David Rockwell

David Rockwell (born July 21, 1956)^[1]^[2] is an American architect and designer. He is the founder and president of Rockwell Group, a 250-person cross-disciplinary architecture and design practice based in New York City with satellite offices in Madrid and Los Angeles.

Rockwell grew up in a theater family. His mother, a vaudeville dancer and choreographer, often cast him in community repertory productions. When he was 12, David's family moved from Deal, New Jersey to Guadalajara, Mexico.^[3] Rockwell trained in architecture at Syracuse University and the Architectural Association in London.^[3]

Rockwell founded Rockwell Group in 1984.^[4]

Rockwell currently serves as Chair Emeritus of the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA) and as a board member of Citymeals-on-Wheels, and New York Restoration Project.^[5] Rockwell also conceived and developed Imagination Playground pro-bono, a play space designed to encourage children to work together to create their own worlds of play. After five years of research on children and play, the first site-specific location opened in collaboration with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation at Burling Slip in Manhattan in 2010. Rockwell Group developed portable, scalable models that can transform smaller, unused areas into play spaces. Through the U.N.I.C.E.F. P.L.A.Y. Project, in partnership with Disney, the blocks have been distributed to more than 13,000 children in Bangladesh and Haiti.^[6]

Rockwell's honors include the 2016 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design for the musical She Loves Me and six Tony Award nominations for Best Scenic Design, the AIA New York Chapter President's Award; the 2008 National Design Award by the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum for outstanding achievement in Interior Design; the 2009 Pratt Legends Award; the Presidential Design Award for his renovation of the Grand Central Terminal; induction into the James Beard Foundation Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America and Interior Design magazine's Hall of Fame; inclusion in Architectural Digest's AD 100; and the 2016 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical for She Loves Me and five Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical. Rockwell Group was named by Fast Company in 2008, 2014 and 2015 as one of the most innovative design practices in their annual World's 50 Most Innovative Companies issue.^[4] Rockwell is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. World Winners Prix Versailles 2018^[7]^[8]

Chefs Club by Food & Wine, New York
Gordon Ramsay's Maze (London)
Maialino, New York
Nobu restaurants worldwide, including New York, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Doha, Melbourne and Dubai^[4]
Aloft hotels (Starwood Hotels & Resorts)
Andaz Maui at Wailea, Hawaii^[9]
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas^[10]
Nobu Hotel Caesars Palace, Las Vegas^[11]
Nobu Hotel Eden Roc Miami Beach
W Hotels New York, Union Square, Vieques, Paris, Singapore, and Madrid
Hall of Fragments, the entrance installation to the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale
Walt Disney Family Museum^[12]
The Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta^[13]
Elinor Bunin-Munroe Film Center, Lincoln Center^[14]
The Shed (Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Leader Architect, and Rockwell Group, Collaborating Architect)^[15]
15 Hudson Yards in collaboration with Diller Scofidio + Renfro
TED Theater, Vancouver^[16]
Dolby Theatre, home of the Academy Awards ceremony (Los Angeles)
The Marketplace at the JetBlue terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport
NeueHouse, New York, Los Angeles^[17]
Shinola^[18]
Imagination Playground^[19]
Moxy Chelsea^[20]
The New York EDITION
Rockwell Unscripted for Knoll
Union Square Cafe^[21]
Sky (skyscraper)^[22]
NEMA (Chicago)^[23]
Hayes Theater^[24]
The Perelman, New York City (Restaurant and Lobby Interior Architect)
93rd Oscars, Production Design
Hopkins Student Center for Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle
DineOut NYC pro bono initiative

Hairspray
The Rocky Horror Show
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
All Shook Up
Legally Blonde
Team America: World Police (2004, film)
The 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009)^[25]
The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010)
The Normal Heart
Catch Me If You Can
Harvey
Kinky Boots
Lucky Guy
You Can't Take It with You^[26]
Side Show^[27]
On the Twentieth Century^[28]
She Loves Me^[29]
On Your Feet!
Falsettos
Lobby Hero
Pretty Woman
Tootsie
93rd Oscars (2021)

