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Can You Feel It?

Cindy Allen -- Interior Design, 7/1/2006 12:00:00 AM

Spread open up any feature story in this month's issue, and you won't fail to notice skillfully crafted projects that go beyond mere problem-solving. And to rescue myself quickly from your giant-size duh, I invite you, our beloved readers, to follow me one more teeny, tiny but essential step. What these stories clearly have in common, at their very core, is sheer, unadulterated emotion.

No, I am not sneaking closer to the heartbreaking topic of that U.S. team at the World Cup. I am pointing to highly charged, expressive design that doesn't stop at the skin of things or pull back in the face of functionalism. Post-Bauhaus, the battle for emotions as a propelling force in design was fought for us by none other than the Italians. No, I am not making another veiled reference to soccer players of any nationality.

The kind of work I feel fortunate to publish—and for which I am always famished—is epitomized by our cover story. Studio Pali Fekete's improbably named Museum of Design Art & Architecture in L.A. takes "multiuse" to the nth degree of functionality, with an architecture studio, a gallery, and a trendy restaurant on the ground level and live-work lofts above. But every single one of those functions is positively bursting with life.

Likewise the 1930's beach getaway that Laura Bohn renovated for a huge family on the Rockaway peninsula in Queens, New York. Never mind the Citterio credenza or the Liaigre love seat. Just try to picture that house during a visit from the owners' 24 children and grandchildren.

Though extremely complex in its vocabulary and syntax, the language of emotions is an essential one for interior designers to speak fluently as they craft our industry's future. And did I mention anything about the U.S. team winning the next World Cup?