THE JOURNAL
W
hen the doors opened on Martin Brudnizki’s revamp of The Surrey, an upscale hotel on New York City’s Upper East Side, the interior
designer’s many fans were taken by surprise, for, beyond the building’s beaux-arts facade, everything here is pared-back and pale. Brudnizki, a man synonymous with all things bright and bold and abundant, has gone beige. “What,” I ask him when we meet, “has happened to
the ‘King of Maximalism’?” Brudnizki grimaces. ”Oh please, let’s not use that phrase. Nothing has happened; The Surrey is more neutral than other projects but, like all our designs, it sits at the intersection between modern and classical. When you really look at it, you see that it’s a study in texture. And there is colour because colour, for me, is very important.” I do as I am instructed and look at the photographs more closely. I see that all
the walls are wrapped in
Phillip Jeffries’ seagrass fabric and that, while the foreground weave is beige or cream, the background is indeed a colour which is then picked out in the furnishing details. The face on my screen is now smiling. “I prefer the term ‘layering’ to maximalism,” he says, “because maximalism is really about understanding how you layer pattern and colour and detail so there is space to breathe. All our projects are a dance around how much we layer.”
course at the American University. After graduation, he worked for the gallerist David Gill and designer David Collins, before deciding that “it was time to cut out the middle man and set up my own studio.” It was 2000; classic-meets-modern layering was a
new look and Brudnizki was its pioneer. By 2007 he had come to the attention of Richard Caring, the owner of restaurant group Caprice Holdings, who
Brudnizki credits his aesthetic to his background. He
grew up in Sweden to German/Polish parents which meant that home was more northern European than Scandinavian in style, but that he also had access to the country’s classical architecture – Stockholm’s Baroque Grand Palace was a favourite place. Then, having studied business in Sweden, he followed a friend to London and enrolled on the interior architecture
“MOVING TO THE DESIGN CENTRE WAS THE BEST THING WE EVER DID – WE HAVE ALL THESE SHOWROOMS ON THE DOORSTEP”
commissioned him to work his magic on Mayfair’s famous, but tired, fish restaurant, Scott’s. “Caring is a hospitality guru so I knew this was a great opportunity,” Brudnizki says. And so it was. Scott’s, with its burgundy leather
banquettes, silver-leaf mirrored screens and pulse- raising bar (think marble, shagreen and a chandelier by architect Amanda Levete), turned Brudnizki into the hospitality industry’s go-to guy. Two more of London’s most fashionable restaurants – J Sheekey and Le Caprice – followed, along with The Ivy’s private members’ club and, in 2010, his first hotel, Soho Beach House, Miami. Today, MBDS’ list of hospitality clients is a roll call
of A-listers; Four Seasons, Soho House Group, Caprice Holdings, Annabel’s, Nobu and Daniel Boulud, to name a few. When I ask him what the appeal is, his answer reveals why Wallpaper* magazine described him as “one of the best restaurant and hotel designers of his generation.” “I am fascinated by the psychology of these spaces,” he says. “People want be transported when they go out so we are creating fantasies and dreams, but it’s crucial to also resolve practical details such as the layout, the movement of staff and guests and the interactions that should – or shouldn’t – happen.” Brudnizki’s route into a project is always through
story. “All schemes begin with the client and the story they want to tell,” he explains, “then we look at the
OPPOSITE: The Portrait Bar at The Fifth Avenue Hotel, a richly intimate space that demonstrates Martin Brudnizki’s mastery of layering ABOVE: More than 50 portraits line the walls of The Portrait Bar, celebrating New York in all its vibrancy and diversity; Brudnizki, whose studio MBDS is based at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour; Dear Jackie, the bar at London’s recently opened Broadwick Soho hotel, with banquettes in a leather by Moore & Giles from Altfield
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© William Abranowicz
© Oskar Proctor courtesy of The Broadwick Soho
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