Checking Out: Alec Zaballero

Would you talk about the “happy accident” that led you into architectural design?
When I joined The Rockwell Group (New York) in 1997, I wasn’t on the design track; I’d been hired for my CAD skills. But their CAD stations were on back order, so my manager said to me, “I don’t have a CAD station for you, but here’s a project I’m working on. Sketch it out.” It was a casino project in Las Vegas. The design director saw my work and pulled me onto the design team. If I’d joined the company two weeks later, my career might have been entirely different.

Was David Rockwell a huge influence on you?
David sets the tone for the entire firm. The culture there has a certain freedom of expression, a willingness to consider anything without restrictions. That’s pretty liberating, especially after a formal, technical education.

What was his legacy for you?
He had a theatrical background, so there was a deliberate theatricality about the work there. It was very experiential.

Yes, you’ve used that term: “experiential retail.” What do you mean by that?
Good retail spaces can summon the emotions of previous experiences. You can walk into a space that, for you, evokes a Vermont ski lodge. The designer is counting on your ability to perceive it, recognize it and react to it in particular ways. You may never have surfed, but you’ll recognize a surf shack when you walk into it. The point isn’t to replicate an experience; it’s to make you think of one.

What are some projects you’ve applied this to?
For the Nintendo World store in Rockefeller Center, I had to become a 14-year-old gamer, feel his virtual world and the language of gaming. For the rooftop restaurant, Birreria at Eataly, N.Y., we had to create a 30s brewery feel, to understand how a vintage brewery in the Elliot Ness/Untouchables-era looks, feels and smells, and wrap the story of this fictional, historical brewery around the space.

All very intellectual. Should you ever just go with your instincts?
Absolutely! Creative people have to rely on their experience, but also on their guts, to inform their work. Gut feelings should be listened to, they’re expressions of sub-logical thought, the working of the unconscious mind. They’re no less valid because of that. You may not be aware of it, but some part of your brain has been thinking about it.