THE STORY
My family history can be traced to 1577. Historical records show that last name Germanovsky is recorded as such only in later Russian language translation. Actually, the last name derives from Hermanowsky, which traces it's roots from Hermanovichy - a small homestead on the border of Poland and Ukraine, that exists to this day. It is famous for invention of a special horseshoe that allowed knights to climb rough terrains, when defending Europe from invasion. Thus the logo of our family crest carries a horseshoe.
Since than, there have always been designers in my family. Artists, Writers, Engineers. My great grandfather, for example, was a Guild Master in Ukraine. My grandfather was an airplane engineer in Poland. My father - a mechanical engineer in US, with 57 patents in shoe design.
Humbly, I must admit that with such background, I have always excelled to follow in their stead.
Following my education at CUNY, In 1997, I have entered the forefront of Tri-State Area infrastructure development. I have started my career with Walsh Lowe and Associates at Hoboken, New Jersey. My very first project was installation of telecommunication lines for the Holland Tunnel. Since than I've tried many faucets of construction industry, but Telecommunication was a hot topic in those years. I think there are at least 200 giant monopoles with antennas sticking out of Earth in New Jersey, that were placed with my AutoCAD trained hand.
At the end of the 90's, I've also met with a genuinely talented architect Anthony Scagline R.A. This guy never used a computer, but his drawings looked like masterpieces. That was how I discovered Architecture. Anthony has been a great mentor to me for decades.
Your skills don't improve until You are in a fast paced environment. This fact of life became apparent to me when I started my first day at Kenneth Park Architects on Madison Ave, in New York City. We were building out stores for famous fashion brands. When an Architectural office produces a retail outlet for a famous brand You can forget about weeknights. However, the experience is well worth it. I discovered an ability to fuse my technical knowledge with finesse of interior details in a retail store decore.
In later years, my love for retail stores have transpired into a full blown professional career that saw such names as Michael Kors, Tom Ford, Nautica, Lacoste, Kippling, and others.
None the less, I have always loved Residential design. Working with Anthony on homes and townhouses in Staten Island taught me a lot of technical knowledge and came useful in my Residental Design career.
When 2008 financial crisis happened, Retail Stores were the first to feel it. For me, Residential design knowledge came handy at that time. Most of what I survived on in those days were building violations. That's right, you may not want to invest into a new store or a building, because there is a crisis, but building violations still must be fixed and fines be paid. Helping homeowners resolve violations was the main source of income for me during the crisis. However, it was also a great learning curve. Around that time, I started a network of building violations professionals, known as BUILDVIO Team. We still collaborate on projects. You can visit BuildingViolation.com to learn more about how we can help you resolve building violations.
Moving forward, many homes came up in Brooklyn that my eyes envisioned on a dark computer screen, between 2008 and 2014.
24 Harman St, 66 Pulaski St., 255 Manhattan Avenue, 467 Monroe St., just to name a few. You can see all my drawings in my portfolio.
In 2014, I relocated to Florida, where I still pursue new projects in Residential and Retail design. While some of my first projects here were two family townhouses, my present projects have grown to private villas with over 10,000 sq.ft. in size. These projects include both construction and interior decoration aspects, and fit well with past experience.
Of course, You can move a New Yorker to Florida, but You can't get New York out of him. This is why, I still work projects in New York, also. It takes modern technology to allow planning renovation of Mulberry Street Lounge, in Meatpacking District, New York City, from my pad in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. I have the technology and the skills to do it.
So, no matter how far Your project is, we can always brainstorm ideas and rely on my years of experience and genealogical talents to help You achieve maximum potential and living pleasure with Design by Mike G.
I welcome You to attend a session with me, were we can conceive a concept and work out details of your perfect home or bestselling store.
RSVP MICHAEL GERMANOVSKY (866) 548-5069
