From the Editor
“Talent wins games but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” Michael Jordan In the pages that follow, you will see the winning works of local designers, architects, builders and artisans. For Sophisticated Living’s first-ever SOPHI Awards, we invited individuals to send in their finest work. Since this isn’t the only design awards game in town, we weren’t sure how many would actually enter. We were, in a word, stunned. By the last deadline day, 266 entries had been submitted. So many people took up the mantel that we had to double the number of judges reviewing and assessing the applicants. But as Jordan, the legendary Chicago Bulls player, points out: It’s a team effort. It may start with the inspiration of the designer or architect (or the exceptional talent of one player) but the execution is achieved with the help of many, many others. It’s the design associates, suppliers, cabinet makers, carpenters, upholsterers, painters, masons, lighting designers, electricians, plumbers. It’s the person artfully laying tiles or installing carefully crafted hardwood floors. Or that determined soul who spends hours scouring the internet and vendors for the perfect piece to complete a room. It’s the architect who finesses every detail of a blueprint to create something that soars beyond the client’s imagination. It’s the builder who converts those plans into reality. It’s the landscaper who basically ices the cake by creating surroundings which enhance what everyone else has done. It’s the woodworker who crafts a piece of art. It’s the photographer who captures the beauty with a click of the camera. It takes more than a village to create a masterpiece. It takes a city. I can honestly say that it is the magazine’s privilege to celebrate all the talent in our area. Each month we feature a house; this month we get to recognize 50. A year from now when we launch our second year of awards, it will undoubtedly be more. I want to personally thank each of the judges for so diligently (and may I point out fairly quickly) undertaking the task of evaluating the entries. It was a daunting task and they did it seamlessly. But above all, I want to congratulate each one of the winners and finalists. As you will see in the following pages, the competition was fierce. And you are only seeing the three or four that scored highest. In most cases, the margins between placing and being a runner up was miniscule. A half point. A point. I’ve always known the depth of the design talent in this town was impressive. The following pages only confirm that. The entries were breathtaking making my job so much harder on picking which pictures to feature and the hardest of all, which makes the cover. I thank every entrant. Your fine work has made our debut into the awards world a resounding success. I can’t wait until 2025.
Christy Marshall, Editor in Chief EditorSTL@slmag.net
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