New York and Los Angeles, ch-herrero.com
After first honoring them in our 2016 Hot List, we’re awarding the bicoastal interiors and architecture firm of Adam Charlap Hyman and Andre Herrero for a second time in order to acknowledge how far they’ve come since then, adding everything from private homes to exhibition designs to tableware to fashion campaigns to their portfolio. They have the lofty tastes of the likes of Giancarlo Valle or Dimorestudio, but mixed with a little bit of weirdness that gives their work its signature edge — nods to Surrealism and the baroque, and a willingness to push everything a little bit too far, but in the absolute best way. 

What is American design to you, and what excites you about it?

Something that we appreciate about American design is that it’s never overly slick — we like that there’s sometimes this roughness and rawness, and that you can feel the experimentation and trial and error that went into the creation.

What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year?

We’re especially excited about the opening of a deli that we’ve renovated on the Upper East Side, the installation of a special project in Miami, and starting construction on a few residences in Joshua Tree. We recently released our first line of dinnerware and glassware, and in the next year we’ll be releasing some more products we’re especially excited about, as well as continuing to curate exhibitions.

What inspires or informs your work in general?

We’ve tended to go through phases of inspiration, and right now, we’re really inspired by the idea of “soft architecture” — the way that a curtain or drape can become architecture, and the idea of softness in architecture in general.