In the Workshop: Maddie Perry & Stephan Thimme

November 11, 2022

Welcome to another installation of ‘In the Workshop,’ where we get to know a pair of Workshop/APD pros and explore their unique interests, inspirations, and aspirations. This month’s talented duo features two up-and-coming creatives, interior designer Maddie Perry and managing director, senior associate Stephan Thimme, both at work on a wide range of projects across the country. Read on to learn how the members of our architecture and design collective bring unique perspectives and experiences to the team.

Maddie Perry, interior designer

An Architecture or Design trend you wish would go away

I’m tired of the media glorifying people who stick to a single design and push it out to the masses. These people are not coming up with new concepts – real designers tailor their work to their clients and adapt to their needs, instead of pushing an agenda. Shows on HGTV make it seem like you can stamp out and build a house in one week, and that really over-simplifies our jobs.

A new (or new-er) A&D trend you love or see coming

Younger generations have gotten really into repurposing things, bringing in furniture and decor off the stoops of New York, and not just buying everything new. They’re taking things and making them their own, which is so much better for the environment. There’s a great trend towards using more vintage pieces, things that have a history to them, and kids taking their parents old stuff and using it in fresh ways.

What’s your dream project?

I’d love to design a really quaint bed & breakfast that juxtaposes residential and hospitality in a tiny town somewhere. I just want to be Lorelai Gilmore basically. I want everything in it to be thrifted or repurposed, hand-picked for each room so that they are all different. It would be a modern take on a B&B – there’s still nothing warmer than waking up to someone cooking you breakfast while you’re on vacation.

Where can we find you outside of work?

Outside of work I’m always with my friends or I’m at the movie theater. I have a Regal unlimited movie pass and it’s my favorite thing ever. I get my popcorn and my Swedish fish and it’s the best.

Describe your style in 3 words (can be personal or design aesthetic)

Clean, sentimental, and warm.

Your favorite building or room of all time

When I studied abroad in Italy, I lived in the Chigi Palace. It used to be a real palace and they preserved it perfectly – they didn’t change a thing. After the original residents moved out, they didn’t have a purpose for it for a while. We used to live on the ground floor, in this section that the university rents out, and then the classes were upstairs. It was across the street from a church designed by Bernini, so it reflected that super ornate style.

Stephan Thimme,managing director senior associate

An Architecture or Design trend you wish would go away
This is not a new trend, rather centuries old, but it still gives me the creeps. Living close to some semi-suburban sprawl areas, I keep seeing houses being built and sold in large numbers that have brick or stone facades on their front and vinyl or aluminum siding on their sides and rear. Seems like a very obvious architectural version of “lipstick on a pig” to me, but apparently, large portions of the populace keep falling for it.

A New (or new-er) A&D trend you love or see coming
Some institutional clients require their construction projects to be carbon-neutral these days. That is a mindset that hasn’t really settled in for the majority of the construction industry, but the technology exists to calculate and track the environmental impacts quite precisely. 20 years after LEED, it would be good if a new, better standard would become common.

What’s your dream project?
Ever since I first dreamt of becoming an architect, the vision of a house in and on a bluff over a mountain lake or river has been haunting me. I have been thinking about the interior stair in that double-high living room for decades now…

What’s your pandemic hobby?
I have been following my kids along with the games they have been trying out. But more meaningfully, I have really caught onto breathwork meditation, which my wife is training to become a facilitator for.

Describe your style in 3 words (can be personal or design aesthetic)
Crafted Modern? Elegant but unpolished simplicity.

Your favorite building or room of all time
I could embrace the cliché and say that I was very moved when visiting both Wright’s Fallingwater and Mies’s Barcelona Pavilion, which would be true. In the present day, I admire almost every single work by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. I visited the little Stone Museum in Nasu years ago, and am always thrilled when I learn about new projects of his.