitch Altman
ICAA Southern California – SoCal is Southern California’s preeminent resource on classical architecture and the allied arts.
The Showroom was a feature segment created during the pandemic as a way to showcase designers in front of an audience when no gatherings were possible. The Showroom has evolved and I had the opportunity to sit down with Brigette in the newly opened Soho Home Studio in the West Hollywood Design District. Soho Home was also gracious to sponsor the Convo By Design 10th anniversary party and served as the location for what was an extraordinary afternoon seeing friends, many of which I had not seen in person in years.
This conversation with Brigette covers her creative journey and how she has worked to become one of the most exceptional creatives working today. I don’t say this lightly. I think her work is, truly exceptional. Her work, through Romanek Design Studio is layered, contextual and subtly situational. You will hear more about that in addition to ways music has shaped her life and therefor inextricably tethered to her work. We talk about her collections and other facets to the business that allow her to create her art. I could go on, I really could, but I won’t. Instead, I’ll let Brigette tell her story.
Thank you Brigette for your time, I loved this. Thank you Soho Home Studio for hosting this conversation and our tenth anniversary party. Thank you for listening, downloading and subscribing to the show. If not already, please make sure you are subscribing to the show. You can find Convo By Design everywhere you find your favorite podcasts.
Thank you to my wonderful partners and sponsors, ThermaSol, Moya Living and Design Hardware. Without you, I would not be able to do this and for that, thank you. Thanks again for listening. Be well and until next week, take today first. -CXD
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design with a look at the modern American kitchen and what the design community is doing in response to changing tastes and new opportunities to create unique functional spaces transforming the heart of the home.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience. Episode 271 featuring Mitch Altman
ICAA Southern California – SoCal is Southern California’s preeminent resource on classical architecture and the allied arts.
In May, 2023, a special gathering took place in Long Beach, California. This gatheringfeatured a diverse group of design talent and presented an opportunity to get some of Southern California’s most dynamic and creative designers together for a conversation about kitchen design. Our group engages in an open forum about how the kitchen has changed in form and function since the pandemic began in 2020. This idea started as an exploratory look at what has changed, but developed into an overarching dialogue about what it means to be a designer today. Further, how the design community has learned to lean in on each other for support, direction, inspiration and in the case of showrooms like Friedman’s Home Experience, how to provide designers and architects with opportunities to discover new product and specify with confidence to best serve the client.
You are about to listen in on a real workgroup discussing the issues designers, architects and builders face today. The following conversation is between 7 creatives and at times, it gets complicated, just like conversations in the real world. The conversation was not intended for you to blow through while multi-tasking. There is a great deal of material here and it is intended to be listened to over time and re-listened as well. It is worthy of saving and. added to your resource library.
Before we listen in, I thought you would like to meet the participants. We are going to get to that, right after this.
Luxury kitchen design is more about form and function, but feel
Accessorizing in the kitchen is moreimportant than ever before and in more ways than is seen. Dividers and separators for sectioning the functions
The feel of the space is based on treating the kitchen as another living room with a different skill set
The return of the “triangle”? To this designer, it never left
Now that you have met the players, let me share the conversation that ensued. They were talking about materials. Brass, brushed gold and chrome.Understated glamour. Stamped wood, wood islands with nautical finishes.We are talking about custom organics. Luxury and organic.
NEW – Countertops as the full cooking surface with embedded induction elements
You are going to hear an honest conversation about supply chain, lead generation for products and materials.
I started hosting these conversations in 2017 following an event at a design festival. What I found was the moment the mics were off, the conversations started to be real. These real conversations have led to actionable steps and techniques designers can use in a real world scenario because at the end of the day, we are all dealing with the same issues. Some better than others. Enjoy this conversation from Friedman’s Home Experience in Long Beach, California on a sunny day in May, 2023.
Panel ConversationTake Aways:
Just some thoughts and ideas that emerged from this:
Dust is a big issue with open shelving in kitchens now, as is clutter.
Thicknesses and finishes. Technical design details. Products for outdoor uses.
The art of sales and how designers can engage more efficiently with trades and showrooms.
