The Rockwell files.

NAME: David Rockwell 

HOME: New York 

OCCUPATION: President, Rockwell Architecture, Planning and Design

You'll know a 'Rockwell' when you see one. Better yet, when you are in one. No, not 'Norman,' but David. Think Vong, Nobu, Django, Olives, Rosa Mexicano, or the Monkey Bar. These are just some of his New York designs. Been to Philadelphia? Then, perhaps you've eaten at Pod or Alma de Cuba.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

This architect is all about ambience, which is just as important to a restaurant as the food or service. If you feel glamorous, sexy, powerful, mysterious, or comfortable walking down a staircase, sitting at a bar, or seated at a table, then David Rockwell and his staff of design professionals have done their job.

Get to know "the people's architect." Most likely, Rockwell has gotten to know you.

HOW DO YOU START A RESTAURANT PROJECT?

For us, design is about story telling and finding ways to make emotional connections. We want to uncover that special little thing that represents the chef or the owner. It moves us from being generic to specific. We meet with the chef, get to know them, eat their food, find out what the price point is and how long they want the customer to stay.

Another thing we do is research the site. What is the location? Who is the market? What are the natural assets of the space? Is it tall and soaring? Is it short and squat? How do we work with the space? In our first presentation to the client, we find that unexpected twist. There are no boundaries where inspiration will come. We travel, look outside of architecture--to film, theatre, art installations and nature--we look to nature a lot. We try to find ways to astonish, amaze and engage. We use every tool at our disposal.

SPEAKING OF NATURE. YOUR WORK REMINDS ME OF BELGIAN FLOWER MAESTRO. DANIEL OST.

Rockwell: I love Daniel Ost! He's a great example. Another is Andy Goldsworthy--Artists that interpret nature.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH RESTAURANTS?

Rockwell: My first real memory of a restaurant is coming into New York with my brothers at age 11. We were going to see a baseball game, but there was a change of plans, instead we went to see 'Fiddler on the Roof.' Before the theatre, we had lunch at Schrafts, this legendary New York place. I felt this relationship between dining and theatre. They are both melting pots, both communal, both groups coming together to celebrate.

YOUR BOOK. PLEASURE. IS ULTIMATELY ABOUT SENSES. DOES IT FRUSTRATE OR PLEASE YOU THAT PEOPLE TEND TO OVERLOOK THE ENGINEERING THAT LED TO THEIR PLEASURABLE DINING EXPERIENCE?

Rockwell: There's an incredible amount of rigor, discipline, technique and technology that goes into creating a restaurant that can appeal directly to the emotions that engage people. And the fact that's invisible to most people that go to these places is great. The ultimate is stimulating a response, a memory, and creating places that are truly about pleasure. It's one of the reasons that technology, as an end in itself, doesn't interest me. What interests me is technology that makes an impact; that tells a story.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

When you walk down the stairs at Town, everyone looks great and feels glamorous. You're not aware that you've just gone down 18-feet and that the building is only 50-feet wide. In order to do this, we had to research pocket parks in New York to learn how to draw people down. You're not aware that the suede on the wall is actually backlit to make people look great and absorb sound or that there is a skylight overhead to bring in natural lighting and mix with the architectural lighting.

SO. IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE A MAGICIAN AS WELL AS AN ARCHITECT?

Rockwell: I was a magician when I was a kid! I have a 3-1/2 year old who still thinks this is magic! (David demonstrates how to make a pen disappear.)

WELL. THERE'S A 32-YEAR OLD SITTING ACROSS. FROM YOU WHO THINKS IT'S MAGIC. TOO!

... DAVID. DO YOU LIKE TO COOK?

Rockwell: I love to cook, especially on weekends in the country. This weekend I'm doing something different. You know Barry Wine of the Quilted Giraffe? We're cooking a ten-course meal without a recipe book. Instead, we're going to the Green Market, buying only what's fresh and planning the menu that way. We can always send out for Chinese if doesn't work!

THAT IS ALWAYS AN OPTIONI TALK ABOUT YOUR NEW RESTAURANT PROJECTS. ESPECIALLY GEISHA.

Rockwell: Sure. The projects coming up are these: We're doing a restaurant with Gray Kunz and Time/Warner AOL. Sushi Samba just opened in Chicago. We have two Stephen Starrs restaurants in Philadelphia, two Emeril's opening up--one in Atlanta and one in Miami, a restaurant for Geoffrey Zakarian, and a restaurant for Bobby Flay. We're doing Cinema Club in New York, Rosa Mexicano in D.C. and, of course, Geisha with Eric Ripert.

Spatially, Geisha is difficult because it's a townhouse. There are a lot of conceptions of restaurants, and we tend to think of them as mini-vacations. With space at such a premium in New York, when you are in such a big space, it feels social. A townhouse is small. So as opposed to one big idea being important, it's a series of small episodes.

There's a kind of ritualistic rigor to the way Geishas dressed themselves and we've taken inspiration from that. So when you enter the restaurant, the walls are pleated fabric that have been backlit. The decorative element when you get to the main part of the restaurant is backlit glass. We had a botanist work with us to find an extraordinary sea plant which we sliced thinly and laminated between two pieces of glass. It does subtle things: Makes people look great. And puts the food on display.

WHEN YOU DEAL WITH A SPACE THAT HAS A HISTORY OF HOUSING UNSUCCESSFUL RESTAURANTS. HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE PROJECT DIFFERENTLY?

Rockwell: We've done a lot of restaurants in spaces that haven't worked before. Like Rosa Mexicano on the upper Westside, Nobu (had been many failed restaurants), Vong was Toscana, Ruby Foo's was a string of unsuccessful restaurants. We try to find an asset to the space that other people failed to uncover.

