"Rocco's Return", W, New York: Fairchild Publications, October 1, 2000, ISSN0162-9115"... Tommaso Ziffer, the interior designer who worked with Polizzi Shawcross on the de Russie, says that during the $20-million renovation of the property, he lost 18 pounds ... Ziffer says his mother recalls attending dances at the de Russie when she was a teenager in the mid-Thirties ... Ziffer--who had designed the grand interiors of Valentino's Palazzo Mignanelli in Rome but had never worked on a hotel before--managed to strike a harmonious balance ... Ziffer himself designed the oversize, high-backed velvet couches in the lobby, as well as the chests coated in silvery lead leaf and the Forties-style side tables covered in black leather ..."
"Rocco's new kid on the block and other smart hotels THE SUITE", Financial Times, London: MacRae, Curtice & Co., January 1, 2007, ISSN0307-1766"The interior is the first hotel designed by architect Tommaso Ziffer, with help from Forte's sister, Olga Polizzi. He has gone for an "eclectic" modernism ..."
"Economic Polizzi", Caterer & Hotelkeeper, Features, vol. 197, no. 13, Reed Business Information Ltd., March 29, 2007, ISSN0008-7777"Her design team is surprisingly small - "one-and-a-half designers", two project managers, two assistants, and herself. A designer she uses regularly is Tommaso Ziffer, who specialises in homes, rather than hotels - which says a lot. "I rather like that approach," Polizzi says."
