Projects include Disney's corporate offices and Gucci's retail stores worldwide

Designer Bill Sofield '83 has always done what it takes to be closer to his projects. Several years ago he moved to Maine for three months to be present on a building site, and since Gucci commissioned him to redesign its international fleet of stores, he has logged hundreds of hours flying between major European cities.

For a client located in the historic Mercantile Building in Manhattan, Sofield recently climbed an 80-foot scaffold to hang fishing wire from the ceiling -- a feat that took his level of commitment, literally, to new heights. And, such daring was only for a one-night event -- Sofield was decorating the interior of the landmark for a fund-raiser.

"When a client says a project can't be done in a certain way or for a certain amount of money, that's when projects start to look interesting," Sofield says.

Since founding Studio Sofield in 1996, he has undertaken several high-profile commercial projects. Along with the Gucci stores, Sofield designed the Disney corporate offices in California and the interior of the SoHo Grand Hotel in New York City. But varying his projects in size, scope -- and budget -- allows creative challenge. "I might turn down a blue-chip company to work with newlyweds who have no money," he says -- it all depends on how much Sofield feels he can offer to the project. "Unless I can really feel I can do it justice, I'm not going to take it on."

At Princeton, Sofield majored in architecture and urban planning, concentrating in art history and visual art. After graduation, he was a fellow at the Whitney Museum, and then worked at several architectural firms in Manhattan, learning the basics of architecture, but also becoming aware of how architecture embraces more than a building's structure. His interests started to include interior design and more specifically, the craftsmanship involved in furniture design.

Midlife crisis

"I had an early midlife crisis and thought: 'What am I doing?'" he says of his stint as a small architect in big firms. "There was all this fine craftsmanship all over the city -- Italian carvings, inlaid leather, fine custom furniture -- with no patrons. I wanted to bring craftsmanship into design." To do that he started his own business in 1989 in a woodworking shop and began to realize that what he saw lacking in the interior designs of the early 1990s was not a sense of luxury, but a commitment to quality workmanship. In 1992 he opened Aero Studio with partner Thomas O'Brien to sell furniture that, as he describes it, combined function and craftsmanship. However, the detail-oriented Sofield soon felt things slipping from his grasp.

"I was excited about retail," he says, "but I decided to sell Aero because the retail side began to overwhelm the design side. I couldn't oversee it myself." Now, at Studio Sofield, his main business is architecture, but what makes Sofield unique is his definition of architecture: He broadens it from bare blueprints of buildings to include interiors and custom-designed furniture.

"I approach design as problem solving," he says, "the tiny day-to-day stuff. It's not so much about style as it is about space. All of the things that can cause discomfort is where I start."

Redesigning the Gucci stores in their many international locations uses Sofield's talent for comprehensive design while forcing him to take into account the particular problems and limits each location presents. (The first Gucci store that Sofield overhauled is in London and had its grand opening in February.) Sofield approached the Gucci project by first looking at each store's inventory of clothing; he examined the fabric, the way the garments hung on the racks, and the colors. From there, he considered how the store's lighting and backgrounds affected the displays -- whether he needed high-contrast lighting or a muted background. So the architecture and furniture complement, rather than overshadow the clothing.

Be it designer suits, a one-night banquet hall, or a family's home, Sofield's trademark is functionality. Despite his occasional perches on scaffolding, he starts from the ground up, working from the basic needs of his clients and what is to them most important, then building from there.

-- Kathryn Beaumont '96