“I don’t go out on the weekends,” says Joachim Lapotre, opening a file on his computer containing original designs for a sculptural shelving unit. “Design is really the only thing I care about. It’s sacred for me.”
The photographer and French native — who, with his wife, Carly, deals fine art and antiques — hopes to get his “tunnel shelf” into production soon.
“I’ve spoken with talented fabricators and am getting closer to having the prototype built,” he says.
“It’s really a cool, organic design and will give us a place to display our many books and objects,” Carly adds.
The couple’s Uptown apartment is essentially a museum to unique modern and deco items and design-related tomes: Lucite and travertine paperweights; vintage exhibition catalogs; “The Sense of Unity,” a book about the Sufi influence in Persian architecture; “The Complete Woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer”; a rare magazine rack by Alvar Aalto; and more.
“We live and breathe design,” Joachim says.