Last week, New York magazine rolled out a special design issue, spotlighting nine revolutionaries who, according David Colman in the feature’s introduction, “changed—and are still changing—the way we look at our world.” Catering to a Manhattan-centric readership, the magazine’s pantheon includes only NYC-based designers: glossy-mag guru Fabian Baron, Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, (an Upper East Sider for more than three years now), multitalented duo Massimo and Lella Vignelli, ceramic maven Eva Zeisel and one-woman omnimedia company Martha Stewart among them. Sure, these individuals can be labeled as “New Yorkers,” but their ubiquitous designs (Calvin Klein ads, sleek ceramics, Bloomingdale's signs or no-lint Kmart towels) can't be pinned to a home town. With such a wide sphere of influence, isn't it funny to think that all of these designers might share one pithy area code?
