Rodney Miller had the opportunity to create an Upper East Side townhouse from the ground up.
Miller had big ideas, but he also had an ace in the hole: David Mann of MR Architecture + Decor, an architect deeply schooled in modernism, both its functional hierarchies and its almost spiritual dimension. The two had previously worked on two apartments together, and during that time Miller had moved up the professional ladder while Mann’s portfolio had grown to encompass country houses; boutiques for such fashion brands as J. Mendel, Pierre Hardy, and Trina Turk; and grand apartments for art-collecting clients, including Adriana and Robert Mnuchin.
In a little more than three years, the architect and client built a five-story townhouse on a highly accommodating slab of Manhattan bedrock. (Departures)