“I love traditional architecture because it has proved, over and over again, that it works,” explains the Haitian-born architect Elizabeth Graziolo, who launched her own Manhattan-based practice, Yellow House Architects, last February. And she should know what works. After graduating from Cooper Union and spending a few formative years at Cicognani Kalla Architect, Graziolo clocked two decades at the AD100 firm Peter Pennoyer Architects, one of the city’s leading classicist voices, where she became a partner. Since going out on her own, she has been busy designing and overseeing a number of projects, among them a mid-rise tower on Madison Avenue, a town house on the Upper East Side, and a ground-up pavilion bar for a home in the Caribbean. Carrying a historicist torch into the present day, she aims to design in a style that is “traditional, with a modern touch.” Case in point: an apartment in the newly refreshed Woolworth Tower Residences, where she plans to update some of Cass Gilbert’s details—adapting the original medallions for the dining-room ceiling and translating façade molding inside. (She is pictured on a terrace at the iconic 1913 building.) As Graziolo reflects, traditionalism is wide-ranging, taking inspiration from everything from Moroccan riads to Japanese teahouses. “It’s all about learning,” she says. “Every project is an opportunity to learn something new.” yellowhousearchitects.com
