Office

Maria sits at her desk, surrounded by ephemera from her editorial and academic career. She has filled the apartment with Riva’s lighting and paintings, in addition to papers and artwork related to her publishing career, which allowed the photographers to capture accumulated layers of her life. “Our two practices are quite similar,” says Paleari. “We like to leave hints inside a picture, some things that perhaps the reader can see only in a second look, and so every time suggests a new understanding of the space.”

Much of the original furniture remains in the home, including wooden bookshelves set into concrete room dividers. “I find the way he resolved the corners with obtuse angles quite beautiful,” writes Maria. “He used the same detail for both the table and the bookcase. The photographers were drawn to the materials in addition to the form of the furnishings. “I love all the materials inside the house, especially those that were used by Riva to create the furniture,” says Francesco Paleari, who with Allegra Martin shot the apartment for the first time in decades for the book.

The office of Inwood Place offers a quiet reprieve from the hubbub of daily life.

Sackett Street residence by Frederick Tang Architecture

The studio is clean, modern, and airy for busy work days.