When Sotheby’s New York reopened in Manhattan’s landmark Breuer building this fall, it brought along the unique dynamics of a bustling auction house. Sales come and go, and with them masterworks of every style, size, medium, and era. Those rhythms all presented an exciting opportunity, creatively and entrepreneurially, for Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch, cofounders of the AD100 firm Roman and Williams. After collaborating with Sotheby’s on a 2024 installation of Impressionism, for which they were tasked with subverting assumptions of the movement, the duo are now conceiving the company’s new restaurant, Marcel, named after the architect. Designed and operated by Roman and Williams, the project opens this spring.
“Breuer’s geometries, you can’t get them out of your head,” says Standefer, speaking at their downtown office, surrounded by sketches, renderings, and other hints at what’s to come. The power of his Brutalism, she explains, lies not only in the beauty of faceted forms, but in the poetry of underlying tensions—between light and shadow, breath and heft. “The building is like a fortress, intense and intimidating,” says Alesch. “Yet there is a softness too. It’s important to build upon that heart.” The couple’s design, as of yet under wraps, resolves to respect and engage with that legacy. Adds Standefer, “We want to find our own language.”
Breuer’s walnut-and-bronze stair railing crystallized the restaurant’s palette, giving way to millwork in two types of the wood—Claro and Black Figured—and burnished planes of metal. It’s one of the many pas de deux that will unfold: in the dialogue between tufted banquettes and bush-hammered concrete walls, for instance, or between the tubular steel frames and leather upholstery of Bauhaus stools. “We are taking Breuer’s touchstones,” Standefer says, “and making sure to pair them with something unexpected.”
Those conversations will extend to every aspect of the space, from the menu fonts (a combination of serif and sans serif typefaces inspired by the architect’s business card) to the lighting, a mix of Roman and Williams Guild designs and bespoke rectilinear ceiling fixtures. But nowhere does that alchemy play out more intimately than across the tables, for which Standefer and Alesch have assembled a chorus of handcrafted pieces—much of it from their new Brutal Beauty Collection. Guild glassware by favorite artisans like Haruya Hiroshima, Naoya Arakawa, and Kimiko Yasuda will sparkle in unison, their textures invoking Breuer’s own bevels. Fluted Hyssop candlesticks lend yet another tactile layer, as does Guild’s Bone cutlery. And richly patterned Arita ware adds not only color but the spirit of family heirlooms. “We identify with Breuer as serial makers of things,” says Standefer. “We want to be part of that tradition in which everything you touch is thoughtful.”
The overall effect is one of keepsakes seemingly collected over time—objects that bring with them past lives, much like the treasures that pass through Sotheby’s care. And those too will be on display, both hung against the concrete walls (just as archival photos reveal Breuer intended) or displayed in glass vitrines by Goppion, with whom Roman and Williams previously collaborated on the Met’s British Galleries. Whether you are stopping by after an auction preview for a dinner of roast chicken or sole meunière from chef Marie-Aude Rose’s brasserie menu or grabbing a pastry or madeleine from Rachel Gaylord and Alexandra Puglisi’s patisserie, the goal is that the space thinks beyond what a meal might be. Says Standefer: “We are creating someplace that is about nourishment of the body and nourishment of the mind.”
This story appears in the AD100 issue. Never miss a story when you subscribe to AD.
