Once Upon a Project

AJ Paron sits down with designer Yinka Ilori at Neocon! They discuss Yinka’s vibrant, joyful, and award-winning collaboration with Momentum Textiles and Wallcovering, his journey from furniture design to becoming an acclaimed multidisciplinary artist, and how his Nigerian heritage influences his use of bold colors and patterns. Yinka shares insights into his creative process and the importance of making spaces that evoke h...

This is a special edition episode! We're joined by Gene Wilson, the Vice President of Merchandising and Vendor Management at Room & Board.

Explore a groundbreaking initiative in sustainable design as we learn how Room & Board, a pioneering American furniture company, transforms discarded wood into stunning heirloom furniture through their Urban Wood Project. Discover how this line of products prevents waste, create...

David Shove-Brown, co-founder of //3877, a D.C.-based architecture and design firm specializing in hospitality, shares the story of one of their most challenging projects—a historic building turned restaurant that they redesigned not once but twice! Learn how //3877 balanced the unique challenges of working within a historic structure while creating a vibrant dining experience and how unexpected events like an earthquake c...

Join host AJ Paron in an enlightening conversation with Jennifer Kolstad, the Global Design and Brand Director at Ford Motor Company, as they delve into the fascinating world of design and its profound impact. Despite her limited background in healthcare design, Jennifer spearheaded the six-million-square-foot Kuwait Children’s Hospital project with HKS. Together, they explore the intricacies of this ambitious endeavor and...

Big business means a big office. For Boston Consulting Group’s Canadian HQ in Toronto, HOK Canada was the architecture, planning, and engineering firm for the job. Regional winner for the Best of Canada Design Awards for Shaw Contract 2023, Caitlin Turner, project lead and Director of Interiors at HOK Canada, discusses how the project became such a success with host AJ Paron. From tenant-improvement fit-ups and c...

If you ever find yourself in court, you’ll hope it’s this family circuit in Orlando, Florida. Designed by Jose Jordan who comes from an architectural family and is a current Principal at DLR Group, his scientific approach to architecture with a focus on tactile materials has led him to this niche of civic architecture. Host A.J. Paron shares a personal story that helps hammer home the importance of Jordan’s design ideas, l...

This might be the one sex shop you can walk into with your mother and not feel awkward. When given the brief to design a SoHo storefront for Contact Sports, an elevated and experiential sex and wellness destination, Madelynn Ringo was obviously intrigued. As the founder of her NYC-based eponymous design studio, working with Contact Sports’ founders Justin and Chelsea Kerzner was a match made in heaven, two disruptive and c...

Hear the story behind designing a 1-million-square-foot Nike World Headquarters building that set out to change and inspire how a legacy brand and thousands of employees work. Nita Posada, a partner and director of interior design at Skylab Architecture, explains the multi-faceted functionality of the monumental Serena Williams Building. With “Phenom, Warrior, Muse” as the guiding design principles inspired by the legendar...

Coast-to-coast, designers are figuring out how to get the workforce back into their offices by implementing innovative concepts that are still conducive to productivity. In this episode, learn about two projects that took creativity and thoughtfulness to the next level. In New York City, landscape architect Hank White of HMWhite has put a timber forest on top of the iconic Radio City Music Hall, realizing a dream that was ...

Where hip-hop and design intersect, you’ll find Michael Ford. Learn what sparked the discovery of this seemingly unlikely connection and how a childhood interest in car design fueled an expansive, unique career for “The Hip Hop Architect.” Tune in as Ford, who also founded the Hip Hop Architecture Camp for underrepresented youth, dissects the intricate elements of hip-hop music and culture that inspire textiles, buildings,...

When Josh Rubin and Evan Orensten met twenty-five years ago, did they ever imagine their partnership would result in the inception of the iconic media brand COOL HUNTING? This episode offers a glimpse into their journey of evolution at the intersection of the internet, content, and design—not to mention the twenty-year partnership of the men behind the helm. Explore the captivating world of digital design in our latest epi...

When SmithGroup submitted a crazy idea for a design competition from the City of San Francisco, they never thought their futuristic public toilet kiosks and street furniture would be selected, let alone that they would need to be realized. Working with the City of San Francisco and JC Decaux, principals Bill Katz and Tyler Krehlik turned the stigma of public toilets being dirty, unsanitary, and dangerous on its head to add...

Amy Mays, Interior Design Director at HDR, describes the eye-opening experience of working on the NYU Oral Health Center for People with Disabilities. With spaces that provide quality care for people with physical and cognitive disabilities lacking, the HDR team created an environment that goes beyond ADA standards, providing patients and their families with choice, control, and accessibility—experience how this project re...

Sequoyah Hunter-Cuyjet, Vice President of Determined by Design, describes the impact that design equity standards can have on marginalized communities. Working with their development partner, Dantes Partner, Sequoyah, and her team tackled two large affordable housing projects in Washington, DC. Intent on serving the communities that will call these buildings home, the team drew from history and a strong sense of equity to ...

David Levo, Principal at ZGF Architects, describes his experience collaborating on a redesign of General Electric’s global leadership training location in Crotonville, New York, during his time with Perkins Eastman. In a project that was at the intersection of workplace, education, and hospitality design, the teams worked together to ensure that the built spaces were an extension of the global strategy and curriculum of th...

Taruan Mabry, former Senior Designer with iCrave, talks about the thrilling opportunity the team was given to work on Scores, an adult entertainment venue in Atlantic City. Listen in as Mabry discusses the unique challenges of designing a high-end strip club—from strange material applications to the moral and ethical question of tackling this kind of project. Once Upon a Project is a member of the SURROUND podcast network....

While at Perkins&Will’s New York studio, Meena Krenek and the team were hungry for Columbia Property Trust’s project, The Edge, in New York City. Listen in as Krenek describes the out-of-the-box approach the Perkins and Will’s team used to win the Request for Proposal (RFP), and how their experiential approach to design provided the building’s future tenants with unique amenities and more.

This show is produced by Surr...

Betsy Vohs of Studio BV cultivated a unique relationship with client Evereve that evolved into designing not only their office but the co-CEO’s home and then redefining what their retail brand looked like post-pandemic. Listen in as Vohs discusses how good design can empower everyone that it touches—from her team to her clients and her client’s clients—across retail, workplace, and not-for-profit organi...

When Dan Menchions and Keith Rushbrook of II BY IV DESIGN, the Toronto-based luxury hospitality interior design firm, were asked to design the hospitality spaces in the new Yankee Stadium, they knew it had to be a home-run. Listen in as Menchions and Rushbrook talk about the enormous task of designing 37,000 square feet of restaurants, private clubs, and public space for fans of the New York Yankees, and how they drew insp...