Joseph D’Urso

Joseph D’Urso (1943–) is an American interior designer best remembered for his hyper-minimalist lofts created in New York during the 1960s and 1970s—spaces defined by an essential aesthetic, often conceived as open-plan environments without walls dividing the different areas. His signature colors were black and white, with white frequently reserved for walls and ceilings, and black used for floors and furnishings. The latter, often custom-designed for each project, were almost always simple and geometric in form—a style he would later revisit in his collections for mass production, created exclusively for the brand Knoll in 1980 and again in 2008. Influenced by the high-tech architectural movement, in his work he favored functionality over aesthetics, incorporating unusual yet practical elements into his interiors, such as restaurant-grade stoves, gym lockers, and accessories drawn from the world of boating. D’Urso also played a role in shaping the style of the successful brand Calvin Klein, designing several of the brand’s showrooms as well as Klein’s own New York apartment.