Michael Gabellini (born in 1958), FAIA, is a minimalist architect, interior designer and partner of Gabellini Sheppard Associates with Design Partner, Kimberly Sheppard and Consulting Partner, Daniel Garbowit. A Fellow of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

, he won the National Design Award for Interior Design in 2006 and has also been recognized with the Progressive Architecture Award and awards from the American Institute of Architects, the International Interior Design Association, among other professional societies and publications.

Life and career

Gabellini was born in 1958 near

Allentown Allentown may refer to: Places * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a city in four counties in Georgia * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Tazewell County * Allentown, New Jersey, a boroug ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, and earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and Bachelor of Architecture degree from the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

. He also studied at the

Architectural Association The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest private school of architecture in the UK. The AA hosts exhibitions, lectures, symposia and publications. History The Architectura ...

in London and conducted architectural research in Rome. It was at the Architectural Association where Gabellini was mentored by influential architects such as Rem Koolhas,

Elia Zenghelis Elia Zenghelis (Born 1937, Athens, Greece) is a Greek architect and teacher. He studied architecture at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London, completing his studies in 1961. From 1961 to 1971 he worked for architects Dougla ...

, Nigel Coates,

Bernard Tschumi Bernard Tschumi (born 25 January 1944 in Lausanne, Switzerland) is an architect, writer, and educator, commonly associated with deconstructivism. Son of the well-known Swiss architect Jean Tschumi and a French mother, Tschumi is a dual French ...

Dalibor Vesely Dalibor Vesely (19 June 1934 – 31 March 2015) was a Czech-born architectural historian and theorist who was influential through his teaching and writing in promoting the role of hermeneutics and phenomenology as part of the discourse of ...

and

Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-born British architect, artist, and designer. She is recognised as a key figure in the architecture of the late-20th and early-21st centuries. Born ...

. After graduation, he worked for six years with prominent architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates in New York. During this time, he also collaborated on residential and fashion related projects with interior designer Jay Smith, before founding the architecture and interior design firm Gabellini Associates in New York in 1991. The name was later changed to Gabellini Sheppard Associates, after Sheppard and Garbowit (now retired) became full partners in the practice. The firm’s earliest commissions, for fashion designer

Jil Sander Heidemarie Jiline "Jil" Sander (; born 27 November 1943) is a German minimalist fashion designer and the founder of the Jil Sander (brand), Jil Sander fashion house. Early life and education Heidemarie Jiline Sander was born in Wesselburen on 2 ...

, led to a 14-year collaboration spanning over 80 retail spaces worldwide with the brand. One of the earliest, a Paris boutique in a restored private house on Avenue Montaigne, was noted by Architectural Record in September 1993 for its “clean elegance,” noting that the boutique furthered Gabellini’s reputation “for designing minimalist spaces enriched by sumptuous materials.” Nearly a decade later, the Jil Sander Flagship in London, England won an American Architecture Award in 2002 from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design. Gabellini Sheppard Associates' completed the renovation of Top of the Rock at

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

in 2006, completely revamping the six level, 55,000 square-foot project to include new public spaces as well as restoration of the historic observation decks. The project won the Institute Honor award for Interior Architecture as well as an Honor award for Historic Preservation from the

. In subsequent years, the firm continues to develop retail, public and exhibition projects while expanding their practice into hospitality and residential design (''single and multi family''). The firm was appointed by Marriott and hotelier

Ian Schrager Ian Schrager (born July 19, 1946) is an American entrepreneur, hotel manager, hotelier and real estate developer, credited for co-creating the "boutique hotel" category of accommodation. Originally, he gained fame as co-owner and co-founder of S ...

to design the European debut of the EDITION hotel brand, EDITION ISTANBUL. In March 2014, real estate development firm Sumaida + Khurana announced the collaboration between

Tadao Ando is a self-taught Japanese autodidact architect known for his unique integration of architecture and landscape. Architectural historian Francesco Dal Co described his work as an example of " critical regionalism". Ando received the prestigious ...

and Gabellini Sheppard Associates on Tadao Ando’s first residential project in NYC. In fall of 2014, the firm’s redesign of the iconic

Rainbow Room The Rainbow Room is a private event space on the 65th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza at Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Run by Tishman Speyer, it is among the highest venues in New York City. The Rainbow Room was design ...

will open to the public.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabellini, Michael 20th-century American architects 1958 births Living people Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture Rhode Island School of Design alumni Architects from Pennsylvania 21st-century American architects American people of Italian descent