What you missed: Westweek keynote recap

Margaret Russell, Editor-in-Chief of Architectural Digest, kicked off Westweek at the Pacific Design Center with a keynote presentation in the Silver Screen theatre. The standing-room only event, drew over 400 attendees. Here is Russell with Charles Cohen, President of the PDC:







Russell discussed the latest trends in architectural and interior design photography with photographers Roger Davies (below left) and Grey Crawford (below right) offering their expertise and insight into how they capture the "right" images (hint: fresh air, sunlight and beautiful staging).







Here are some takeaways for those of us who missed it:
1. Take multiple photos of the same room from the exact same angle, on a tripod, and combine them to create perfect lighting of various elements, to show how a space looks in reality. Take a photo with the room well lit, and another in the same spot with natural light from the window window and combine in Photoshop to show the true feeling of the space.

2. Make minor changes in styling to change everything. Small changes in floral selection or pillow placement can make or break a photo. Also, books, flowers and a cashmere throw do wonders for a photo.

3. Look at the space from all different angles.

4. Watermark any image you put online. That way, any of your work that gets re-posted on blogs, pinterest, etc., will always have a small watermark in a corner, so people will easily know the image source.



Cowtan & Tout hosted a reception immediately following Russell's keynote speech. Over 200 guests paid tribute to AD's Editor-in-Chief and celebrated the admired the vibrant new Manuel Canovas collection, devoted to L'art de vivre à la francaise. Elegant designs with ravishing color and pattern provide the essence of French decorating chic. Highlights of the collection include the exuberant silk damask Charlotte, the painterly print Dara featuring Mughal warrior princes and the exotic print inspired by an antique Ikat coat called Boheme.

Here are Russell, Davies and Crawford at the reception, with the cotton-print Dara on the right:

WESTWEEK Recap - Stars of Design Awards

A perennial highlight of the Pacific Design Center's WESTWEEK is Stars of Design, which this year included the addition of Stars on the Rise. Established over a decade ago at the PDC, the Stars of Design Awards recognize the contributions and achievements of professionals in various fields of design. Stars on the Rise calls attention to new talent and identifies them as ones to watch in the future. The evening was hosted by Charles Cohen, who presented the awards on behalf of the PDC and himself.





This year's honorees were:

Stars of Design:


Luc Leestemaker ART


Regina Rubino GRAPHIC DESIGN


Roger Davies PHOTOGRAPHY


Molly Wood URBAN DESIGN


Donna Livingston INTERIOR DESIGN


Neil M. Denari ARCHITECTURE


Waldo Fernandez LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

Stars on the Rise:


Natasha Baradaran


Tracie Butler


Alexandra von Furstenberg

Wolfgang Puck's Red 7 was the venue for the by-invitation-only dinner for seventy attendees, who enjoyed a three-course dinner of salad, chicken and mushroom risotto and a Meyer lemon tart. A private viewing of "The Total Look: The Creative Collaboration Between Rudi Gernreich, Peggy Moffitt and William Claxton" at the MOCA Pacific Design Center served as the icing on the cake.


von Furstenberg and Fernandez



Livingston and Marc Appleton



John van Hamersveld, Alida Post and Fernandez



Butler and Jason Hoehn



Dinner at Red 7


To see more images from the night, check out the PDC on Facebook.

Event Spotlight: Donghia Shares Spring 2012 Textile Collections at WESTWEEK

If the Pacific Design Center's WESTWEEK Market isn't already enough to get you excited, Donghia is adding to the excitement. Andrea Rubelli, Donghia/Rubelli CEO and Carolyn Reed, Donghia Vice President of residential sales invite you to an exclusive preview of the Spring 2012 Collections from Donghia, Rubelli and Sahco.

The event takes place today, from 1-2 p.m. at the PDC's Donghia showroom in Suite G196. A reception in the showroom will follow. For more information and reservations, email Lwinterstein@Donghia.com.

WESTWEEK Buzz: Stars of Design Light Up the PDC (Part 2 of 3)

This year's WESTWEEK Stars of Design Award recipients were selected by a panel composed of industry leaders who are experts in the fields of home furnishings, architecture, and design. This distinguished panel of judges included Rose Tarlow, Wallace E. Cunningham, Jorge Pardo, Ron Flemming, Suzanne Rheinstein, Brandon Morrison, Karyn Millet, and Sean Knibb. Yesterday we began introducing you to the awarded Stars of Design. Here are more sparkling leaders of the industry.

