Architect Alexander Zilberman On Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career As A Commercial Designer
An Interview With Athalia Monae
Allow the design challenge to take you on a journey. Our preconceptions about design can actually stifle our creativity and effectiveness. Allow yourself to let go of what you already know, and what you have seen, to allow inspiration to emerge naturally. This way of thinking allows the complexity and diversity we see in the world, including seemingly contradictory ideas, to come into our lives in new ways to enrich, excite and interest us.
As a part of my series about the ‘Five Things You Need To Know To Create A Highly Successful Career As A Commercial Designer,’ I had the pleasure of interviewing Alexander Zilberman.
With a keen eye for new ideas in both luxury experiences and environments, Alexander Zilberman, AIA, NCARB, is founder and principal architect of Alexander Zilberman Architecture, P.C., also known as AZA. His New York-based practice leads projects globally including flagships and rollouts for luxury brands such as Jimmy Choo in Newport Beach and Helmut Lang in Atlanta to Victoria’s Secret in Savannah, Ga., as well as the new Aston Martin Q New York showroom and Theory stores in Midtown Manhattan, Soho, Hudson Yards, and at Palm Beach Gardens. AZA is also noted for high-end hotels, workplaces, headquarters offices, mixed-use buildings and select residential works, as well as new stores in airports and cruise ships globally.
Thank you for joining us today! Can you share the story of what led you to pursue a career in commercial design?
When I was in high school, I had a really influential teacher who saw something in me and encouraged me, and then convinced me to study architecture just by showing me an image — a photo of a midcentury modern home. I had never seen that before, and it spoke to me. I said then and there, this is what I want to do. In time, I became fascinated by the architecture and design process. I began by studying architecture at Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University, where I spent lots of time theorizing and dwelling on and studying concepts before landing on design. Through several fortunate opportunities I began working for luxury retail and hospitality brands, and I became very interested in experiential retail design, which places big demands on commercial designers. The speed and expected proficiency level is very high. There’s also a high level of seriousness and considerable pressure in this field, yet the playfulness and ability to try new things, that aspect of exploration, led me to really enjoy this field of retail design. This playfulness seemed to me like the design equivalent of playing jazz, versus being in a symphony orchestra. It was refreshing.
The key issues in the retail field are brand and functionality. Simply serving the traditional store design paradigm is not only insufficient, it might lead down the wrong path entirely. Luxury experiences must be singular, memorable, and elevated. In a word, they are unparalleled, meaning that the retail venue may not even appear to be a store at all. This is seen in our Aston Martin project, Q New York, where the result is more like an auto museum with a lounge and massive interactive display, and nothing at all like a car showroom or dealer.
What’s the most interesting or amusing experience you’ve had in your career so far, and what lesson did you learn from it?
Installing giant glass panels in the middle of the night in New York City’s midtown was an amazing experience. It was interesting and exciting and scary, and in hindsight it was kind of amusing also. Like, what am I doing on Park Avenue at 2:00 in the morning with giant panels of glass getting lifted by crane? The massive window solution was designed to complement an existing building’s architecture. Our firm AZA had a whole team of architects, engineers, a glazing contractor and others buzzing around the sidewalk and building façade to carefully, carefully install the new glass panels in their exact locations.
Our client Aston Martin dubbed unique window installation of epic proportion their ‘Champagne Frame,’ and said it was “one of the largest single panes of glass ever installed into a New York building.” The space behind reveals a carefully illuminated, museum-quality space with an impressive chandelier of 3,000 hand-blown-glass globes, 900 of which are light sources, spanning 131 feet. The whole thing is amazing.
Do you have a favorite life lesson quote? Can you share a story about how it has been relevant in your life?
The famed modernist architect Mies van der Rohe said, “God is in the details,” which is a great life-lesson quote for all commercial designers. You can have a superb concept and a big design idea that will never achieve its potential if you don’t work out all of the details, tiny or giant, that are needed to make it work in reality. The details and execution of details are what result in a perception of high quality or luxury, even those details that may be unseen or hidden to the untrained eye. This holds true in many other areas also — high quality is in what we do and how we do it, in everyday life.
As a successful business leader, which three character traits have been most crucial to your success? Can you share a story or example for each?
First, I understand that I am here to serve. It’s not about me and my philosophy or style. It’s about people — the end-users, and the client. And the client knows the end-user best.
For the client, we need to focus on the brand, which is the anchor for successful, great design. We have to reliably support the brand story and, in many cases, the product story in ways that engage visitors through a system of visual cues, environmental graphics, digital technologies and pure architectural experience — from the physical and sensory to even the olfactory and tactile, using each element to conjure memories and associations. An example is our work for Victoria’s Secret, which we rolled out nationally.
