Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 51

Rockwell commissioned artisan craftsmen to build rustic light fixtures and furniture.
It was the first three-star restaurant with no tablecloths. "People saw it as radical,"
he told Inc. magazine in 2012, "but I saw it as essential to telling Nobu's story."
The following year, after being featured in New York Magazine, Rockwell
moved into his current office on Union Square, more than tripling the size of his
studio from 20 to 70 employees. As the studio expanded along with the typologies
of projects it took on, Rockwell recalls drawing a future-goal diagram of the things
he was interested in tackling: hospitality, performance, storytelling, materiality,
and craftsmanship, along with where those interests would intersect, from theaters
to libraries. In particular, he was drawn to airports, but it would take him nearly
until the turn of the century to complete one: JetBlue's Terminal Five at JFK. He
later completed more than 35 restaurants at United Airlines Terminal C at Newark
Airport. Today, when asked what he'd like to design that he hasn't had a chance
to yet, he recites a laundry list, including an opera house (he's only designed
a theater), a big park (he's done pocket parks), a stadium, and a dormitory-
"Dormitories are ripe for reinvention," he says.
Rockwell's commitment to New York and his conviction that design
can forge bonds among strangers translate into his philanthropic and pro bono
work. After one of his brothers died of AIDS in 1993, Rockwell channeled his grief
into projects for DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS). "It was an
amazingly cathartic experience for me," he says. "I also recognized for the first time
that the act of creating something is inherently optimistic." He eventually joined
DIFFA's board before becoming its chairman for 13 years. Rockwell has also found

a humanitarian outlet for his belief in food's ability to bring people together,
with his work with Citymeals on Wheels-a nonprofit organization dedicated
to preparing and delivering meals for over 18,000 homebound elderly New Yorkers.
"When you go on those meal deliveries," he says, "you realize that the physical
and emotional connection is just as important as the food."
Rockwell's ultimate optimistic act of creation occurred after 9/11. He was
living in Tribeca, near the World Trade Center, during the attack and witnessed
the tragic aftermath firsthand. A week or two afterward, Rockwell got a call from
the principal of PS 234-a nearby school that had been displaced from Ground
Zero to an abandoned school on 13th Street-asking if, given his experience
in restaurant design, he could make their temporary cafeteria more inviting.
"We had a studio of totally freaked-out people for many, many reasons," Rockwell
recalls. "The momentum to create these spaces that were about pleasure seemed
sort of insignificant given what had just happened." So Rockwell staged what he
calls an "urban barn-raising," bringing in dozens of designers and artists, including
the illustrator and writer Maira Kalman and the sculptor Tom Otterness,
to transform the school in a couple of weeks.
Inspired by that project, the city asked Rockwell if he would help design
a VIP viewing platform at Ground Zero. He brought architects Liz Diller, Ricardo
Scofidio, and Kevin Kennon with him. Their collective decision: They wouldn't build
a private viewing platform, but they'd do a public one. The city's response: Sure, if
you raise the money. Together, the designers set up a foundation, raised the funds,
and built the public viewing platform in 110 days. After the platform was so well
contract



Contract Magazine - January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract Magazine - January 2020

Contract Magazine - January 2020
Contents
Editorial
Industry News
Product Briefs: Cover Style
Designers of the Year
Visionary
Adaptive Reuse
Bar/restaurant
Civic/public
Education
Entertainment
Healthcare
Historic Restoration
Hotel
Large Office
Lobby
Retail
Showroom
Small Office
Small Office
Student
Sustainable
Exhibition
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Contract Magazine - January 2020
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Cover2
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 1
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 2
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 3
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Contents
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 5
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 6
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 7
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 8
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 9
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 10
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 11
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 12
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 13
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Editorial
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 15
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 16
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 17
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Industry News
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 19
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 20
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 21
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 22
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 23
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 24
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 25
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Product Briefs: Cover Style
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 27
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 28
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 29
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 30
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 31
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 32
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 33
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 34
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Designers of the Year
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 36
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 37
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 38
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 39
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 40
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 41
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 42
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 43
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 44
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 45
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Visionary
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 47
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 48
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 49
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 50
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 51
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 52
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 53
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 54
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 55
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 56
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 57
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 58
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 59
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 60
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 61
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Adaptive Reuse
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 63
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 64
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 65
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Bar/restaurant
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 67
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 68
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 69
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Civic/public
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 71
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 72
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 73
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Education
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 75
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 76
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 77
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Entertainment
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 79
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 80
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 81
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Healthcare
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 83
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 84
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 85
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Historic Restoration
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 87
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 88
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 89
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Hotel
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 91
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 92
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 93
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Large Office
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 95
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 96
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 97
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Lobby
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 99
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 100
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 101
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Retail
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 103
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 104
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 105
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Showroom
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 107
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 108
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 109
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Small Office
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 111
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 112
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 113
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Small Office
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 115
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 116
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 117
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Student
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 119
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 120
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 121
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Sustainable
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 123
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 124
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 125
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 126
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 127
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Exhibition
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Cover3
Contract Magazine - January 2020 - Cover4
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