Art nominee Luc Leestemaker was born in the Netherlands, in 1957, where his interests in art, theater, and communication led him to found an Amsterdam-based performing arts center and organize the European art collective Hart Poetry. For a number of years, he headed Leestemaker & Associates, an Amsterdam-based consulting firm specializing in the arts.

Upon moving to the United States in 1990, Luc, continuing a longstanding cultural tradition in his family, committed himself to painting full time, following in the footsteps of other European and Dutch artists—notably Willem de Kooning and Mondrian, for whom living and working in the United States inspired a dramatic creative transition. With Luc’s contemporary landscapes as a solid foundation, recent compositions, such as Voyagers and Map of the Wind, took the viewer into a new generation of abstract expressionism, in which landscape and abstraction increasingly merge.

Luc sees the role of the artist as the shaman, or the Greek priest, translating the message of the gods into worldly understood action and matter. The painter does this visually. The tragic mistake of the romantic idea of the artist is that he has lost half of this message. This has cast the artist in the eternal role of the outsider, whereas Luc believes that the role of the artist is to fill the world with spirituality and make it whole.

Many know Interior Design nominee Donna Livingston as the designer people go to when there's an idea, because she finds a way. The Los Angeles-based designer heads one of the country's top design firms, paving the way in the interior design field for more than 30 years with Donna Livingston Design. Her ability to transform both residential homes and commercial projects by layering rich textures, colors, and fabrics has placed her on Architectural Digest's Top 100 Designer list four times.

Donna’s true expertise lies in understanding the unique vision of each and every client, while carefully listening to his or her exact desires and working very closely with the client throughout the process. She intimately understands her clients and expresses their personalities through the design of their homes, down to the most precise details. To this end, Donna spends a substantial amount of time with each client during the design process—and even upon completion of the project—just to be certain that everything fits with the client and his or her unique lifestyle.

Visit GoDesignGo tomorrow to meet the remaining PDC Stars of Design during WESTWEEK.

WESTWEEK Buzz: Stars of Design Light Up the PDC (Part 1 of 3)

Each year, designers and editors travel from far and wide to attend WESTWEEK, the PDC's annual market event and Stars of Design Awards, taking place this year March 20 through March 22 in West Hollywood. While you make your way west for the exciting week, we're filling you in on the sparkling Stars of Design Award winners to be honored this year.

This year’s Stars of Design include Waldo Fernandez for Lifetime Achievement; Neil M. Denari for Architecture; Luc Leestemaker for Art; Regina Rubino for Graphic Design; Donna Livingston for Interior Design; Molly Wood for Urban Design; and Roger Davies for Photography.

Cuban-born Lifetime Achievement nominee Waldo Fernandez moved to New York City with his family as a teenager and was soon encouraged by his family to explore his passion for design and love of the arts. Soon after his studies in architecture and design and graduating from UCLA, Walter Scott hired Waldo. His set designs included furniture commissions, which caught on immediately, and gave Waldo the recognition that changed his life.

Waldo's Designs opened in 1974 and includes a staff of architectural and interior designers, and the firm sustains a wide range of celebrity clientele. For Waldo, the home is the essence of one's inner self. He believes that creating one's sense of style is very much told by the manner in which one lives.

Texas-born Architecture nominee Neil M. Denari worked as a technical intern in Paris (La Courneuve) for Aerospatiale Helicoptres (now Airbus) after studying at the University of Houston followed by Harvard University. In 1983, Neil moved to New York, where his work explored the technical and formal impact of technology on architecture. He also worked as a senior designer at James Stewart Polshek and Partners and exhibited his speculative work at numerous museums and galleries.

Neil shifted his practice to Los Angeles in 1988 and began Cor-Tex Architecture, which later became Neil M. Denari Architects (NMDA), Inc. In the late 1980s, Denari’s work began to achieve international recognition, most notably through his third-place finish in the Tokyo International Forum Competition. This launched his now 18-year association with Japan, where he has taught and lectured on a regular basis.

Check back with GoDesignGo tomorrow for more about the PDC's Stars of Design during WESTWEEK this week.

WESTWEEK Buzz: A-List Designer Panel on 'The Rise of the Rock Star Designer'

The Pacific Design Center's WESTWEEK 2012 presents The Rise of the Rock Star Designer, hosted by California Home+Design magazine.

