Russell Piccione: The Poet

There are many ways to perceive interiors. To Russell Piccione, the New-York-based interior designer who I have hosted this morning in the program Collecting Design (at the Center for Architecture/AIA), it is a pure intellectual pursuit. Like music, like literature, like theater. After his fascinating presentation, we all agreed that Piccione should be one of the most influential designers of this time, but instead, he leads a super private life, creating magical interiors for handful loyal clients, who know the power of living with superb art and design, who seek to live in homes that ‘speak’ to them, who respect the energies that he is crafting for them, and who are willing to make the investment it takes to live in the most sophisticated homes can be created.

His passions are beyond the traditional realms of the profession, or perhaps they have become the core of what makes interior designers successful today. Successful not in the commercial sense, not in achieving quantities, but in crafting important interiors.  In representing the complexity of the profession and its multifaceted dimensions, Piccione regularly wears several hats: of a curator, an educator, a researcher, historian, a creator, a connoisseur, the inspiration in shaping the role of the collector. 

Russell Piccione is not like any other designer. He is working on two or three projects at a time, his projects are long lasting, and through the journeys of reimagining spaces in ways that reconnect his clients with their own everyday experiences, he is forging special relationship with his clients.

He does not take anything for granted and always asks the difficult questions. Why is this piece of furniture or pottery good? Why do I love it? His life seems like a long journey of study. As a result, Piccione’s spaces are authentic, and if you consider poetry luxury, then they are also luxurious. Not in the common sense, but in the subtle, intellectual sense. They are rich in meanings, layers, stories, and they are filled with objects of the highest quality, which become a part of the family’s portfolio, memory, and statement. Every historical piece is meticulously researched and often comes with the right provenance; every cotemporary pieces is commissioned directly from artists active across the globe for sites specific. He has no problem mixing the unexpected: English Chippendale stool, with a 1950s chair by Pierre Jeanneret, with a vase dated back to antiquity (below); can easily mix a tapestry by Le Corbusier with a candlestick by the Campana Brothers. There are no compromises; there are no shortcuts. The quality is superb and every detail is thought through.

Russell Piccione creates poetic spaces, where art, design, architecture, and decorative arts are integrated in the most unique, energetic, personal way. Thank you, Russell, for enriching our world.