Alan Wanzenberg

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Alan Wanzenberg
Born (1951-05-05) May 5, 1951 (age 74)
Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
Education University of California, Berkeley (B.A.)
Harvard University (M.Arch.)
Occupation(s)Architect, interior designer
Partner(s)Jed Johnson (1980–1996)
Peter Kelly (2003–present)

Alan Wanzenberg (born May 5, 1951) is an American architect and designer based in New York. He is frequently among the Top 100 Designers and Architects in Architectural Digest 's annual list. [1] [2]

Contents

Wanzenberg, a Berkeley and Harvard graduate, began his career in 1978 at I.M. Pei & Partners in New York. In the 1980s and 1990s, he had a successful design partnership with interior designer Jed Johnson. Some of the most sought-after condominium complexes in Manhattan, such as 515 Park Avenue, The Hubert, Chelsea Enclave, and 150 Charles Street, were designed by Wanzenberg. [3] His memoir Journey: The Life and Times of an American Architect was published in 2013.

Life and career

Early life and education

Alan Wanzenberg was born in Evanston, Illinois, the third son of Henry and Doris Wanzenberg. His mother was a homemaker, an avid athlete, and an amateur pianist, while his father worked as a mechanical contractor and civil engineer. [4]

As a child, he would admire the architecture of the neighborhood, which included a number of residences designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. [4] He also spent hours in the Thorne Miniature Rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago. [4] His family spent their summers in Castle Park, Michigan, where he acquired a further appreciation for craftsmanship and traditional shapes from the 19th-century rental cottages at the lakeside resort. [4]

Wanzenberg was classmates with comedian Ruby Wax at Evanston Township High School. [5] [6] He intended to earn a degree in nautical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. However, he ultimately changed his major and received a bachelor's degree in architecture in 1973. [4] He continued his education at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he graduated with a master's degree in 1978. [4] For the following three years, he worked at I.M. Pei's New York headquarters. [7]

Design partnership with Jed Johnson

In 1980, Wanzenberg met Jed Johnson, a budding interior decorator and pop artist Andy Warhol's lover. [8] Thomas Ammann, an art dealer and mutual friend, introduced them. [9] They became friends and started collaborating, and after several months, they began having an affair. [9] "Initially I didn't pay much attention to him because he was quiet," recalled Wanzenberg. [4] While working on businessman Peter Brant and Sandy Brant's home in Palm Beach, Wanzenberg accompanied Johnson and Warhol to the opening of Warhol's exhibition at the University of Miami's Lowe Art Museum in September 1980. [10] [11] In December 1980, Wanzenberg spent Christmas with Johnson in Colorado. [12]

By 1981, both men had left their respective partners, and they moved into a duplex apartment at 15 West 67th Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side. [13] [4] The death of one of Wanzenberg's brothers in a plane accident eighteen months into their relationship pushed him closer to Johnson. [4] They started a design firm out of their house in 1982, which they operated together until they formed their own independent companies, Alan Wanzenberg Architect P.C. and Jed Johnson Associates. [4] Nevertheless, they kept working together on practically all projects and sharing offices. [7] [14] Fred Hughes, Warhol's business manager, recommended them to Dominique de Menil's nieces Christiane Schlumberger and Katie Jones, who placed their first significant commission. [4] Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall were also referred by Hughes. [4]

In 1988, Johnson commented on their easy working relationship with Progressive Architecture, "We do not have ego problems." [14] They worked together on projects such as remodeling the Sperone Westwater Gallery in 1988 and the headquarters of Interview magazine in 1989. [14] [15] In 1991, they participated in Metropolitan Home magazine's ShowHouse benefit for the Design Industries Foundation for AIDS (DIFFA) in New York City. [16] In 1994, Wanzenberg designed a residence on Manhattan's Lower East Side for New York's non-profit Housing Works, dedicated to helping victims of homelessness and AIDS. [17]

In 1995, Wanzenberg and Johnson were honorary chairmen of the Katonah Museum of Art's gala dinner dance at Purchase College in Purchase, New York. [18] They shared a dachshund called Gus, and a two-home property previously owned by fashion designer Perry Ellis on Water Island, New York, a small community part of Fire Island. [19] [20] In July 1996, Johnson was killed when TWA Flight 800, just after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, exploded off the shore of Long Island. [21] His twin brother Jay Johnson became the president of his decorating company and inherited his Warhol paintings. [22] [23]

