A Brief History of David Rockwell's Brilliant Career

David Rockwell, the youngest of five boys, is born in Chicago. Four years later, his family moves to Deal, New Jersey, where he participates in community theater at the encouragement of his mother, a choreographer and vaudeville dancer. He also creates art with “found objects like boxes, string, and marbles in my own little lab above the garage,” he recounts. “I learned that you can bring people together through making things.”

His family relocates to Guadalajara, Mexico, a move that “began the love affair I have for new adventures. Guadalajara is all about big outdoor markets and restaurants, and it fueled my interest in how cities are defined by public spaces.”

Still into theater and music, but spurred on by his curiosity with Guadalajara’s “dense urban environment,” he earns an architecture degree from Syracuse University, after which he moves to New York to work for theatrical lighting designer Roger Morgan.

Having gained experience at a number of architecture firms, establishes Rockwell Group. “I started with just two projects: a home in Pound Ridge and Sushi Zen, a Midtown restaurant,” says Rockwell, whose company now numbers more than 250 employees and has worked on 275 restaurant projects, 96 hotels, and 64 musical sets.

Rockwell Group designs Nobu restaurant in Tribeca, kicking off a 25-year partnership with the brand, which includes restaurants and hotels around the world. “My travels inspire me very much. The creative process isn’t linear, so you have to stay curious and engaged.The only way to do that is to look around.”

Lands his first hotel commission, the W New York in Midtown. He has since designed seven additional properties for the brand.

His set designs for the musical Hairspray earn him a Tony nomination, and he publishes the first of his three books, Pleasure: The Architecture and Design of Rockwell Group (Universe). Spectacle (Phaidon) follows in 2006, and What If . . . ? (Metropolis Books) in 2014.

The LAB at Rockwell Group, an interactive technology and innovation studio, is formed in preparation for the firm’s entry for the Venice Architecture Biennale. “Beginning with a sense of exploration is critical for any project.”

Tapped by Maya Romanoff to produce a collection of wall coverings. Rockwell has also collaborated on product designs for the Rug Company, Jim Thompson, Rich Brilliant Willing, Stellar Works, Knoll, and Roche Bobois.

Rockwell receives a Primetime Emmy Award for his set design for the 82nd annual Academy Awards. He also designs the Imagination Playground in lower Manhattan, a project “inspired by my two amazing kids [now teenagers], Lola and Sam.”

Named Chair Emeritus of DIFFADIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS), which he has been involved with since losing his brother to AIDS in 1994.

Designs New York’s NeueHouse collective (he later works on the West Coast flagship in Hollywood) and creates a portable theater for the annual TED Conference in Vancouver, “a wonderful project that involved a decade of research and development.”

Receives the President’s Award from the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Wins the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for She Loves Me. “I put a disproportionate amount of interest into the relationship of theater and architecture,” he says. “It was very profound to be acknowledged by a community of people that I so admire.”

Designs a series of public spaces, including the amenities areas, in 111 Murray, a new condo building in Tribeca.

Completes a number of projects at Hudson Yards, including the Shed (collaborating architect, with lead architect Diller Scofidio + Renfro), 15 Hudson Yards (interiors), and the very first Equinox Hotel. On September 19, receives the Innovator Award at NYC&G’s seventh annual New York Innovation in Design Awards (IDAs). Coming up next: “At some point, I’d love to do an opera house, a concert hall, a park, a college dormitory, and a cooking school.”