
David Easton
David Easton is considered to be one of the world’s most sought-after interior designers. While he has made his name as a neoclassicist, his erudition within the realms of architecture and decoration is wide-ranging.
Easton received his architecture degree from Pratt Institute, in 1963, where he studied with Sibyl Moholy-Nagy—the widow of one of the founders of the Bauhaus, László Moholy-Nagy. Upon graduation, he received the Fontainebleau scholarship, which enabled him to travel and study in Europe. When he returned, he took a position with the New York designer Edward Wormley, whose Dunbar furniture line is now part of the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art. In 1967, he joined the venerable firm of Parish-Hadley, where he worked in both the architecture and decoration departments. There, he admits to being “seduced by decoration.” Easton founded his own firm in 1972, and quickly gained recognition for his classically inspired, traditional interiors. In the 1980s, his opulent English-style interiors became emblems of the age.
In recent years, he has shifted to a more streamlined, contemporary aesthetic—a response to his own shifting tastes and those of his clients. “It’s necessary to move forward,” says Easton. “I see a desire to simplify life, and for simpler interiors. I think the future will be about a more intelligent use of resources and a more intelligent support of lifestyles.”
In addition to his residential work, Easton has designed collections for Lee Jofa (fabrics and upholstered furniture), Safavieh (carpets), Guy Chaddock (furniture), Walters Wicker (outdoor furniture), Cole and Son Ltd. (wallpaper), and Visual Comfort (lighting).
David Easton was named to the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 1992, and has twice been presented with Classical America’s Arthur Ross Award. Most recently, his peers honored him with the “Lifetime Achievement” Award at London’s Design and Decoration Awards. Architectural Digest has included Easton in its Top 100 Designers in the World a record nine times.
Announcements
If Walls Could Speak: My Life in Architecture by Moshe Safdie
If Walls Could Speak: My Life in Architecture
By Moshe Safdie
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic
Published: September 2022
One of the world’s greatest and most thoughtful architects recounts his extraordinary career and the iconic structures he has built—from Habitat in Montreal to Marina Bay Sands in Singapore—and offers a manifesto for the role architecture should play in society.
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future
By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022
Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.
Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman
Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People
By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: February 22, 2022
Debbie Millman—author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast “Design Matters”—showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today’s leading creative minds from across diverse fields.
Milton Glaser: POP: by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Milton Glaser: POP
By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023
This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.
Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange
Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall
By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022
Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”
Women Holding Things by Maira Kalman
Women Holding Things
By Maira Kalman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: October 2022
In the spring of 2021, Maira and Alex Kalman created a small, limited-edition booklet, “Women Holding Things,” which featured select recent paintings by Maira, accompanied by her insightful and deeply personal commentary. The booklet quickly sold out. Now, the Kalmans have expanded that original publication into an extraordinary visual compendium. We see a woman hold a book, hold shears, hold children, hold a grudge, hold up, hold her own. In visually telling their stories, Kalman lays bare the essence of women’s lives—their tenacity, courage, vulnerability, hope, and pain.
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