Originally intended as a kind of pop-up-shop assemblage of graphic artists and architects, gathering together on a job to job basis, Commune has followed is own innate rhythms to become one of the hippest and most respected design firms working today.  Their top-to-bottom build-out and decor of the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs was among the most talked about in years and their retail space for Opening Ceremony in Tokyo is no less impressive.  As the opening date for their retail space at the Standard Hotel in New York approaches we take a minute to appreciate this innovative collective.

“We get all our work from word or mouth,” says partner and Creative Director Roman Alonso.  ”It used to be that whoever brought in a job would lead the project but we’ve recently officially divided the tasks.”  Now each of the four partners,  Pamela Shamshiri, Steven Johanknecht, Alonso, and Ramin Shamshiri handles a specific field of endeavor–be it residential or hospitality, retail, graphic or product design–and divide up the projects accordingly.  Even the ebb and flow of their team follows an organic pattern, according to Alonso.  ”We now have a staff of ten.  We were up to 35 and ten came back to seven.  We’re at ten now and that’s about right for us,” says Alonso.  He describes the team’s work mode as a holistic process.  ”If an architect is drawing a building he is also project manager and takes care of everything in that building until it is graphics–a custom pattern for a carpet or something–then it’s graphics.”

Their delegation appears from the outside seamless and their creations for clients as diverse as Oliver Peoples, Heath and Barneys, designing websites or stores or hotels are both delicious and inspiring.   We can’t wait to see where their next groove takes us.