Tag Archives: Architecture

Stampd Puma Hosts Launch Party on Roosevelt Rooftop

 Grauman's Chinese Theater, Photo Romi Cortier
Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Photo Romi Cortier
Roosevelt Hotel Sign, Hollywood, Ca. Photo Romi Cortier
Roosevelt Hotel Sign, Hollywood, Ca. Photo Romi Cortier
Roosevelt Hotel rooftop view of Hollywood Boulevard, Photo Romi Cortier
Roosevelt Hotel rooftop view of Hollywood Boulevard, Photo Romi Cortier
Roosevelt Hotel Sign, Hollwyood, Ca. Photo Romi Cortier
Roosevelt Hotel Sign, Hollwyood, Ca. Photo Romi Cortier
Roosevelt Hotel Sign seen from Roosevelt Hotel Rooftop, Hollywood, Photo Romi Cortier
Roosevelt Hotel Sign seen from Roosevelt Hotel Rooftop, Hollywood, Photo Romi Cortier
PUMA STAMPD Launch Party, April 2, 2016: Ferdinand Prinz von Anhalt, Dustin Walker, Skyler Campbell, Recio Carrington Young, Guest, Romi Cortier (left to right)
STAMPD PUMA Launch Party, April 2, 2016:  Prinz Maximilian Ferdinand von Anhalt, Dustin Walker, Skyler Campbell, Recio Carrington Young, Jay Denton, Romi Cortier (left to right)

I recently attended the STAMPD PUMA launch party on the roof of Hollywood’s iconic Roosevelt Hotel. We arrived a bit late to the event and were denied access in the Lobby, as the party was at full capacity. We texted our host on the roof to pull some strings… her suggestion: take the stairs. Climb thirteen floors,  in leather pants and boots?  Well, ok. We ducked into one of those doors labelled ‘EXIT only’, with cameras everywhere. Up and and up we went. Would security stop us half way up, or worse yet, at the very top? Of course the door to the roof was locked, but 2 texts later our host gave us entry, and there was no security to kick us out. We’d made it!

The view from the roof was so spectacular. Looking down on Hollywood boulevard from such an amazing vantage point and seeing the world famous Mann’s Chinese Theater made me giddy. Of course, it makes sense, this is where  so many of those vintage photos of Hollywood had been taken. Having a cocktail under the splashy neon sign was also super cool. And to be honest, probably my favorite thing about the party…. that, and meeting Ferdinand.  No, I’d never seen Bravo’s Millionaire Matchmaker, so I wasn’t familiar with his quest to find a bride. He just seemed like a cool guy from Europe with an interesting story. Eventually the name of his dad and step mom came up: Frederic Prinz von Anhalt and Zsa Zsa Gabor. He’s also a lawyer and realtor, who’s also in the process of shooting a reality show. This is what makes Hollywood, well, Hollywood.

There were also plenty of gorgeous young people at the party, of which none looked familiar. And where was the product placement? Shouldn’t there be some kick-ass shoes on display somewhere? I’m guessing the party was way to cool for that, or I’d just arrived a bit to late. Whatever the case, those folks we’d seen lined up downstairs in the lobby an hour ago were finally being allowed upstairs, a sign that it was time to wrap things up and head out. Bougie, me? Maybe just a little.

Frank Gehry Architectural Models @ LACMA

Frank Gehry at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Photo Romi Cortier
Frank Gehry Model, LACMA,, Photo Romi Cortier
rank Gehry Model, Prospect Place at Battersea Power Station, 2013 - present, LACMA, Photo Romi Cortier
Frank Gehry Model, Prospect Place at Battersea Power Station, 2013 ,  LACMA, Photo Romi Cortier
Frank Gehry Model, Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial, 2009, Photo Romi Cortier
Frank Gehry Model, Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial, 2009, LACMA,  Photo Romi Cortier
Frank Gehry Model, 8150 Sunset, West Hollywood, 2015, Photo Romi Cortier
Frank Gehry Model, 8150 Sunset, West Hollywood, 2015, LACMA, Photo Romi Cortier
Frank Gehry Model, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, 2006, LACMA, Photo Romi Cortier
Frank Gehry Model, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, 2006, LACMA, Photo Romi Cortier
Frank Gehry Model, Beach House, 2014, LACMA, Photo Romi Cortier
Frank Gehry Model, Beach House, 2014, LACMA, Photo Romi Cortier
Frank Gehry Model, Experience Music Project, LACMA, Photo Romi Cortier
Frank Gehry Model, Experience Music Project, Seattle, LACMA, Photo Romi Cortier
Frank Gehry Model, LACMA, Photo Romi Cortier
Frank Gehry Model, LACMA, Photo Romi Cortier

Frank Gehry just wrapped up a remarkable exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I managed to squeeze in the day before it closed and was wowed beyond belief. I found myself feeling completely giddy, like a grown kid in a candy store.  I absolutely wanted to touch everything and feel all of those amazing textures under my fingers, but I refrained.

