You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.

My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds.

The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that.

With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to helping

you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all put together

by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life,

check out BBC Sounds. Hello, I'm Krista Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs Archive.

For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 2008.

Music My castaway this week is one of the world's leading interior designers, John Stephanius, described as brilliant and inimitable. His work has blazed a trail since the late 1960s, with an international spread. His commissions include

everything from ski lodges in Aspen and palaces in Saudi Arabia to suites at Claridgees

and the headquarters of the Bank of England. His clients prize his eye,

originality and design wit. He says his skill is in not just looking but seeing. Brought up

among the teeming, richly-cented streets and bone-dry heat of Egypt, he became enraptured with

architecture, artefacts and the transformative power of light.

That very cosmopolitan childhood that you had, how much of an influence has it had in the way you design?

I think it gives you a much wider outlook and it makes you comfortable in different cultures.

And also, we're never quite conscious of when things kick in, but they're there.

It's developing the eye.

Let's talk about the eye.

I mean, it's a difficult thing to define.

You know, people obviously employ you because of your remarkable eye.

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