如何在《绯闻女孩》反映了Ch公寓吗aracters Who Live There, According to the Production Designer

Hello, readers. The new “Gossip Girl” on HBO Max has been the talk of the town for over a month, welcoming fans of the OG series and introducing Gen Z-ers to thesecret lives of Manhattan’s (and now Brooklyn’s) elite. And while the show concept remains very similar to the 2007 version, the continuation is much more inclusive and diverse — not only within its characters, but also its set design.

Production designer Ola Maslik led the charge in figuring out how each of the characters’ apartments would be designed, and she crafted each space to reflect the individual who lived in it — letting their gender identities, race, and sexuality shine as a result.

“The show is much more diverse, much more inviting to everyone who essentially lives on this earth, and everyone who is watching the show so they can see themselves,” Maslik told Apartment Therapy. “It’s not for one group and one group only. It’s about race, it’s about sex, it’s about who we are or who we want to be.”

Through nostalgic props, color palettes, and art hanging on the walls, Maslik made each character’s home the ultimate escape and a reflection of themselves — something that everyone wants their home to be. Here’s everything you need to know about how she made that happen, plus how she would have designed Serena van der Woodsen’s and Blair Waldorf’s homeif they existed in the 2021 show, among other things:

Apartment Therapy: What role does home play in the new “Gossip Girl” series, and how do you project that in the interiors?

Ola Maslik:For each character, home is like a safe place. They could struggle with their parents, [but] home is something they go back to. We have Audrey, who lives on Park Avenue, and we made her home a very specific color palette and very curated. Her bedroom is full of her childhood memories. And Obie lives in a vast, beautiful loft by himself, but he loves to go back there. That’s his place. Sometimes, there are characters in different shows where your home is your enemy, but that’s not the case for this one.

AT: Zoya and her father are transplants from Buffalo, New York, and live on the Upper West Side. How did you figure out how to design that space?

OM:We wanted to make sure that Zoya’s life shows that old side of New York that’s very homey, very warm, very inviting. It’s just different. Since she’s moving into her grandmother’s house, there is very little of Zoya and her mother and father [in the space], but a lot of her grandmother who lived there for many years. But Zoya’s home is her bedroom: she’s still putting up stuff to make it more hers than her grandmother’s. We made sure there is an evolution in her bedroom because the more comfortable she is, the more stuff is appearing, and she makes it more hers.

AT: Did you at all use inspiration from the old series to create the spaces for the new characters?

OM:In terms of design, nine years ago is almost like a lifetime because of social media, the internet, and access to so many things. For me, going back and drawing inspiration wasn’t really the right thing to do. I wouldn’t serve the characters right if I were to go back because they are very different. But I admire the show for what it started and achieved.

AT: What design trends did you plant into some of the character’s spaces?

OM:Art is very important, and people are collecting art right now — they love having great pieces at home. This project needed real art supplied by curators and gallery owners, and we curated art for each character. Obie’s [loft] is a perfect example: his parents are German, and they designed this very austere, and in some sense abstract, loft based on the real inspiration. We reached out to artists of German descent, and the art tells you about their wealth, status, and taste. And for Max and his fathers, we made sure that art is from all over to highlight how worldly they are. It’s not just a picture on the wall, but it tells you another layer of the story.

We also wanted to make sure, in terms of artists, that we include all genders and races, so there isn’t art only by white privileged people. I know it’s hard to tell from just watching that we include diversity in a design, but if you start Googling, you will be like, “Oh!” We worked with a company calledCulture Corpswho helped us navigate through the sea of art and artists and be very specific with who will be in each space and create those layers. Because it’s all about layers, for me, in a design.

AT: If Serena and Blair were involved, where would they live now? And how would you design their spaces?

OM:Serena would live in a really cool, high-end contemporary loft, with a curated, very controlled color palette to highlight her beautiful personality, and then we will make sure that her views are stunning. I would put Blair on another side of the town in a place that’s much larger with a very controlled color palette, but much more architecturally complex in terms of details and period. I think they should look very different. That’s who they are. Same quality level, but vastly different.