Meeting Mario

The day we met Mario Buatta, he arrived at our mother’s apartment for a photo shoot with Architectural Digest complaining of indigestion.  Mother, concerned for his well being, quickly offered some Tums or Alka Seltzer which he declined. Mario then proceeded to shut himself in her tiny bathroom for quite some time, alarming our mother even more.  When he finally emerged, he took a seat on her couch and proceeded to pass gas during the entire interview.  Needless to say, our mother (who is a lady and has only raised daughters) was speechless…  until Mario stood up and removed a whoopee cushion!

Everyone who knows Mario knows he’s a prankster, that he loves bad puns and will have you laughing on the floor if he had his way.  While he’s New York born and bred, his glamorous interiors span the globe and still, he remains down to earth even after being so much in the public eye.  We’ve been fortunate to work with him on several projects, including a Regency-style library which he did for the Kips Bay Showhouse in 2006.

His fifty year career is now being celebrated in a new book to be released next Tuesday by Rizzoli.  With 432 pages of beautiful design, this tome is destined to be a classic and not the least bit “chintzy” (pardon the bad pun!)

Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6