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Issue 62 - Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62

Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62 is the first issue of the year and always a great time to put our best foot forward. With Adam Goodrum, the loveliest man in design, as Guest Editor, we draw on his insights as a furniture designer, artist and educator to look at the makers shaping our design world. Sustainability has never been more important, and increasingly this is a consideration from the start with projects designed to address their immediate environment as well as the longevity of the planet. From the coldest winters to the most tropical of summers, addressing how we live in the environment is crucial to creating the perfect home.

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Casa Gessi New York Opens In Soho
Design StoriesHabitusliving Editor

Casa Gessi New York Opens In Soho

Inhabiting a century-old former power station, the five-story Gessi showroom provides a stage for luxury water fittings tailored to promote wellness; it houses lounge spaces, a “piazza,” a rooftop bar and an indoor pool.


New York, May 15, 2024 – Italian design firm Gessi has become the global gold standard for refined, cutting-edge bathroom and kitchen furnishings and accessories, crafting stylish faucets, taps, rain showers, and vanities. Now, the company is opening its first U.S. outpost in New York’s SoHo district, in a dramatic space aiming to nurture designers’ daring ideas. The soaring five-story showroom, located at 214 Lafayette Street, mixes an industrial feel with a cinematic aura to set the tone for a unique visitor experience.

Gessi has distinguished showrooms in Milan, Singapore, Riyadh, Dubai and London; playing-off the success of these flagship stores abroad, also the New York store is a wholly unique venue with an intriguing history. The building was constructed as a power substation in the 1920s, became an art gallery in the 1980s and was later converted into the atmospheric home of a well-known film director.

Now, as Casa Gessi New York, 214 Lafayette has been reimagined as a jewel box for water magic, a massive stage for the experience of Gessi’s tailored approach to wellness through design. Shower elements for hydromassage, waterfall and atomization systems come in a wide range of materials and designs—the new Incastri collection created with master architect Kengo Kuma or the Perle collection, which applies bronze and stone to the pure form of the pearl—and can be freely composed.

Casa Gessi New York is the brainchild of company president Gian Luca Gessi and his sons Nicolò and Emanuele. The vision: a place where the simple act of dispensing water becomes a tangible pleasure and that blends in, at the same time, the story of the city.

Related: Five things that we noticed at Milan Design Week 2024

From the first floor to the fifth, visitors rise through different ambiences. On one floor, LED lights in the walls project imaginative natural worlds. Another floor features leather and velvet booths showcasing a variety of customizable water fixtures. A double-height lounge, dubbed “la piazza,” is outfitted with sculptural, upholstered floral trunk displays. For private events, an open kitchen, bar and terrace with views of SoHo make customers feel at home.

The heritage of the building is on display throughout the store: exposed copper pipes, cross-vaulted ceilings, a 19th-century wood balustrade brought from France and even a 40-foot indoor pool from the previous tenant, who also left behind a few movie props such as two giant gilded clocks. A color palette of bold burgundy, octane blue and forest green enlivens the display space, while floral motifs inspired by British artist William Morris infuse a sense of delicacy.

Casa Gessi New York will open for the first time on May 21, from 6 to 11 p.m., and then on May 23 for a press-only showing from 3 to 5 p.m. Members of the media will experience a full tour of the space. Photos will be available starting the week of May 20.

Next up: Camillo House intertwines place, process and production


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Habitusliving Editor

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Issue 62 - Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62

Living in the Environment Issue

Issue 62 is the first issue of the year and always a great time to put our best foot forward. With Adam Goodrum, the loveliest man in design, as Guest Editor, we draw on his insights as a furniture designer, artist and educator to look at the makers shaping our design world. Sustainability has never been more important, and increasingly this is a consideration from the start with projects designed to address their immediate environment as well as the longevity of the planet. From the coldest winters to the most tropical of summers, addressing how we live in the environment is crucial to creating the perfect home.

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