THE GREATEST ROOMS OF THE CENTURY

PHAIDON

Glenn Gissler

If this apartment focuses on one thing, it is upholstery: acres of it. Swaddling the walls and the comfortable sofas and armchairs in luxe fabric, it gives the home a slightly corporate sense of comfort and has the added bonus of providing great soundproofing for a powerful sound system—the owners of this Upper West Side duplex are EMI Records CEO Jim Fifield and his wife, Betsy. This is no cozy city apartment, however: the living room alone is 26 x 26 feet (8 x 8m), and a staggering 20 feet (6m) high. Glenn Gissler, commissioned to remodel and decorate the home, said the room was so big it was almost public in scale. Gissler is well-known for blending contemporary styling with comfort and dashes of eclectic art. The massive curtain alone is spectacular: “The ambitious window treatment seemed appropriate for the scale and drama of the room,” Gissler explained. The sweeping fabric for the window is by Jack Lenor Larsen, while those upholstered walls are by F. Schumacher. The interiors had to be appropriate for the amount of entertaining the Fifields did with EMI associates. Colors are somber, muted and serious—and the whole thing means business.

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