“SPACE gives me the opportunity to stretch myself creatively, by working on a variety of project types with fun clients. This firm embraces design challenges, and working through them with our team has made me a better, more clever designer. “Yes” and “Why not?” are phrases you hear a lot around here, and that optimism shines through in our work.”
SHELLEY NIEMEIER
Master of Arts in American Studies, Saint Louis University
INTERIOR DESIGNER
Shelley works on a variety of interior design projects in the office. Her experience and education were nontraditional: dropping out of grad school just short of her dissertation, Shelley specialized in American Studies with an emphasis in Visual Culture Theory and Urban Studies. This has given her a unique perspective on projects, and a desire to work closely with clients to develop cohesive branded themes in their new spaces. When not thanking her lucky stars for winning the job lottery, she can be found in SPACE’s materials library, mainlining Coke Zero among piles of fabric and carpet samples.
Favorite Things to Do:
Experimenting in the kitchen and using my patient family as culinary guinea pigs. Crossfitting (poorly). Making lists. Ologies. Reading the salacious and entertaining stories from history they didn’t teach in high school; shipwrecks; stories of seemingly ordinary people who led extraordinary lives; and anything that helps make sense of the world we live in.
Favorite Architect:
Tom, duh. Zaha Hadid and Oscar Niemeyer are tied for second. Their designs are soaring, larger-than-life spaces that so beautifully push what can be built in both scale and design. It’s impractical 99% of the time, but they fiercely show what is possible when we think big. And they’ve given thousands of talented craftspeople a challenge that they have so perfectly executed, time and time again. I also adore Ray Eames for her pragmatic blend of function and playful-yet-timeless design, and I sure try to emulate her philosophy every day: “What works good is better than what looks good, because what works good lasts.”
Confession:
Our second daughter’s middle name is Gray. It’s a nod to Eileen Gray, Ray Eames, and — don’t tell Tom — Jean Grey, the X-[wo]man