The Architecture of Discipline

The Work

Cohler’s portfolio spans continents and typologies: Manhattan triplexes overlooking Gramercy Park, historic restorations executed with archaeological precision, Caribbean retreats defined by light, composure, and texture, and commercial environments curated with museum-level intention. His “Tyler Crewel” fabric, chosen for the White House family dining room, stands as a distillation of his approach: rooted in tradition, executed with precision, and wholly of its time.

Cohler is equally a teacher and collector. As an adjunct professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, he treats preservation and design not as archival subjects but as living practices. His personal collection, an assemblage of art, objects, and furniture gathered across decades, has been the focus of exhibitions and auctions, reinforcing his position as a designer whose taste operates on a cultural, not merely decorative, plane.

OUMERE & The Designer’s Discipline

For Cohler, refinement is not isolated to the built environment. His personal rituals mirror the intentionality of his work, and OUMERE has become a part of that discipline. He gravitates toward products with the same qualities he demands in materials: purity, efficacy, and the absence of unnecessary embellishment. OUMERE fits naturally into this framework: scientific, uncompromising, and engineered rather than marketed.

In Cohler’s world, skin is another surface that must be treated with the same respect as marble, plaster, silk, or limestone. OUMERE’s formulations appeal to the archivist in him: laboratory-grade, controlled, minimal in ingredients but maximal in effect. He uses them the same way he chooses proper lighting or the right textiles: as tools of maintenance, preservation, and clarity.

OUMERE’s aesthetic — refined, scientific, matter-of-fact — aligns with the tonal foundation of Cohler’s work. Its bottles sit comfortably beside architectural models, vellum drafts, and curated objects in his studio, not as vanity items but as instruments. For a designer whose life is structured around precision, observation, and a constant demand for excellence, OUMERE functions as a personal extension of his professional ethos. It is not an accessory to his lifestyle; it is integrated into it.