Private Air New York

www.privateairny.com Private Air | Winter 2019/2020 64 INTERNATIONALLY-KNOWN DESIGNER, STEF-ALBERT INCORPORATES HIS LOVE AND KNOWLEDGE OF MUSIC INTO HIS DESIGNS By: Tricia Drevets UNIQUE METHODOLOGY DESIGN T here's no getting around the fact that interior designer Stef-Albert sees the world a bit differently than most of us. As a musician and an artist, he has a heightened sensitivity to his surroundings that enables him to sense things in a room that the average person cannot. When he has a new design project, Stef- Albert first meets with the client to listen carefully to the client's ideas and desires for the space. "From then on, I guide them gently through the design process," he says. A next step is for him to spend some time alone in the space. "A room can be so many different things," he explains. "What I design for a client is not necessarily what I would design for myself. I am in customer services after all. However I want to spend time alone in the space because the space dictates what needs to happen there." Explaining that light, dimensions, and location all dictate what he can do with a space, Stef-Albert says he spends a few hours alone in a room, often just sitting on the floor in the middle of an empty room. "I observe the room and I take notes... en everything seems to fall into place." e designer says he begins to visualize things in the room, adding "ere is a certain logic to it. I take notes and then I go to my drawing room." Once the "logic falls into place," Stef- Albert says he sometimes feels a little guilty about how quickly the design process goes. He credits his musical background with helping him see the current and future components of the room clearly. "A room is like a song," he explains. "ere is a certain order to it... Music is based upon a very simple structure. It starts with the melody. If you don't have the base, the structure can get lost." He goes on to discuss that it is no mystery how a hit song becomes a hit song. "Many people tend to just throw things together in a room, but the reason a hit song is a hit song is because everything is just right. It is balanced." "Fundamentally, the way I go about working on apiece of music or working on the room is exactly the same. Many people tend to just throw things together in a room. A successful room has to be balanced."

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