Pleasure: The Architecture and Design of Rockwell Group, Universe, a division of Rizzoli Books, 2002.
David Rockwell with Bruce Mau, Spectacle, Phaidon Press, 2006. Examines the history and public fascination with larger-than-life man-made events.
What If...?: The Architecture and Design of David Rockwell, Metropolis Books, 2014.^[30]
Drama by David Rockwell, Phaidon, May 2021 ^[31]

[1]
Mun-Delsalle, Y-Jean (February 26, 2014). "David Rockwell Celebrates The 30th Anniversary Of His Architecture And Design Firm". Forbes. Born in 1956 in Chicago, Rockwell grew up in New Jersey
[2]
"Midsummer Night's Birthday Celebration – Rockwell Group". www.rockwellgroup.com. Retrieved 2022-07-07. On July 25th we celebrated David Rockwell's 60th birthday at the Central Park Zoo.
[3]
"Biography: David Rockwell | Fast Company | Business + Innovation". Archived from the original on 2016-09-28. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
[4]
"David Rockwell". Designers & Books.
[5]
"DIFFA Presents: A Tribute to Honor David Rockwell". www.prnewswire.com (Press release).
[6]
UNICEF USA (30 January 2013). "UNICEF USA: UNICEF P.L.A.Y." Archived from the original on 2021-12-14 – via YouTube.
[7]
"Awards and Recognition – Rockwell Group". www.rockwellgroup.com.
[8]
"David Rockwell – Rockwell Group". www.rockwellgroup.com.
[9]
Kellogg, Craig. "Mauie Wowie". Interior Design Magazine. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
[10]
"Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Open December 2010", Cosmopolitan Website Archived July 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
[11]
Molvar, Kari (October 7, 2014). "Nobu Matsuhisa and David Rockwell on the Art of Constructing a Restaurant". The New York Times.
[12]
Cane, John (7 October 2010). "Inside the Walt Disney Family Museum". PRINT Magazine. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
[13]
Kaiser, Laura. "Inside Atlanta's National Center for Civil and Human Rights by Rockwell Group". Interior Design. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
[14]
Castro, Fernanda (5 November 2018). "Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center / Rockwell Group". ArchDaily. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
[15]
"The Bloomberg Building". The Shed. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
[16]
Ferro, Shaunacy (March 18, 2014). "How David Rockwell Reinvented The Theater For The TED Era". Co.Design.
[17]
Finkel, Jori (July 28, 2014). "NeueHouse Chooses Historic Hollywood Site". The New York Times.
[18]
"New Kid on the Block: Shinola". Tribeca Citizen. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
[19]
Ackman, Dan (August 5, 2008). "The Architect-Designer Focuses on Child's Play". The Wall Street Journal.
[20]
Latterner, Timothy (11 April 2019). "Moxy Chelsea Opens with Interiors by Yabu Pushelberg and Rockwell Group". ADPRO.
[21]
Kimmelman, Michael (6 September 2016). "The Same, Only Different: Designing a New Union Square Cafe". The New York Times.
[22]
Stathaki, Ellie (1 February 2016). "David Rockwell puts his stamp on New York's largest residential high-rise". Wallpaper. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
[23]
Rockett, Darcel (February 8, 2019). "South Loop's building boom: A look at 3 residential towers set to open soon". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
[24]
Curkin, Charles (19 March 2018). "Behind the Curtain". Elle Decor. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
[25]
"David Rockwell to Design Sets for 81st Academy Awards", A.M.P.A.S., 2008.
[26]
Goodman, Wendy (October 2, 2014). "On the Set of You Can't Take It With You With Designer David Rockwell". New York.
[27]
Marks, Peter (November 17, 2014). "A big, beautiful "Side Show" on Broadway". Washington Post.
[28]
"On the Twentieth Century". Roundabout Theatre Company.
[29]
"She Loves Me". Roundabout Theatre Company.
[30]
What If...?: The Architecture and Design of David Rockwell. Metropolis Books. December 31, 2014. ISBN 978-1938922565.
[31]
"Drama".

