How Roman and Williams Brings Its Architectural Vision To Life

At their downtown Manhattan studio, Roman and Williams—the team comprised of American architectural designers Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer—are not interested in merely creating a space for others to exist.

With roots in Hollywood as set designers, their passion for storytelling compels them to curate immersive worlds that will endure. Their holistic and imaginative approach to craftsmanship fosters beautiful, cohesive rooms that transform into complete sensorial experiences for visitors, including the classical whitewashed-brick New York restaurant Le Coucou, the contemporary and romantic Soho eatery La Mercerie (their own restaurant), and the Chicago Athletic Association, a former private sports club in the Gothic-Venetian style situated opposite Millennium Park. They also design private homes, such as the Montauk home of gallery owner David Zwirner.

In November, Roman and Williams will launch Guild Gallery at the Roman and Williams Guild, a store in Soho selling their own work and that of other artists around the world, which also houses La Mercerie. The Guild Gallery is a series of exhibitions representing a dozen artists, steps away from the eatery. The gallery, featuring designers of objects and furniture, is intended to encourage an appreciation of form and function, and art and design. Designers Standefer and Alesch sat down with L’OFFICIEL to discuss their transition from filmmaking to building and interior design, the DNA of their company (named after their maternal grandfathers), and their comprehensive artistic vision. 

L'OFFICIEL: Before becoming interior designers, you were both set designers, first on your own and then together. What memorable memories do you have of that time, when you worked on such films as Zoolander, Les Affranchis, and Gattaca?

STEPHEN ALESCH: We worked on quite a few films individually before beginning to work together on films. Working in film was a very fertile time for us. Our memories were of making things together—discovering and delving into so many different styles, periods, and settings; the diverse group of people we collaborated with, the various artisans—all while our relationship was blossoming. Every 14 weeks we were onto a wildly different project in which we’d have to shift our focus to a completely different brief full of different ideas, and find a different way to tell a new story. We embraced a fictional world with no constraints, with variety and versatility, and the beauty of eclecticism.

ROBIN STANDEFER: All of this became foundational to our future work, and enabled us to shift from the Boom Boom Room to Estelle Manor with ease.

L'O: Why did you transition from designing for fictional film worlds to the real world?

SA: Film allowed us to use our curiosity, our imaginations, our appetites. It allowed us to delve into craftsmanship. Film has always been more artisanal than the building arts. Artisans of a wide range of expertise would be brought in to fabricate architectural and interior elements that would bring a particular time period and narrative to life. On film sets, we were able to nurture and cultivate our shared love of historic techniques and artisanship to build entire worlds.

RS: We had already decided to start an architecture studio together, one that would bring these shared passions from film to interior design, when our first major project came our way. The director of one of our films felt that the house we had created for his movie set had more authenticity and integrity than his own home, and hired us to design his new residence.

When we entered the real world, we were the opposite of what was trending in interiors, which at the time was all white and Philippe Starck. Instead, we championed bringing eclecticism back into design. 

L'O: What’s made the biggest impression on you as designers? 

RS: We both were raised by fierce, countercultural, independent single mothers who told us we could do anything and be anyone we wanted. We were both always interested in art, in making things. I was making art while working in the gallery world, and Stephen, while working as an architect, also loved painting and drawing. But we also both loved making things on a big scale, which is how we got into film.

L'O: Did your families play a role in your professional life?

SA: We named our studio Roman and Williams after our maternal grandfathers, with the vision of creating something that would live beyond us. Our grandfathers made things. They were tradesmen, very hardworking, devoted to historic techniques, one in jewelry and the other a house painter. We loved the traditions in our families and looked back to look forward. It made our mothers kind of angry, in fact. They had tension with their working-class, old-world fathers, and had rebelled. The next generation always sees something the one before doesn’t.

RS: Our mothers raised us to forge our own paths, far from the mainstream. We didn’t follow the typical paths; we’ve always been unclassifiable, in our early years individually, and today, in the life and studio that we’ve built together. It’s what brought us together. We’ve thrown out the playbook time and time again to build a business on our own terms, one that defies categorization. We’ve never fit into tidy lanes, or clear boxes.

L'O: How do you approach design?

RS & SA: Gesamtkunstwerk, the [German] idea of creating a total work of art. We absolutely take a holistic, immersive approach to creating our spaces. Our aim is to create spaces and experiences that heighten the senses using layers of atmosphere and thus, designing every aspect and element that goes into the space. We go beyond choosing the pieces; we make the pieces, from the furniture to the silverware. It’s about an artistic approach to the whole, from the terracotta tile for the facade of a building to creating a custom paint and working with the artisans and craftspeople to get it done. Our vision is a comprehensive one.

L'O: How do you immerse different styles together? Contemporary with decorative arts, Japanese, Swedish, and English styles...

RS & SA: The industry tends to make two lanes. It separates contemporary from the historic, as if they are two different factions. We don’t see it that way. We’re very comfortable creating layers of atmosphere from different periods, different cultures. It’s about interpreting and bringing all of this together.

L'O: Your projects range from hospitality and private residences to your Guild Gallery and your design work. What do you particularly like about all these different disciplines?

RS & SA: While we started as an architecture and interior design practice, it was always more about creating a system of living than simply designing a space. We have always been interested in the complete gesamtkunstwerk: in creating entire worlds, from the hand-blown glass at your table to the handcrafted brick that covers a building. It was only natural that we would evolve our business to match our vision for living—one that is rooted in a modern paradigm of craftsmanship and history. We are fascinated with the process of making, the process of high craft. We love the path, the history, the techniques… This is the through line of every part of our studio and business, from different types of architecture and interiors to our own original furniture and lighting designs, to the handcrafted works of our artists and artisans. Beyond our own designs, championing our artists and artisans at Roman and Williams Guild and Guild Gallery allows us to give a platform to those who endeavor to preserve historic traditions and techniques.