There are some design events that make one acutely aware of the moment we are all occupying more than others. The 38th Annual Interiors Awards, presented by Contract magazine at the illustrious Cipriani space on 42nd Street in Manhattan, is regularly one of those events. For many in the New York design community, this is the first time in the new year that a large number of the Lifers across the strata of the contract design industry can catch up with their colleagues and old friends in a familiar and welcoming networking event before the ceremony.

In recent years, the last Friday of the month in January has been burdened with bad weather in New York. However, this year’s bright and early meeting time of 7:30 in the morning was met with smooth sailing to the event and resulted in a capacity crowd.
This is one of my favorite events of the year. It is an inspiring collective “State of the Industry” address on contract design that, during the course of the morning, looked both backward and forward. Adapt and elevate was the theme of the morning, but also palpable among the crowd was an appreciation of this moment – where all of us are right now and how we got here. For many in this contract design industry, the road to success has not always been an easy one. It’s nice to enjoy the good times while they are good.

Welcoming the crowd to the event was the new publisher of Contract, Karen Donaghy, who took over that role in December 2016, after former publisher John Rouse transitioned to the role of Publisher Emeritus for Contract. In his new role, Mr. Rouse will provide his trademark insight and expertise to the Contract magazine staff.
“Today is also known as career speculation day,” Ms. Donaghy joked in her opening remarks. “Today you will all return to your offices all dressed up on a Friday, causing speculation among your coworkers as to which job interview you just attended.”
The crowd was in good spirits the whole morning with a lot of enthusiastic standing ovations and long moments of applause.
John Czarnecki, editor in chief of Contract and Master of Ceremonies for the morning, was in great spirits and fired up the early morning crowd.

“We sold out our house this morning,” he wryly stated in his opening remarks. “From where I am standing, it looks like 1.2 or 1.5 million people here today; at least, that is what it looks like to me,” he said, referencing the recent Presidential Inauguration controversy.
An independent jury of design professionals selects the awards each year. “Half of the projects that received awards this morning were from outside the U.S.,” said Mr. Czarnecki. “Of the 14 professional projects recognized today, only one was a ground-up, purpose built structure. All the others are new interiors within existing buildings or structures; nearly all of the work is an adaptation in some ways.”

The jury this year reviewed the most project entries ever – 510 entries overall for 14 categories of awards. This year’s jury consisted of Sara Agrest from Dattner Architects, Todd Bracher from Todd Bracher Studio, Sheyla Conforte from Solomon Cordwell Buenz, Jeff Hollander from Hollander Design Group and Carrie Renegar from BB+M Architecture.
“The winning projects each drew us in and told a story – through the interiors – that was distinct and independent of the architecture,” said Ms. Agrest, about her experience as a juror. “These solutions stood out for their ability to stunningly capture and accentuate the core of the functionality while heightening the experience through design.”

The award presentations that followed, all designed by the graphic design firm Pentagram, featured a great diversity of design applications showcasing various forms of adaptation, or adaptive design thinking; the unexpected was also a recurring theme among projects.
Winner in the Adaptive Reuse category, Kyle Mertensmeyer of Chinese firm Shanghai Godolphin, said in his acceptance speech, ”This all began playing with Lincoln Logs in my grandparents living room. The client, a good friend of mine, came to me about six years ago with a dream of building a wine museum. He took me to a concrete bunker – it was an amazing experience – there was no light, and when you snap your fingers, you count seven seconds of sound. Eventually, it became what you saw today.”
The crowd liked what they saw.
Former Designer of the Year Lauren Rottet from Rottet Studio won the category of Showroom Design for her work on the Bernhardt Design New York Showroom.
“We wanted to do a space that was worthy of the beautiful product that Bernhardt has been producing for so long,” said Ms. Rottet.
An executive from Bernhardt Design then approached the podium.

