Infusing Wit And Humour Into The Spaces And Pieces

For over 30 years, design duo George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg have been pushing the envelope by infusing wit and humour into the spaces and pieces they create

- Kissa Castañeda

If you need proof that the saying “two heads are better than one” is true, you need to look at George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg. The designers founded their studio, Yabu Pushelberg, in 1980; it has since grown into a company employing over 100 staff in offices in New York and Toronto.

The last two years have been a whirlwind of activity for the firm, which unveiled a blockbuster list of projects in 2021. The biggest was La Samaritaine, the iconic Parisian department store that underwent a 16-year renovation and reopened last July. In London, the studio was the creative mastermind behind The Londoner at Leicester Square and Pan Pacific London, the Singapore hotel brand’s first foray into Europe.

The design firm’s rate of creation is impressive, but what’s more striking is how it can craft wildly different concepts with a sense of wit and openness. “We see design as an opportunity to shape experiences that convey moods,” say the designers. “We want people from all walks of life to enter our environments and feel something.”

Your firm aims to “design the world we want to live in”. What does that world look like, in the midst of a pandemic?