AvroKO

The visionary design firm AvroKO harnesses the architectural and design expertise of its four principals: Greg Bradshaw, Adam Farmerie, William Harris and Kristina O'Neal. Together, they create acclaimed spaces, including restaurants, residences and retail venues; each each tells a distinct story in its space. Their New York City restaurant PUBLIC, which they both designed and own, received James Beard Foundation Awards for Best Restaurant Design and Best Restaurant Graphics.

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TheBusinessofGoodIdeas

AvroKo makes collaboration work, and work beautifully.

When it comes to surprising new design, great minds sometimes think differently. At the visionary design firm AvroKO, the vastly different ideas of four individuals come together in emotionally powerful spaces that turn heads, stir critics, and always surprise. Powered by the diverse talents of its principals, this award-winning team frequently references the past to fashion the future of design. Forging exacting craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology, every space AvroKO envisions visually engages by starting with a resonant story, often doing so by referencing objects from past architectural eras. This philosophy is shared by Lincoln, a brand that recognizes that people are looking for products with every innovation of functionality, yet remain an experience of timeless beauty.

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Good ideas get better with conversation

Q: How does narrative influence your work?: Bradshaw: It allows us to push ourselves to design something new every time we step up to the drawing board. Instead of just relying on the same sort of architectural or design palette, we can constantly be inspired by something from the past, and then use that to re-inspire how we're pushing something into the present, or the future.
Q: When does technology help this creative process?: A: Bradshaw: There are tools being invented all the time, especially to visualize spaces. I don't know how we could really work without basic technology like CAD [computer-aided design]. Creating 3D models is a big part of our work. There's also a healthy respect for technology of the past.
Q: Can you explain how technology is critical to the success of a project?: A:Harris: Technology has allowed us to pull various concepts and design stories together.

O'Neal: We were in Florence recently, looking at a series of hand carved wooden modellos, which are beautiful miniature facades for presentations. Prior to this century, it would have taken years for them to hand carve stately building facades. They were gorgeous, but I was thinking to myself, that inside a week we typically have to develop and present the ideas as 3-D, rendered fly-throughs. What used to take five years to model by hand can take five days currently, thanks to technology.

Farmerie: Fifty years ago a glassmaker wouldn't have been able to cast a piece of glass as quickly as he can today because today he uses polymers to create a mold very quickly. He can cast a fixture that's got a certain resonance to a historical narrative, but it's manufactured in a much faster way.

Harris: You can go through an entire space, share ideas with a client and test them in a very quick manner. It's a very useful tool to be able to find certain moments that you might not have been able to find, had you not had quick technology to model those spaces up.
Q: And how do these various concepts come together in a space's narrative?: A: Bradshaw: Our spaces have so much variation and different destinations within one greater whole, because it gives one the opportunity to really explore the areas, various sensibilities and sensations to really build a rich experience. Our core creative directive is really creating a strong narrative.

ThePracticalArtofImagination

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*EPA-estimated 41 city/36 hwy/39 combined mpg. Actual mileage will vary. Excludes diesels.
**Class is Luxury Midsize Hybrid Sedans vs. 2011 competitors.