and interiors is a manhattan based american design firm founded by robin standefer and stephen alesch in 2002 . 1 recipients of a 2014 cooper hewitt national design award for interior design roman and williams has been called one of the most sought after design outfits by w magazine 2 and was named one of america s 50 most influential designers by fast company in 2011 . 3 known for what the wall street journal has named slow design with its emphasis on craft and substance 4 the firm undertakes building design interior design branding as well as the design of custom furniture lighting and plumbing fittings and fixtures . contents 1 principals 2 firm history 3 product design 4 works 4.1 product 5 awards 6 work for film 6.1 robin standefer film credits 6.2 stephen alesch film credits 7 references 8 external links principals edit robin standefer was born in new york city and studied at the art students league and the academia di belle arti di firenze . during this time she also apprenticed with robert mapplethorpe and james rosenquist 5 standefer attended hampshire college and smith college before moving to the city university of new york to study art history 2 under the direction of linda nochlin . in 1993 she was hired by film director martin scorsese to work as a visual consultant for several of his films 6 which led to a 15 year career in film design . stephen alesch is a designer draftsman photographer painter illustrator etcher and printer 7 who studied engineering and philosophy at northern arizona university . he left the university for an architectural apprenticeship and worked for architecture firms bahram nashat quentin dart parker and venice atelier all in los angeles . robin and stephen met in the 1990s while working in hollywood as production designers and art directors . 8 together they designed more than 20 hollywood films including practical magic addicted to love and zoolander . the couple are married and live in new york city ; they also spend time at their residence in montauk new york . firm history edit robin and stephen s first residential design project was for ben stiller who hired the pair to design his family s los angeles home after working with them on the set of his film duplex 9 leading to the founding of their firm roman and williams . 10 the firm s first office was located on the lot of paramount pictures before they came back to new york in 2004 and established their offices on lafayette street . 11 after the launch of their firm roman and williams designed major residential projects for a list celebrity clients including kate hudson elisabeth shue and davis guggenheim and gwyneth paltrow . 12 13 14 15 other residential projects include the renovation and expansion of one of frank lloyd wright s usonian houses . standefer and alesch view their own homes in manhattan and montauk as perhaps the purest expression of their interests and the homes act as design laboratories and inspirations for the firm s projects . 16 the new york times called their east fourth street loft an appealing hybrid as if an apartment from the apthorp had been reassembled by the furniture designers pierre chareau or jean prouve . 17 the firm completed its first ground up residential building at 211 elizabeth street in nolita renowned for its use of traditional hand laid brick . 18 among the firm s completed commercial projects are the renovation of the royalton hotel 19 the interiors of the standard hotel including the standard grill and the 18th floor club also known as the boom boom room 20 for hotelier andre balazs and the ace hotel 21 22 23 for hotelier alex calderwood including the breslin and john dory 24 25 restaurants created by celebrated chef april bloomfield and restaurateur ken friedman 26 27 and stumptown coffee shop . additional manhattan projects have included roman and williams 2015 design of stephen starr s upland restaurant and andrew carmellini s soho restaurant the dutch followed up by lafayette which launched in 2013 and has been called the great gatsby of restaurants by the new york observer . 28 from 2013 to 2015 roman and williams finished several hotel projects in the united states including in manhattan brooklyn connecticut and chicago as well as the freehand miami in miami beach . the firm is the interior designer for the freehand brand which now includes hotels in miami beach florida and chicago il with plans for future freehand hotel openings in los angeles and new york . 29 during this period the firm also completed the interiors for the award winning chicago athletic association located on millennial park which has been named the best new hotel in america by men s journal . additional hotel projects include viceroy hotel new york which opened in midtown new york in october 2013 and features a roman and williams designed exterior and interior as well as custom designed lighting and furniture by the firm in the guest rooms . 30 the firm s other completed projects include the design of the goop mrkt pop up store working with goop creative director gwyneth paltrow and featuring the designs of valentino . 31 other projects include a mess hall on the new facebook campus in menlo park california and the huffpost live studio set and offices in new york which debuted spring 2012 . in 2014 roman and williams expanded beyond the united states with cantinery a restaurant located in the heart of istanbul s zorlu center 32 followed by the opening of replay the stage 33 the brand s flagship store in milan which also includes a full service restaurant also designed by roman and williams . 29 the firm has designed two ground up residential buildings . the first at 211 elizabeth street in nolita was praised for its use of traditional hand laid brick . 34 the second the fitzroy was designed for jds development and is located in chelsea near the high line . 