By the Book

April 21, 2025

Interiors with a fresh approach to artful living and timeless beauty in new books by two exceptional practitioners of the art — Torrey: Private Spaces: Great American Design by Andrew Torrey and Marshall Watson’s Defining Elegance.

Andrew Torrey was raised on a farm in Kansas, and at age twenty-one brought his dreams and ambition to New York City and began working in real estate, where he was exposed to the field of interior design. Rather quickly, he found his true calling and in 2013 founded his eponymous firm. In 2018 he was invited to participate in the prestigious Kips Bay Decorator Show House, a step that has boosted many careers into the stratosphere. Torrey’s ravishing ‘The Afterparty’ lounge was a sensation, landing him coverage in the New York Times and bringing an influx of prestigious projects to his small firm. Now, only six years later, his first monograph, Torrey: Private Spaces: Great American Design has been released.

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      Emmanuel Babled

      Born in France in 1967, Emmanuel Babled graduated in 1989 from Industrial Design at the European Institute of Design in Milan and established his independent design studio in Milan in 1992, later relocating to Amsterdam in 2010. He began his teaching career in 2000 at the Domus Academy in Milan, and is currently a visiting professor at the Eindhoven Design Academy in the Netherlands. Babled’s limited edition pieces are distinguished by their luxurious materials, clean forms and technical brilliance. Ranging from lighting, rugs, glass tableware, and furniture, his work exemplifies modern Italian design while drawing upon the craftsmanship of older traditions. Selecting the highest quality materials such as Carrara and Nero Marquinia marble, handblown Murano glass, and Sicilian volcanic stone, which have a storied artistic heritage passed down through generations, Babled uses computer technology to achieve the precise and balanced forms that have established his reputation as one of the foremost designers of his generation. Producing limited editions and unique pieces with a rigorous attention to excellence and quality, Babled’s sculptural works play in the space between abstraction and utility. Babled has held solo exhibitions on several continents and his work is found in public and private collections worldwide. In addition to his solo design productions, he has consulted on design, art direction and craftsmanship for a number of businesses, creating work for a host of international companies including Baccarat, Covo, Idee Co. Ltd, Laurent Perrier, Rosenthal and Venini.

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