Reviews
Illustrated throughout with color photographs of interiors, this volume contains 24 essays from top designers paying tribute to the mentors who inspired and guided their work. Contributions include the reflections of Pamela S. Banker on Sir John Soane, Ronald A. Grimaldi on Rose Cumming, and Bunny Williams on Sister Parish. The volume also featuresa section of "decorating do's and don'ts" provided by each of the contributors, along with biographies and contact information. Photographer and writer Susan Gray is also the editor of Architects on Architects., Susan Gray has a talent for bringing people together. Her first book Writers on Directors and subsequent title Architects on Architects invited leading talents to wax poetic about those who inspired them in their respective fields. Now she has recruited more boldfaced names for Designers on Designers. Like Cracker Jack and the prize hidden inside, the conceit is doubly satisfying -- you take a glimpse into the work of icons through the minds of the creatives who are following in their footsteps. Orlando Diaz-Azcuy (whose bedroom graaces the cover) relays his admiration for John Dickinson, Ashley and Allegra Hicks reveal the design obsession of Ashley's father David Hicks, who escaped the hospital while dying because of the preponderance of plastics and style-challenged nurses' unifroms. Other masters include Billy Baldwin, Donald Deskey, Dorothy Draper, Elsie de Wolfe, Michael Taylor, Rose Cumming, Sir John Soane -- and those offering up the paeans are Thomas Britt, William Sofield Carleton Varney, Suzanne Rheinstein, John Stefanidis and Pamela Banker, to name a few. Illustrated with photos of interiors by both the masters and their admirers, the book engages with intimate accounts of the creative process at work, an inspirational page-turner you won't want to put down., No one knows design like designers, and no one knows the interior design trade like those whose names ring with well-earned fame. In this collection of essays, the world's greatest contemporary designers share their sources of inspiration, including encounters with the work and personalities of legendary figures in the field--often mentors with whom they've shared years of experience. Illuminating photographs highlight each designer's essay to give the reader a clear idea of why the selected mentors have had such a powerful influence on them. Introduction by Albert Hadley, ASID. Edited by Susan Gray., In Designers on Designers, today's top decorators reveal the ways in which their legendary counterparts influenced them., Review by Stanley Abercrombie Following the pattern of her Architects on Architects, Susan Gray now offers two dozen contemporary designers describing their mentors and role models. The brief profiles accompany photographs of interiors by both the subjects and their biographers. A few of the latter have unfortunately seized the opportunity to write more about themselves, but most share a rare and warm appreciation for their subjects. Pamela S. Banker tells us that Sir John Soane's convex mirrors "keep light on its toes." Thomas Britt, writing primarily about Billy Baldwin, also acknowledges designers Bill Pahlmann and Tony Duquette and educators Van Day Truex and Stanley Barrows. Orlando Diaz-Azcuy-whose own New York bedroom appears on the dust jacket-quotes John Dickinson: "The more you're dealing with taste, the more you're on shaky ground. Vulgarity to me is another matter. Vulgarity has great vitality." Juan Montoya recalls his introduction to Jean-Michel Frank's work, being "thunderstruck by the economy of the rooms-you could even say their emptiness." John Stefanidis describes Philippe Starck as a "tease," his style "defoliated but imaginative." Carleton Varney says of Dorothy Draper: "To this lady, everything was a Christmas package. Timid she was not." Never mind the gratuitous appendix of "Do's and Don'ts"-the book's delightful tributes leave us wanting more, and it would have been especially nice to see a few more modernists. What would designer Carol Groh say about Davis Allen or designer Joe D'Urso say about Ward Bennett? Perhaps Susan Gray will assemble a sequel., As designers comment on other designers here, different relationships abound: mentor-protege, teacher-student, father-son, icon-admirer. The commented-on artisans all have one thing in common, though: they represent the greats from throughout the world and over three centuries. Editor Gray, known for elegant home fashion journalism (Architects on Architects, 2001) wisely allows each contemporary designer to speak in his or her own voice about the geniuses they reveal. This way, each portrait includes revelations about both parties, both in the narrative and photographically. It's said that Billy Baldwin defined design as "all about making people feel wonderful in their homes"; Stephane Boudin was the wizard behind Jackie Kennedy's restoration of the White House; and Rose Cumming summed up the profession by saying, "Either you have a flair or you haven't." At the end the do's and don't's are fairly instructive; watch for "do start a collection," "don't be afraid to be whimsical," "do be able to make a decision," and "stop trying to edit, edit, edit.", Great design doesn't exist in a vacuum. At least that's the point behind Designers on Designers, a 240 page tome in which today's top decorators share their thoughts on their legendary counterparts from the past. Thomas Britt talks about Billy Baldwin and his personal tour of the Park Avenue apartment Baldwin crafted for
