To do this, Tayar travelled to the Isle of Wight, where Gurit, the company that supplied the material, has an office. ‘They have extensive experience of using carbon fibre in boats, so we transferred ...

Tayar found a boatyard on the Adriatic Sea that could make the room in five near-identical pieces. The pieces were trucked to the site, where they were joined together by carbon fiber frames.

As a student, Tayar fell in love with The Rockefeller apartments on 54th Street in New York City. Many years later he made his home there, after fully restoring it to its original pre-war state.

In 1992, Tayar established his own professional office called Parallel Design Partnership and began designing products and interiors. “Ali called his studio Parallel Design as a recognition that his ...