TC Chou
Design Determination: Interior Designer, Artist & Entrepreneur
Rockefeller Residence
TC Chou is a New York-based artist, entrepreneur and interior designer with a broad range of experience from high-end residential to commercial and hospitality interiors to urban landscapes. After earning his master’s degree in advanced architecture and urban design at Columbia University, Chou worked with top interiors firms like AD100 Samuel Botero Associates before starting his own company, Design Determination, in 2012. In addition to New York, the firm has offices in Shanghai and Taipei, and works on projects worldwide.
One luxury residential project currently in the final stages is the Park Avenue apartment of Johnathan Rockefeller and his husband, Wilson Rockefeller. Prominent art collectors, the couple’s previous apartment was featured in the New York Times. designdetermination.com
Steinway Tower, Singapore client
A native of Taiwan, Chou’s design prowess and fluency in Mandarin has made him a go-to for wealthy Chinese-speaking clients. One such recent project is a 55th-floor unit in the Steinway Tower at 111 West 57th owned by a Singaporean family. “It’s a really beautiful project, a lot of custom finishes,” said Chou of the space that was featured in Architecural Digest. “We were their designer since they were first in New York, about eight years ago, an apartment on Columbus Circle overlooking Central Park,” he added. The clients only used the place part-time, but now their daughter is in college in the area, so they wanted more space.
Hasbro Theme Park in Beijing; Mark Hopkins Hotel & Posman Books
On the commercial side, one exciting project Design Determination has in the works is a theme park in Beijing for Hasbro, the company behind iconic brands like My Little Pony, Nerf and Power Rangers. Chou’s firm is designing a section called “Peppa Pig Ice and Snow World.” It’s indoors, so everything is below normal temperatures to create the snow and ice hill. “Most of the target audience are age 3 to 10, so it’s quite cute,” he said.
Chou’s team worked for over two years on an expansion of the landmarked Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco; the project was unfortunately put on hold by the pandemic.
Closer to home, Design Determination was tapped to reimagine the Presidential Suite at the Park Hyatt at 157 in Manhattan, and worked on Posman Books in Chelsea Market, which was named the Best Bookstore by NY Magazine in 2013.
Design Philosophy: Realization of Client’s Dream
Chou has a mastery of color and a connoisseur’s eye for art and furnishings, but, he insists, especially in residential design, he does not have a signature “look.” “The reason why is that it’s my client’s style,” he explains. Residential design is a lifestyle business, he believes. “The definition of a successful project for me is if I can bring it to a place that the client loves but never imagined they could have, then I succeeded. I think interior design is not just a realization of client want, it’s a realization of the client’s dream.”
Benji’s of Brooklyn
When the pandemic hit, Design Determination was in the middle of a large brownstone renovation which kept the company going as most other work dwindled. Chou decided he needed to find a way to keep his staff employed. During the downtime, he picked up painting and sketching again after a 10-year hiatus – his first love was fine arts, and his paintings have had numerous showings, including at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office.
He decided to start a greeting card business. He called a staff meeting, explained that he had enough funding for everyone to stay on the payroll, but would they work on his stationary project? “And then they started figuring out the nuts and bolts of how to put a stationary business together.”
Benji, his pet Goldendoodle, was his first sketch model, hence the name: Benji’s of Brooklyn. Benji’s has blossomed into a full-fledged business, with cards sold online and stocked at the Museum of Art & Design store and Shakespeare & Co. books. They’ve adopted technology, producing augmented reality cards, and have created an interactive AR cover for a company that obtained licensing rights for Harry Potter. They’ve also worked with Disney on a filter for the 10th anniversary of Aladdin on Broadway. benjisofbrooklyn.com
Philanthropy Projects
Chou supports various charitable organizations. Two that are especially meaningful to him are Womankind, which assists victims of domestic violence, and Wild Tomorrow Fund, focused on wildlife conservation. “The initials are WTF, which is funny,” he said. After visiting their habitat, he realized that animals have many layers of emotion. “They’re just like us. We’re just human beings, they’re just animal beings. I think all beings deserve to be respected and protected and treated fairly.” iamwomankind.org , wildtomorrow.org