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Photo courtesy of Nancy Corzine
Photo Courtesy of Nancy Corzine
Photo Courtesy of Nancy Corzine
Photo Courtesy of Nancy Corzine
Photo Courtesy of Nancy Corzine
Photo Courtesy of Nancy Corzine
Apex of Affect: Nancy Corzine, Glamour at Home
By Natalie Fasano
When Rizzoli first approached Nancy Corzine with the “Glamour at Home” concept, the internationally renowned interior designer’s reception was lukewarm, at best. “I said no, I don’t want to do this,” she recalls. “Then they told me that out of ten designers, they were only selecting two to publish. ‘Do you want to be one of the two?’ they asked. I said: ‘well, yes. I do.’” This last “I do” cemented the literary marriage, with conjugal felicity and heightened momentum as the project moved forward.
When I considered the editorial direction of “Glamour at Home," one of Jane Austen’s famous directives came to mind. In one of the few moments that Austen deigned to speak directly to her reader, from the final chapter of Mansfield Park—“Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery.” And in this volume, this appears to be a striking tenet of Corzine's design philosophy.
“Glamour at Home” provides an elegant and light pairing of photography and editorial. Corzine avoids the generic “interior design” parlances and visual layout that, too often, fall victim to the over-the-top, and painfully obvious, “advertorial”-style of brand marketing. With “Glamour,” Corzine asserts her understanding of taste as revealed, rather than created, in Rizzoli’s finished product. “Glamour at Home” brings beauty a bit closer to home-- without shaking the 25 year-old foundation of the intelligently considered aesthetic elegance, upon which Nancy Corzine has built her empire.
NF: How do you define contemporary art? How has it changed in light of the recent recession?
NC: I own my own furniture factory; I get to see what the best designers in the world are thinking about doing. The wild and crazy decadence of the past is certainly being softened. I am seeing a revival of the Louis XIV style, now mixed with a contemporary aesthetic. For example, you can pair a contemporary sectional with a beautiful Venetian table.
NF: Let’s say that you have a client on the Upper East Side. The home is a product conceived of a completely different architectural movement—it is dated, to say the least. How do you modify the style of a home that cannot, or will not, be structurally modified?
NC: When someone asks me to come to their home that they’ve had for 20 years, I generally find a lot of draperies—“stuff,” as I say. I ask what, to them, represents a happy memory; what, in effect, they want to preserve. As for the rest, I like to start over. I want to get rid of the heavy draperies, the tassels—let’s see the skyline, Central Park!
NF: Is it difficult to work within an architectural environment that is absolutely fixed; do you feel that it is relatively simple to work within a preconceived idea of spatial functionality?
NC: The problem with an architect’s vision; maybe he or she didn’t have one, or they simply designed a home that would sell. I have probably thrown millions of dollars worth of construction and design in the garbage. The ideal situation would be, of course, to work with both the architect and the homeowner. It saves a lot of time, and a lot of money.
NF: Okay, back to my fictional, Upper East Side client. They have an extensive collection of Realist and Neo Classical Art. How do you fit this aesthetic with a cleaner, more minimalist vision of a room?
NC: It’s amazing how different a work of art, from any time period, looks when you simply move it from one place to another, or reframe it. If you re-contextualize the piece, get rid of all the “stuff” around it, you notice it in a different way.
NF: What is the most important aspect of design? Where do you begin?
NC: Lighting. I gave a Valentine’s Day dinner party one year; I set the table three days before, as usual. A day before the dinner, I lit all of the candles, adjusted the chandelier setting and marked each spot—not too dark so that people could see their food, but dark enough to make it romantic. You have to consider the room; is it a morning or evening room? What Art is on the walls? We are blessed with five senses; each should be considered.
NF: As an interior designer, you are beholden to the tastes of your client—you are hired to perform a service. Is compromise difficult, especially when the taste of the client is perhaps not suited to the reality of the space?
NC: I don’t live there. My client does. I need to know what they’re trying to do. It is never true that a client has no preconceived ideas; they may not know it themselves, but they always do. Everyone has an idea of how they want to live; the fact that I am there means that they want to change it. It’s not up to me to put my will on them, but to find out how they will be happiest. It’s a bit of psychiatry and counseling, mixed in with design.
NF: What is the one question that you ask at every first client meeting; what, in effect is the easiest way to understand their expectations, personality and current lifestyle?
NC: Simple. “What is your lifestyle in this specific home?” If they have children or dogs, they don’t need precious fabrics. If this is a vacation home, they are looking for a different experience.
NF: “Glamour at Home” has been received very well since its publication. Of course you are happy with this, but are you comfortable with this approach to renovation; room-by-room, space by space?
NC: To me, a home should be in one view. The entry is very important, for example. It is a preview of what you will see in the rest of the home. I don’t like to see contemporary ceilings mixed with English Traditional; it’s not a good design, not to have continuity. Total home design is obviously the ideal.
NF: Where do you see yourself 25 years from now? What direction is the interior design industry going?
NC: I see my company going more international, which we are working on now. The Middle East, India, South America and Asia are all markets that will have tremendous influence in the future. The financial and political situation of this country has changed it—I won’t go into politics, but it will never be the same. We have to look beyond our borders.
Nancy Corzine currently resides in New York City. She is also the President of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, dedicated to “rapidly accelerate the development and discovery of drugs to prevent, treat and cure Alzheimer’s disease, related dementias and cognitive aging.” She will be co-chairing the “Fourth Annual Connoisseur’s Dinner” next Thursday, April 29th at Sotheby’s auction house. The dinner will host the auction preview of never before seen French Impressionist and Modern Art. To donate to the ADDF, and for further information, visit: www.alzdiscovery.org
To order "Glamour at Home" please visit Rizzoli
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Posted by: Mary | 2010.08.15 at 02:07 AM