John Storyk
John Storyk (born May 10, 1946), a registered architect and acoustician, is a founding partner (with wife and business partner Beth Walters) of Walters-Storyk Design Group. Soon to celebrate his 50th anniversary as an innovative recording studio designer, he began his career in 1968 with Electric Lady Studios for Jimi Hendrix in New York City. That studio continues to serve as a prolific catalyst for Gold & Platinum hits for stars ranging from Adele to Daft Punk and Ed Sheeran. Storyk and his WSDG associates have provided design, system integration, and construction supervision services for almost 4000 professional audio recording and video production/post-production studios, performance venues, sports, houses of worship and educational facilities. WSDG is an eleven-time winner of the prestigious TEC Award for outstanding achievement in Acoustics/Facility Design. Including, most recently, three consecutive wins: the 30th Annual (2015) for the Berklee College of Music, 160 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA.; The 31st Annual (2016) The Church Studios London for multi-Grammy & Academy Award-winning producer Paul Epworth; and the 32nd Annual (2017) Boston Symphony Orchestra Control Room. To date thirty WSDG studio design projects (including four multiple-entry nominations), have competed for TEC Awards since the event debuted in 1985. Beijing’s 55TEC Studios, WSDG’s 2018 nominee opened in May 2017 and charted nearly a dozen China Top-ten hits in its first ten months including six #1’s. WSDG maintains a staff of fifty designers and engineers, and offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Buenos Aires, Belo Horizonte, Basel, Berlin, Beijing, Barcelona, Mexico City, Mumbai, and St. Petersburg.[1]
John Storyk | |
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Storyk at work | |
Born | May 10, 1946 74) | (age
Alma mater | Princeton University |
Occupation | Architect & Principal at WSDG-Walters-Storyk Design Group |
Spouse(s) | Beth Walters |
Website | https://wsdg.com/ |
Biography
Early life and education
As an aspiring musician and architecture student at Princeton and Columbia Universities, John Storyk’s career has followed a natural pursuit of his two favorite subjects. Forty years on, his occupational inclinations have produced the design and construction of over 3500 world-class audio and video production facilities, recording studios, radio stations, corporate media and conference rooms, educational, sports and entertainment facilities, clubs, restaurants[1] and theaters. His work includes private studios for Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Whitney Houston, Bob Marley, Aerosmith, Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls, R. Kelly and the 2011 TEC Award-Winning New York City Jungle City Studios.[2]
John Storyk’s first commission after graduating from Princeton University in 1968 was for Jimi Hendrix in 1969. That studio, Electric Lady, continues to churn out hit records today in its original site in NY's Greenwich Village.[3]
Career
John Storyk’s credits range from large recording facilities in Kuala Lumpur to NY’s Jazz at Lincoln Center performance complex, Le Poisson Rouge[4] and 54 Below, to studios in Argentina, Brazil, Europe and China. He designed MJH Studios in Cranbury, NJ, scheduled to open in early 2017. His 2011 Jungle City, a $6+ million New York City‘Destination Studio’ was featured in the NY Times[5] and Vanity Fair.[6]
WSDG Broadcast facility design credits include architecture and/or audio-acoustic planning and design for CBS, WNET, Food Network, TSR Broadcasting, Geneva; UPC Broadcasting, Amsterdam; VGTRK – Public Broadcasting/Moscow; and, in partnership with ARTEC Consultants, the audio studios at Jazz at Lincoln Center, now operating as XM Broadcasting facilities. WSDG has also designed distance-learning facilities for Hunter College (New York City), the experimental Ross School in East Hampton, NY, the $6.8 million NYU James L. Dolan Recording/Teaching/Research Complex, and the recently completed Berklee Valencia and the Berklee Boston, 160 Massachusetts Avenue Music Education/Production Complex completed in 2014. Committed to the support of pro audio education, Storyk also serves as an adjunct professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.[7] In January, 2015, Berklee 160 Mass. Ave. won the 2015 TEC Award for outstanding achievement in Acoustics/Facility Design, marking WSDG's 9th TEC Award in this category. Current WSDG educational projects include major assignments for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - RPI, Concordia U, Drexel U and ICESI University in Cali, Colombia.
John Storyk is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Audio Engineering Society (AES). He is a frequent contributor to AES Convention Panels and Papers. A recipient of the AES Fellowship Award, he lectures at schools around the U.S. and has established courses in acoustics at Yale University, Columbia, NYU, Ex’Pression College, SF; Full Sail Center, Orlando; and Berklee College of Music .
Notable Projects[4]
- Jazz at Lincoln Center - New York, USA
- Synchrosound Studios - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Swiss Parliament[5] - Bern, Switzerland
- Jungle City Studios - NY, USA
- Maracana Stadium - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Mineirao Stadium - Belo Horizonte, Brazil
- Diante do Trono - Belo Horizonte, Brazil
- Circo Beat - Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Javeriana University - Bogota, Colombia
- Berklee Valencia - Valencia, Spain
- Alicia Keys - Oven Studios - New York, USA
- Jay Z Studios (Roc the Mic) - New York, USA
- Mad Oak Studios - MA, USA
- Food Network - New York, USA
- MTV - Buenos Aires, Argentina
- TV Globo - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Qatar TV - Doha, Qatar
- Zurich Airport - Zurich, Switzerland
- Faena Hotel+Universe - Buenos Aires, Argentina
- NYU - New York, USA
- Art Institute - United States
- Le Poisson Rouge - New York, USA
- Murray Arts Center - Georgia, USA
- Central Synagogue - New York, USA
- Iglesia Los Olivos - Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Circo Beat Studios in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Diante Do Trono in Belo Horizonte, Brazil
- Faena Hotel + Universe in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Food Network Master Control Room in New York, USA
- Iglesia Los Olivos in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Javeriana University - Atico - Studio A in Bogotá, Colombia
- Jungle City Studios in New York, USA
- Le Poisson Rouge in New York, USA
- Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil
- MTV TV set in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- NYU Studios in New York, USA
- Oven Studios - Alicia Keys in New York, USA
- Swiss Parliament in Basel, Switzerland
- Synchrosound - Studio A in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Zurich Airport - Exterior in Switzerland
Marriage and children
Storyk is married to his business and life partner Beth Walters. The couple raised two sons in Highland, New York and now live in Highland and the Yucatán Coast in Mexico.[6]
References
- "Metropolis Magazine: ""Would You Like Ear-Splitting Noise and Migraines With Your Order?"". Archived from the original on 11 April 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- "Sonic Scoop: Jungle City Studios shows NYC in a new light". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
- "PBS: Electric Lady Studios". PBS. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
- "WSDG Client List". Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- "Swiss Parliament Project Page on wsdg.com". Retrieved 28 January 2014.
- Daley, Dan (1999-06-01). "John Storyk: Thirty Years of Studio Design". MIX.