Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:15 — 39.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS | More

This June seventh through tenth, Convo By Design will be back at the LA Design Festival. Last year, we covered the event as a media partner. We brought you coverage from some amazing events and conversations. This year, we are going back and in addition to covering all the activities from the event at ROW Downtown LA, Convo By Design will be hosting the Audio Design Lab, an experimental space dedicated to the craft of audio design. We will be hosting conversations, testing new equipment and techniques in audio design and inviting those of you with a design story to tell to come in and tell it. If you have a design related story to tell and plan on attending the LA Design Festival, tweet @ConvoByDesign #OpenMicLADF and we will send you you time slot, you could hear your story here or on Design, Etc. the official podcast of the LA Design Festival. It is hosted by LA Design Festival co-founder, Haily Zaki and produced by yours truly and Convo By Design Studios.

Following is a conversation from the 2017 LA Design Festival called Food and Design. It covers the crossover and intersection where food and design meet and crossover. Publisher’s note: You have probably noticed that I have been shying away from panel conversations here on the podcast. That is by design and for a very good reason. My goal is for everything you hear on Convo By Design to have meaning, purpose and ultimately, to be viewed, by you as a really good use of your time. So every conversation you hear on the show is evaluated with that in mind. This conversation was both important and valuable for a number of reasons. Food, restaurant and food packaging is as important to those designers as furniture, lighting and textiles are to an interior designer. The business decisions of restauranteurs, food packaging designers and chefs is of equal importance to that of furniture manufacturers, architects and showroom operators. With that in mind, following is Food and Design.

This conversation is moderated by AIGA board member Patrick Fredericton AIGA.Org and features:

Brothecary – http://www.Brothecary.US

Take Flight Coffee – http://www.TakeFlightCoffee.com

Soylent – http://www.Soylent.com

Thank you for listening. If you like what you hear, and I hope you do. Please go to Apple Podcasts and leave us a note and a 5 star rating. It helps new listeners find the podcast. Enjoy this episode called Food and Design from the LA Design Festival.

Convo By Design – http://www.ConvoByDesign.com
#ConvoByDesign

Snyder Diamond – http://www.SnyderDiamond.com

Miele USA – http://www.MieleUSA.com

Vondom USA – http://www.Vondom.com

Music provided by Electric Sol
Artist: Electric Sol
Song: Your Love Makes Me High
www.electricsolmusic.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:22 — 25.7MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS | More

This past weekend (5/20/18) marked the closing of the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts. And it coincides with the end of our coverage as well. Following are our final three conversations. I think you will enjoy them. But first, a little bit more about the Pasadena area that you might not be aware of and how this region of Southern California has shaped the way we live and design and it’s probably not what you might be expecting. Pasadena is rich with tradition from the Tournament of Roses parade, it’s 1915 Beaux Arts City Hall and the pomp and grandeur of Colorado Boulevard. But there is a fork in the road in Pasadena. Literally, a giant fork in the road at the intersection of Pasadena and St. John Avenues. Why, who knows. It was erected by two locals with a sense of humor and sticktoitiveness when it was taken down. They got the blessing of the city, bought the insurance, paid for the permits and there it is. From a big fork in the road to living in a bubble. There is the Bubble House. Probably one of the most simple architectural masterpieces anywhere. It’s not exotic, beautiful or remarkable in any way other than in it’s ingenuity. Post World War II, returning GI’s, a blossoming economy and booming society led to a housing shortage, sound familiar? So Wallace Neff came up with an idea. Neff inflated a giant rubber balloon, covered it with wire and gunnite and removed the balloon. What remained, essentially, is an upside down swimming pool. Neff believed he had the solution to the housing crisis at the time, and planned on building over 400,000 bubble houses. Short of 3,000 ever made it and the final one resides in Pasadena. The Bubble House was home to Neff until his death in 1982. I would like to think that this idea still has merit today. An 18 foot high fork in the road and a bubble house in historical Pasadena. Who knew. Know you do.

It’s a little bittersweet that this will be the last podcast episode of the 2018 pasadena Showcase House for the Arts. This episode features Benefits Chair, Vikki Sung who is going to share historical reference and the process for participating in the project. After that s a very fun look at the treehouse on the property. You really are going o love this. Finally, we speak with one of my favorite designers, Jeanne Chung. If not familiar with Jeanne, check out her work and listen to her perspective and you’ll see why I’m such a fan. All that is coming up, but first, I want to make sure you know that you can still find all of the videos of the Pasadena Showcase AND we will continue to produce new videos and post them to the YouTube channel @ConvoByDesign, you can also go to www.ConvoByDesign.com and you will find them there as well. If you happen to find yourself on our YouTube channel or our iTunes page, please leave us a review and a 5 star rating. It helps new listeners find the show and it is very much appreciated.

Music provided by Electric Sol
Artist: Electric Sol
Song: Your Love Makes Me High
www.electricsolmusic.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:19 — 31.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS | More

Here at Convo By Design, we are dedicating another week to the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts. I have worked with this group going on three years now and they do such good work. Think about this for a moment, over 54 years producing showcase homes and raising over $23 million in the process for youth arts programs. We spoke last week about the architect on this project, Reginald Davis Johnson and the legacy he left behind, dappling Southern California with Spanish Revival projects. The city of Pasadena is a pretty special place, and while I am sure you are already familiar with Pasadena as home to the Tournament of Rose Parade, Rose Bowl, Jet Propulsion Lab, California Institute of Technology and the Norton Simon Museum, there are a few other things that might interest you.

