ALEXANDER POLAKOV has designed everything from beds for dogs to brochures for some of America’s largest corporations to web sites for architects and other design-related clients.

“I really like going back and forth between two-dimensional and three-dimensional projects,” says Mr. Polakov. “The nice thing about designing furniture is its permanence. A friend of mine recently came across a piece of furniture I designed 25 years ago at someone’s home in Connecticut, and the owners told him they’d bought it at an auction for a fairly substantial price. When you design furniture, the pieces are like your children. It was nice to hear the kids were doing OK.”

Mr. Polakov’s furniture designs have been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Metropolitan Home and New York Magazine.

He lives in New York City on the border of Soho and Little Italy, which, he says, is very inspiring, like “a bit of yesterday, today, and tomorrow all rolled into one.”

Illustration: Nick Dial

2010 SOHOCLOCKWORKS

Alexander Polakov