[Forbes_2014-1] [1]
Mun-Delsalle, Y-Jean (February 26, 2014). "David Rockwell Celebrates The 30th Anniversary Of His Architecture And Design Firm". Forbes. Born in 1956 in Chicago, Rockwell grew up in New Jersey

[2] [2]
"Midsummer Night's Birthday Celebration – Rockwell Group". www.rockwellgroup.com. Retrieved 2022-07-07. On July 25th we celebrated David Rockwell's 60th birthday at the Central Park Zoo.

[fastcompany.com-3] [3]
"Biography: David Rockwell | Fast Company | Business + Innovation". Archived from the original on 2016-09-28. Retrieved 2016-09-09.

[designersandbooks1-4] [4]
"David Rockwell". Designers & Books.

[5] [5]
"DIFFA Presents: A Tribute to Honor David Rockwell". www.prnewswire.com (Press release).

[6] [6]
UNICEF USA (30 January 2013). "UNICEF USA: UNICEF P.L.A.Y." Archived from the original on 2021-12-14 – via YouTube.

[7] [7]
"Awards and Recognition – Rockwell Group". www.rockwellgroup.com.

[8] [8]
"David Rockwell – Rockwell Group". www.rockwellgroup.com.

[9] [9]
Kellogg, Craig. "Mauie Wowie". Interior Design Magazine. Retrieved 3 January 2020.

[10] [10]
"Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Open December 2010", Cosmopolitan Website Archived July 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine

[11] [11]
Molvar, Kari (October 7, 2014). "Nobu Matsuhisa and David Rockwell on the Art of Constructing a Restaurant". The New York Times.

[12] [12]
Cane, John (7 October 2010). "Inside the Walt Disney Family Museum". PRINT Magazine. Retrieved 3 January 2020.

[13] [13]
Kaiser, Laura. "Inside Atlanta's National Center for Civil and Human Rights by Rockwell Group". Interior Design. Retrieved 3 January 2020.

[14] [14]
Castro, Fernanda (5 November 2018). "Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center / Rockwell Group". ArchDaily. Retrieved 3 January 2020.

[15] [15]
"The Bloomberg Building". The Shed. Retrieved 3 January 2020.

[16] [16]
Ferro, Shaunacy (March 18, 2014). "How David Rockwell Reinvented The Theater For The TED Era". Co.Design.

[17] [17]
Finkel, Jori (July 28, 2014). "NeueHouse Chooses Historic Hollywood Site". The New York Times.

[18] [18]
"New Kid on the Block: Shinola". Tribeca Citizen. Retrieved 3 January 2020.

[19] [19]
Ackman, Dan (August 5, 2008). "The Architect-Designer Focuses on Child's Play". The Wall Street Journal.

[20] [20]
Latterner, Timothy (11 April 2019). "Moxy Chelsea Opens with Interiors by Yabu Pushelberg and Rockwell Group". ADPRO.

[21] [21]
Kimmelman, Michael (6 September 2016). "The Same, Only Different: Designing a New Union Square Cafe". The New York Times.

[Wallpaper-22] [22]
Stathaki, Ellie (1 February 2016). "David Rockwell puts his stamp on New York's largest residential high-rise". Wallpaper. Retrieved 1 March 2016.

[southloops-23] [23]
Rockett, Darcel (February 8, 2019). "South Loop's building boom: A look at 3 residential towers set to open soon". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 19, 2019.

[24] [24]
Curkin, Charles (19 March 2018). "Behind the Curtain". Elle Decor. Retrieved 3 January 2020.

[25] [25]
"David Rockwell to Design Sets for 81st Academy Awards", A.M.P.A.S., 2008.

[26] [26]
Goodman, Wendy (October 2, 2014). "On the Set of You Can't Take It With You With Designer David Rockwell". New York.

[27] [27]
Marks, Peter (November 17, 2014). "A big, beautiful "Side Show" on Broadway". Washington Post.

[28] [28]
"On the Twentieth Century". Roundabout Theatre Company.

[29] [29]
"She Loves Me". Roundabout Theatre Company.

[30] [30]
What If...?: The Architecture and Design of David Rockwell. Metropolis Books. December 31, 2014. ISBN 978-1938922565.

[31] [31]
"Drama".

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David Rockwell

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Early life and education

Career

Awards

Select design projects

Set design

Books

See also

References

External links