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art and design 2016
April 19, 2016

Inside a Pesce-Heavy Park Avenue Apartment

By Wendy Goodman

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Photo: Floto+Warner

Flash back to the 1980s, when a rarely played ivory piano sat in Ruth Lande Shuman’s beige living room. The palette was as soothing as cream of wheat. “I found it was too mild,” Shuman says. She started adding photographs and fabrics here and there — and then, she says, “I met Gaetano.” She’s referring to Gaetano Pesce, the Italian architect and industrial designer known for creating household objects out of resin and furniture from rags and moving blankets. In 1989, only a few years before famously making over the advertising offices of Chiat/Day, he turned his attention to Shuman’s apartment, posing a simple question: “Why doesn’t your apartment look like you?”

Illustration: Jason Lee

Shuman’s appetite for color was unleashed, and in 1996 she founded Publicolor, a nonprofit that uses design to empower public-school students by, among other things, painting drab classrooms bright, happy colors. Nowhere is it more evident just how important the psychological impact of color is than in this Park Avenue wonderland.

“An apartment is a portrait of a person,” Pesce says. Then, after a long pause, he adds, “Color is energy. Color can give us a better life.”

*This article appears in the April 18, 2016 issue of New York Magazine.

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1 / 13 Photos
The Entrance Hall Ruth Lande Shuman’s Crayola-colored doors and storage cabinets were designed by Pesce, known for his innovative use of resin. ... The Entrance Hall Ruth Lande Shuman’s Crayola-colored doors and storage cabinets were designed by Pesce, known for his innovative use of resin. Photo: Floto+Warner
The Living-Room Chair Pesce’s famous Rag chair is situated next to his nesting tables. Photo: Floto+Warner
The Living-Room Sofa The Giullare sofa, designed by Pesce, sports floppy cushions that are trimmed with bells wrapped in fabric. The pair of gilt... The Living-Room Sofa The Giullare sofa, designed by Pesce, sports floppy cushions that are trimmed with bells wrapped in fabric. The pair of gilt-wood Chippendale mirrors, above, belonged to Shuman’s mother. Photo: Floto+Warner
The Dining Room Pesce drew the fork, knife, and spoon on the floor. Photo: Floto+Warner
Living-Room Sitting Area Pesce’s Sunset Over New York couch, with his table and resin vase in front. Photo: Floto+Warner
The Floor Plan As reimagined by Pesce. Photo: Courtesy of Gaetano Pesce’s Office
The Living Room Pesce designed the copper wall cabinet topped with his large Airport lamp, resin flower vase, and profile sculptures. Photo: Flo... The Living Room Pesce designed the copper wall cabinet topped with his large Airport lamp, resin flower vase, and profile sculptures. Photo: Floto+Warner
The Kitchen A Saarinen table and chairs beneath Pesce’s Full of Energy chandelier. Photo: Floto+Warner
The Dining Room Shuman’s original dining table and Mies van der Rohe chairs were left untouched. The painting on the wall to the right by was in ... The Dining Room Shuman’s original dining table and Mies van der Rohe chairs were left untouched. The painting on the wall to the right by was in Shuman’s grandparent’s house in Canada. The ceiling light fixture over the dining table is by Edison Price. Photo: Floto+Warner
Library Entrance Pesce’s multicolor doors are flanked by walls with porthole windows. Photo: Floto+Warner
The Coat Closet Pesce’s coat closet can’t be mistaken for anything else. Photo: Floto+Warner
The Bedroom Work Station Pesce created an area of Shuman’s bedroom with a work table and cabinetry. Photo: Floto+Warner
The Entrance to the Apartment With “welcome,” in Italian, written on the floor as you enter. Photo: Floto+Warner
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Tags:

  • art and design 2016
  • spring design
  • design
  • gaetano pesce
  • ruth lande shuman
  • publicolor
  • interiors
  • new york magazine
  • home design
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