The Manhattan apartment-turned-studio of Neil Hamamoto is a shrine to art

Neil Hamamoto’s downtown apartment couldn’t belong to anyone other than a successful New York artist. The space was imagined by local interior design studio Ries Hayes and comprises a first-floor studio which is also the HQ of WorthlessStudios, Hamamoto’s nonprofit which offers support to emerging and underrepresented artists. The second floor is the artist’s private residence, but, in this imaginative, inspired space, the boundaries between his interior world and the art world blur.

Hamamoto is an avid art collector, and his apartment is a veritable gallery of works by up-and-coming talent. Even as the images that you see in this article were being shot, a piece by sculptor and painter Kennedy Yanko was being installed in the dining room. Concurrently, a photographer who had shot images in Hamamoto’s studio was developing them in his dark room.

Flexibility is key in the apartment. The living room features recessed tracks that allow curtain panels to divide the space, including the ability to close off an area containing a daybed by Pierro Chapo, which slides on slats to turn into a bed. The Jorgen Hoj dining table features leaves that can be added or removed depending on what is required of the space, and the original brick is clad in swathes of drywall, allowing art to be hung and changed regularly.

This apartment is, as mentioned, Hamamoto’s primary residence, and, as such, needed to be comfortable as well as flexible and utilitarian. The artist grew up in and around thoughtfully-designed spaces and was inspired by the likes of George Nakashima, Ward Bennett and Edward Wormley, which can be felt in the space.

Flat, tatami-like mats have been used to divide the apartment, while low-slung bookshelves clad in steel partition the bedroom and living room. Furniture pieces have been chosen to stand up to the statement of the space, rather than echoing any decade, movement or style: there are Nakashima and Bennett pieces from Hamamoto’s parents’ collection, as well as hand-glazed table lamps passed down from his grandfather and custom chairs that Hamamoto acquired from fellow Hawaiian, John Koga.

Purchased pieces include the coffee table, made by a Brooklyn furniture maker; the low bed frame, which was the work of a UK-based maker; a turn-of-the-century Snead Bookcase; the 1970s Scarpa ‘Erasmo’ Sofa; and the Cecchi Rope Chairs. Early-American braided rugs contrast playfully with the modernity of the surroundings. A second sofa has been reupholstered in a patchwork textile made of recycled denim by Ries Hayes.

Hamamoto’s apartment/studio is a fantastic example of how to navigate a dual-purpose abode – the complementary up- and downstairs make for a galvanising space which empowers artists and fosters creativity.

rieshayes.com