Dana Arbib’s glass menagerie

Dana Arbib wants to move to a quieter, less frenzied part of New York City. But her neighbourhood – a highly mixed cross-section of downtown that straddles Little Italy and Chinatown, and is hemmed in by Soho – seems apt given who she is, what she makes and how she decorates. She is a designer whose work bridges sculpture with domestic utility, with references that traverse cultures and eras. To reach her building – a former horse stable – I had to push my way through the…