inspired architecture
Gabellini Sheppard Associates LLP. A deep fascination with design enhances New York firm’s work, making every project a new adventure The lasting strength of anything is most often the result At a Glance Location: New York, NY Founded: 1991 Employees: 25 Specialty: High-end architecture and interior design
Left: Gabellini Sheppard's 4,000-square-foot loft project in Chelsea resembles a 1920s industrial space, ideal for high-end living and entertaining.
of the sum of its parts. And when such cumulative inner workings are a seamless blend of diversified ideas and talent, the end product is usually an entity saturated with creativity, vision, and a redefining perception. For nearly two decades, Gabellini Sheppard Associates has used its inclusive and collaborative structure to embolden and rethink architectural design. In 1991, Michael Gabellini, founder and principal of Gabellini Sheppard, started the company (then just named Gabellini Associates) after collaborating with interior designer Jay Smith. The firm’s earliest commissions were actually for Jil Sander, the 1993 flagship boutique on Avenue Montaigne in Paris. Jil Sander and Gabellini ultimately collaborated on more than 80 projects worldwide. In 1994, design partner Kimberly Sheppard and managing partner Daniel Garbowit joined the firm, and its name was changed to Gabellini Sheppard in 2006 to more accurately reflect this partnership. Today Gabellini Sheppard is a full-service architecture and interior-design firm, with a work portfolio that encompasses high-end residences, hospitality, luxury retail and retail masterplanning, art installations and
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exhibition design, historic renovation, furniture design, and urban planning. The firm works on an international scale, Gabellini points out, for such notable clients as Tishman Speyer, the Related Group, RFR Holding, Westfield Shoppingtowns, Boyd Gaming, Jil Sander, Salvatore Ferragamo, Giorgio Armani, Vera Wang, David Yurman, and many more. Gabellini adds that the firm’s work is characterized by spatial clarity, attention to detail, and sensitivity to the dynamic properties of light. Since Gabellini believes that many architects neglect the conception and perception of interior environments, Gabellini Sheppard’s expertise in these matters has provided the firm with a definite competitive advantage. “Conversely, the majority of interior designers are unable to think beyond the existing limits of floor, wall, and ceiling,” Gabellini says. “Clients often come to us looking for someone to consider not only layout and spatial flow, but also materials, lighting, and color.” For Gabellini and the other designers at the firm, design is viewed within the studio as a fluid process of navigating a rigorous problemsolving mentality with the poetics of space. Another unique quality of Gabellini Sheppard is the fact that its clients are attracted to the way the team’s de-
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