Pasadena has a rich architectural heritage covering multiple styles by modern masters including the Batchelder House, an American Craftsman masterpiece, built in 1909. Built by Ernest A. Batchelder, known as a trailblazer in the Arts and Crafts movement and his wife, Alice Coleman. Coleman, a musician and local piano teacher. Batchelder was also a filemaker and you can find his homes dotted with his signature tiles. He actually started a factory in his back yard. This is another example of Southern California’s rich architectural heritage and the best part, you can still go see it. As you can with the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts. If you are listening to this episode in May of 2018, the house is open until the 20th. After that, as always, please go to convobydesign.com or our YouTube channel to see videos from the house.

This episode features Michael Wrusch of Michael Wrusch Designs in a stunning Family Room dripping with tech. The only room in the house that I noticed with a tv. Next we swing by the Dining Room to visit with Room At The Beach’s, Elizabeth Lamont and finally we check out the Au Pair’s Suite with Rosita Nazarian of RKN Design. Please remember, these interviews were recorded mere days before the showcase open and there is a ton going on in the background. Saws, heavy equipment and more. Thank you for listening. If you like what you hear, and I hope you do. Please go to Apple Podcasts and leave us a note and a 5 star rating. It helps new listeners find the podcast. Enjoy this episode of Convo By Design from the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts.

Music provided by Electric Sol
Artist: Electric Sol
Song: Your Love Makes Me High
www.electricsolmusic.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:26 — 22.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS | More

This week, we are going back to the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts to visit with three extremely talented designers and highlight the work they did in this years offering. To remind you about the home this year, it’s being called, “The Overlook”, originally built in 1915 for a whopping $14,000, it was home to the widowed sisters, Ruth Hargrove and Mary Emma Baker. and while it’s billed as a Mediterranean, the Spanish Revival elements are unmistakeable. And there is a very good reason for that. “The Overlook” was crafted by master architect, Reginald Davis Johnson. This is one of the architects responsible for Santa Barbara’s trademark Spanish Colonial Revivalist look. Johnson was an interesting guy. MIT educated, son of an Episcopal Bishop, LA’s first actually. He also tried his hand in modernism for a while which showed both creative bravery and laid testament to how versatile an architect he was, Johnson always went back to his trademark Spanish Colonial Revival roots. Which is how we wind up over 113 years later in Pasadena.

First up is the Living Room, designed by Designs of The Interior, Karen Shoener, Genaro Lagdameo and Carla Pardour Wening. Carla joined me in the Living Room to tell me about all three spaces the group designed including the Billiard Room and Petite Lounge. Next, you will hear from Cabana Home’s Steve Thompson in the Mezzanine and finally, from Greg Parker of Parker West Interiors in the Master Suite.

Another fun trip around this year’s Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts. Special thanks to all our designers, and of course Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts for access and all of their support. Congratulations on a wonderful job again this year and for the last 54 years, producing this event and providing over $23 million dollars to fund youth arts programs in Pasadena and surrounding communities. And of course, thank you for listening. Without you, there is no Convo By Design. If you enjoyed this episode, please go to the iTunes ratings and reviews page and leave a nice note and 5 star review. For videos of the Pasadena Showcase or many of the other stories you hear on the show, convo by design dot com is where you will find it. Talk with you next week.

www.ConvoByDesign.com

Music provided by Electric Sol
Artist: Electric Sol
Song: Your Love Makes Me High
www.electricsolmusic.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:39 — 18.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Email | TuneIn | RSS | More

Grant Kirkpatrick is one of those architects that is actively shaping the way we view Los Angeles. He, through his firm KAA both creates and re-imagines places and spaces. The firm’s mission states a devotion to warm, contemporary design. Providing solutions for modern living and at the same time, he has a love and a sense of duty to protect the structures that Southern California offers the world. Grant and I sat down at the Vondom showroom during West Week at the Pacific Design Center to talk about Southern California architecture, his Marina Del Rey offices that have already lived lives as the original Hobie Catamaran Factory and a warehouse for all of the props and set decor from Cast Away.

**Side note, can you believe that Cast Away was released in the year 2,000? In the following conversation, Grant tells me about the fact that his current offices served as the prop house if you will during filming and I thought it would be fun to reintroduce you to a past guest on Convo By Design from the 2016 WestEdge Design Fair, Rosemary Brandenburg. Brandenburg was the Set Decorator on Cast Away, a Robert Zemekis film starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Peter Von Berg and of course Wilson, the volleyball. It’s one of those Southern California stories that ties architecture and film making, seamlessly.

Back to Grant. Kirkpatrick has published a new book called California Contemporary: The Houses of Grant C. Kirkpatrick. This covers 30 years of architectural mastery in Southern California. These homes possess elements that have come to embody the California lifestyle. Architects from around the world try to emulate elements of the modern style and use of materials, not to mention the seamless flow between indoors and out. Kirkpatrick, as you might imagine, has a solid roster of celerities for whom he has designed home, including; Matt Damon, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and of course, of course, Tom Hanks. So the circle is complete. This is KAA Design’s Grant Kirkpatrick. And after Grant, Set Decorator of America member, Rosemary Brandenburg.

Music provided by Electric Sol
Artist: Electric Sol
Song: Your Love Makes Me High
www.electricsolmusic.com