Inside Manhattan - by Timothy M Rohan (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

How remarkable modernist residential interiors emerged as spaces of creative possibility and empowerment in 1970s Manhattan

Liberated from established norms by the sexual revolution, feminism, Stonewall, and the civil rights movement, New Yorkers experimented with new ways of living in the 1970s, inspired by the emerging idea of lifestyle as a means of self-reinvention. Carpeted platforms for lounging covered the floors, reflective surfaces amplified feelings, and neon lighting turned living rooms into night clubs. To economize during a recessionary era, designers scavenged from restaurant and building suppliers, popularizing the use of industrial and readymade materials which has become widespread in architecture and design today.

Timothy M. Rohan tells the stories of the journalists and photographers who became influential makers of interiors in the growing lifestyles media, guiding young urbanites on how to live in their new apartments and lofts. He describes how newly ascendent designers made innovative spaces for famed clients like Faye Dunaway, Calvin Klein, and Melvin Van Peebles as well as for a wide circle of less-remembered, creative New Yorkers. Rohan takes readers inside the firms of architects like Charles Gwathmey, who shifted from buildings to interiors. We meet designers like Ward Bennett and Joseph D'Urso, who adopted architectural methods in their minimalist interiors, and Black designers such as Rita Falkener, who demonstrated how Afro-Centrism could enhance interiors.

Beautifully illustrated, Inside Manhattan shows how New York City became a crucible for extraordinary interiors that blurred the traditional boundaries of a room, created immersive psychological experiences, and brought the spirit of the disco home.

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