March 1, 2011
Amy Lau
The interior designer talks about trailblazing mentors, Greek cave houses, and the glories of tequila.
Job Description
Interior designer, product designer, independent adviser
to collectors of 20th-century decorative arts
Current Projects
A Fifth Avenue residence, a Soho triplex, a West Village town house, and homes for a family that resides in New Orleans, Brooklyn, and everywhere in between. For our product-development arm, we’re designing two furniture collections, a tile-and-bathroom collection, and a rug-and-pillow line.
Why do you do what you do?
Everything inside my core being yearns for and desires it!
First step on a project
Methodology, preparation, and united teamwork
Last step on a project
Appreciation and documentation
How do you break a creative block?
Go to the research library at the Cooper-Hewitt, spend a Saturday at a museum or gallery show, do yoga, or surround myself with nature
Education
B.F.A. in art history and marketing, master’s degree in fine and decorative arts from Sotheby’s graduate program in New York City
Mentors
My visionary grandmother; the fearless artists that blazed many trails from North America for womankind: Georgia O’Keefe, Frida Kahlo, and Emily Carr; and the ever-so-multifaceted designers Gio Ponti, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Mary Colter
Dream team
My current design team!
Office chair
Hans Wegner’s the Chair. A forever classic.
Office sound track
The sultry, exotic, and dreamy “Hôtel Costes” and “Buddha Bar” collections
Favorite tchotchke
My small collection of copper chunks from Holbrook, Arizona
Most useful tools
The iPhone camera. I currently have more than 3,000 photos I am constantly referring to.
Bookmarks
www.designaddict.com, www.1stdibs.com,
www.designtherapy.com, www.allthebestblog
.com, www.editoratlarge.com
Best place to think
For big thoughts, I need to think outside of the office.
Something old
My father’s prehistoric pottery from the Anasazi period
Something new
The Flip camera
Favorite space
Cave houses in Oia, Greece
Guilty pleasure
Tequila, dancing, and late nights
Underrated
Milo Baughman and Paul McCobb
Overrated
Philippe Starck
Learned the hard way
Construction
Command-Z (Undo)
There is nothing I would undo because
with mistakes comes growth, and I wouldn’t
be where I am today.
Dream Job
Historic hotel