Texas Design Week Dallas — Divine Design Deliberations With D. Stanley Dixon, Vicente Wolf and Blackman Cruz

Some of the dreamiest designers and architects are making their way across the United States to land at Texas Design Week Dallas, October 30 through November 3. From Stan Dixon and  Vicente Wolf to Adam Blackman, and David Cruz of LA’s Blackman Cruz, here’s what’s on their minds.

This is part of a series on Texas Design Week Dallas 2023.

Stan Dixon

D. Stanley Dixon Architect, Atlanta

When you knew you were going to be part of the design and architecture worlds.

I have loved all design aspects of personal homes since I can remember. This led me to architecture school, and I’m doing now what I honestly have always wanted to do: Being part of the overall collaborative process creating places for people to live their lives.

Design books everyone should have in their library.

David Adler, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Philip T. Schutze, John Saladino, Gil Schafer.

First important piece you bought.

A lithograph of a classical draped torso when I was studying abroad in college. It’s hanging in my office today.

You collect … 

I am a very eclectic collector!

Museums you love.

Petworth House and Park, National Trust, West Sussex; Palazzo Fortuny, Venice; Dumbarton Oaks, Georgetown.

Home scent.

Diptyque candles.

Personal fragrance.

None.

Movie you love because of the design elements.

Downton Abbey.

Farrow & Ball hue that always works.

Shaded White.

Second home.

Tiger, Georgia — a 1920 farmhouse in the north Georgia mountains.

Next for you.

Getting through this book tour!

What, When, Where: Illustrated talk, morning mimosas, and book signing with D. Stanley Dixon Thursday, November 2, 10 am to noon, at Carol Piper Rugs, 1209 Slocum Street, Suite 100, Dallas. Full schedule and  tickets go to TexasDesignWeek.com.

Texas Design Week Dallas is October 30 through November 3 — a full week of salon talks, panel discussions, book signings, product launches, and cocktails with some of the most celebrated designers and architects in the country. For information and tickets, go to TexasDesignWeek.com.

Vicente Wolf

Vicente Wolf Associates, NYC

The moment you knew you were going to be part of the design world.

I obviously went through a door into my career as a designer long before I realized that I had gone through it. 

Design books everyone should have in their library.

David Hicks books on bathrooms and pattern, Jean-Michel Frank and Billy Baldwin books. . . and, of course, my new book Creative Interior Solutions (Rizzoli; April 2023).

The first important piece you acquired. 

I’ve gotten the gold ring so many times, I don’t remember which was my first meaningful purchase. I do recall that when I purchased my vintage Rolex, it was at a point in my life that I felt that I deserved it. 

You collect. 

Chairs, black-and-white photography, Tibetan ceremonial shell horns and dorjes plants, XL T-shirts, and travel memories.

Museums you love.  

The West Wing of the National Gallery of Art in D.C., Iran National Jewels Museum in Tehran and, of course, The Met. 

Home scent. 

Fig.

Personal fragrance. 

Goutal Gardénia Passion.

Movie you love because of the design elements. 

Funny Face.

Benjamin Moore color you gravitate to. 

Super White. I like white backgrounds.

Second home.  

A beach house in Montauk, New York.

Next for you.

My 4 o’clock appointment.

What, When, Where: Illustrated talk, book signing and afternoon cocktails with Vicente Wolf, Monday, October 30, 2 to 4 pm, at Laura Lee Clark, 1515 Slocum Street, Dallas. Full schedule and tickets go to TexasDesignWeek.com..

Texas Design Week Dallas is October 30 through November 3 — a full week of salon talks, panel discussions, book signings, product launches, and cocktails with some of the most celebrated designers and architects in the country. For information and tickets, go to TexasDesignWeek.com.

Adam Blackman, David Cruz

Blackman Cruz, L.A.

The moment you knew you were going to be part of the design world.

Adam: April 15, 1993 — the day we signed our lease and opened Blackman Cruz. 

David: Ever since I can remember, I’ve been moved and have sought beautiful design and architecture. So, I don’t have a eureka moment when I realized that design and architecture were going to be part of my life.

Design books everyone should have in their library.

Adam: Antiquaires: The Finest Antique Dealers in Paris by Jean-Louis Gaillemin; Axel Vervoordt: Portraits of Interiors; Eight Homes by Kathleen Clements and Tommy Clements; Beyond the Canyon: Inside Epic California Homes by Roger Davies; Kerry Joyce: The Intangible. 

David: Ashley Hicks: Details; Grand Tour: The Worldly Projects of Studio Peregalli;
Axel Vervoordt: Wabi Inspirations, or any Vervoordt book; Jean-Michel Frank, English or French edition.

First important piece you bought.

Adam: Dan Johnson Gazelle bronze dining set.

David: A carved and gilded 18th-century Mexican mirror that to this day hangs over my bed.

You collect. 

Adam: Yes.

David: I collect anything that moves me.

Museums you love.

Adam: Musée de Arts et Métiers, Paris; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Noguchi Museum, NYC.

David: The National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 

Home scent.

Adam: Rose-scented geranium.

David: Copal incense.

Personal fragrance.

Adam: Ivory soap.

David: None.

Movie you love because of the design elements.

Adam: I Am Love (Lo Sono l’Amore) — the scenes of the Villa Necchi Campiglio.

David: Todd Field’s 2022 Tár; Luchino Visconti’s 1963 The Leopard; Rene Clement’s 1960 Purple Noon.

Farrow & Ball hue that always works.

Adam: Mouse’s Back.

David: Hague Blue.

Second home.

Adam: Ojai, California.

David: San Miguel de Allende.

Next for you.

Adam: Japan.

David: More furniture design, continuing the search for new designers, more scavenging.

What, When, Where: Illustrated talk, cocktails, and book signing with Adam Blackman and David Cruz, Blackman Cruz, Wednesday, November 1, 3:30 to 5:30 pm at David Sutherland Showroom, 1025 N. Stemmons, Suite 340, Dallas. Full schedule and tickets go to TexasDesignWeek.com.

Texas Design Week Dallas is October 30 through November 3 — a full week of salon talks, panel discussions, book signings, product launches, and cocktails with some of the most celebrated designers and architects in the country. For information and tickets, go to TexasDesignWeek.com.