Upper East Side

Upper East Side is a minimalist apartment located on the Upper East Side of New York, designed by Rob Johansen. Working alongside architect Nicholas Deramo of Studio NDA, Johansen approached this Upper East Side renovation with what he calls a pursuit of the “timeless.” The term might seem cliché in contemporary design discourse, yet here it takes on material weight. The onyx, quarried from ancient seabeds, carries geological memory spanning millions of years. Against it, the Namibia marble – formed in the desert heat of southern Africa – creates a dialogue between deep time and human habitation.

This conversation between permanence and domesticity extends throughout the townhouse, most notably in the kitchen’s deliberate evocation of traditional Japanese culinary spaces. The decision reflects not cultural appropriation but material honesty – the kind of clarity that Japanese craft traditions have long championed. Clean lines and restrained material palettes speak to function refined through centuries of use.

The clients’ collection reveals this same philosophical thread. Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann’s Art Deco precision sits alongside Maria Pergay’s sculptural metal work, while Rick Owens’ brutalist furniture finds kinship with Jorge Zalszupin’s Brazilian modernism. Pierre Paulin’s organic forms flow into Ayala Serfaty’s ethereal lighting, creating what Johansen calls “a cabinet of curiosities for the material age.”

This curatorial approach suggests something significant about contemporary collecting. Rather than pursuing stylistic coherence, these pieces share what we might call material integrity – each designer’s commitment to letting materials speak their inherent language. Studio Drift’s kinetic sculptures and John Wigmore’s precise geometries both embody this philosophy, though through vastly different vocabularies.

The renovation’s three-year timeline becomes crucial here. In an era of rapid digital transformation, Johansen and Deramo’s methodical approach recalls the patient accumulation of patina, the slow settling of materials into their permanent relationships. The onyx bathroom serves as the project’s emotional center – a space where the body encounters stone that has waited eons to catch morning light filtering through century-old window frames.

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