Having built architectural models during my interior design studies at UCLA, I have a tremendous respect for what it takes to create these massive pieces by hand. It’s an art form, in and of itself.  Looking at Gehry’s six decades of models, you can see both the evolution of his work, as well as the  evolution in the types of materials used.  I love how crumpled up green and red construction paper was used to represent trees. Foam core, balsa wood and sheets of plastic were also used in increasingly sophisticated ways as the exhibit evolved. And Seattle’s Experience Music Project was a stunning replica of the original, with exterior high gloss paint used as a nod to the guitars of famous musicians.

While walking through such a large scale exhibit, it proves the point that only so much computer rendering can be done to see how a proposed building will fit into its surroundings. With an actual built model, you can walk around it and see it from multiple points of view. As light shifts, nuances in the structure will reveal itself.  This will allow the architect and his team to make observations, and then make adjustments prior to the start of construction. This is very relevant when millions of dollars are at stake. I’m guessing that many of these models were made after some of the buildings were built. That said, there were several architectural models created for structures that were never built. This would at least give their design team a sense of satisfaction to see their concept realized in some form. It also works as a fantastic selling point when making presentations to communities that might be unsure of the need for a ‘Gehry’ building in their neighborhood.

Below is one of the models I made for my Drawing and Drafting class at UCLA. I was so excited about what I’d created on paper, that I simply had to build a scale model to present to our final class. I don’t think it was in any way required, I was just so enthusiastic  that I built it. You should have seen the look on the other students faces when I walked into class that day. Yep, I got an A+ for my extra effort.  Not an easy feat for a UCLA design class.  #Winning

Scale Model built by Romi Cortier for Interior Design Studies at UCLA. Photo Romi Cortier
Scale Model built by Romi Cortier for Interior Design Studies at UCLA. Photo Romi Cortier

Mondrian Inspired in Playa Vista

Mondrian in Marina del Rey, Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Playa Vista, Ca. Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Marina del Rey, Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Playa Vista, Ca.  Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Marina del Rey, Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Playa Vista, Ca.  Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Marina del Rey, Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Playa Vista, Ca. Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Marina del Ray, Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Playa Vista, Ca. Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Marina del Rey, Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Playa Vista,Ca.  Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Marina del Rey, Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Playa Vista, Ca.  Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Marina del Rey, Photo Romi Cortier
Mondrian in Playa Vista, Ca. Photo Romi Cortier

These Mondrian inspired townhomes in Playa Vista have been around since 2008. I wrote about them on my previous blog and thought it would be a blast to go back and revisit them. Overall they’ve held up incredibly well. There’s a bit of fading to the primary and secondary colors on the south side of the complex, which has me asking myself, who’s in charge of freshening things up? I hope the developer who created these 16 units gave a list of the proper colors to the HOA to be used for repairs and maintenance. One wrong swoop of color, and the overall gestalt of these homes would be ruined.

The lushness of the landscaping thats grown in over the years looks so pristine. It makes me wonder how Piet Mondrian would feel about his two dimensional paintings being turned into 3-D living environments. Known as De Stijl, (Dutch for The Style) this artistic movement began in Amsterdam in 1917, and is fast approaching it’s 100th birthday. I had the good fortune of going to see the Mondrian / De Stijl exhibit in Paris at the Centre Pompidou in 2011.  It was a fantastic survey of the period and included paintings, furniture, and building models.  There weren’t any photos allowed in the exhibit, but I did sneak in my digital video camera, shooting gorilla style from under the overcoat I was holding in my arms. The images aren’t the best, but it’s still so fun to look back at the footage occasionally and re-live the exhibit.  I have a feeling I’ll need to find a way to turn this artistic movement into a future DIY Youtube video.

Romi Cortier, Center Pompideu, Paris, Photo T. Zeleny
Romi Cortier, Center Pompidou, Paris, Photo T. Zeleny

Below is an image of a home model, known as the Rietveld Schroder House,  that I photographed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art a couple of years ago. Also known as the Schroder House, it was built in 1924 by Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld in the town of Utrecht.  Mrs. Truus Schroder – Schrader, who commissioned the home, lived in it until her death in 1985.  There are several famous pieces of furniture that were designed for this house, including the Red Blue Chair, that I’ll share in my next blog post.

Schroder House Model, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Photo Romi Cortier
Schroder House Model, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Photo Romi Cortier

If you’re going to Utrecht, Netherlands, you can actually visit the original home run by the Centraal Museum.

Oh, and back to those homes in Playa Vista… they range in size from 2,062 – 2,630 square feet. Originally they were priced at $1 million and up. I remember walking through one of the original models while they were under construction and I thought, wouldn’t it be fantastic to design the interiors with period furniture and and other modern pieces by Le Corbusier.  Sadly, who ever designed the interiors didn’t get the memo, instead choosing zebra carpet and mid-century furnishings as can be seen by an old article on Curbed LA. Click HERE if you’d like to see the design disaster… view at your own risk, as your retinas may never be the same again.

