Prepare to Rethink Your Way of Living

An Interview with Jon Hitchcox

By Trevor Dye

John Hitchcox is an artist. His tangible product may not become a museum placeholder, nor does he have a specific medium, but his work explores the inherent human need of shelter as a form of creative expression. Analogous to the way anyone with a glimmer of insight could never simply refer to Frank Lloyd Wright as an architect and interior designer, Hitchcox’s innovations in the real estate landscape make the moniker of “Property Developer” seem immensely shortcoming.

Joining with celebrated designers Philippe Starck and Jade Jagger, Hitchcox’s newest endeavor, Yoo, unites property development and interior design to take a significant step forward in redefining the home. The inspiration was spawned as a progression from his former business, Manhattan Loft Company, which exported New York City’s loft concept to London, selling the shell – four walls and a door – to old building spaces, leaving customers the task of fitting the apartment themselves. With Yoo, Hitchcox’s focus has evolved, as he explains, “The concept is to start from the inside and work out, and really recognize it’s about your home, it’s the most expensive investment in your life and it should center around you.” The collaborations with Starck, Jagger, and more to come, are part of Yoo’s democratic push for a greater distribution of design, giving their socio-economically ranging patrons access to world-class designers in an effort to create an improved living experience. “The concept of the decorator is quite an elite thing to have, so why not provide that with the development service, i.e. you rent an apartment and you can purchase the furniture pack based on the designer’s idea of how they might lay it out,” emphasizes Hitchcox with his charismatic David Bowie meets James Bond manner.

Moving beyond the individual’s space, Yoo aims to conquer a new challenge, which is too often becoming an unavoidable effect of modern living. “My business is about building communities.” He continues, “There is a tremendous amount of urbanization happening, people are moving into cities all over the world as the population continually grows, and often the sense of the village is lost.” Yoo envisions a new way of living. “Now, villages are coming out vertically, and these vertical villages can be a great tool to bring like minded people together,” explains Hitchcox.

“An urban existence is frequently lonely for some people, I’m pro-social interaction and if we can encompass that in housing then so much the better, and that’s part of our mission as a responsible business.” By integrating lounges, complimentary breakfast, garden areas, and other common spaces, his properties take an active role in introducing neighbors, a rare occurrence in most urban housing blocks. Kayleigh Pleas, a resident of Yoo by Starck’s first New York City project, Dwell95, echoes Hitchcox sentiments, “It’s a better experience when you know the people you live around, and the use of shared space makes you much more likely to approach someone and say ‘Hey, I live here.’” If Kayleigh is to serve as any indication, the vertical village concept is a promising one, as she describes, “We met one of our neighbors just by chatting in the elevator on the way to breakfast, and now she has become a good friend and even introduced us to others tenants in the building.”

My first taste of Yoo’s vision of chic social living came as I joined a group of over a hundred hip late-twenty somethings for Dwell95’s launch party. The night was filled with invited guests, potential renters, and current residents, sipping champagne on lush couches set against grandiose flat screens in the Yoo Lounge or enjoying the warm summer’s eve on the building’s massive outdoor patio, a Starck design resembling a larger-than-life chess board, complete with five-foot sculptures of chess pieces littered throughout the space. Later, I toured the model apartments, featuring two themed Philippe Starck designs, Classic and Nature. In the Clasic model, Starck, considered by many of his peers to be one of the most influential contemporary designers, explores a swirling palate of blues, grays, and dark wood tones accentuated with more use of the surreal, including a few Alice in Wonderland style furniture accessories, such as a six-foot desk lamp and a massive framed mirror that skillfully exaggerates the kitchen by reflecting the entire space (also ideal for vain mastication, I suppose). The Nature model, featuring a tranquil blend of natural colors, soft wood tones, and organic materials, is aesthetically pleasing. To my disappointment, however, the theme is somewhat superficial, as the design wasn’t intended to be paired with any of the popular components of ecological building. Nevertheless, Hitchcox has done a great deal of environmental work (despite a bit of denial about man-made global warming) and Starck is becoming steadfast about renewable energy, so future projects are sure to be more eco-hip.

Currently, Yoo is developing 25,000 apartments valued at over ten billion dollars, many in typical settings like New York and London, with others sprouting in such unexpected locations as Tel Aviv and Munich. Looking to the future, Hitchcox, who has always retained an appreciation for the simplicity of his rural upbringing, particularly fancies an upcoming project in the United Kingdom, as he details, “We’re currently developing The Lakes, a resort project with 650 acres of lakeland, which will become a community offering rural living for urbanites, giving people who live in the city the opportunity to bring up their children in the country at the same time.” The Lakes and other projects already in motion share the similar foundation of integrity and foresight, helping Yoo to lead the way for a new style of dwelling, a new way of living.