Later career

Wanzenberg continued to live and work out of the duplex he shared with Johnson, which was featured in the September 1998 issue of Architectural Digest . [23] He reflected that since Johnson's death, "a lot of the collecting I've done and the modifications I've made are the product of a dialogue I feel I've had with him ... At times it makes me sad, at times it's been stimulating, at times it's been exhilarating." [23] Wanzenberg sold the duplex with much of its contents for more than $4.3 million in 2012. [24] He downsized to a two-bedroom apartment on West 60th Street. [24]

In 1999, Wanzenberg reorganized his business under the name Alan Wanzenberg Design LLC. [4] He gained a following among Goldman Sachs partners, such as Dan Neidich, who included him in the planning of 515 Park Avenue; he was in charge of the apartment layouts for the building. [25] He has also conceived designs for the luxury condominiums The Hubert (2003), Chelsea Enclave (2011), and 150 Charles Street (2018) in New York. [3] [26]

Wanzenberg was the Board President of the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. [27] He designed the New York City branch of the school in 2014. [28]

In 2013, his memoir Journey: The Life and Times of an American Architect was published by Pointed Leaf Press. [24]

Wanzenberg met his partner landscape architect Peter Kelly in 2003 during Gay Ski Week in Aspen, Colorado. [24] "He's been my compass for the last decade," Wanzenberg said in 2014. [4] "He's like Jed in his values and his work ethic. Wisely, he never tried to challenge Jed's influence on my life," he added. [4]

Wanzenberg splits his time between the house he constructed in the Upstate New York hamlet of Ancram and his vacation home in Costa Rica. [29] [30] Wanzenberg and Kelly purchased Casa de Mañana, a 1970s bungalow in the village of Nosara on Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula. [31] The couple renovated the house and used local timbers to make all of the furniture. In 2019, their Costa Rican home was featured in the WSJ Magazine . [31] Their Upstate New York home was featured in William Abranowicz's latest book, Country Life: Homes of the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley (2023). [32]

Wanzenberg is also involved with Opus 40, an environmental sculpture park in Saugerties, New York. [29]

In 2022, he appeared in the Netflix docuseries The Andy Warhol Diaries . [33]

Awards and recognition

Wanzenberg has been named one of Architectural Digest's Top 100 Designers and Architect several times. [34] [35] [2] [1]

Wanzenberg is frequently featured on the Elle Decor A-List. [36] [37] [38] [39]

Wanzenberg's design for the luxury condominium complex at 150 Charles Street was a 2018 AIA Housing Award winner. [26]

