Damian Samora
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? Right now? France – literally anywhere.
What are three words to describe your aesthetic?
Grounded
Warm
Moody
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? Inspired by my mother’s unfished chessboard table made of black and white mosaics, I painted my bedroom grey and then surrounded the room with a thick-and-thin strip in dark grey and black to carry the eye toward 3 inked art pieces from my sister, which I framed. I mounted those vertically against the pipe chase enclosure “bump” in the wall to give it purpose and then eventually finished mom’s table and used it as my bedside table.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? Investment implies return. Building a home is for life in my opinion so it’s hard for me to imagine objects as transactions. Better to start with emotional investment because it pays in dividends (of enjoyment) for life.
In the history of architecture, if you could hire any architect other than yourself, who would it be?
Anyone who makes my husband happy. Unfortunately, I’m the only architect at this point who gets close…
No build is complete without art and good interior design. Architecture alone is cold.
People think of me as solely an architect, but I am really a closeted interior designer, closeted landscape designer and closeted engineer.
Things you omit from
A flower arrangement: Flower frogs – if you can’t make it happen without get professional help.
An hors d’oeuvre platter: Anything that requires a sauce.
A bar cabinet: Mixers. If you want to party – just commit.
A song for
Dinner at home: Ingrid St. Pierre singing anything
Working at your desk: Nothing – too distracting
Going for a run: I’ll get back to you on that one when I start.
Biggest Vice? Instagram. It’s really not good for me, but I do it anyway.
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy?
First Class Air France tickets to Paris. (I’d have to be really high though…)
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? Yes. I wear suits because as I get older - I find better fabrics help. That and I have too many other things to think about and a suit is a uniform. I don’t have to think about what to wear! (A lesson I learned from Mark Ferguson.)
Who is your star crush? Dating myself but Bernard Sumner (Lead singer of New Order)
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it?
Put a TV in the Kitchen. I understand the practical reason, but I just would never do it.
Which architecture book do you find yourself going back to again and again? The English Country House Ideal by Mary Miers
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? As the catalyst for beautiful memories.
A Few Favorites:
Movie: Love Actually
Book: I wish I read more, but most recently – Guy Trebay’s Do Something. Saw a little of myself in there and got emotional.
Scent: Baking bread
The material you always come back to: Velvet
Dream project: The next one!
Meal: My husband’s coconut milk cod or my mom’s steak ranchero w/ fresh tortillas
Drink: Good coffee
Hotel: Cour de Vosges
Travel Destination: FRANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Artist: Richter
A cause near and dear to me: St. Jude’s Hospital for Children
Thing to collect obsessively: Books
Era in the history of design: The next one – bring it on, I dare you.
Museum: Perhaps trendy, but the Frick. The renovation/addition is amazing and quite frankly the most intimate way to view exceptional art. (If you can avoid the crowds.)
Paint Color: Farrow & Ball Mahogany - bring it back!!!!
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: Too hard a question and I take the Fifth.
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? Dogs. Every day. Any day, all day and over people.
