Le Cirque 2000
New York, NY
Stainless Steel & Neon Ellipses, Torches, Bar and Bronze Doors
“When the ring-master turns the lights out and spins the baton over his head, I want to see the rings of Saturn,” was how designer Adam Tihany envisioned the redesign for New York’s legendary, five-star restaurant, Le Cirque. The challenge however, was that it needed to be done without having any permanent effect on the landmarked Villard House in which it was to be located. Jaroff Design proposed the elliptical stainless steel and neon rings as an integrated lighting solution that would be supported by free-standing torches. The torches also anchor the bar and are topped by acrylic flames. The bar itself was designed to be completely self-sufficient and movable, with its own internal plumbing and water basin since no pipes could be run to it. In addition to the custom architectural metal fabrication for the rings, torches and illuminated, fiber-optic bar, we designed a sculptural clock to playfully represent the passage of time by crossing the room on a cable system – the ultimate tight-rope walker for this conceptual circus. In a very different style, Jaroff Design, created an exact historical replica of the bronze entry doors of the Villard House, in accordance with landmark requirements.
For the past thirty-eight plus years, Jaroff Design, under the management of founder Joseph Jaroff, has led the design, fabrication, installation and coordination of custom architectural glass and metal for the construction, architecture, interior design and art communities.
Joe received a BFA in Metalwork and Sculpture from RIT’s prestigious School for American Craft and studied Art History at Harvard University. During the time he was a student, Joe received several grants for public art projects including those from the National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council for the Arts.
After graduating, Joe moved to New York City to pursue an art career, supplementing his income with architectural metal and glass design and fabrication work for contractors and commissioned projects. This early work led Joe to the realization that he could fill an unrecognized need within the building and arts community through blending his skill sets of designer, fabricator, coordinator and project orchestrator.
Jaroff Design has developed and realized design solutions for projects by architects such as Tony Chi, Herzog & De Meuron, Richard Gluckmann, Peter Marino, Toshiko Mori, Polshek Partnership Architects, Ennead Architects, S.O.M., Phillipe Stark, Adam Tihany, Annabelle Selldorf, Andrew Berman and The Rockwell Group among many others.
Fashion Clients include showrooms and flagship locations for Armani, Issey Miyake, Alexander McQueen, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, Stella McCartney, Barneys, Louis Vuitton, Van Cleef & Arpels, YSL and Chanel.
Fine dining clientele have seen JD work at Asiate, Le Cirque, The Sea Grill, 11 Madison Avenue, Bruno’s Wine Club and the Hudson Hotel Bar. Cultural clients include Jazz at Lincoln Center, MOMA PS1 and New York City Center.