16.15366614
© Laurel Golio/Redux/laif
Design

Rockwell's World

David Rockwell is one of the most prolific and dynamic architects in the world. The New Yorker designs hotels, restaurants, and Broadway stages. His credo: every building must be a showstopper for the ages.

January 17, 2025


Musician Elvis Costello once famously said, “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” While this statement implies the impossibility of such an endeavor, architect and designer David Rockwell might partially disagree. In his office at New York's Union Square, the 68-year-old American has installed a soundproof room featuring a Steinway piano and an old Eames Lounge Chair by Herman Miller. He often retreats to this space, either alone or with company, to play the piano. Rockwell firmly believes that music and architecture are indeed connected. It was through playing the piano as a child that he first experienced the creative impulses that later inspired his designs and architectural work—and perhaps even led to a celebratory dance or two after a successful project. 

Rockwell often uses elegantly curved staircases in his designs - like here in the recently opened Raffles Hotel in Boston. © Brandon Barré Photography

Rockwell is far from a purist. He designs whatever sparks his interest—and with his range spanning musicals, theater, travel, dining, and living, his output is almost dizzyingly prolific. Rockwell Group has designed more than 500 restaurants, including those for the Nobu Group and Gordon Ramsay’s Maze in London. They’ve also created 125 hotels, such as New York Edition and the new Raffles in Boston, as well as 30 stage sets—from The Rocky Horror Picture Show to the Oscars. Their portfolio also includes Newark Airport’s new United Terminal, the Miami branch of the Fotografiska Museum, and contributions to the design of The Shed, a multifunctional arts center in New York that resembles a glass armadillo.

Three years ago, the group redesigned the "Fairmont Royal York" in Toronto. © provided

What do all these seemingly disparate projects have in common? David Rockwell seeks the audience as a resonating body: “In theater, you have to seduce the audience, and you have to do the same with architecture,” he says. Without people, architecture loses its impact, becoming a frozen snapshot devoid of life.

Creating for eternity

Rockwell knows how to create atmosphere with lighting: Zen tranquillity at the "Kimpton Shinjuku". © Axel Dupeux/Redux/laif

He thrives on the human element—in stark contrast to some of his peers, who would prefer to see their design ideas untouched by the presence of people. A hotel without guests? A show in an empty theater? For Rockwell, it’s as useless as an Alessi citrus press for a one-handed man. He constantly asks himself how a space transforms when people move through it and how it makes them feel. To him, hospitality is about empathy. “It’s about the magnetic power of creating a place where people want to spend time together,” he says.

Books, drawings and sketches inspire the designer in his New York office. Axel Dupeux/Redux/laif

Rockwell is an architect who lives by the principle of constant motion. That’s why he’s the only one in his field to have won both a Tony Award and two Emmys. This duality plays a central role in his work—the contrast between permanent architecture and the ephemeral nature of theater spaces. “Perhaps because I’ve always been aware that life doesn’t last forever, I understand how important it is to create moments of connection and celebration,” he once said. “Those are the two opposites: designing buildings meant to last forever—and creating moments that should last forever.”

For restaurants and hotels, he creates timeless spaces that share certain similarities. The sweeping staircase at Raffles Boston, for instance, recalls the nearly floating staircase in the New York Edition or the wooden spiral staircase at Nobu Barcelona. His creations are “memory spaces that can be activated in different ways, with vibrant colors or green walls,” as the Spanish newspaper El País described them. One might add: with dramatic staircases as well. These are calming structures that people pass through, evoking a feeling as if they’ve been there their entire lives.

Rockwell believes in incorporating natural elements: Sunlight and potted plants embellish the pool at Raffles Boston. © Brandon Barré Photography

What you see every day inspires you unconsciously. This casual exposure is also how Rockwell’s calling began: it was public spaces that first captured his interest. As a teenager, he lived with his parents in Mexico, where the markets, bullfighting arenas, and plazas of Guadalajara fascinated him. “The colors, the quality of the light, and the sense of movement were powerful influences,” he once recounted. It was then that he decided to study architecture.

The "Nobu-Downtown" in New York. © www.hubertkang.com

From the very beginning, Rockwell placed enormous importance on the proper use of light—using spotlights to emphasize elements of a space, much like on a stage. No surprise there: during his studies, he took a semester off to work with a lighting designer on Broadway. “I immediately understood how lighting sets the mood,” Rockwell recalls—how it changes the perception of food, how it transforms an open kitchen or a reception desk when highlighted. He fundamentally integrated this understanding into his design process.

Presentation at the "Kimpton Shinjuku" in Tokyo. Eric Laignel

Of course, he can’t personally handle everything—there simply isn’t enough time. Rockwell is a multitasker when it comes to spatial concepts, supported by 330 employees at his firm, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary and has branches in Los Angeles and Madrid. There’s no end in sight to this design marathon—David Rockwell’s body of work will undoubtedly remain a richly layered symphony of urban design. 

Read more: Is this the most iconic hotel in New York?

This article appeared in the Falstaff TRAVEL issue Winter 2024/25.