Designer honored during Winter Las Vegas Market
Juan Montoya declared ‘Design Icon’ by World Market Center Las Vegas and Las Vegas Design Center
 LAS VEGAS — Feb. 4, 2010—Juan Montoya is the embodiment of excellent education, international flavor and dynamic design. Wednesday, February 3, the international design luminary was honored with one of the design industry’s highest honors: World Market Center Las Vegas’ Design Icon.
Robert Maricich, president and chief executive officer of World Market Center Las Vegas, described Montoya as “a truly inspirational designer, someone who aptly compares himself to a tailor seeking the finest materials in which to clothe the spaces in which he works.”
The annual Design Icon award honors design legends by giving them a platform from which to share their stories and inspire and educate other designers. In receiving the honor, Montoya joins the ranks of past recipients such as Vicente Wolf, Vladimir Kagan, Larry Laslo and Roger Thomas.
 “I’ve long admired Juan’s work for its drama, panache and polish,” said Roger Thomas, executive vice president of Wynn Design & Development, who attended the Design Icon presentation. “It has inspired me.”
After accepting his award, Montoya shared his thought process when beginning a new project. He said that chemistry with the client truly dictates success. “The important thing is chemistry,” he said. “If I didn’t have that chemistry with the client, there would be no project.”
Montoya truly embodies the melting pot that is America. As an immigrant and renowned designer, his work is inspired by the time he’s spent living in South America, Italy, France and, ultimately, the United States.
Born in Bogotá, Colombia, South America, Montoya studied at Universidad La Gran Colombia and then at the Parsons School for Design in New York City. He gained valuable experience doing freelance work in Milan and Paris, and went on to work for Ford and Earl Associates Inc. In 1978, he ventured out on his own. In search of a city that blended diversity with cosmopolitan flair, Montoya landed in New York.
Montoya’s portfolio is as eclectic as it is storied. He specializes in residential and commercial spaces, including but not limited to interiors, architecture and exteriors with clients both domestic and international.
Montoya’s mission, through his work, is to enhance business and the art of diplomacy. His wide-ranging cultural inspirations come from Japan, Morocco, Scandinavia and the Americas. His work expresses the true potential of eclectic design.
Montoya said his first point of order in the design process is mapping out a vision. “We start by doing very intensive programming. Programming that is related to how you (the client) live. How you (the client) understand or feel about the project.”
His goal is to translate the inner working of the client’s mind into the project, itself. “I think it is more interesting with the limitations when all of those elements the client has in his mind is a dream. One of the opening lines in my book is, ‘Give me your dreams and I will make it a reality.’ That is the process.”
One of the key elements to a creative yet functional design, said Montoya, lies in the project’s location. Is it hot or cold? Cosmopolitan, like New York, or southwestern desert, like Las Vegas?
Each work must be placed within a context, first and foremost. He said, “Every city in the world presents a different and complete set of ideas and concepts. Designers must determine how you to achieve that project and be successful.”
Montoya walked the audience through several different projects to illustrate his philosophy and demonstrate his creativity in design. He also shared how he tries to use local art or suppliers whenever possible and when he opts to use furnishings of his own design.
His first presentation involved two apartments to be combined as a luxury apartment in New York City. From the beginning, the work seemed to take on a life of its own. “The space was telling me this: that the space was going to dictate how things are going to become and how they are going to be realized.” What the space had to say managed to completely change the clients’ expectations of the project.
It’s that kind of intuition and energy that Montoya cherishes. “One of the things that I enjoy doing is creating a drama,” he said. “That drama is how I approach the space.”
Montoya’s presentation honed in on other projects, like a bridge he designed to connect two buildings located in the Dominican Republic, and shelving he devised in a French apartment where the walls were uneven.
An audience member asked Montoya when he knew he wanted to be a designer. His response: “I was five years old. I don’t think I would have made a very good waiter.”
Following the presentation, which was also translated into Spanish through the use of listening devices for interested attendees, Montoya signed copies of his second book, “Juan Montoya,” an oversized work illustrating recent projects. An enthusiastic following of designers took the opportunity to personally meet Montoya at the book signing and reception.
In addition to this honor, the designer and lecturer has received numerous accolades throughout his colorful career, including the S.M. Hexter award for Interior of the Year in 1977 and 1980, the Chicago Design Sources award for excellence in the field of residential interior design, and the Resources Council Inc. Award for furniture design. Montoya was also selected as a panel member for the National Endowment of the Arts, is consistently named in the AD Top 100 Designers. He is represented in the Interior Design Hall of Fame.
With his continued success Montoya makes it a priority to remember his roots. He believes in giving back to both his homeland and his adopted country. Montoya is currently working on a home for seniors in Colombia, as well as developing a project for Aid for AIDS in New
York. [Feb. 4, 2010]
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World Market Center Las Vegas is an integrated home and hospitality contract furnishings showroom and trade complex. The state-of-the-art campus showcases furniture, decorative accessories, gift, lighting, area rugs, home textiles and related segments, as well as the Las Vegas Design Center (LVDC), now open daily to consumers and designers. World Market Center currently hosts the biannual Las Vegas Market, the preeminent total home market. Additionally, making its debut in February 2010, INSPIREDESIGNTM at World Market Center represents a dynamic alternative for manufacturers and companies serving the hospitality design marketplace. In 2010, World Market Center will launch the inaugural Gift + Home show catering to the gift, decorative accessory and seasonal industriesalong with Vegas KidsTM which will provide youth furniture, juvenile products, toy and game, children’s books, children’s apparel and gift. Find us on Facebook and Twitter. |
