David Rockwell
David Rockwell (born July 21, 1956) is an American architect and designer. He is the founder and president of Rockwell Group, a 250-person cross-disciplinary architecture and design practice based in New York City with satellite offices in Madrid and Los Angeles.
David Rockwell

PhilipRomanoPhoto · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- David Rockwell
- Born
- 21 July 1956
- Birthplace
- Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- Occupation
- * Architect
- Education
- Syracuse University (BA) Architectural Association School of Architecture (MArch)
- Nationality
- United States
- Known for
- Dolby Theatre · Bisazza
- Honours
- Tony Award for Best Scenic Design in a Musical
- Languages
- English
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wikidata · Q3018716 · wikipedia · David Rockwell
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — David Rockwell • Born — 21 July 1956 • Birthplace — Chicago, Illinois, U.S. • Occupation — * Architect • designer • Education — Syracuse University (BA) Architectural Association School of Architecture (MArch) • Children — 2 • Website — rockwellgroup.com
Early life and education
Early life and education
Rockwell grew up in a theater family. His mother, a vaudeville dancer and choreographer, often cast him in community repertory productions. When he was 12, David's family moved from Deal, New Jersey to Guadalajara, Mexico. Rockwell trained in architecture at Syracuse University and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.
Career
Career
Rockwell was working for another architect designing a version of Le Crazy Horse Saloon in New York when he was offered a job to design a renovation of the restaurant Le Périgord in four weeks. His work at Le Périgord led to a commission in 1983 to design the space for the 40-seat restaurant Sushi Zen, which served as the launching point for his career. Rockwell founded Rockwell Group in 1984. Rockwell currently serves as Chair Emeritus of the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA) and as a board member of Citymeals-on-Wheels, and New York Restoration Project. Rockwell also conceived and developed Imagination Playground pro-bono, a play space designed to encourage children to work together to create their own worlds of play. After five years of research on children and play, the first site-specific location opened in collaboration with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation at Burling Slip in Manhattan in 2010. Rockwell Group developed portable, scalable models that can transform smaller, unused areas into play spaces. Through the U.N.I.C.E.F. P.L.A.Y. Project, in partnership with Disney, the blocks have been distributed to more than 13,000 children in Bangladesh and Haiti.
Select design projects
Select design projects
• Chefs Club by Food & Wine, New York • Gordon Ramsay's Maze (London) • Maialino, New York • Nobu restaurants worldwide, including New York, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Doha, Melbourne and Dubai • Aloft hotels (Starwood Hotels & Resorts) • Andaz Maui at Wailea, Hawaii • The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas • Nobu Hotel Caesars Palace, Las Vegas • Nobu Hotel Eden Roc Miami Beach • W Hotels New York, Union Square, Vieques, Paris, Singapore, and Madrid • Hall of Fragments, the entrance installation to the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale • Walt Disney Family Museum • The Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta • Elinor Bunin-Munroe Film Center, Lincoln Center • The Shed (Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Leader Architect, and Rockwell Group, Collaborating Architect) • 15 Hudson Yards in collaboration with Diller Scofidio + Renfro • TED Theater, Vancouver • Dolby Theatre, home of the Academy Awards ceremony (Los Angeles) • The Marketplace at the JetBlue terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport • NeueHouse, New York and Los Angeles • Shinola • Imagination Playground • Moxy Chelsea • The New York EDITION • Rockwell Unscripted for Knoll • Union Square Cafe • Sky (skyscraper) • NEMA (Chicago) • Hayes Theater • The Perelman, New York City (Restaurant and Lobby Interior Architect) • 93rd Oscars, Production Design • Hopkins Student Center for Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore • Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle • DineOut NYC pro bono initiative
Set design
Set design
• Fallen Angels • Into the Woods • Hairspray • The Rocky Horror Show • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels • All Shook Up • Legally Blonde • Team America: World Police (2004, film) • The 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) • The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010) • The Normal Heart • Catch Me If You Can • Harvey • Kinky Boots • Lucky Guy • You Can't Take It with You • Side Show • On the Twentieth Century • She Loves Me • On Your Feet! • Falsettos • Lobby Hero • Pretty Woman • Tootsie • 93rd Oscars (2021) • Fallen Angels • Pirates! The Penzance Musical • Art • A Beautiful Noise • Doubt • Chess
Identity
Identity
David Rockwell is recorded as having received Tony Award for Best Scenic Design in a Musical.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1956
David Rockwell born at Chicago.