Paparazzi, autograph-seekers and fan mail—these are not things that interior designers of 10 years ago had to deal with. But today, thanks to the proliferation of design-worshiping bloggers, the increased quality and accessibility of shelter magazines, and television programs based around the drama of picking the perfect sofa, interior designers have stepped out from behind the curtain to become rock stars in their own right.

California Home+Design executive editor Erin Feher will sit down with designs’ hottest stars, including David Bromstad (HGTV’s Color Splash), Martyn Lawrence-Bullard (Bravo’s Million Dollar Decorators), Antonio Ballatore (HGTV’s The Antonio Treatment) and Kathryn Ireland (Bravo’s Million Dollar Decorators), to discuss how fame has affected their lives, helped them build their brand and changed the way the world looks at design.

The event takes place Wednesday, March 21 at 3:30 p.m. at the PDC’s Blue Conference Center in Suite B259. A reception will follow at Andrew Martin in Suite G295. For more information, visit the PDC online.

WESTWEEK Buzz: The PDC & Architectural Digest Take Over WESTWEEK

The Pacific Design Center's WESTWEEK 2012 presents In Focus: Trends in Interiors Photography with Architectural Digest and AD editor in chief Margaret Russell.

In a concise, informative presentation, Margaret will discuss the latest trends in architectural and interior-design photography, covering widely ranging topics from how to prepare your projects for photo shoots to how to effectively promote your work both in print and online.

Celebrated photographers Roger Davies and Grey Crawford, contributors to Architectural Digest, will join Margaret for a brief Q&A, providing exclusive expert insight from the other side of the camera lens.

The event is set for Wednesday, March 21 at 10 a.m. at the PDC’s Silver Screen Theater. A reception will follow at Cowtan & Tout in Suite B647. For more information, visit the PDC online.

Meet the Designers: Joshua Rose & Rafael Kalichstein of FORM Interior Design (Part 1)

Rafael Kalichstein and Joshua Rose of FORM Interior Design were among the all-stars selected at the designer portfolio review hosted by The Editor at Large at Studio Baccarat’s Limited Engagement showroom during WESTWEEK.

We decided to learn a bit more about Joshua and Rafael's work and how they each got started.

GDG: Rafi, how did you get started in the interior design world?

RK: My interests are diverse and my educational background, similarly, is varied. I have an Associates degree in Eastern philosophy and a B.F.A. in acting from NYU's TISCH School of the Arts. Having studied Chinese medical basics as a child, I went back to school on a grant to the American University of Complimentary Medicine and somewhere in between, I modeled in Milan, worked off-Broadway, and had other small successes in an acting career!

Shortly after meeting Josh, he and I bought a house together in a beautiful location, but it was in dire need of repair. With six different flooring surfaces in its modest 1100 square feet, it was the model of disgrace! It was in the rehab that we gave the cottage that we formed FORM!

GDG: Josh, did you also find yourself in the interior design world in a roundabout way?

JR: Absolutely! When I was 16 years old, my father and I started a visual FX company and eventually dropped out of film school to run the company. When I took over the company we had eight employees and by the time I left, we had grown to over 125 employees, won two Emmys (I won one myself for my work on Star Trek Voyager!), had our work Oscar recognized on Independence Day and worked on numerous other films. After leaving, I went onto pursue writing, directing and conceptualizing.

I met Rafi while writing and directing and we had a whirlwind romance that led to a home purchase and a major budget renovation. Growing up my father was a builder and a developer and I started helping him renovate kitchens, build a deck and vault our ceilings at a young age, so the work felt very natural to me, as did working creatively with Rafi—something unexpected as I was used to being the primary creative voice! The renovation literally opened the door to us starting our own design company and FORM was born!

GDG: What has made each of you love interior design?

RK: It goes back to my childhood love of invention and building. That I can sit down with paper and pencil (or at the computer) to design a table, cabinetry, or lighting and then, through collaboration and hard work actually realize that idea... that is magic! To watch the incarnation of my thoughts and the fabrication of imagination is something truly spectacular.

JR: I love that I learn something new everyday. You touch people on such an emotional and visceral level with this work. An elderly neighbor used to shout from her window when she saw us leaving for work, ‘Go make the world a more beautiful place!’ It has always stuck with me as a great challenge, but I think we do!

Stay tuned to GoDesignGo to hear more about Rafael and Joshua of FORM Interior Design. They'll share more about who helped them along the way and which rooms they love to design most.