Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1152740
stay flexible and make proposals for the scope of the core sets. That continues to be the norm for Succession, and at times I feel like the production is doing improvisational stand-up, with me trying to remember to say "Yes, and" before freaking out at the last-minute changes. Somehow it works. Of the key sets, Logan's apartment was a clear choice to build. It would be a reoccurring anchor to the show, and heavily featured during the fifth episode's Thanksgiving dinner. Being at the center of the show's dramatic personae, I wanted Logan and his latest wife Marcia's esthetic to be largely classical. I looked at a lot of McKim, Mead & White architecture, but also residences belonging to families like the Bronfmans and Murdochs as reference. In the pilot, Logan and Marcia have just moved into a new apartment on Fifth Avenue across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art— billionaire's row—which was compiled out of several Manhattan locations. One of these was the Upper East Side mansion housing the Council of Foreign Relations. While I loved many of the details there, there are a few things about it I didn't like, one being that the established rooms were laid out like a giant railroad flat—three front to back. It gave great depth, but only in one direction. For the build, the elevator entrance was placed in a grand receiving foyer off the central staircase. I invented a new living room with a balcony at one end and a china pantry and service corridor to create a figure eight in the ground plan. I wanted every room to lead onto multiple others. A powder room was added as a place characters could escape to. Stage sets were drawn for the street level lobby, the penthouse's main floor, a library, and Logan and Marcia's bedroom. Generally for Succession, I want a level of improbable scale to convey the wealth of our characters. Tastemakers may debate the correctness of place setting trends this season, but in cities like New York, nothing says bloated bank accounts like overabundant space. So with 14-foot ceilings, and rooms layered to create long vistas through doorways, I hoped the sets would have the potential to create a signature statement of intent for the series. I used a lot of color control to underscore the impersonal, curated environments B C D E