35 in may 2016 the metropolitan museum of art announced that roman and williams buildings and interiors is collaborating with the met s department of european sculpture and decorative arts and other staff on an ambitious renovation project to create a spectacular narrative rich and profoundly sympathetic setting for the works of art . 36 ten galleries devoted to british decorative arts and sculpture of the early 16th through 19th century will be reimagined and reinstalled including three historic interiors . product design edit roman and williams launched a product design division in september 2012 and since then have designed several product and furniture lines including their r.w. atlas line for waterworks released in september 2012 . 37 their furniture designs for mattermade premiered at icff in may 2013 and the line was praised by the new york times for having a laserlike attention to details . 38 such work includes a custom made credenza the eater which debuted in milan italy during salone del mobile as part of wallpaper magazine s handmade project . 39 in celebration of their tenth year the firm released a monograph things we made with rizzoli in october 2012 followed by the release of a japanese edition in may 2014 with graphic sha . 40 the book shows the firm s work from the past decade as well as the principals previous work in film . works edit major residential projects by the duo include a refurbishment of the usonian house . 41 commercial works include the design of the facebook cafeteria . 42 the firm has also designed the interiors of several hotels for the sydell group including the freehand hotel in miami . 43 product edit waterworks rw atlas line of fixtures bath furniture and tiles launched fall 2012 44 45 rizzoli international things we made monograph published fall 2012 46 matter roman and williams mattermade line of furniture and lighting launched spring 2013 47 waterworks r.w. atlas line of fixtures lighting and hardware launched september 2014 48 awards edit 2009 ace hotel new york interior design s best of year boutique hotel 49 2009 the new york times nifty fifty 50 2010 211 elizabeth street palladio award 51 2011 architectural digest s ad100 52 2011 the wallpaper 150 53 2011 fast company s fastco design s 50 most influential designers 54 2012 architectural digest top 100 designers 55 2013 elle d cor a list designers 56 2013 lawrence israel prize winners 57 2013 lafayette winner of stone cold stunner in nyc eater awards 58 2013 architectural digest top 100 designers 59 2014 cooper hewitt national design award for interior design category 60 2015 replay the stage euroshop retail design award for best store design 61 2015 chicago athletic association gold key award for excellence in hospitality design best upscale hotel 62 2015 architectural digest top 100 designers 63 2016 fast company s 100 most creative people in business 64 work for film edit robin standefer film credits edit year film role 1989 new york stories fine arts curator 1990 goodfellas art department researcher 1991 the rapture production designer 1992 mac production designer 1993 the age of innocence video research consultant 1994 the new age production designer 1995 search and destroy production designer 1996 the pallbearer production designer 1997 commandments production designer addicted to love 65 production designer 1998 illuminata production designer practical magic 66 production designer 1999 the invisible circus production designer 2001 the caveman s valentine production designer get over it production designer zoolander 67 production designer 2002 the guru production designer 2003 duplex 68 production designer stephen alesch film credits edit year film role 1993 matinee set designer 1994 cabin boy set designer new nightmare set designer stargate set designer 1995 galaxis set designer search and destroy art director 1996 the pallbearer art director 1997 commandments art director addicted to love 65 art director gattaca set designer 1998 illuminata art director what dreams may come set designer practical magic 66 architectural consultant 1999 the invisible circus art director 2000 gun shy art director 2001 the caveman s valentine art director visual consultant new york get over it art director zoolander 67 art director 2002 issaquena production designer the guru production designer 2003 duplex 68 production designer references edit notes roman and williams buildings and interiors . roman and williams . a b camita jenny . double vision . w magazine . americas 50 most influential designers . retrieved 15 march 2016 . hartman darrell . married to the job . wall street journal . issn 0099 9660 . retrieved 2016 03 15 . blum andrew . style and substance . metropolis . archived from the original on march 1 2012 . comita jenny . double vision . w magazine . robin and standefer and stephen alesch . roman and williams . retrieved 20 august 2014 . blum andrew . style and substance . metropolis . swanson carl 10 october 2010 . comfort me with flanges . new york magazine . retrieved 19 march 2012 . del signore john 3 march 2010 . robin standefer and stephen alesch . gothamist . retrieved 31 january 2011 . kellogg craig 1 march 2005 . back in the studio . interior design . west kevin october 2005 . kate hudson homegirl . w magazine . retrieved 19 march 2012 . style & substance metropolis magazine . 2012 03 01 . archived from the original check url value help on march 1 2012 . retrieved 2016 03 15 . bryan meredith 18 february 2008 . starck contrast move over minimalism says design duo . the new york observer . retrieved 19 march 2012 . arak joey 12 july 2010 . gwyneth paltrow s fuzzy nap zones exposed in tribeca penthouse . curbed.com . retrieved 19 march 2012 . muhlke christine 2010 04 30 . guest room . the new york times . issn