Books

References

  1. 1 2 Digest, Architectural (2015-11-18). "Alan Wanzenberg Architect/Design - AD100 2016". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  2. 1 2 architecturaldigest.com (2014-01-01). "2014 AD100: Alan Wanzenberg Architect/Design". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  3. 1 2 "One High Line". Witkoff. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Arango, Jorge S. (2014-04-16). "Alan Wanzenberg's Life in Design". 1stDibs Introspective. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
  5. ↑ Hirsch, Sian Ballen, Lesley Hauge, Jeff (2014-05-30). "Alan Wanzenberg". New York Social Diary. Retrieved 2025-08-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ "What I Learnt at School: Ruby Wax". Teach Secondary. October 4, 2014. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
  7. 1 2 "What Today's Young Architects Know". Progressive Architecture. 68 (6): 76–77. June 1987.
  8. ↑ Macias, Ernesto (2022-03-21). "Meet Jed Johnson, the Man Who Stole Andy Warhol's Heart". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  9. 1 2 Warhol, Andy; Hackett, Pat (1989). The Andy Warhol Diaries. New York, NY: Warner Books. p. 341. ISBN   978-0-446-51426-2Entry date: November 8, 1980{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  10. ↑ Warhol, Andy; Hackett, Pat (1989). The Andy Warhol Diaries. New York, NY: Warner Books. p. 317. ISBN   978-0-446-51426-2Entry date: August 20, 1980{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  11. ↑ Warhol, Andy; Hackett, Pat (1989). The Andy Warhol Diaries. New York, NY: Warner Books. p. 321. ISBN   978-0-446-51426-2Entry date: September 6, 1980{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  12. ↑ Warhol, Andy; Hackett, Pat (1989). The Andy Warhol Diaries. New York, NY: Warner Books. p. 353. ISBN   978-0-446-51426-2Entry date: December 26, 1980{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  13. ↑ Callahan, Temo; Cashin, Tom, eds. (2005). Jed Johnson: Opulent Restraint, Interiors. New York: Rizzoli. ISBN   978-0-8478-2714-5.
  14. 1 2 3 James, Warren (September 1988). "Educated". Progressive Architecture. 69 (9): 84–91.
  15. ↑ Colacello, Bob (December 1989). "Interview—Back To The Future?". Vanity Fair. Vol. 52, no. 12. pp. 136, 140.
  16. ↑ "Jed Johnson / Alan Wanzenberg". Metropolitan Home. 23 (9): 98–102. September 1991.
  17. ↑ W. Dunlap, Davis (1994-04-06). "How AIDS is affecting the practice of architecture in N.Y." The Miami Herald. pp. 7A. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  18. ↑ Ganz Spiro, Helen (November 15, 1995). "Katonah Museum of Art holds dinner dance, silent auction". Mount Vernon Argus. p. 14.
  19. ↑ Harris, Elizabeth A. (2010-07-15). "A Water Island Compound Is Private, but Not Too Remote". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-05-26.
  20. ↑ Borowski, Mike (2024-07-13). "BEHIND THE DUNES: Paradise In Water Island: The Perry Ellis Estate". Fire Island News & Great South Bay News. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  21. ↑ Goldberger, Paul (1996-07-25). "Jed Johnson: Grace Interrupted". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  22. ↑ New York Times News Service (November 15, 1997). "PASSING THE TORCH". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  23. 1 2 3 Aronson, Steven L. (September 1998). "Alan Wanzenberg: The Architect Honors Jed Johnson's Vision In New York". Architectural Digest. 55 (9): 216–225, 272.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Green, Penelope (2013-12-04). "Alan Wanzenberg: A New View on Life". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  25. ↑ Gross, Michael (2015-03-10). House of Outrageous Fortune: Fifteen Central Park West, the World's Most Powerful Address. Simon and Schuster. p. 187. ISBN   978-1-4516-6620-5.
  26. 1 2 "150 Charles Street". Architect Magazine. 2018-05-18. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  27. ↑ "Skowhegan announces Appointment of New Governors and Trustees". Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  28. ↑ Martin, Hannah (2014-11-30). "Alan Wanzenberg designs the New York City branch of Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 2025-05-26.
  29. 1 2 Ohad, Daniella (December 22, 2021). "Design Legends: Alan Wanzenberg". Design Miami. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  30. ↑ Cherner, Jessica (2021-02-22). "Step Inside a Sprawling Ski Chalet Built Directly Into the Side of a Mountain in Aspen". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  31. 1 2 Medford, Sarah (2019-07-17). "A Surf Retreat in the Costa Rican Jungle". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  32. ↑ "Required Reading: 'Country Life: Homes of the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley,' by William Abranowicz". Remodelista. 2023-10-02. Retrieved 2025-05-26.
  33. ↑ Lee, Sophie (2022-03-09). "Andrew Rossi's New Docuseries Brings Andy Warhol's Private Diaries to Life". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  34. ↑ architecturaldigest.com (2010-01-01). "2010 AD100: Alan Wanzenberg". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 2025-05-26.
  35. ↑ architecturaldigest.com (2012-01-01). "2012 AD100: Alan Wanzenberg Architect". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 2025-05-26.
  36. ↑ "A-LIST 2013". ELLE Decor. 2013-05-20. Retrieved 2025-05-26.
  37. ↑ "The Elle Decor A-List" (PDF). Elle Decor: 81–82. June 2014.
  38. ↑ "WHO MADE THE ELLE DECOR A-LIST?". STYLEBEAT. 2016-06-06. Retrieved 2025-05-26.
  39. ↑ "The Best Interior Design Inspiration From ELLE Decor A-List". Inspiration & Ideas | BRABBU Design Forces. 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2025-05-26.
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