As a leading luxury furniture company, Maurice Villency has nurtured strong relationships with the communities in which it has showrooms. Recognizing the importance and power of surroundings, the company has always sought to expand these relationships and take quality design to new communities. A campaign to reach out to new arenas and people, spearheaded by Eric Villency, Maurice Villency President, officially launched in Spring 2006 with the unveiling of the Maurice Villency-designed and furnished waiting room of the new Rudolph W. Giuliani Trauma Center at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City. The Villency Community Outreach Program was born.
Maurice Villency Designs & Furnishes Rudolph W. Giuliani Center
In 2003 Eric Villency president of Maurice Villency began discussing a design collaboration with the renovation developers of St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York. Shortly thereafter the partnership was forged and for two years the parties developed the design and decor concept for the waiting room in the new Rudolph W Giuliani Trauma Center at St. Vincent Hospital.
The renovation of the trauma center ward was prompted by the realization on September 11th that St. Vincent’s Trauma Center, the only trauma center in Lower Manhattan, was not large enough to accommodate large-scale casualties. The renovation broke ground in September 2004 and unfolded in three phases. The Fast Track Center, which houses the Maurice Villency waiting room, was the first of three phases and was completed and opened in the Spring of 2006.
The Maurice Villency design team sought to humanize the hospital experience and focus on the comfort of those in the waiting room. Traditionally the design of urgent care facilities has focused on two things: utility and cost. Recently, trends in hospital design are taking a more holistic approach focusing on creating warm spaces to make the statement that just because hospitals are institutions does not mean they need to feel cold and disconnected.
“St. Vincent’s was progressive enough to reexamine the spaces in their urgent care facilities and rethink how the setting can contribute to the overall experience in the hospital,” says Eric Villency, President of Maurice Villency, who committed $500,000 to the project. “We sought to design a space that completely delineated from the typical sterile and impersonal feel of waiting rooms, and create one that was more comfortable and inviting. We are really proud of the collaboration and are honored to be part of such an important cause.”
Maurice Villency furnishes the lounge at the Annual Winter Dance Fundraiser hosted by AMNH
Since 2006 Maurice Villency has proudly furnished the trendy lounge areas at the Annual American Museum of Natural History’s Winter Dance Fundraiser. On Tuesday, March 11, 2008 the evening’s theme was an “Enchanted Forest.” The Hall of Biodiversity provided a dramatic backdrop for an intimate dinner for 200, followed by dessert and dancing in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life for 750 young Manhattan sophisticates. Elegant Maurice Villency furniture was sprinkled around the bar and dance floor, inviting guests to relax and mingle throughout the evening.
The Winter Dance is New York City’s longest running junior benefit. It attracts an eclectic group of influential and philanthropic young professionals and raises crucial funds for the Museum’s scientific and educational programs. Attendees included: Anne Hathaway, Mary-Kate Olsen, Tinsley Mortimer, Lonneke Engel, Fabiola Beracasa and Josh Lucas.
The evening included a silent auction with luxury items from many of Manhattan’s most exclusive retailers. Auction items included a Roberto Cavalli suit for him and a dress for her from the 2008 runway collection and a Milan Holiday to attend Roberto Cavalli’s Milan Runway Show and dine at Just Cavalli Café.
Photographs © American Museum of Natural History.
Photographs taken by: Craig Chesek, Denis Finnin and Roderick Mickens
Maurice Villency designs and furnishes set for “Powerful Voices” literary series in Harlem, presented by the African American Academy of Arts & Letters
In the Spring of 2006, Eric Villency and Bernard Butler, Chairman of the African-American Academy of Arts & Letters, began discussing a project in Harlem. Butler, who was then working on the launch of his internet-broadcasted “Powerful Voices” literary series, sought superior furnishings to represent the burgeoning creative movement taking root in Harlem as urban renewal followed spiking property values.
The “Powerful Voices” series is filmed at 4 Sylvan Terrace in Harlem, a townhouse on a historic cobblestone street that leads to the historic landmark, Morris-Jumel Mansion. The mansion was built in 1765 and is the oldest house in Manhattan. The house’s original owners were British loyalists. During the Revolution War, they returned to England and the house became George Washington’s wartime headquarters during the fall of 1776.
“We are really excited about this collaboration with the Academy,” says Eric Villency, President of Maurice Villency. “This reinforces Maurice Villency’s commitment to bringing beauty in design to new arenas and a burgeoning new market, namely one where culture and arts are becoming increasingly valued.”
The “Powerful Voices” literary series began broadcasting in July. Each installment of the series is hosted by Butler and features interviews with prominent authors from the African-American and Latino literary communities.