Meet the Team: Associate Designer Joanna Tanasescu
As the GOAT team continues to grow, our “Meet the Team” series features each one of us on the blog where you can learn more about everyone personally and professionally.
Enter Joanna, an Associate Designer at GOAT who hails from Brooklyn, New York. She attended and graduated from Parsons the New School for Design in 2013 with a BFA in Interior Architecture. Having spent much of her life in New York City, she became immersed in its building culture and familiar with its specific, often unexpected demands.
Prior to joining the team, Joannna was the interior designer at SPAN Architecture; much like her experience up to this point, the role required her integral knowledge of both the interior and architectural worlds.
Here’s how she answered our team questions:
Who is your favorite architect and/or designer?
I’ve been keen on Tadao Ando’s work since college when a friend showed me some photos of one of his staircases. At the time my architectural inclinations were far less minimalistic, but Ando’s use of concrete to create such simple, seemingly weightless spaces drew me towards his work regardless.
What would be your dream project?
I’ve always been interested in affordable housing and it was my main focus back in school. I, was for a time, also interested in historic preservation and worked with a few people who were well versed in that field and taught me invaluable information regarding it. A project integrating these two passions in some way would definitely be a dream and something to strive for. (Another alternative dream project: affordable housing for dogs).
What design trend do you hope makes a comeback?
Unsure if it ever left, but all things involving caning; architectural elements, furniture. I’m especially fond of the unison of contemporary finishes with what to me feels like a timeless material.
What topic could you give an hour-long presentation on with no preparation?
A: quicksand. B: alligators vs crocodiles.
What is your favorite local hangout?
Shamelessly Bud Rips in the Bywater, often accompanied by my dog who shamelessly demands treats while there.
If someone were visiting the city for the first time, what neighborhood would you take them to first and why?
The Marigny because it was the first neighborhood I fell in love with visiting the city years before moving here.
What’s your favorite hobby right now? What hobby have you always wanted to take up?
I wasn’t sure if this was considered a hobby but Google tells me it in fact is, so I have to admit cleaning/reorganizing everything in my life at the moment; my house, my phone, the office. It’s always been a cathartic process for me.
What’s your most used emoji?
😂
Joanna Tanasescu, Associate Designer at GOAT.