His Next Act

In both his Manhattan apartment and his newly refreshed design studio, Apparatus's Gabriel Hendifar shows the audacity and theatricality of his vision.

- By Camille Okhio. Photographs by Stephen Kent Johnson

The living room of the downtown New York apartment Gabriel Hendifar designed for himself in an interior created by the architect John Pawson. Sofas, ottoman, tables, pendants, and throw by Apparatus; rug by Stark; curtains in a Decortex velvet; antique Japanese embroidered artwork, Sutter Antiques. For details, see Resources.

High above a cobblestone block in lower Manhattan looms a Herzog & de Meuron residential building with a twisting cast aluminum gate and a facade of mirror-polished stainless steel, glass, and pre-patinated copper in brilliant green. The grandeur (and shine) of this material palette gives the 11-story 40 Bond the feel of an urban fairy-tale palace.

That would make Gabriel Hendifar, artistic director and CEO of the New York-based lighting and furniture design studio Apparatus, a rather buff, burly (and bald!) Rapunzel, peering down from a floor-to-ceiling window in his apartment. Hendifar, who has claimed an elevated perch not only in this building but also, increasingly, on the international design scene, moved into the apartment in 2019 with his former partner in life and work, Jeremy Anderson. After the couple split at the end of 2020, Anderson left both their shared home and Apparatus to focus on his burgeoning ceramics practice; since then, Hendifar has fully taken the reins at the company. He also put the finishing touches on the interiors of his apartment, turning it into both a design laboratory and a place to unwind; relaxation is as central to his creative practice as ideation.