2002
David Rockwell: A memorial at Ground Zero (TED).
Books
• Pleasure: The Architecture and Design of Rockwell Group, Universe, a division of Rizzoli Books, 2002. • David Rockwell with Bruce Mau, Spectacle, Phaidon Press, 2006. Examines the history and public fascination with larger-than-life man-made events. • What If...?: The Architecture and Design of David Rockwell, Metropolis Books, 2014. • Drama by David Rockwell, Phaidon, May 2021
Awards
Awards
Rockwell's honors include the 2016 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design for the musical She Loves Me and eight Tony Award nominations for Best Scenic Design, the AIA New York Chapter President's Award; the 2008 National Design Award by the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum for outstanding achievement in Interior Design; the 2009 Pratt Legends Award; the Presidential Design Award for his renovation of the Grand Central Terminal; induction into the James Beard Foundation Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America and Interior Design magazine's Hall of Fame; inclusion in Architectural Digest's AD 100; and the 2016 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical for She Loves Me and five Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical. Rockwell Group was named by Fast Company in 2008, 2014 and 2015 as one of the most innovative design practices in their annual World's 50 Most Innovative Companies issue. Rockwell is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. World Winners Prix Versailles 2018
Awards and nominations
Awards and nominations
• Year — Award — Category — Work — Result — Ref. • 2001 — Drama Desk Award — Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical — The Rocky Horror Show • 2003 — Hairspray • Tony Award — Best Scenic Design • Outer Critics Circle Award — Outstanding Scenic Design — Dinner at Eight • 2005 — Drama Desk Award — Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical — All Shook Up • 2007 — Legally Blonde • 2013 — Tony Award — Best Scenic Design in a Musical — Kinky Boots • Best Scenic Design in a Play — Lucky Guy • 2015 — |Tony Award — Best Scenic Design in a Musical — On the Twentieth Century • Outer Critics Circle Award — Outstanding Scenic Design • |Tony Award — Best Scenic Design in a Play — You Can't Take It with You • 2016 — |Tony Award — Best Scenic Design in a Musical — She Loves Me • Drama Desk Award — Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical • Outer Critics Circle Award — Outstanding Scenic Design • 2022 — Lucille Lortel Award — Outstanding Scenic Design — Seven Deadly Sins • 2025 — Drama Desk Award — Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical — Boop! The Musical • 2026 — |Tony Award — Best Scenic Design in a Play — Fallen Angels
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article David Rockwell, revision 1375173913 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Mun-Delsalle, Y-Jean. David Rockwell Celebrates The 30th Anniversary Of His Architecture And Design Firm. Forbes. February 26, 2014.
- 2.Midsummer Night's Birthday Celebration – Rockwell Group. www.rockwellgroup.com.
- 3.Biography: David Rockwell | Fast Company | Business + Innovation.
- 4.https://interiordesign.net/designwire/david-rockwell/
- 5.David Rockwell : Rockwell Group’s Founder and CEO. Haute Living. 4 February 2009.
- 6.Millman, Debbie. Design Matters: David Rockwell. PRINT Magazine. 24 October 2022.
- 7.David Rockwell. Designers & Books.
- 8.DIFFA Presents: A Tribute to Honor David Rockwell. www.prnewswire.com.
- 9.UNICEF USA. UNICEF USA: UNICEF P.L.A.Y. 30 January 2013.
- 10.Awards and Recognition – Rockwell Group. www.rockwellgroup.com.
