NEW YORK—This year marked Dining by Design’s 10th year of co-location with the Architectural Digest Design Show, as well as Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS' 35th anniversary. The annual fund-raising event brought together more than 30 designers, architects, manufacturers, and brands who were tasked with building out raw spaces into elaborate dining installations. In addition to the vignettes, Dining by Design also included a silent auction, cocktail party sponsored by Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and a gala dinner, which was held on Monday night. Proceeds go toward AIDS education and help fund treatment and care for those living with the disease.
The five-day event was held from March 21 to 25 at Pier 92. Similar to years past, the industry showcase presented a variety of designs from brands like Benjamin Moore, art institutions such as Pratt, and designers like the Rockwell Group.
Here's a look at some of the highlights.
The setting by the Black Artists & Designers Guild, a collective of artists creating art, home furnishings, and interior and exterior spaces, was dominated by a giant backdrop featuring the face of an African woman.
Photo: Alan Berry
David Scott Interiors and Roche Bobois created a dining experience reminiscent of that aboard a luxury liner cruising the Atlantic. The seating area included ocean blue and warm sunshine yellow hues, and the curvy chairs and vases in the dining area evoked undulating waves.
Photo: Alan Berry
The vignette by Gensler, Knoll, and EvensonBest, titled “You Are Beautiful,” was designed as a reminder to those living with HIV/AIDS that they are beautiful and not alone in their fight. Flanked by wooden cut-out panels with block lettering, the table-long ceiling installation was comprised of translucent and clear beach balls.
Photo: Alan Berry
Interior designer Lucinda Loya combined her passion for dining and entertaining with this vignette. In partnership with German Kitchen Center and Luceplan, Loya set out gray, shaggy dining chairs against a forced perspective backdrop that gave the illusion of a much larger space.
Photo: Alan Berry
Guests perched on pearl-esque stools at a table with silver and crystal tableware with twinkling stars overhead at jewelry designer McKenzie Liautaud and Robert Verdi’s underwater-inspired dining table setup. Candles nestled among clam shells served as the centerpiece.
Photo: Alan Berry
Novita Communications partnered with design studio Maiarelli Studio to create an installation that aimed to connect reading with the feeling of empathy. Instead of plates, open, overturned books, each covering the topic of AIDS, occupied the place settings and stacks of books served as table legs.
Photo: Alan Berry
Pratt Institute students were inspired by kintsugi, a Japanese ceramic technique in which craftsmen repair broken pottery with a gold or silver lacquer, resulting in something more beautiful. The table setup, titled “Stronger Together,” aimed to illustrate that people are stronger when we work together.
Photo: Alan Berry
Designed by Stacy Garcia, in collaboration with Crypton Home Fabric and Calico, this setting featured soft gray tones representing winter and an explosion of pinks, purples, and pastel colors of spring in the ceiling installation and table centerpiece. Floral design was provided by L’Olivier Floral Atelier.
Photo: Alan Berry
Designed by Stonehill Taylor for Japanese textile company Ultrafabrics, “Journey” refers to nearly four decades of research in the fight against AIDS. The large, amorphous ceiling installation featured colors and patterns evocative of the body against a stark white dining table and vegan leather-backed seating.
Photo: Courtesy of DADA Goldberg
Walker Ridge Construction’s space, titled "Puerto Rico Se Levanta (Puerto Rico Rises Up)," was inspired by Hurricane Maria’s devastation across Puerto Rico. The mural by Dale Williams depicts the island’s past, present, and ideas for sustainable living in the future.
Photo: Lisa Vecchione/BizBash
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing, Felderman Keatinge and Associates’ vignette “No Dream Is Too High” featured a space theme, with an illuminated moon and drawings by Stanley Felderman that depicted a future world.
Photo: Lisa Vecchione/BizBash
Using bold graphics and inspiring messages, Interior Design magazine’s table, titled “Together in Unity!,” aimed to inspire visitors to help those in need, with a row of hands reaching up.
Photo: Lisa Vecchione/BizBash
Rockwell Group’s table setting was inspired by the Peacock Room, James McNeill Whistler’s masterpiece of interior decorative art located in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington; Whistler painted the paneled room in a rich palette of blue-green with metallic gold leaf.
Photo: Lisa Vecchione/BizBash
Rockwell Group’s space featured a digital wall covering and a custom hand-made peacock-feather tablecloth to create a modern interpretation of Whistler’s opulent space.
Photo: Lisa Vecchione/BizBash
First-time participant INC Architecture & Design’s “Us Is More” dining vignette was a playful kaleidoscope of colorful patches on the walls with a rainbow-bright ceiling installation.
Photo: Lisa Vecchione/BizBash
Students from the Parsons School of Design aimed to illustrate how small changes can add up to make a big difference. The wall material is moldable, allowing visitors to make an imprint through touch.
Photo: Lisa Vecchione/BizBash
IA Interior Architects’ “Past + Present + Future” room celebrated how far AIDS research has come and examines how much more there is to do. The space was split in two, with one side recognizing what has been accomplished in the past 35 years since the discovery of the AIDS virus in 1984 through the posters and graphics that have increased awareness of the cause. The other side represented 35 years into the future. Projected on the blank slate was various imagery that represented what the future can be. Located in the center of the space was the mirrored dining table and chairs, which represented the present and the idea that by reflecting the past in the present, we can better understand how to get to the ideal future.
Photo: Lisa Vecchione/BizBash
Interior designer Patrick Miele created a dining room for Benjamin Moore that celebrated old-world glamour with a palette of berry, cream, gold, and silver, trompe l’oeil details, and oversize paper flower centerpieces.
Photo: Lisa Vecchione/BizBash