At Rosa Mexicano, 20 percent of the space is on the ground floor, the other 80 percent is on the second floor. And the restaurant never worked because people never went upstairs. So, we put all of our design ingenuity and passion behind the stairs. There's a blue water wall, with 30-foot-high waterfall and red terrazzo stairs--those stairs invite you to go up. The other goal is find ways to make the public think this is a special place.

In the case of Nobu, what we did that was unusual was--(David finds a scrap of paper and starts sketching a design of Nobu)--use a long, narrow space. See? Over here's the window, and here's the door where you approach the sushi bar (where the staff wall is). That's the first thing you see. We took inspiration from Kabuki theatre where there is a simple background and stage. We make the sushi chef the stage.

ANY LIMITATIONS IN TURNING THESE VISIONS INTO REALITY?

Rockwell: The only limitation we have is our ability to imagine. I'm constantly pushing us into new areas. The theatre is inspiring, and now I'm designing sets for the theatre. Nature is inspiring. We did Nobu and the billion-dollar project, the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut with its abstract skies and mountains. Now we are pushing ourselves into designing parks, working more with nature. It's about our creative recklessness.

People come to me and say they want a restaurant like Ruby Foo's. Or they say, 'we want a restaurant like Nobu.' We won't do that. We'll push our client in a new direction. When Nobu hired us, it was right after we did Vong for Jean-Georges. Vong is more central and less intellectual than Nobu. Vong has a whole different set of references. We wouldn't do the restaurant if it were to look and feel the same.

SO YOU DON'T DRAW UPON PLACES YOU'VE ALREADY DESIGNED?

Rockwell: We learn from what we've previously done. We've been working with glass beads for awhile, like at Django on 46th and Lexington. At Sushi Samba in Chicago, there's a large wall with stainless steel beads--just beautiful. We've worked with them for many years, but I think it just gets better every time.

YOU DID A NUMBER OF PLANET HOLLYWOODS-40-AND COUNTING? HOW DO YOU MAKE EACH UNIQUE?

Rockwell: There is a vocabulary, a common language we establish. It's actually a thrilling thing to do as a designer because you develop a whole world based on movies. The best one is probably Planet Hollywood, Orlando, which is a free-standing building. It gave us a chance to do something from scratch. They are not all identical, but they all speak a similar language.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE RESTAURANT THAT YOU DESIGNED?

Rockwell: I like picking different restaurants for different moods. They all have such distinct personalities. Nobu is the restaurant that is closest, physically to where I live. I go there a lot. What's so great about living in cities (and I think all of our restaurants are in cities) is the melting pot quality.

IF YOU WALK INTO A RESTAURANT YOU DIDN'T DESIGN. DO YOU REDESIGN IT IN YOUR HEAD?

Rockwell: I love that ... walking into places I didn't design. But if I have to redesign in my head, I'm probably not having a very immersing experience. I was at a theatre the other day and I was bored. I spent the whole time thinking about how I'd redesign that theatre. If I'm in a restaurant that we didn't design, then I don't have to worry too much about the environment. If the lighting is bad ... well, I'm very sensitive about the lighting. I don't like being in a restaurant space where there is no care.

OBVIOUSLY THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DESIGN AND FOOD IS IMPORTANT.

Rockwell: There's a little whole-in-the-wall restaurant on 45th Street called Cabana Carioca. They have very intense Brazilian food. And I love it. It's the kind of place that's run-down, with cheap murals of Brazil on the wall, but they're consistent with the food. The food is great! They grill thin steaks inexpensively. Now if you had a high-end, fancy dining space with that food, it would be uncomfortable.

IF YOU DON'T MIND. COULD YOU TALK ABOUT HOW YOU CAME TO DESIGN THE WORLD TRADE CENTER PLATFORM?

Rockwell: The World Trade Center platform was about several simple things. It came out of a discussion with a few architects over dinner, right after 9/11. As people who create places for people, we all felt impotent. And that sort of disruption was such a powerful force. If you are a builder of things, people are futile, and this ... was difficult. I was just finishing the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, which is this extravagant, over-the-top thing about pleasure ... (David stops talking and reaches under his desk to pet 'Maddie' an employee's dog that has wandered into the office)

... So, we decided to use design after 9/11 as a way to try and help downtown. We didn't just want to talk about helping, but actually take an action--not speculate about what should be rebuilt. That led us to initiating this: The city contracted us to find ways to make the VIP pass (that existed down at the site) more protective for figureheads and family members. We went there and thought what we'd rather do instead is develop a platform for the public to develop their own unmediated experience of 9/11 rather than one filtered though television. We put together a foundation, raised money and built it. (David turns the tables and asks about my hometown, San Francisco. I tell him that SF restaurants lack the 'Rockwell signature.')

ARE WE GOING TO SEE ROCKWELL MORE IN THE WEST?

Rockwell: ... I'd love to work with Alice Waters ... (He'd also be interested in designing an airport. A new challenge intrigues him.)

Rockwell: We're designing the set for a play called "Omnium-Gatherum." It's a black comedy about a dinner party that takes place post-9/11. The focus is a big dinner table and seven-course meal that's served throughout the play. It ties together my love of food and design.

LIFE IMITATES THEATRE. OR IS IT THE OTHER WAY AROUND? THANKS FOR YOUR TIME TODAY.

Rockwell: Well it was great to meet you. Do I get to keep this? (He's thumbing through the issue of Art Culinaire we sent him) You know, there's nothing in here I can cook easily. Listen, I do cook fancy food, but it's not very ...

... FANCY?

Rockwell: Right! (He's looking at Mario Lohninger's recipe from Issue 68)

'Strawberry Rhubarb Gratin with Asparagus Ice Cream'? Think they'll have it at Balducci's?

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]