Working with educated clients and the “Amazon Effect”, training customers to just buy and return if they don’t like it as opposed to buying right the first time.
Evaluating new lines and products.
Induction, new tech and new ideas, but what does that mean by way of new upgrades like the electrical panel? Government regulations, utility company specifications…How does this affect the design.
Steel cabinetry is becoming more of a standard in lieu of wood, stone and cement board outdoors and indoors. Durability is becoming more important as temperatures increase.
What I love about these conversations and that I hope you do as well are the real world data points that emerge. These are not preprepared glossy ideas about how wonderful great design is. While that is important, I find it even more important to get past the hurdles that impede the design process. If you are a working designer today, at any level, you are encountering some, many or all of these issues in your own work and I hope hearing that others deal with the same issues and how many are approaching the work helps you in yours.
Thank you Lea, Pam, Donna, Paul, Cheryl, Long and John for your input and for participating in this event. Thank you Freidman’s Home Experience for hosting and thank you for listening, downloading and subscribing to the show. If not already, please make sure you are subscribing to the show. You can find Convo By Design everywhere you find your favorite podcasts.
Thank you to my wonderful partners and sponsors, ThermaSol, Moya Living and Design Hardware. Without you, I would not be able to do this and for that, thank you. Thanks again for listening. Be well and until next week, take today first. -CXD
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design. Suzanne Rheinstein, a giant in the industry has left us but not without changing both the nature of interior design but the way in which interior design is experienced by those for whom she crafted.
Suzanne was one of those rare talents who had a signature through-line in her work that has been described as “elegant civility” which was a pulled-focus on fewer, but better. A level of quality that was exceptional but not overpowering which allowed those for whom she worked to experience the different levels of her work, not necessarily all at once but over time. It is the same way other pleasure past-times like wine, art and music are experienced and enjoyed. Rheinstein was a major talent with all of the awards and accolades that you would expect. Her work, like Suzanne, was elegant and timeless.
I wanted to share some of her wit, charm and stories, in her own voice and words from an interview n 2019 at the LaCienega Design Quarter’s Legends event where she was presented with her Living Legend Award.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will always long to return. Learning never exhausts the mind. – Leonardo da Vinci.
I’m Josh Cooperman and this is Convo By Design and today on the show, we have Cate Brown, and her firm’s creative director, NY fashion designer Dean Sidaway. Cate and her namesake brand produce some beautiful garments for the home. Yes, this is a conversation about design, but it’s also a chart about fashion, clothing for the home, if you will and sustainability. Up-cycling, and reimagining gently worn Chanel, Valentino and Louis Vuitton into pillows and fashion for the home.
Designer Resources
ThermaSol – Redefining the modern shower experience. Episode 271 featuring Mitch Altman
Design Hardware – A stunning and vast collection of jewelry for the home!
It’s an interesting concept if you really think about it. Tile, pulls and hardware have long been called jewelry for the home. We talk about our homes as living, breathing entities so why shouldn’t they be dressed? Why shouldn’t textiles serve as fashion for the home? Partly rhetorical, partly not and that is the part Cate, Dean and I discuss.
This is the 10th year of Convo By Design. For the past 10 years, I have been working with the biggest and brightest names in design and architecture. I have also spent a significant amount of time consulting brands and producing branded content for them. Beginning this year, we are offering this service to design and architecture firms of all sizes from the single creative to multi-national design firms and brands alike. If you are in need of a production company to produce social media content, develop your company podcast, write your blog posts, produce trade-focused CEUs, create in-showroom programming or you need help leveling-up your firm, email me, Convo By Design @ Outlook dot com or message me on Instagram @ConvoXDesign with an “x”.
Thank you Cate and Dean for taking the time to share your story. Thank you CXD partners and sponsors; ThermaSol, Moya Living and Design Hardware for your continued support. And thank you for taking the time every week to share some time together and hear the stories behind sublime design. Check the show notes for links to Cate Brown, our social media links and please keep emailing me with your suggestions and guest submissions. Convo By Design @ Outlook dot com. Until next week, remember why you do what you do and for whom you do it, be well and take today first.