“We joke internally at Bernhardt Design that our showrooms are a lot like children: they take about nine months to complete, they cost a fortune, and they require a lot of TLC. Lauren, if you think about it, we now have five children together.”
Thanks to Steelcase, I had a seat for this exciting event. I sat next to a young designer who was attending the awards for the first time. She mentioned to me how impressed she was that our industry holds events like this and what an inspiration Suzette Subance, the 2017 Designer of the Year, is to her. It was great to see the circle of aspiration becoming success, which then transforms into inspiration, right before my eyes. This is indeed a good time to be working in contract design.
Recipient of this year’s Legend Award is the truly legendary multidisciplinary Michael Vanderbyl. The crowd gave him a standing ovation.

“Design Legend is kind of a heady title,” he said. “And I am always suspect that it is really just some younger group of people trying to shove me out of the way, but as long as I can still continue to work, I consider myself at mid-career right now, so at my 140th birthday you can all celebrate with me.”
The crowd, many of whom have worked with Mr. Vanderbyl in some capacity or other, was very appreciative.
“I was asked years ago about my exit strategy, and I think it’s going to be this: feet first on a gurney.”
His speech that morning was quite emotional, especially when it revolved around his late wife Anna Hernandez, who passed away in October. An education fund for women in design has been set up in her honor. Please visit this site to participate: http://www.iida.org/content.cfm/anna-hernandezluna-textiles-education-fund
“I have always tried to model my career after people I respect,” said Mr. Vanderbyl. “Those are the people that continue to work until they are no longer with us. If I had to stare at an 8.5 x 11 page every day, I would have retired a long time ago. Working with the contract furniture industry has been truly rewarding. You are the perfect audience, because you all get it. You love being talked to in an intelligent way, and I have always rewarded my clients when that happens. I don’t go home and make paintings because I am not getting my creative needs met during the day. This is my art, this is your art too, and this is our passion.”

When it came time for the announcement of Designer of the Year, her name may be unfamiliar to those outside the New York design industry. But, Suzette Subance is no stranger to many of the people in the room that morning.
”Selection of Designer of the Year always needs to be carefully considered,” said Mr. Czarnecki. “It has to be someone that I personally would feel strongly about and someone I would champion. It is most often awarded to designers who have accomplished great work, but they are on a trajectory to do much more.”
In her work, Ms. Subance melds the story of her clients with the latest technology and workplace design knowledge.
“By Honoring Suzette, we are recognizing our lives do not happen in a vacuum,” said Mr. Czarnecki, “Careers don’t happen in a vacuum. Outside of the office, Suzette is a wife and mother, and a daughter of immigrants from Trinidad and Tobago. She is a New York City native, the product of New York City public schools, and a graduate of FIT. She has not sought out the limelight because, well, she has been busy. Doing the work of interior design.”
Ms. Subance is a small town girl from the big city; she grew up and graduated from design school all within a 10-block radius in Manhattan.
“I have done some of my best design work since motherhood,” she said in her introductory video. “Being a mother, you are constantly juggling things; you realize that you need to get to the point quickly. Everything is possible now. We can work from anywhere, we can create these spaces where people are engaged and using the spaces as we envisioned them.”
In her remarks at the podium, her gratitude to her circles of colleagues was notable.
“I can’t express how much it means to me to be receiving this award here in my hometown amongst my peers and mentors. Today I want to acknowledge and thank all the working parents, particularly all of the working mothers in this industry. They inspire me every day. This journey of a working mother is not for the faint of heart, but we can do, and we do do it, with the help of everyone, including our employers. I hope we see that support span all companies until one day we see more women and working mothers in senior positions throughout this country, and of this country.
“We are in the middle of a cultural renaissance where the creative is king. We have everyone from banks to publishing companies and start ups asking us how design can make them better. We help them become more successful, become leaders in their field and ultimately, make more money. By creating environments that facilitate and expand their own creativity, we are the cool kids now.”
Offering advice to younger designers in the audience, she said, “Don’t be something that is cool or trendy; be thoughtful and purposeful with your designs. So what is the message? That is something we should all be asking ourselves as we approach design. Find your voice in the chaos and express it. People are listening, and we need to hear what you have to say. Where does design inspiration come from? How is an idea born? It comes from you, the designer, the creative. At the end of the day, it is you, a pen, and a roll of trace making magic.”