Amazon’s Doppler Tower is on point with vertical texture, rivaling other Seattle Skyscrapers

Olive 8, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Olive 8, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Olive 8, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Olive 8, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Olive 8, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Olive 8, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Premiere on Pine, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Premiere on Pine, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Amazon, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Amazon’s Doppler, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Amazon, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Amazon’s Doppler, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Amazon, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Amazon’s Doppler, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Amazon, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier
Amazon’s Doppler, Seattle, Photo Romi Cortier

On my recent visit to Seattle I couldn’t help but notice  the vertical texture on several of the new skyscrapers, including Amazon’s Doppler Tower. I’d walked out the door of the Westin Hotel looking for a bite to eat, and was completely wowed by what I saw. There’s been so much construction in Seattle since my last visit some five years ago.

What I loved about Amazons Doppler Tower is how the vertical metal bands were mounted perpendicular to the building, shimmering in the light as you walked by. Therefore, the colors changed as you moved past the building like iridescent fish scales. There was an ebb and flow to the tonality of building, looking more red at the top, and yellow orange towards the bottom. I’ve done a ton of research on this tower and can find no reference to the textural surface employed by architectural firm NBBJ. Opened in December of 2015, the three block campus is on track to receive LEED Gold certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).  One of the unseen design concepts that makes this building so efficient is their use of waste heat from nearby data centers at the Westin Hotel.  The system transfers  heat via water piped underground to the Amazon campus, thus heating the buildings. The cooled water is then piped back to the Westin. Oh, and did I mention that have a dog park on top of one of the towers… they do.

Olive 8, a mixed-use building that includes both condos and a Hyatt Hotel, opened in 2009 and was designed to reach LEED Silver certification.  While it’s known as Seattle’s greenest luxury hotel, I love it for those deep blue glass fins lining the buildings exterior. When Seattle is at its grayest, a little reflected blue light can’t be a bad thing.

Premiere on Pine is also Leed Silver certified and boasts 40 stories of downtown luxury living. Built by Weber Thompson it features an exterior design palette that is a tad more traditional with tones of  earthy rust, gray and bronze, designed to compliment the vintage masonry of of the adjacent 1929 Paramount Theater.

I’m so looking forward to my next visit to Seattle. By then Amazon’s Tower II should be complete, and by 2017 their three sphere bio-domes will be the talk of the town. Amazon’s new corporate headquarters are making quite the splash in the Emerald City.

Premier on Pine

Olive 8 Condos 

Olive 8 Hyatt

 

Inside the Seattle Public Library

The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier
The Seattle Public Library, Photo Romi Cortier

Its been open for 12 years and the Seattle Public Library still thrills. Designed by Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus of the Dutch firm OMA/LMN,  this public space attracts nearly 2 million people annually.

Initially the 11 story structure was hailed as ‘the most important new library to be built in generations, and the most exhilarating‘ as declared by The New Yorker, and it received the 2005 national AIA Honor Award for Architecture. More recently Lawrence Cheek, architecture critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, revisited the library in 2007 and changed his previous high praise for the building calling it ‘profoundly dreary and depressing, cheaply finished or dysfunctional, relentlessly monotonous, badly designed and cheesily detailed‘.  Wow. I find this building to be a refreshing blast of color in a town that can be remarkably drab and dreary, rivaled only by the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum at the foot of the Seattle Space Needle. Having lived in Seattle for over a decade, I know how truly depressing those gray skies can be and how devoid of color the Seattle landscape can be during the winter.  This public space is exactly what Seattle needs, and continues to be a vital resource for the community, especially the increasing homeless population.

One of my favorite features of this building is the translucent metal and glass skin that allows for views of the puget sound and surrounding  buildings. The use of perforated metal within the glass panels act as reflecting agents, reducing the damaging effects of the sun on the interior, while also preventing the building from overheating and becoming a glass terrarium. I also love the bold use of color which makes me think of childhood books and the basic building blocks of learning. And that red hallway! Have you ever seen anything like it? It’s like traveling through an Aorta to the heart of the building.

In 2001 Rem Koolhaas submitted stunning plans to LACMA during their competition to find an architect to ‘re-invision’ the museums discordant sprawling buildings.  At the time, it was to sophisticated for my taste, and I felt like the demolition of all the  existing buildings was a  waste of natural resources, not to mention money,  which I felt could be better spent on arts programs. Now, with their looming choice for a big black blob meant to emulate the La Brea Tarpits meandering over Wilshire boulevard, I’d give anything to have Koolhass reconsidered. Why on earth would LA want a massive black structure to absorb more heat, as global warming heats up our environment. We’re already experiencing 90 degree weather in February! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what a disaster that would be.

My opinions aside, the next time you visit Seattle, be sure to add the Seattle Public Library to your ‘to do’ list, and decide for yourself: dreary and depressing, or fireworks for your pupils?

Hours and Info here.