living with art
Gio Ponti sofas and armchairs join Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chairs in a room where art takes center stage. Chuck Close’s Kate (Moss) tapestry commands eye contact; Lucky Break, by Matthew Ritchie, could easily be echoing a scene outside the windows of this Plaza residence overlooking Fifth Avenue and Central Park.
cutting edge
In the foreground, a chair from Brazilian brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana’s Sushi III series (2002)—constructed of felt, textiles, and plastics, all rolled up and fitted in a steel frame—injects its own artistic statement.
cutting edge
Artist George Segal’s white-plaster figure of a Woman in Armchair (1994) is positioned near the living-room corner’s tall, double-hung windows.
mixed media messages
Behind one of the living room’s commodious Gio Ponti sofas, 288 Plaster Surrogates (No.2), an enamel on Hydro-stone installation by Allan McCollum, picks up the rectangular rhythms of Sol Mann’s mixed media sculpture-turned-table.
artistic viewpoint
The media room’s clean white walls, rug, and sofa collaborate to create a hushed backdrop for art. With Fornasetti-like focus, a photograph reveals only Audrey Hepburn’s doelike eye. The end table is a Piero Fornasetti/Gio Ponti collaboration.
abstract thoughts
A pair of Cesare Leonardi and Franca Stagi lacquered-fiberglass Ribbon chairs (Italy, 1961) face off in the media room. Jawbone of an Ass, a screenprint of a work by the late Brooklyn-born artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, hangs on the wall.
abstract thoughts
Valium, a digital dot Lambda print by British artist Damien Hirst is displayed in the hall outside the media room.
artistic viewpoint
Reflecting pools define the Plaza’s tranquil private courtyard.
provocative pairings
Philippe Starck’s already-iconic Louis Ghost chairs (2002) by Kartell, in translucent and black opaque polycarbonate, surround the massive Carrera marble dining table by Angelo Mangiarotti. Thigh of Content (2006), a painted-steel sculpture by John Chamberlain, and a 1997 series of four hand-dyed gelatin silver photographs by British artists Gilbert & George push beyond convention.
sleeping arrangements
The red-white-and-black guest room—like every other room in the apartment—uses art to make a bold statement.
sleeping arrangements
Vanessa Beecroft photographs embolden the sexy master suite.
sleeping arrangements
The red-white-and-black guest room—like every other room in the apartment—uses art to make a bold statement: Here, Mail Mania Mami, Standing in a Storm, by Aya Takano, is displayed above a Chinese Chippendale-style chair from West Elm.
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got it cornered

Janna Bullock brings contemporary art to a corner condo at the Plaza
Type: 
Interior Design
Author name: 
JANNA BULLOCK
Type: 
Text
Author name: 
BARBARA L. DIXON
Type: 
Produced By
Author name: 
BARBARA L. DIXON
Type: 
Photography
Author name: 
ANASTASSIOS MENTIS

Art, architecture, and design hold equal importance in every space revamped by Janna Bullock, the Russian-born real estate developer who made a name for herself in New York buying, renovating, and reselling townhouses on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. “For art and architecture to cohabitate, it is important to create inspirational interiors and not sterile environments,” says Bullock, a philosophy she brought to life in the sixth story corner unit she transformed at The Plaza.

In this 3,000 square-foot apartment, Bullock combined her passion for historic architecture with her love of contemporary art to create a calm, tranquil environment the designer describes as having stillness imbued with a life force that is created by art. “When you design a collector’s residence, it is important that the art has enough space to live, inspire, and influence,” she elaborates. “There needs to be harmony between all of the components.” And the outside is part of the equation.

Outside the apartment’s large windows, a vibrant life takes place, filling the classical rooms with an urban energy that becomes as vital to the space as any of the furnishings within it. “When we walk into a space, we see how light flows. Decisions are made as colors are decided upon.What accents come naturally?” says Bullock, explaining her design process. A recurring component lies in the character of the artwork and the artists who create it. Everything, says Bullock, interrelates. “By choosing artists who play with color and texture and combining different mediums, I create a natural flow, interconnecting the foyer to the hallways, to the living room, dining area, media room, bedrooms and beyond. There is a natural coming together of spaces through art.”

RESOURCES:

Janna Bullock for Art Architecture and Design, 244 Fifth Ave., Suite 127, NYC 10001; 212.987.5928; jannabullock.com. Sushi III series chair by Fernando and Humberto Campana, campanas.com.br/. Offsetting the table, and above the couch, the 288 Plastic Surrogates (No. 2) is by Allan McCollum from the Friedrich Petzel Gallery, 535 & 537 W. 22nd St., NYC 10011; 212.680.9467; petzel.com. Guggenheim, 1071 Fifth Ave., NYC 10128; 212.423.3500; guggenheim.org. Kartell, 39 Greene St., NYC 10013; 212.966.6665; kartell.com. West Elm, 1870 Broadway, NYC 10023; 212.247.8077; westelm.com. Vanessa Beecroft from the Guggenheim, 1071 Fifth Ave., NYC 10128; 212.423.3500; guggenheim.org; vanessabeecroft.com.