Jerome Byron explains his unconventional, multidisciplinary practice: ‘I’m a spatial designer - trained and licensed as an architect, but now approaching design largely through interior design and furniture. I’ve been independent since 2017, beginning with some fun LA retail spots and furniture design and experimentation. In the last few years I’ve been focusing so much more on my furniture practice even as I continue to jump on board with more traditionally architectural commissions. I don’t take on employees, but I collaborate with other designers, draftspeople and fabricators as projects require and allow.’
Jerome Byron: from Los Angeles to Berlin
Byron, a native Angeleno, recently moved with his family to Berlin, while continuing to travel between Europe, Los Angeles and New York to juggle different projects and commitments. His separate interior design studio, called Office of BC, co-founded in 2020 with interior designer Lindsey Chan in Los Angeles, produces a range of interior and furniture projects, both residential and commercial.
Meanwhile, on the architecture front, he has been collaborating with landscape architecture firm Studio Zewde in NYC on a new, long-term project for a public space and commemoration monument in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. Still in the spatial realm, the Monon Guesthouse project (2021) in his hometown was a breakthrough for Byron, showcasing his wit and creativity in a cabin like no other that is sure to put a smile on your face.
Spatial experimentation, form-finding and materiality are important elements in Byron’s practice - especially on the furniture scale, but also in his larger scale installations and concepts. The latter works however are further layered by intense discourse and a firm research base. ‘I am assembling references from the architecture, found objects, the existing collection of the client and always gauging their willingness to take on a bit of risk, or push the project in an unexpected way,’ he says.
There’s lots to look forward to with Byron’s practice. ‘Beyond traditional building, interior and architecture, it’s been furniture that keeps me engaged day to day right now. Architecture is slow, furniture can be fast, it can be a few weeks between an idea, a sketch, a 3D model and fabrication. I also get to play much more directly with materials,’ he says. And he does all this, while teaching, currently working with his old mentor, Pritzker Prize winning architect Francis Kere, as a research assistant, helping to teach a studio course at his chair at the Technical University of Munich.
-
A revamped Edinburgh apartment combines Californian-style modernism with modern craftArcher + Braun have transformed an apartment in a historic house with finely tuned contemporary additions and sympathetic attention to detail
-
Formafantasma’s biodiversity-boosting installation in a Perrier Jouët vineyard is cross-pollination at its bestFormafantasma and Perrier Jouët unveil the first project in their ‘Cohabitare’ initiative, ‘not only a work of art but also a contribution to the ecosystem’
-
Gingerbread City: architects sculpt London out of the season's favourite treatUntil December 29 in Chelsea, see London brought to life in a seasonal-appropriate medium by leading architects and designers
-
A vacant Tribeca penthouse is transformed into a bright, contemporary eyrieA Tribeca penthouse is elevated by Peterson Rich Office, who redesigned it by adding a sculptural staircase and openings to the large terrace
-
We walk through Luther George Park and its new undulating pavilionLuther George Park by Trahan Architects and landscape architects Spackman Mossop Michaels opens to the public, showcasing a striking new pavilion installation – take a first look
-
A vibrant new waterfront park opens in San FranciscoA waterfront park by leading studio Scape at China Basin provides dynamic public spaces and coastal resilience for San Francisco's new district of Mission Rock
-
Tekαkαpimək Contact Station: a building ‘as inspiring as the endless forest and waterways of the land’The new Tekαkαpimək Contact Station by Saunders Architecture with Reed Hilderbrand and Alisberg Parker Architects, opens at Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in the USA
-
Entelechy II: architect John Portman's majestic beach home hits the marketEntelechy II, architect John Portman's beach residence in Georgia, USA, goes on the market; roll up, roll up for a home that is as grand as it is playful
-
First look: Honolulu's Victoria Place blends cosmopolitan living with Hawaii life and natureVictoria Place is a new residential tower at Honolulu's Ward Village; take a first look at its interiors
-
A look inside the home of George Homsey, one of the fathers of pioneering California modernist community Sea RanchGeorge Homsey's home opens for the first time since his death, in 2019; see where the architect behind some of the designs for Sea Ranch, the pioneering California modernist community, lived
-
Step inside a Brooklyn Brownstone that bridges old and new'Brooklyn Brownstone' has been refreshed by Jon Powell Architects (JPA) and the result is a contemporary design rooted in modern elegance
