About Me

In an interior by Calvin Tsao and Zack McKown, every surface is carefully composed, exquisitely rendered and nearly always custom. But for Tsao and McKown, surfaces remain, well, superficial. It is space-its proportion, its volume, its sequence-that is their primary concern, and it is this empirical approach to design that distinguishes their work. In decorating a room, for instance, they start not by searching through paint decks but by spending an entire day in the space-observing the movement and intensity of light, registering sounds, studying how the room is used and how it relates to adjacent spaces. They admire the Maison de Verre less for Pierre Chareau’s clever interior fittings than for the surprises you encounter en route to its front door, passing through an inside-outside-inside sequence of spaces until at last you penetrate a glass wall that fuses the building and its forecourt.

"Design is not a commodity," says Tsao, "it's a means to create a life, to make life more fulfilled." With that in mind, Tsao & McKown immerse themselves in a client’s life but with care. "Our job is not to be style Svengalis. We hope that they, and we, can be strong in vision without being stuck in it. It's all about give and take and a willingness to go for a ride."

Tsao & McKown Architects
20 Vandam Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10013
212-337-3800
www.tsao-mckown.com

Member Since

Feb 22, 2006

Sites

• Elements of Living
• TsAO & McKOWN