![]() Photography by Steve Hall.ĭriven by minimalist principles and the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Luzietti created spaces that reflected his artistic eye, enlivening interiors with pops of bold hues and unexpected geometries. I felt like I was his only student, but he granted hundreds of opportunities and launched many careers.” Luzietti oversaw the design of the NPVA Chicago office, an Interior Design Best of Year nominee in 2013. “We would discuss the stainless-steel curtain wall or admire the significance of the Chagall America Windows. “He would drop sticky notes on my desk, to meet him during lunch at various marvels of excellence like the Inland Steel Building or the Chagall exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago,” she continues. “Nick was an architect of course, but he was an artist first.” As her first boss, Adamson also recalls Luzietti’s guidance and encouragement as a mentor-a role he extended to many throughout his career. “He hired me immediately because ‘I could draw,'” shares Amy Adamson, cofounder of Adamson Molina Design, who started her career working for Luzietti. Those who knew Luzietti also know him as an artist, always sketching his surroundings. As a design philosophy, this approach ensured each space he worked on felt fresh and wildly original from financial firms to a space for a Chicago freight car leasing company. He once remarked that some ideas are “like a whisper” while others are more obvious and bold. Regardless of the project at hand, Luzietti always allowed the design to reveal itself rather than forcing a concept to come to life. Through his work with interiors, Luzietti established his niche, finding a longtime home at VOA Associates in Chicago in the 1980s where he progressed to the role of principal. “It was less serious than architecture, there was a flamboyance about it, a sense of theater about it,” he adds in the film. As culture shifted away from materialistic ideas in the 1960s and 1970s, Luzietti gravitated toward interior design. ![]() “The idea of an architect was someone riding around in a sports car, having a blazer, special shirts… they creased their hair and, at that point, when I was running around with big puffy Italian hair and mohair sweaters, I didn’t feel like design was going to open the door for me,” recalls Luzietti in a documentary about his life and work produced for his Hall of Fame induction. But at that time, the industry appeared more buttoned up, quite literally, which made him question whether it was the right path. ![]() Starting out in the field with a degree from the University of Cincinnati, Luzietti eyed a career in architecture. “From hearing him passionately tell his team to always ‘fight for design,’ to watching him sketch on a packed L train so intently as if all alone.” ![]() “He just had to make a scene and put on a crazy costume even though I gently suggested not to,” Allen recalls lightheartedly, noting that he also had a flare for the poetic. “BIG talent, BIG hair, BIG heart!”-that’s how editor in chief Cindy Allen remembers Luzietti, adding, “The only thing that could possibly outshine Nick’s stellar design work, was his outsized personality.”Īlways erring on the side of eccentric, Luzietti opted to forgo traditional black tie attire when he accepted Interior Design’s Hall of Fame award in 2009. But his immense impact in the industry-and warm personality-continues to live on, especially among the many friends and colleagues he mentored throughout his career. Nick Luzietti, Interior Design Hall of Fame inductee and design principal at VOA Associates, now Stantec, passed away recently at the age of 76. ![]()
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