Nathan Warkentin, principal of Warkentin Associates, has found his creative calling in interior design after exploring various artistic pursuits including photography and music. Founded in 2023, his eponymous firm operates from offices in New York and Los Angeles, capturing the essence of both coasts through refined, strategic approaches to hospitality and residential design. Warkentin seamlessly integrates originality with functionality to create spaces that resonate on a deeper level.
For Warkentin, there's no clear separation between life and career. Instead of compartmentalizing, he embraces all facets of his experience, allowing everything he consumes—whether food or mass media—to eventually influence his design work. "It's the most immersive and dimensional creative process I've found," he explains. "It has a bit of everything I have done in the past, yet feels limitless."
The designer draws inspiration from his extensive research library filled with books covering various subjects, with particular favorites focusing on fashion and Japanese design. He continuously expands this collection by visiting used bookstores during travels and searching for rare finds. While some designers find the constant change in their field stressful, Warkentin thrives on variety. "Every project brings a new set of conditions: different city, different scale, different client," he notes. "What I enjoy most is the variety."
In this week's Friday Five, Warkentin shares five things that inspire and influence his creative process. First is Shiro Kuramata's "Homage to Josef Hoffmann," a piece he witnessed in person at M gallery in Hong Kong. The artwork involved Kuramata taking a Josef Hoffmann bentwood chair, wrapping it in steel wire, then setting it on fire. The wood burned away, leaving only the steel-wire silhouette like a ghost of the chair. "I love how it layers reference, materiality, and transformation," Warkentin says. "Finding the line between functional design and art object is always interesting to me."
Second on his list are 90s music and fashion magazines, particularly publications like Interview and Raygun. "There's something about it that feels so raw," he observes. "The layouts are always a little chaotic in the best way." He's particularly drawn to the small advertisements for obscure nightclubs, record shops, and galleries in New York or Los Angeles, wondering if that underground culture still exists in print today.
Third is Mexico City's Museo Tamayo, which Warkentin always visits when in the city. He appreciates the architecture's simplicity of materials, volume, and how it feels both bold and restrained. "It's really well balanced, where you can appreciate the building without it ever distracting from the art," he explains.
Fourth is the view from his window at his studio in downtown Los Angeles's Orpheum building. From his desk, he gets a front-row seat to the city's chaos and charm, observing K-Pop fans wrapping around the block, amateur photo shoots, and occasional street performers. "It's unpredictable, sometimes a little wild, but always entertaining and a welcome distraction when I am working late," he says.
Finally, Warkentin celebrates the color brown and its variations, including sienna, ochre, caramel, amber, and rust. While admitting that few kids would choose brown as their favorite color, he keeps returning to these warm neutrals for their depth, versatility, and how beautifully they age in a space. "More and more, I find myself swapping black for brown for the warmth it adds," he notes.
Warkentin's portfolio showcases his design philosophy across various projects. The Lighthouse Venice, housed in the old 1939 Venice Post Office, was reimagined as a creative campus with Bauhaus-inspired simplicity. His Echo Park Residence, designed in collaboration with Bunch Design, draws inspiration from Ray Kappe's Rustic Canyon house, emphasizing light and materiality while incorporating playful moments and unexpected color through vintage pieces and custom site-specific design.
Other notable projects include Noun Coffee and Wine in Marina del Rey, designed as an all-day spot transitioning from coffee in the morning to natural wine at night. The space embraces "eclectic comfort" with 90s coffeehouse influences and seating that feels more like a living room than a café. His personal Eagle Rock Residence demonstrates his evolving approach, where pieces are constantly moving and being swapped out from estate sales, thrift stores, and travels, ensuring the house never feels finished but constantly evolving.
