Tonight it's all about the Oscars out in LA, but even interior designers have their place in the sun. For the past 7 years, Architectural Digest has chosen a notable designer to do the "green room," you know the place where all the stars hang out before walking on stage. While you and I may never see this room, the biggies sure do, so it's an honor of sorts. This year Stephen Shadley got the job and the pic up top shows you his work. It's really different than Carleton Varney's green room last year....
Both designers were chosen because they are on Architectural Digest's AD 100, a list of "the top architects and interior designers" (who have been in AD). This is much more of a list only our parents would love, but it's interesting just the same.
We thought it would be fun to give you a little info about this annual bit of showbiz interior design and see what you thought. Are either of these hot to you?
About Stephen Shadley's room:
Inspired by Hollywood film sets of the period, Shadley has chosen a "Seventies Modern" design for the AD Greenroom. Of his approach and its connection to the biggest movie event of the year, Stephen says, “I grew up in L.A. and was always fascinated with motion picture set design, especially modern themes. Recently, furnishings from the seventies have become collectible and many classics reissued. It's a simple and sleek approach to living without a lot of extra stuff.” * [more below].
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Carleton Varney's 2008 Green Room
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* FACT SHEET on Stephen Shadley's Green Room:
For the first time, this year’s Architectural Digest Greenroom expanded to include a new garden-inspired space that actually sits on the loading dock … though you’d never know! With the new room, the space is now 920 square feet in size!
Principal furniture was found through Baker, including…
* A custom sofa that is 11 feet in length, reminiscent of the 70’s stretch style
* Garden seats from a new collection that recreates works by the legendary Los Angeles design icon Tony Duquette
* A vintage brass and lacquered table circa 1960
Where are we? A panoramic sweep of Los Angeles-at-night from atop Mulholland Drive sets room’s the glamorous mood. The vista includes 20th Century Fox, the movie studio where Shadley began his career as a scenic artist.
A custom quartz bar is built into the room, created with CaesarStone’s Concetto in hematite, a natural stone with black-and-silver deposits imported from Israel. In total, the bar weighs 1,100 pounds! It will take a crew of 8 and a forklift to put it in the AD Greenroom.
Fitting for the theme, the area rug is dubbed Mama Mia: an updated take on the shag rug by Karastan. The rug is crafted from SmartStrand 3GT Sorona, a new generation of carpet fiber engineered for outstanding stain resistance with softness.
The wallcovering is actually a favorite silk fabric of Shadley’s found at Kneedler|Fauchere Imports that has been paper-backed for wall usage.
Shadley shopped around town for vintage furniture and accessories, using rare antique dealers such as Fat Chance, NOHO Modern and Outside Downtown.
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since it's a temporary space to get ready for the stage, I shouldn't be so picky. But really, this place just reeks of the emptiness & anonymity of hotel culture. it tries to look comfortable but really is just vacuous. at least the design of the year before stands out with its postmodern playfulness. this year's does absolutely nothing, nada, zip, zilch, zero. i wonder how much it cost to create nothing.
I think both would benefit a lot from a Brad Pitt shaped focal point :)
Generic, vanilla, model home looking, nothing about seems interesting or reflecting the sign of the times.
Just because you are a designer featured in AD does not mean your talented, I dislike most of the interiors in that magazine occasionally they will feature a nice architectural home that might be interesting.
timmy jr. hit the nail on the head -- it's vacuous.
And it is much more Eighties Rich -- it looks nothing like "Seventies Modern". Having actually lived through the seventies, I find the claim ridiculous.
was this piece written very late at night?
ya um i'll third that. what happened when you were writin this piece like totally ya know...biggies biz are these hot to you...are they hot huh are they
no.
Imagining the celebrities sitting back there waiting to go out on stage, possibly nervous with anticipation, or just com ing back there, hyped up from winning and overwhelmed by paps asking questions, my feelings are: last years space makes me feel tense and uncomfortable. This years space make me feel bored and pretencious.
I think the top one would be a lot better if there wasn't so much symmetry going on.
The bottom one is pretty much hopeless.
Oh dear.
Yes, it kind of looks like a hotel or something. But it's not supposed to look personal because it's not in someone's living room. It is a space that is supposed to be calming and comfortable. I think it works.
Now, last year's room is hot-- a hot mess!
I have to agree with the posters who think the top room is a little bland. Now the bottom is totally the opposite, reminds me of something out of a cartoon. What were they thinking?
Sure, the top one might be a bit bland and hotel-ish, but if I were a nervous celebrity I would find it far more comfortable and calming than the bottom one, which would darn near trigger a migraine especially if I were already all keyed up. Looking like a waiting room isn't such a bad thing for a waiting room, after all.
last year's room looks like a the waiting room to enter hell. It's wrong, completely wrong.
This year's room looks warm and comfortable to me. For a one night thing, I think it does it's job.
Elegant, serene and understated. The perfect oasis to escape to during a very hectic evening. Anything more would have not only defeated the purpose of a calm, well appointed space but more importantly, competed with the enormous window framing downtown. A designer worth his salt knows that no interior can nor should compete with a view that dramatic.
Nicely done, Stephen. You truly are a master of your craft.
This year's green room looks like many high-end condos I have been in in Los Angeles. It's sophisticated without being glitzy. It would look familiar to anyone who moves in those circles -- and yes, it does have an older, more established vibe. The lighting is good, and the colors are flattering and attractive without competing with the finery of the people who would be using this as a waiting room. I think it's a success. But the Varney room from last year is like a pizza dream. Absolutely hideous.
Icky hotel room.
And I don't like last years either!
I'm thinking with heels and trains on dresses, the shag carpet is a big mistake.
Carlton Varney is a laughingstock!
calm and serene are exactly what this waiting room should feel like, this room is a success and the furniture and fabrics look plush and luxurious.
And the pages of AD have more architectural genius than any other mag or blog out there - you don't have to love all of it to recognize the beauty and complexity.
I enjoy both rooms for exactly what they are.
They're not intended to be personal, homey or even that practical: They're temporary spaces that are created to make the occupants feel welcomed, special and comfortable - rather like a VIP room in a club, a private dining room in a restaurant, a suite in a hotel or a concierge lounge aboard a ship.
Both hot in their own ways. And Stephen Shadley pretty much always kicks ass.
And both rooms address the dressed-to-the-nines occupants of the room... either make the room as equal a statement, or let the room take an elegant back seat. Both are viable solutions to the creative brief for these temporary spaces.
But another function of these rooms is to showcase a designer's signature style to a (mostly) very wealthy clientele, and to have the designer's name associated with "Oscar," which is important cachet to (most) of the visitors to this room.
I imagine that the design emphasis is on keeping everyone calm and focused. The people who use this room are, after all, working. The last thing anyone would want to do is to add a whole lot of visual jingle jangle right before some high strung actor with sweaty palms was about to face a live television audience of a billion.
I voted "hot" on the 2009 green room, but have to say that those wood slatted stools seem really impractical. If I was a celebrity wearing an expensive and delicate evening gown with silk, sequins, or mesh, why would I want to put my tush on something that might snag, get caught on, or otherwise be so uncomfortable?