Jeff Corney at the Marc Jacobs party *Photos by Kari Skaflen

Who: Jeff Corney
Occupation: Architect
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park

What’s the best part of your job?
In my full-time job, I’m an architect at the Chicago firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB), and we design a lot of the high-rise condo buildings you always see going up downtown and in other cities. The most interesting part of my work at SCB is that I get to play a role in shaping the skyline of Chicago.

What’s your latest project?
My good friend from Louisville, Claire Drury, is opening a women’s boutique there in March, and all of my free time over the past few months has been devoted to designing the store’s interior. The design was inspired by photographer Slim Aarons’ famous 1950s photos of the glamorous lifestyles of the era’s wealthiest families.

What’s your favorite design style? What’s not?
I always gravitate toward spaces that convey a minimal, contemporary aesthetic that celebrates the inherent beauty of the materials used.
For instance, I really love that they left the concrete bare on
The Contemporaine building at Wells and Grand (Perkins & Will).
Architecture should be a backdrop for the people who live or work in the space. It shouldn’t distract by trying to recreate the past or
overwhelm its inhabitants with too much stuff.

What do you like most about living in Chicago?
When I first moved here and started working at SCB, I used to sit
in the conference room during meetings and I couldn’t even
concentrate because the view down Michigan Avenue was so
shockingly spectacular. My friends always made fun of me when we walked down the street because I was always looking up. There are
so many great buildings to see.

What’s your style? And, what’s the story with the Armani Suits?
My style is all about mixing affordable pieces with a few splurge items. Most of my life is spent in business casual attire at work, but on the weekends or if I have an event after work, I wear jeans with cool ties and blazers from places like Ralph Lauren and Gucci. Oh, and I think people fall into two categories when it comes to clothes: they wear black or brown.

I do also happen to have a lot—and I mean a lot—of Armani suits. It’s a funny story, actually. One day last winter I came home from work and my doorman said there was a huge box waiting for me. I hadn’t ordered anything, so I was totally curious to see what was in there. I rolled it upstairs on a dolly and ripped it open to find suit after suit from Armani, Canali, Hugo Boss…you name it! It turns out my good friend Neal Zucker, who is my style and social mentor, was downsizing his wardrobe. Lucky for me, we wear the same size!

What’s your favorite annual party?
My favorite annual parties are always the ones that are held in beautiful outdoor settings. One of the events I felt most inspired by was a party to celebrate the 50th anniversary and recent restoration of Crown Hall, which houses the architecture school at the Illinois Institute of Technology. It is a beautifully functional glass box of a building designed by Mies van der Rohe, and it’s the perfect expression of his belief that “less is more”—a quote I try to live by. I live in a Mies building in Lincoln Park, and I really connect to his architectural vision.

What is something people don’t know about you?
I was born in Billings, Montana. When I was a kid I had a freakish
obsession with Caller ID, hot tubs, and rearranging my parents’
furniture. I secretly rigged surround sound throughout their house. I was a constant prank caller. To this day, I refuse to have a microwave oven in my house. That look is over!
-Kari Skaflen