New York Magazine
1 of 5
WRK, a newly opened interior-design showroom and shop at 32 Prince Street (www.wrkdesign.com) is a revelation, and not just because of its fantastic mix of vintage furniture and ingeniously restored objects. I’m also impressed that owner Jeremy Floto of the photography team Floto + Warner is such a Renaissance man! Jeremy and his partner, Cassandra Warner, are two of the best interiors photographers out there, so it is really exciting to see this other side of his talent come into focus. Here is a view of one corner of the shop, with a green leather club chair and ottoman ($1,500), and a red children’s rocker ($160), among many other finds.
Photo: Floto + Warner
Jeremy (left) and partner Joshua Farley of WRK design/build pose in front of an 1800s English apothecary double-sided room divider ($5,500), a gigantic wrench $360, and a Vernacular hand-built stool/chair ($320). “Everything has a story,” Jeremy says of the store’s inventory, which they source from factories and flea markets all over the northeast. “For us, the best part of the story is the hunt,” Joshua adds. “We are good at seeing the potential of things.”
Photo: Floto + Warner
Here, a still-life anchored by the stool/chair in the previous slide. It’s joined by a carnival dog piggy bank ($90), a vintage gold bottle ($60), a 1920s OCWhite factory light ($450), and extra-large calipers ($210 each).
Photo: Floto + Warner
Another view of the shop featuring a Vintage factory work table ($1800), myriad hanging lights ($120-900), and steel café chairs ($260).
Photo: Floto + Warner
Yet more of the stock: a Vernacular handmade factory stool ($260), a safety-glasses factory mold ($440), a 1920s OC factory desk lamp ($550), an Art Deco ceiling sconce ($360), and handmade small drawers ($180).
Photo: Floto + Warner
Another leftover from the Police Museum can be seen in the hall on the way to the open studio office. As I admired the original inlaid terrazzo floor, Craig told me there was a surprise in store.
Photo: Floto + Warner
And here it is: a bronze trident-patterned screen overlooking the ghostly magnificence of a lost New York—the original ticket hall for the Cunard Line.
Photo: Floto + Warner
Peering in closer, it looked as if the last passenger had just sailed off.
Photo: Floto + Warner
The office area is similar in layout to Snøhetta’s headquarters in Oslo. The firm has won myriad awards for, among other things, its design of the Library of Alexandria in Egypt, the National Opera and Ballet House in Oslo, and the Norwegian Embassy in Berlin. It recently won a competition to design Saudi Arabia’s new Culture Center and a new student center in Toronto for Ryerson University.
Photo: Floto + Warner
A rendering of the firm’s student and learning center in Toronto is pinned on the office walls.
Photo: Floto + Warner
And behind those walls: hidden storage space!
Photo: Floto + Warner
The workspace between the design lab and the main office is painted electric green, just because it is a wild color, Craig says.
Photo: Floto + Warner
The bell just outside the office is meant to be rung whenever there’s good news, and you can never hear enough of that.
Photo: Floto + Warner
For me, the high point of the show is this, which manages simultaneously to be a painting, a force field, and an electromagnetic visual discharge. This is an artist sloughing off old consciousness, making something he doesn’t even know is art, giving up nearly all known languages of painting, and maybe violating the laws of nature by making something that seemingly puts off more energy than went into making it.
Photo: Floto + Warner
For me, the high point of the show is this, which manages simultaneously to be a painting, a force field, and an electromagnetic visual discharge. This is an artist sloughing off old consciousness, making something he doesn’t even know is art, giving up nearly all known languages of painting, and maybe violating the laws of nature by making something that seemingly puts off more energy than went into making it.
Photo: Floto + Warner
For me, the high point of the show is this, which manages simultaneously to be a painting, a force field, and an electromagnetic visual discharge. This is an artist sloughing off old consciousness, making something he doesn’t even know is art, giving up nearly all known languages of painting, and maybe violating the laws of nature by making something that seemingly puts off more energy than went into making it.
Photo: Floto + Warner
For me, the high point of the show is this, which manages simultaneously to be a painting, a force field, and an electromagnetic visual discharge. This is an artist sloughing off old consciousness, making something he doesn’t even know is art, giving up nearly all known languages of painting, and maybe violating the laws of nature by making something that seemingly puts off more energy than went into making it.
Photo: Floto + Warner
For me, the high point of the show is this, which manages simultaneously to be a painting, a force field, and an electromagnetic visual discharge. This is an artist sloughing off old consciousness, making something he doesn’t even know is art, giving up nearly all known languages of painting, and maybe violating the laws of nature by making something that seemingly puts off more energy than went into making it.
Photo: Floto + Warner
For me, the high point of the show is this, which manages simultaneously to be a painting, a force field, and an electromagnetic visual discharge. This is an artist sloughing off old consciousness, making something he doesn’t even know is art, giving up nearly all known languages of painting, and maybe violating the laws of nature by making something that seemingly puts off more energy than went into making it.
Photo: Floto + Warner
For me, the high point of the show is this, which manages simultaneously to be a painting, a force field, and an electromagnetic visual discharge. This is an artist sloughing off old consciousness, making something he doesn’t even know is art, giving up nearly all known languages of painting, and maybe violating the laws of nature by making something that seemingly puts off more energy than went into making it.