Roger Thomas
The creator of “evoca-tecture”
Roger Thomas, one of the world’s most influential interior designers, is the visionary behind a series of acclaimed and much-loved resorts.
“Evoca-tecture” refers to the emotions Roger's work seeks to provoke.
Roger has been elected five times to the Architectural Digest AD100 and joined the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 2015.
“I
jumped
at an
exciting
opportunity
and
the rest
is
history."
Then: In Manhattan
Now: In Venice
Roger began his career in his own practice, focused on office interiors. The developer Steve Wynn knew Roger’s father, a Las Vegas banker, and asked him to work on an early project. “After six serious years of banks,” Roger was more than ready, as he told Architectural Digest. Roger’s work with Wynn proceeded to “reinvent” the look of Las Vegas, the New Yorker reported, “by deliberately violating every previously accepted rule of casino design.”
Splendor in southern China.
The Wynn and neighboring Encore set new standards for the industry — not just in design but in commercial success and guest acclaim. After putting his signature on Vegas, Roger designed similarly opulent resorts in Asia. A third Wynn hotel in Macau, the $4 billion Wynn Palace, opened in 2016. In 2019 Encore Boston Harbor won another round of raves. Roger then stepped aside as Wynn’s design head, and remains Wynn Resorts Executive Vice President, Design - Emeritus.
Asian opulence
Casually Italian in Boston.
Designing for hotels has not been without challenges. Beauty must go with exceptional durability — furnishings in heavily-trafficked areas must be “more durable than a radial tire,” Roger told The New Yorker. That attention to practicality is one reason The Roger Thomas Collection designs have wide appeal in other settings.
“Atmosphere
that will spark
conversations,
and perhaps
romance."
Seafood in the desert.
Classic and clubby.
So how exactly does Roger define “evoca-tecture”? As he told Elle Decor magazine: “Architecture that evokes wonderful moments in people’s lives.”
Roger is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy. In 2015 he told a school publication that the school “changed my life entirely. I realized my love for art had currency and it gave me a new sense of worth.” He holds a B.F.A. from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, and an honorary master’s degree from the Interior Design Institute.
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