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. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to s ...

, he won the National Design Award for Interior Design in 2006 and has also been recognized with the

Progressive Architecture Award The Progressive Architecture Awards (P/A Awards) annually recognise risk-taking practitioners and seek to promote progress in the field of architecture. History The editors of ''Progressive Architecture'' magazine hosted the first Progressive Arch ...

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 several places in the United States and topics related to them: *Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California *Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County *Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, 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 the ...

. He also studied at the

Architectural Association The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in the world. Its wide-ranging programme ...

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, 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-S ...

, Dalibor Vesely and

Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ar, زها حديد ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, recognised as a major figure in architecture of the late 20th and early 21st centu ...

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

, 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 30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the 66-s ...

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...

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 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 Japanese autodidact architect whose approach to architecture and landscape was categorized by architectural historian Francesco Dal Co as "critical regionalism". He is the winner of the 1995 Pritzker Prize. Early life Ando was born a few m ...

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 serves cla ...

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