My clients, Stephen and Sharia Matthews purchased a 5-story NYC Brownstone, located in Bedford-Stuyvesant Heights. It’s a tenacious community with deep cultural and historical roots. Stephen and Sharia are originally from Cuba and Namibia, and their lives and the identities of their children seem to float between these different poles. Thus, the concept that drove the design of this space was to reflect and encourage this family’s melting pot dynamic by juxtaposing their design preferences and implementing elements of their cultural backgrounds into the design. Since the basic principle of Bauhaus, beloved by Stephen is “form follows function”, and the American arts and crafts style that captivates Sharia focuses on bold colors and patterns, these elements were crucial in conceptualizing the clients’ modern dream home.