Second, we need to carry the awareness that commercial design enterprises must have successful businesses in order to best serve their clients and build great projects. I have come to realize that as architects and designers, we need this focus, which is surprisingly nonexistent in our education. For that reason, we need to educate ourselves.
Third, it’s important to be growth-oriented and curious. We can be bold and take on new work challenges in new markets. In 2003, I started as an artist, architect and designer. Later we founded AZA in 2011 and began taking on new projects in varied places, and we expanded our design firm into multiple states. We felt there was a strong demand for our open-minded qualities and our unique design approach focused on the client and end-user. We built a track record of success. Today, we’re recognized in our markets and we get to work with some really amazing brands. And we are trusted to execute projects with a very high caliber of design.
Can you describe a recent project you completed and what your specific contributions were?
We just designed a new freestanding specialty center clad in intricate Roman brickwork and rich limestone in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Gwynedd, which now welcomes patrons and lovers of the world’s best watches and timepieces to browse mini-boutiques for world-leading brands Rolex, Cartier, Tudor, and Omega. I did both the architecture and interior design for the 9,000-square-foot “chateau,” which occupies what developers call the Point at Gwynedd Gate, a very prominent site in the most popular shopping corridor in the Philadelphia suburbs. I created the building to provide showroom space for each of the four watch brands across two floors, all connected by a floating grand stair set within a glass-enclosed atrium and hovering above a tranquility garden.
Our client is Roman Murat. He’s a third-generation watchmaker. He really likes working with us. He says it’s been a valuable process, and that we’re good at foreseeing challenges and translating brand identity into memorable, magnetic designs.
How do you approach balancing aesthetics and functionality in your designs?
Because challenges inevitably arise, including construction challenges, we work to find solutions for translating design needs into high-quality architecture, on a timetable that works. For example, we are using prefab technologies in resort areas like Park City, Utah for example. The market there is ripe for new high-end homes, but they also face limited construction and labor pools. Then there’s the “mud season” — a reference to spring beginning after the ski lifts shut down — when the resort town becomes more like a ghost town. The success of our luxury design hinges on delivering the highest possible quality for a segment of consumers with exquisite taste and a demanding nature. Delivering that level of quality depends on predictability of schedule.
What is your design philosophy when it comes to commercial spaces?
First, we as designers need to know how to truly listen, getting to know the client, brand, and users within a project-specific context. For high-end and luxury commercial spaces, above all, we prioritize how a guest or customer should feel after exploring the brand experience. Our watchwords are functionality, spatial clarity, ideal proportion, and celebrating materials and craft.
Where do you draw your inspiration for your designs?
In retail design, we have the privilege of seeing the brands themselves, as well as their products, many of which are works of art on their own. The lines of an Aston Martin roadster, for example, or a Michael Kors dress, or the pattern on a Jimmy Choo pump: All of these create instant inspiration. Also, traveling to great cities and places around the United States, where we’re inspired by nature, great cities like New York, and the great masters of the past. These are amazing inspiration.
What strategies do you use to ensure your designs meet the needs of the end-users?
Really listen, and really understand all the parameters. It’s not about you and your style, It’s about the end-user and customers, and the client knows their needs best. In this way, it helps to forget what you think you know about design and architecture. Forget what you have seen, and the solutions that automatically seem to apply to a new situation. Instead, try to think about inspiration and about fit — how an environment seems clearly tailored and customized for an experience to emerge. It’s also about key design needs such as wellness, and how sustainability is not only possible in a world of high-ticket-item consumption, but it is the most desirable path. This way of thinking allows the complexity and diversity we see in the world, including seemingly contradictory ideas, to come into our lives in new ways to enrich and soothe us.
How do you approach sustainability in your commercial projects?
We try to think about timelessness, so that the architecture and design last longer, always rising above the trend-based aspects of fashion, retail and hospitality. In addition to sustainability in terms of carbon and energy, a key part of the sustainability equation is human comfort and health. Each climate has its own effect, and our designs need to support this — they need to reflect their place. Sustainable resorts should always offer indoor-outdoor experiences so you get fresh air and sun, along with ways to travel on foot or bike, and local, organic foods and drinks that are better for our bodies and have less embodied carbon from transport. Hotels and lodges should be known as healthy, comfortable experiences that use minimal decor and benign, nontoxic finishes and materials. They should be resilient and climate-responsive, too.
