VOLUME VIII / ISSUE I / JANUARY 2024
BUILDING THE HOUSE ON THIRD
REDEFINING THE SPACES WE DWELL
I
N THE COURSE OF A CREATIVE’S LIFE, IT IS NOT UNCOMMON TO COME ACROSS SOMEONE YOU INNATELY CONNECT WITH AND WONDER WHAT IT MIGHT BE LIKE TO WORK WITH THEM COLLABORATIVELY. All too often, such thoughts are merely fleeting and fall wayside to the grind of reality. That was the very feeling designer Tom Landry had when he attended design school at IADT in Montreal some 23 years ago and met two sisters, Caroline & Christina Akatcherian. They instantly connected over their adoration for contemporary design and aesthetic restraint. 136
Tom, from New Orleans, graduated alongside Carolina and Christina. He returned to the States to pursue his design career in residential and commercial design while acting as a North American design consultant for Aveda salons and spas for 20 years, while the sisters went on to work for renowned Montréal design studios. Joining forces some thirteen years ago, the sisters started a multi-disciplinary firm dedicated to the exploration of lightness in minimalism and all things beautiful. Their project work spans the gamut of built environments. Tom returned to the city of his alma mater, Montréal while accompanying his son in his studies there. That’s when he reconnected with the Akatcherian sisBY TOM LANDRY / DESIGN CONTRIBUTOR
ters. Within days they knew there would be no better time to embark on that fleeting thought from some 23 years ago. Their shared authenticity restrained aesthetic and devotion to the craft has flourished since those long days in the classroom. Collectively they have a breadth of extraordinary contemporary residential & commercial interiors that span North America. And then there is Miriam. Tom met Miriam while he was doing philanthropic work in Haiti. He later assisted her in the design of a former Prime Minister’s official residence. Miriam, a Dutch native, grew up in Haiti. She was a co-proprietor of one of Haiti’s top restaurants with her mother and was a personal advisor to three Haitian Prime Ministers