House PARTY

Full-on glamour is what's playing at this disco era, 1970s Milan-inspired apartment owned by a retired radio personality

- Karine Monié

as an admirer of the work of Donald Judd, Louis Kahn and Yves Saint Laurent, interior architect and furniture designer Rodrigo Albir, founder of Miami-based Studio RODA, had to go far beyond his usual design references for this project. The reason? His client. Tom Joyner is a man with a larger-than-life personality who, after a successful career in music, is now dedicated to philanthropy and who still dreams big.

Rodrigo vividly remembers his first encounter with Tom.

He understood immediately that he would have to make something truly special for such a character. "Tom greeted me as I walked into the apartment for our first meeting wearing a colourful Versace print kimono, large-rimmed tinted sunglasses - he always wears sunglasses indoors and a cane covered in Swarovski crystals; while the sound of Carlos Santana's guitar blasted out in the background.'