NAME: Ronnette Riley
TITLE: Proprietor, Ronnette Riley Architects
FLOOR: 80th
CLAIM TO FAME: Award-winning architect with a private collection of 1,300 miniature buildings, including about 100 Empire States.
QUOTE: "If I'm no longer to be associated with the most famous architect, I'll be in the most famous building."

Riley has about 100 mini-replicas of the building in her office.

To clone an object of desire, start a collection.

Architect Ronnette Riley, a long-time fan of the Empire State Building, did just that 15 years ago, shortly after opening an office in a tiny space inside its tower.

Today, about 100 mini-replicas of the iconic New York skyscraper occupy several glass shelves in Riley's 3,000-square-foot office on the 80th floor of her favorite skyscraper. "I call it my three-dimensional library," says Riley whose private collection includes some 1,200 miniature models of other buildings, many gleaned on trips around the U.S. and abroad.

Among them are an exquisitely detailed brass-and-marble Kremlin and a four-inch replica of the award-winning Lipstick Building on Third Avenue and 53rd Street that Riley designed in the '80s. "When friends travel, they'll bring back a memento and, as I look at each, a name will pop up," says Riley, as the late afternoon light sprinkles gold on the miniatures. "It's better than a postcard."

From sterling silver to rubber, glass and plastic, the mini-Empire States also serve to promote the architect's business image. "I especially like the pewter ones. I had them cast by a friend in Italy to give to my clients. Only 80 exist with my firm name on the bottom."

After spending eight years in the office of John Burgee Architects with the celebrated Philip Johnson, Riley, a graduate of the Harvard School of Design, decided in 1987 to set up one of the few woman-owned architectural firms in the United States. A distinctive address, she thought, would help put her firm on the map.

"Ronnette's a difficult name to remember and I wanted clients to know where to find me," she says. "I was born in California and to me New York and this landmark are one."

With a smile, she adds: "My 4-year-old niece used to call it 'the Entire State Building' -- that says it all."

-- Claudia Carlin