In this way, stores and hotels and houses we design must reflect their place, as well as good practices in healthy, sustainable design. I design luxury retail stores and hospitality settings, and some retailers are very connected to their places, and offer products that are good for us and for the planet. Think local crafts and artisans, as well as locally produced foods, beverages, soaps, tinctures and more. That connection to the land and the environment is key to long-term sustainability.
What impact do you think remote work and digital transformation will have on the design of commercial spaces?
The digital transformation has had a huge impact on our process, and how the design of commercial projects are done. Offices can be smaller thanks to both digital tools and hybrid work. So the office has become more about meetings, a hub for people and key milestones in our processes. At the same time, it creates new opportunities for experiences, such as our Aston Martin project, where interactive tools can allow a client to spec and design their own car with a specialist in the U.K., in real time.
What are the five things you believe are essential for creating a highly successful career in commercial design? Can you share a story or example for each?
1. Allow the design challenge to take you on a journey.
Our preconceptions about design can actually stifle our creativity and effectiveness. Allow yourself to let go of what you already know, and what you have seen, to allow inspiration to emerge naturally. This way of thinking allows the complexity and diversity we see in the world, including seemingly contradictory ideas, to come into our lives in new ways to enrich, excite and interest us.
2. Brand experience is the core of successful, great design for travel, retail and living.
For an elevated, memorable design experiences, we need to do more than create singular and unparalleled architecture with great detailing and the best materials. We also have to reliably support the brand story and, in many cases, the product story in ways that engage visitors through a system of visual cues, environmental graphics, digital technologies and pure architectural experience — from the physical and sensory to even the olfactory and tactile, using each element to conjure memories and associations.
3. Specialize a bit — but not too much!
Commercial designers should be bold and seek new design challenges in varied settings and contexts. Whether you start as an artist, architect or designer, learn what makes your clients a success based on their environment’s unique design characteristics. Don’t hesitate to try something new, or to work in a new place. But bring with you the core of what you know — that is your specialization, and it will help people around the world.
4. Think about how design can make people and groups better at what they do.
We always design in ways that help people be their best, whether at play or at work or at school. Think of the key aspects to cultivate and nurture as part of their experience in the commercial space. That will affect the full package of integrated architecture, interiors, environmental graphics and technology enhancements that we bring to a commercial design project. The importance of effective in-person experience is essential to commercial design success.
5. Focus on the quality of your own life.
Being present and living fully means getting the most out of each day, every day. Being surrounded by people you respect and admire, where you contribute to each other’s lives positively, is also very important. Instead of drawing hard lines between aspects of your life, you can find deep meaning in the work that you do and the relationships you have with others. And this is something you practice every day, and every hour of every day.
I am devoted to family and we all have a passion for travel as well as big-mountain downhill skiing. Our spring travel for skiing out West with the whole family is focused on not just ecologically sensitive and energy-wise offerings, but also on ways to reflect that season as the peak of the year in terms of physical health. In this way, travel becomes a form of meditation, putting you in nature for full days where we encounter outdoor environments that range from serene to harsh in those mountain resorts, or in a desert like Sedona, or even a beach area. It is undeniable that the human body gets energy from our focused concentration on the activity, which takes you away from work and the news of the day, allowing us to be rejuvenated.
What role do you think commercial design plays in community building and social interaction?
It is huge. Design creates community not by just assembling numerous built spaces or places, but instead by crafting environments that deliberately encourage connection. They do more than allow people to just bump into one another; they are settings that inform the way relationships arise. From amenities within a residential community to the gathering spaces in any commercial interior, those specific elements are the catalysts in building community and encouraging social interaction.
Given your influence, if you could inspire a movement to bring the best results and solutions to the greatest number of people, what would it be? You never know what impact your idea might have!
I love the idea of creating spaces where people feel good. We can do this with any type of building or space. We want design to help change our worldviews and grant our wishes. Great design motivates individuals and groups, bringing people together in brick-and-mortar settings and helping to bridge barriers. Great architects and designers should be focused on these ultimate goals.
How can our readers follow your work online?
There are some good stories about our projects in various design and business magazines.
Our website is updated regularly, at www.azarchdesign.com and we have links to some of the stories.
You can also see us on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aza-architecture/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aza_architecture/?hl=en
Thank you for your time and excellent insights! We wish you continued success.
About the Interviewer: Athalia Monae is a product creator, published author, entrepreneur, advocate for Feed Our Starving Children, contributing writer for Entrepreneur Media, and founder of Pouches By Alahta.
Architect Alexander Zilberman On Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career As A… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.