In 2001, he built One Beacon Court, a 130 000m² skyscraper on this Upper East Side of Manhattan. The tower is the 15th tallest building in New York City and became the headquarters of Bloomberg’s media empire, along with 105 luxury condominiums.

The only aspect of this glass tower that renowned architect César Pelli was not responsible for, is the panoramic view. And the views abound. Geoffrey Bradfield’s Wall Street clients commissioned him to create a monochromatic interior, like a capsule floating above the city, to take full advantage of these breathtaking vistas. A prerequisite in the brief was for minimal décor linked to definitive levels of comfort.

Says Bradfield: ‘Minimalist décor has been facetiously described as ‘conspicuous austerity’ and it can represent a subtle form of snobbism, which achieves singularity by avoiding the familiar. In the case of interiors, this means décor without decoration, yet it is also an example of the current taste for reducing the clutter and crowding of objects in the room.

‘It was Le Corbusier who said: ‘A house is a machine for living in’, a quotation that any conscious designer should keep in mind, because style represents little if not allied to substance.’

Bradfield understands this maxim instinctively. His interiors stage the views, with their lush textural contrasts and reflective surfaces. Artworks, which are always a signature in this designer’s repertoire, add a global wit and deliberately draw the eye through each interior, to the cityscape beyond.

January / February 2012 Issue

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