Giancarlo Valle

There are many worlds within the walls of Giancarlo Valle’s interior design studio in New York City’s Chinatown. Dollhouse-like maquettes are scattered throughout the room, fitted with tiny, curved sofas and coffee tables, pocket-sized lamps and vases, and painted screens and works of art no bigger than a postcard. These meticulously rendered miniatures represent details from Valle’s works in progress. A model for a home in rural Connecticut includes minute reproductions of the client’s extensive collection of architect-designed furniture that Valle is incorporating into the overall scheme. Nearby, sitting on a shelf between unpacked boxes, is another exquisitely detailed room representation with tiny clay icons sprinkled across the ceiling. This represents a project on pause, but...