2008 Speakers
Fred Bernstein
Senior Contributing Editor, Metropolitan Home
Fred Bernstein, who studied architecture at Princeton University, has been writing about architecture and design for more than 20 years. He is the senior contributing editor of Metropolitan Home magazine, a contributing editor of Architect magazine, and a frequent contributor to the New York Times. Among his recent articles were a requiem for Philippe Starck’s Royalton Hotel (published in Interior Design, September 2007) and an appreciation of Marion Mahony Griffin, a brilliant renderer who created many of the drawings people think of when they think of Frank Lloyd Wright (published in the New York Times, January 1, 2008) See http://www.fredbernstein.com.
Jonathan Butler
Founder and Editor, Brownstoner.com
Jonathan Butler is the founder and editor of Brownstoner.com, the leading blog about Brooklyn real estate, architecture and preservation. Launched in October 2004, the blog currently attracts about 140,000 readers a month. In April, Jonathan launched Brooklyn Flea, the largest flea market in the city, on a 40,000-square-foot lot in Fort Greene. Prior to starting Brownstoner, Jonathan spent a decade as a journalist, venture capitalist and real estate investor. He has a BA in History from Princeton University and an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business. He currently resides in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn with his wife and two children.
Michael Cannell
Online Content Director, Dwell.com
Michael Cannell is director of online content for dwell.com, and a prolific blogger of design news. He was editor of the House & Home section of The New York Times for seven years. His biography of I.M. Pei was published by Crown in 1995.
Christopher Coleman
Principal, Christopher Coleman Interior Design
Creative solutions fueled by an imaginative drive underscore the work of interior designer Christopher Coleman. Cited by house beautiful in its “Top 100 Designers” every year since 1999, this Brooklyn-based designer believes that everyone deserves good design, regardless of budget, and he knows how to achieve it. “If you have a client who is willing to listen to you and give the freedom to do what you do best, it will all work out,” he says.
Coleman, who began his career at a high-end design firm, is a gutsy risk taker who favors a modern approach with a witty playfulness. Coleman is noted for his exuberant work and innate color sense, his high-spirited designs feature strong geometric shapes with clean lines and bright colors. “For me, ideas flow endlessly,” he says, “they don’t stop.”
Because his clientele is composed of many young families with children, Coleman is currently working on a licensing deal to do a line of children’s furniture. His loftiest goals have nothing to do with sales; “I hope that in my work there’s a personality, lightheartedness and a sense of humor.”
Kati Curtis, IIDA, ASID
Principal, Nirmada Interior Architecture and Design, LLC
Kati Curtis brings a comfortable, modern approach to her designs. Kati believes that good design is as much about solving problems as it is about creating memorable spaces. Kati trained at the Savannah College of Art and Design. An artist and painter, her projects have received nationwide recognition including the International Interior Design Association’s Silver Award in 2002 and the Army Corps of Engineers Design award for an adaptive reuse and preservation of the National War College in Washington DC, which had originally been designed by the McKim, Meade and White in 1908.
Kati is currently working on projects in New York, New Jersey, Qatar, and London and is training in Vaastu, the Hindu science of Architecture and Interior Design. She is a member of the United States Green Building Council, and places an importance on specifying environmentally friendly furniture and materials wherever appropriate. Kati’s value of giving back to the design community includes teaching Interior Design at Parsons School of Design in New York.