STYLE 1 MEDIA >>> DIFFA PRESENTS A TRIBUTE TO HONOR DAVID ROCKWELL

DIFFA Tribute Honors David Rockwell

IAC Building, 555 West 18th Street, NY, NY | 11.09.2011 | by Merry Esparza

Style 1 Media On November 9th, DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS honored legendary architect and designer David Rockwell for his twelve years of commitment and accomplishments as DIFFA Board Chairman. Executive Director David Sheppard welcomed guests from DIFFA's support base of design industry professionals. DIFFA Board Member, actress Whoopi Goldberg hosted the program, and HIV/AIDS Activist Mary Fisher presented an award to Mr. Rockwell. Actress Kerry Butler and composer Marc Shaiman, from Catch Me If You Can, performed a musical tribute to Mr. Rockwell, who created the scenic design for the Broadway production. (left: David Rockwell, Whoopi Goldberg)

Other notables at the event included Catch Me If You Can director Jack O'Brien, producer Margo Lion, choreographer Jerry Mitchell, and costume designer William Ivey Long. Award-winning playwrights John Guare and George C. Wolfe attended, as did theatre and film actor John Benjamin Hickey, and fashion VIP Fern Mallis.

David Rockwell has been involved with DIFFA since 1994, as a board member since 1996 and as Chairman of the Board since 2000. During that time he has developed and implemented several initiatives that resulted in major contributions to DIFFA, and has helped DIFFA maintain its position as one of the top 50 HIV/AIDS funders in the country. Outside of DIFFA, he heads the Rockwell Group, a cross-disciplinary architecture and design practice that he founded in 1984. The firm is based in New York City with a satellite office in Madrid. Notable projects include the W New York; the W Union Square; the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles; the JFK International Airport jetBlue Terminal; design for Broadway productions Hairspray and Legally Blonde; and the Grand Central Terminal renovation, which earned him the Presidential Design Award. The Rockwell Group also participates in DIFFA’s Dining by Design annual benefit, which showcases extraordinary dining environments.

Mr. Rockwell was inducted into Interior Design magazine's Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2008 the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt honored him with the National Design Award for outstanding achievement in Interior Design, and Interiors Magazine presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009, he received the Pratt Institute Legends Award, and in 2010 he was inducted into the James Beard Foundation Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America. In addition to his work with DIFFA, he serves as a board member of the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and Citymeals-on-Wheels.

Founded by Patricia Green and Larry Pond in 1984, DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS is one of the country’s largest supporters of direct care for people living with HIV/AIDS and preventive education programs for those at risk. DIFFA has mobilized the immense resources of the design community to provide more than $40 million diverse AIDS service organizations nationwide. DIFFA's supporters come from all fields of fine design and the visual arts, including: architecture, fashion design, interior design, photography and consumer product design.

For more information, please visit: DIFFA.