Stripped-back spaces are a specialty of the New York City studio Ishka Designs. "A home should be able to come to life at its barest," declares Anishka Clarke, one-half of the design duo behind the firm. With her partner in life and work, Niya Bascom, Clarke fashions spaces that support myriad functions with sleek, streamlined forms. The duo's practice is rigorous and responsible; Clarke and Bascom eschew synthetic materials in favor of natural ones and incorporate their clients' identities while working to sidestep clichés. This can be a tough ethos to follow, but it's all done with the goal of "giving more" while using less, says Bascom.
In a Brooklyn brownstone completed in 2019, Clarke's and Bascom's skills at designing with both efficiency and cultural context in mind were put to the test. The result is an elegantly minimal home with details that speak to the heritage of its stewards. The clients, a couple with Pakistani and Haitian lineage, were aligned on their needs: a largely open-plan home with room for their young family to roam. "It wasn't a very hectic brief," says Clarke. "They simply wanted a space that felt like them." As a starting point, Clarke and Bascom deployed a circular motif in their decorative choices throughout the house. "We love the principle of a circle," says Bascom. "There's no beginning, no middle, no end-only constant growth."
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Denne historien er fra Summer 2022-utgaven av Elle Decor US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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MORE, PLEASE
Eric Hughes joins forces with Standard Architecture to transform two neighboring homes into a sprawling family compound.
SIZED TO FIT
Designer Nannette Brown reimagines a new-build apartment with unexpected depth, character, and texture.
Play It Cool
In balmy Texas, Ashe Leandro brings urbane style and a chill vibe to a home in a historic district.
Mic Drop
For former talk radio star Tom Joyner, Studio Roda creates an oceanfront pleasure pad with out-of-sight views and disco-era glamour.
EYE IN THE SKY
How do you cozy up a Manhattan high-rise? Call designers Hendricks Churchill.
THE JOY OF KØKKEN
In Brooklyn, a writer transforms her kitchen into a space of warmth and connection, blending personal memories with Scandinavian design.
CURTAIN RAISER
ELLE DECOR partners with designers Christine and John Gachot to refresh an iconic lounge at a New York institution, the Metropolitan Opera House.
The Empire Strikes Back - A 19th-century gem in Cambridge, Massachusetts, gets a tour-de-force restoration thanks to Frances Merrill of Reath Design.
Is it possible to simultaneously go back in time and leap forward? This was the challenge a couple set for themselves upon purchasing a salmon-pink 1869 house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, not far from Longfellow House, the National Historic Site that served as George Washington's headquarters during the revolution. We loved all the beautiful old details of this house, the homeowner says.
Just Like That, But Cheaper. -One writer tried to replicate a classic ELLE DECOR interior in his apartment. Could he do it for $500?
It was all about the green curtains. In 2008, to my great surprise, I was offered a ninemonth fellowship based in New York City. I had lived there twice before, both times unsuccessfully, meaning I had failed to create any kind of significant social life, and so this was a chance not only to do research for my new novel, but also an opportunity to get things right. I swore I wouldn't let the city break me a third time.
And How! - Decorator Nick Olsen transforms a Sag Harbor home into a Hamptons retreat with an irreverent humor.
If you must go to the Hamptons, however-because it is devilishly good fun, after all-you may notice an apparently modest, low-slung cottage on Sag Harbor's Main Street and think, with a comfortable sort of feeling, Now that is how a house should look. Nestled amid the Botox bars, helipads, and club-staurants, it could almost set the sordid world aright both a rebuke and a solution to the chaos that surrounds it. A real home.