- 11.David Rockwell – Rockwell Group. www.rockwellgroup.com.
- 12.Kellogg, Craig. Mauie Wowie. Interior Design Magazine. 20 February 2014.
- 13."Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Open December 2010", Cosmopolitan Website
- 14.Molvar, Kari. Nobu Matsuhisa and David Rockwell on the Art of Constructing a Restaurant. The New York Times. October 7, 2014.
- 15.Cane, John. Inside the Walt Disney Family Museum. PRINT Magazine. 7 October 2010.
- 16.Kaiser, Laura. Inside Atlanta's National Center for Civil and Human Rights by Rockwell Group. Interior Design. 15 January 2018.
- 17.Castro, Fernanda. Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center / Rockwell Group. ArchDaily. 5 November 2018.
- 18.The Bloomberg Building. The Shed.
- 19.Ferro, Shaunacy. How David Rockwell Reinvented The Theater For The TED Era. Co.Design. March 18, 2014.
- 20.Finkel, Jori. NeueHouse Chooses Historic Hollywood Site. The New York Times. July 28, 2014.
- 21.New Kid on the Block: Shinola. Tribeca Citizen.
- 22.Ackman, Dan. The Architect-Designer Focuses on Child's Play. The Wall Street Journal. August 5, 2008.
- 23.Latterner, Timothy. Moxy Chelsea Opens with Interiors by Yabu Pushelberg and Rockwell Group. ADPRO. 11 April 2019.
- 24.Kimmelman, Michael. The Same, Only Different: Designing a New Union Square Cafe. The New York Times. 6 September 2016.
- 25.Stathaki, Ellie. David Rockwell puts his stamp on New York's largest residential high-rise. Wallpaper. 1 February 2016.
- 26.Rockett, Darcel. South Loop's building boom: A look at 3 residential towers set to open soon. Chicago Tribune. February 8, 2019.
- 27.Curkin, Charles. Behind the Curtain. Elle Decor. 19 March 2018.
- 28."David Rockwell to Design Sets for 81st Academy Awards", A.M.P.A.S., 2008.
- 29.Goodman, Wendy. On the Set of You Can't Take It With You With Designer David Rockwell. New York. October 2, 2014.
- 30.Marks, Peter. A big, beautiful "Side Show" on Broadway. Washington Post. November 17, 2014.
- 31.On the Twentieth Century. Roundabout Theatre Company.
- 32.She Loves Me. Roundabout Theatre Company.
- 33.Metropolis Books. What If.?: The Architecture and Design of David Rockwell. December 31, 2014. 978-1938922565.
- 34.Drama.
- 35.Kenneth Jones, Robert Simonson. 2001 Drama Desk Winners Include Producers, Proof and Mnemonic. Playbill. May 20, 2001.
- 36.Hairspray Wins 10 Drama Desk Awards. The New York Times. May 19, 2003.
- 37.Gans, Andrew. Outer Critics Circle Award Winners Announced; Hairspray Leads the Pack. Playbill. May 5, 2003.
- 38.2005 Drama Desk Award winners announced. New York Theatre Guide. May 23, 2005.
- 39.Andrew Gans. 52nd Annual Drama Desk Awards Presented May 20. Playbill. May 20, 2007.
- 40.Outer Critics Circle Awards 2015: Full List. Variety. April 27, 2015.
- 41.2014–2015 Awards. Outer Critics Circle.
- 42.Gordon Cox. 2016 Drama Desk Awards (FULL LIST): 'Shuffle Along,' 'The Humans'. Variety. June 5, 2016.
- 43.Viagas, Robert. Bright Star and The Humans Win Top 2016 NY Outer Critics Circle Awards. Playbill. May 9, 2016.
- 44.Logan Culwell-Block. 2022 Lucille Lortel Awards: See the Complete List of Nominees. Playbill. April 7, 2022.
- 45.Logan Culwell-Block. Drama Desk Award Winners 2025: The Full List. Playbill. June 1, 2025.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q3018716: David RockwellWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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