Laura Bohn

Over her career, New York City–based interior designer Laura Bohn has produced a wide range of residential and commercial interiors in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. These include the V&V Restaurant in Kobe, the Angelo Pietro Restaurant in Kyushu, and the Archinet Building in Tokyo, Japan; retail shops and residences in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; a farmhouse in Bucks County, Pennsylvania; and the residential conversion of a historic bank building in Manhattan. Bohn’s purview includes product design, textiles, wall coverings, and set design for motion pictures, Year of the Dragon among them. This large and diverse body of work has been published in books, newspapers, and magazines around the world. For her design of fabrics and wallpapers, Bohn has been honored with two Interior Design Roscoe Awards. In 1998, she was inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame, and on March 20, she received the Pratt Institute 2014 Alumni Distinguished Career Award.

After a decade-long career that took her to Paris as a fit model for Nina Ricci, where the rigor of haute couture deepened her understanding of the possibilities of design, the Texas-born Bohn entered Pratt Institute. Under the demanding tutelage of such luminaries as Joe D’Urso she became equally familiar with the structural and decorative aspects of interior design. “This dual knowledge gave me a leg up in my career, particularly in working one-on-one with architects,” the cum laude graduate says now.

Bohn opened her own architectural and interior design firm in 1980—first in collaboration with Joseph Lembo then, in 1996, solo as Laura Bohn Design Associates. Characterized by highly personal, signature flourishes—antiques set against her own minimalist furniture; unexpected color palettes; and the use of luxurious fabrics and finishes—Bohn’s distinctive aesthetic led Interior Design magazine to dub her “the queen of soft modern.” Bohn has been a member on the Advisory Board at Fashion Institute of Technology, as well as a visiting critic at New York design schools, including Parsons, FIT, Pratt Institute, and New York School of Interior Design. She has served on the boards of Youth at Risk and the SPCA, and has headed the education committee for the Decorator’s Club.

Mary Foley

Mary Foley worked as a Vice President at Polo/Ralph Lauren in Creative Services in many capacities such as special events, showroom and store design, and on the Lauren’s many homes. Michael Cox and Mary were brought together to form Ralph Lauren Interiors and in 2002, they founded foley&cox.

New York-based foley&cox has been designing internationally since 2002. The firm’s distinctive yet approachable interiors have appeared in discerning locations including Manhattan, the Hamptons, Hyannisport, the Gulf Coast, Big Sky, Kitzbuhl, Monaco, Moscow and the Bahamas.

Their eye for design has been widely praised in major publications, including Architectural Digest, Town & Country, New York Home, HC&G (Hamptons Cottages and Gardens), CTC&G (Connecticut Cottages & Gardens), Shelter Interiors, and AD Germany.

foley&cox believes that creating comfortably luxurious living environments is achieved through a keen understanding of each client. Interpreting lifestyles and personalities, foley&cox creates highly individualized interiors. The result is a serene space infused with the client’s personal style.

Greg Tankersley

Greg Tankersley, a native of Alabama, holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Auburn University. It was while at Auburn that Greg met professor of Architecture, Bobby McAlpine.  A long friendship and professional partnership began.  Their architecture and interior design firm, McAlpine, now in its 33rd year, is described as “nurturing, compassionate, soulful,” and the firm’s architecture, wedding historical precedence with graceful modern living, is a timeless and romantic pursuit of “The Inheritable House”. The firm’s work has been featured in Veranda, House Beautiful, Southern Accents, Arts & Antiques, Elle Décor, Architectural Digest, Southern Living, House and Garden (both US and British editions), Metropolitan Home, Traditional Home, The New York Times and on Home and Garden Television (HGTV).  The firm was honored to be included on the prestigious AD100 list compiled by Architectural Digest in 2012, 2014 and 2016.

Thomas Balsley

Thomas Balsley is the lead designer of Thomas Balsley Associates, a NYC-based urban landscape architecture firm whose work has had a profound impact on the built environment and the quality of life in cities across the US. His unique fusion of creativity and innovation with public process has produced extraordinary spaces large and small, provocative and sublime. His firm’s portfolio of award-winning projects and competitions include Dallas’ Main Street Garden, Cleveland’s Perk Park, Tampa’s Curtis Hixon Park, Tokyo’s Gate City, and Seoul’s Leeum Samsung Museum of Art. Closer to home, his highly acclaimed parks such as Riverside Park South, Gantry Park, Hunter’s Point South, and Peggy Rockefeller Plaza have helped to reshape NYC’s public realm. In an unprecedented acknowledgement of his contribution to public space in the City of New York, a park on 57th Street was renamed in his honor as Balsley Park. His teaching and speaking engagements at Harvard’s GSD, University of Pennsylvania, the National Building Museum, Seoul National University, etc., together with a wealth of publications and TV appearances, such as BBC’s “Around the World in 80 Gardens”, have exposed his work to a broader international audience. In the Spacemaker Press monograph “Thomas Balsley: The Urban Landscape”, NYT architecture critic Herbert Muschamp wrote: “Balsley inscribes places with a dual portrait of nature and culture in modern dress.”

Matthew Patrick Smyth

A returning IDA judge, Matthew Patrick Smyth’s firm specializes primarily in residential interior design from Connecticut to New York City and Paris and London, giving careful consideration to blend classic style with comfort. Smyth’s aesthetic illustrates a consistent focus on fine detailing and suitability, within a range of styles. Matthew Patrick Smyth Inc. utilizes high quality craftspeople to provide a finished product that reflects the client’s needs and interest. The firm’s goal is to maintain a long-term relationship with clients. Many of the firm’s clients are on their second, third and fourth projects with Matthew Patrick Smyth Inc. Smyth has branched out into product design with a carpet collection, a line of fabrics, a line of his wall covering designs and a bed collection.