James Tigerman likes to design space. He is especially intrigued by spaces that others would consider problematic. In the early ’90s, he renovated the service building of a North Shore estate, transforming guest quarters and stables into offices and a residence suitable for display of his museum-quality art collection. Recently, he reconfigured the developer’s office of a West Loop conversion into a commodious three-story loft.
Tigerman’s firm, Big Plan Co., specializes in design and property development. “I assess what is appropriate for a space and, more important than that, what is appropriate for a client’s needs in their space,” he says. “I focus on making people’s lives within their living environment easier, more stimulating and more rejuvenating.”
In his own home he has achieved just that. “I walked in and loved the volume of the space because it does have a wonderful combination of big open space as well as more intimate space,” he explains. Equally attractive were the good-sized walls, which allowed him to hang art that had never been hung before.
Finding the original floor plan “impossible,” he “ripped it apart and in putting it back together paid a lot of attention to the nature of the space itself . . . a true loft.”
“Because it has these wonderful timbers that had been sandblasted, I used a lot of fairly rough materials and then contrasted them with highly refined materials to heighten the textures against each other,” he notes.
Entering the former layout, visitors found themselves in the kitchen. “There was no sense of space to welcome you–you were right away into a utilitarian space,” says Tigerman, who is a first cousin once removed of Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman. He moved the kitchen farther into the interior and in its place built a curved wall to create an entry hall.
Here guests are introduced to Tigerman’s art collection, which includes Chinese furniture, Chinese and Japanese textiles and costumes, Chinese scholar’s objects, early Chinese stucco sculpture and 20th Century paintings.
A two-story living/dining room offers a dramatic backdrop for several large works of art. A pair of David “Buzz” Macerelli canvases accent an arrangement of primarily Chinese furnishings. In one corner stands a massive early 19th Century Chinese ice chest, probably created for use by an upper civil official’s family because of its monumental size and the quality of the brass work that bands it. Two translucent spinach jade bowls, a white jade saucer with unusual enameling and a Mongolian stand of burl wood appoint the chest.
A collection of Chinese scholar’s rocks and brush rests on a Chinese games table in the other corner. The deep, down-filled couch designed by Tigerman is upholstered in golden chenille. Tigerman created a coffee table by mounting a Chinese wooden window screen on an iron base. Two pairs of Chinese chairs provide additional seating. A vibrant 19th Century Oushak carpet adds color.
Nearby, five Chinese stucco heads dating from the 4th to the 16th Centuries sit atop tall black iron pyramidal pedestals fashioned to approximate their original design height.
The kitchen is a study in contrasts. Tigerman faced the cabinets with limestone and juxtaposed these very natural surfaces with countertops of highly polished Brazilian granite and stainless steel shelving. He filled the shelves with scholar’s objects ranging from brush pots and brush rests to brushes, fly whisks and lacquered boxes.
Tigerman installed a staircase in an old elevator shaft, leaving the raw brick walls intact. On the landing are a pair of 16th Century panels from a wall in China with scattered irregular patches of gold leaf and subtle figures scattered across the red lacquered surface. He built a catwalk connecting the new stairs to the existing mezzanine and floated three summer robes from the last Dowager Empress’ Court along that wall.
On the lower level, Tigerman built a long, curving wall to give definition to what had been large, open space. In doing so, he not only framed a library and the master bedroom, but also created additional display space for smaller works of art.
All this makes for a visually exciting yet totally hospitable refuge for Tigerman.
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RESOURCES: Library (pictured on Contents page): 19th Century Chinese lantern and round lacquered table–personal collection; Aeron chairs–Herman Miller Inc., Merchandise Mart; “book boxes” of ji-chi-mu wood (chicken wing wood)–designed by James Tigerman, produced by Pagoda Red, Chicago, made in China; 19th Century compound cupboards from China–personal collection. Main living space: collection of early Chinese stucco heads–J.J. Lally & Co., New York, and Gerard Hawthorn Ltd., London; Chinese chairs–personal collection; Chinese lattice coffee table–Pagoda Red, Chicago; Chinese zitan wood display stands–Chambers Fine Arts, New York; Chinese Imperial robes–Jon Eric Riis, Atlanta; Japanese textiles–Christie’s, London; pair of Chinese carved camphor wood panels–Pagoda Red. Master bedroom: stucco Buddha head–Priestly & Ferraro, London; pair of 17th Century huang hua li horseshoe form armchairs and side table–personal collection; David “Buzz” Macerelli painting–bought from artist, Pittsburgh; leather bed and linens–Ralph Lauren, Chicago; stucco mythological creature–Sotheby’s, Chicago; Chinese 19th Century altar coffer–personal collection; 19th Century English Chinoiserie blanket chest–Sotheby’s, Chicago; Bernice table lamp–Lightology, Chicago. Bathroom: limestone tile–Materials Marketing, Chicago; 18th Century Chinese wood carving–Nicholas Grindley, London; mirror–Restoration Hardware; single-piece sink bowl and countertop–K & B Galleries Ltd., Merchandise Mart. Guest bedroom: Chinese carved guardian figure–Butterfield & Butterfield, San Francisco; early 18th Century concubine’s bed–personal collection; pair of Canton embroidered panels–Linda Wigglesworth, London; pair of Chinese felt shoes–Tianjin Market, Tianjin, China.
