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DIFFA Dining By Design

New York, NY

Dining room table surrounded by dyed hanging tassels.

Event

What if the design community could find a way to raise millions for charity?

Since its founding in 1984, DIFFA has given designers in all fields the opportunity to support organizations that care for people living with HIV/AIDS and for those impacted by the disease, raising over $41 million to date.

As a member, longtime Chair Emeritus and supporter of DIFFA since 1994, David Rockwell along with Rockwell Group, have been key supporters of the design community’s memorable–and impactful–fundraisers, Dining by Design and DIFFA by Design, which gathers the design world to reimagine the traditional tablescape, and develop immersive, one-of-a-kind dining environments to raise the funds critical for DIFFA’s work.


Client
DIFFA
Project Category
Select Press
Dining room table in a completely knit environment.
In 2008, guests were invited to wear hand knit slippers in a completely knit environment.
Glowing wall behind a stove-topped table.
At the 2007 dinner, a 22-foot-long glowing wall was the backdrop for a stove-topped table. 
LAB and Roche Bobois dining table installation at DIFFA's Dining by Design.
Furniture display

Projections against a wall of mist set the mood in a dining space created by LAB and Roche Bobois. 

DIFFA dining table with a large film screen and a crystal curtain.
Hollywood inspired a ten-foot-tall film screen and glamorous crystal curtain in 2010. 
Dining area with illustrated wallpaper.
Dining area with illustrated wallpaper.

The ultimate whiteboard experience with Knoll featured drawings by artist Jon Burgerman in 2016.

Peacock-themed dining room.
2019’s tablescape was inspired by The Peacock Room, James McNeill Whistler’s masterpiece of interior decorative art.

In 2022, Dining by Design evolved into DIFFA by Design, with Rockwell Group leading the charge on its overall layout design, programming, and creative direction. The annual event continues to unite the design community in the fight against HIV/AIDS, expanding its scope and mission to feature a broad range of immersive installations that also raise critical funds for mental health and homelessness. A dynamic playground of designed environments, activations, and art installations sets the stage for the three-day fundraiser, carrying on Dining by Design’s legacy of thought-provoking, community-building experiences with a vision for a more optimistic future.

Furnished room with greenery.
Room with abstract furniture and skylight.
Room with colorful circle floor decor.