Maureen Ferry, the organization's director of special events, oversaw the event and worked with design chair Chris Giftos, the former events chief of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who supervised the designs. Last year, the society pushed designers to be less conventional—an effort to tie an avant-garde theme as an homage to honorees Christo and Jeanne-Claude. "This year [there] was more of a traditional theme. We are moving to a new location in June and are revitalizing our programs and entering a new age," Ferry told us.

The official theme was "Celebrating the Renaissance, Designing the New Golden Age." The weighty dictate appeared on invitations with a still life by 17th-century Dutch painter Jan Davidz Heem: a banquet scene laden with piles of fruit. Many designs leaned toward the past, using a Renaissance feel, and most of the looks were decidedly more conservative. This overall traditional air was also influenced by the evening's honoree, interior designer Bunny Williams. After all, as Williams's corporate Web site notes: "Schooled in the classics, restraint and appropriateness are hallmarks of Bunny's style." (Designer DeJuan Stroud placed small rabbit figurines on his table as an homage.)

A few designers worked with scale, building monumental structures or miniature environments. Renny & Reed positioned four tall columns topped with classical urns and cherry blossom branches to define the table. Nearby, Lewis Miller of LMD Floral Events Interiors created a lovely garden setting, using tall topiary obelisks to hem in his predominantly gold and off-white table. Remco van Vliet of Van Vliet & Trap used the same convention of defining the four points around the dining table, and positioned large white, modern pedestals capped with white dogwood blossom branches. Two more large pieces were Antony Todd's lavish tent and the unusual work by Susan Edgar of Flowers, Sticks, and Stones.

Edgar's piece deserved investigation—it was actually made up of three round tables of different sizes grouped together, like cogs or wheels. A towering, multistoried copper structure rose from one table, with shelves of votives and tiny pots of marigolds. In fact, marigolds were everywhere at the three tables, on tabletops and in some cases surrounding the bases of tables.

Harking back to the invitation, an abundance of fruit spilled forth from many tables. Miller featured fresh and gilded fruits; Castle & Pierpont filled a transparent trough around their large urn centerpiece with green apples. Antony Todd had dried fruits studded with colored Swarovski crystals, and at Van Vliet & Trap's table fruits were painted metallic white.

Not that anyone asked, but we were thinking: While the neoclassical look of the venue (and Cipriani 42nd Street—the site of the past three benefits) may have worked into the literal theme, we'd love to see this floral showcase at a raw space or an atrium with natural light, like the one at 590 Madison Avenue, which was used in 2002.

—Mark Mavrigian

Photos: Jeff Thomas/Image Capture

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