CA BoomV: The Plan

I arrived in Los Angeles today bright and early, ready to pack in a full day of design at CA Boom V: The West Coast Design Show. Five years ago the show set itself apart by focusing on non-traditional, modern and contemporary design and architecture and as interest in these areas have grown, so has attendance and participation. The first show boasted 4,000 attendees and 50 exhibitors. This year, organizers are anticipating over 10,000 visitors and at least 130 exhibitors. Despite the addition of well-established producers and international design names to the roster, CA Boom is still sticking to its roots and highlights from this year's show include the always popular Design + Architecture Tours, the largest grouping of prefab designers and exhibitors and cutting edge panel discussions- this year "the Four Women of Prefab" (Michelle Kaufmann, Jennifer Siegal, Rocio Romero and Allison Arieff) will discuss a variety of streamlined, eco-friendly building techniques. It runs through Sunday, but like the professional crammer that I am I plan to do it all in a mere 24 hours: scout the booths, hunt down all the folks I've been emailing with for the past few weeks, catch a round of the architecture tours, party with the pros that night, and most importantly, not get lost doing it. This is my first out-of-town assignment, and I'm flying solo. Even at home I occasionally find myself cruising into neighborhoods that mystify me, and there I'm protected from getting into true uncharted waters: how lost can you really get on a bicycle? Here I've got a Ford Focus, a full tank of gas and some questionable Map Quest directions that I scribbled on the back of some paper. Let the adventure begin.

Customized

The minibar that almost got me in trouble


Grazing in the lobby


Unfortunately, no time for a dip

Custom hearts dogs

While I was excited to join the ranks of the business traveler, I wasn't quite ready to embrace the stuffy style of the corporate class. Determined to steer clear of rolling suitcases, wrinkle-free slacks and Howard Johnsons, I tossed a little black dress and a pair of heels into my railroad-striped shoulder bag and hit the road. But it was when I checked into Custom Hotel (customhotel.com) that the ghosts of Bluetooth earpieces truly dissipated. The 12-story boutique hotel, painted a flat inky purple, stands out against the sandy-colored strip malls of surrounding the Westchester neighborhood. The lobby is a showplace of modern furniture, quirky art installations and inviting amenities, like a DJ booth and a bar serving specialty cocktails. The staff don silver neckties and pop-art-inspired circular neon pins, while the 250 rooms are designed with a wink: the stark white bedding is joined by more traditional throws that, at second look, feature portraits of dogs donning formal wear. Bt the kicker was the goodies bar—an all too tempting display that included hot pink duct tape, a balsa wood toy airplane and striped knee socks from American Apparel. Being new to jet-setting, I was all ready to load my shoulder bag with treats to take home, assuming because they weren't locked in the mini bar, that they were compliments of the hotel, but thankfully I gave the artistic postings that hung above the spread a closer look. Not free, and not at all cheap. But there was plenty of gratis eye-candy to savor throughout the rest of the hotel and it's recently opened restaurant, Bistrotek, where the fried green tomato salad was as tasty as it was good looking. Take that HoJo.

Nobody Walks in LA

After checking into my hotel and sketching out the directions to Barker Hanger at the Santa Monica Airport, I was ready for my whirlwind day of design at CA Boom. I jumped in the car, adjusted the radio and promptly got stuck in traffic. I guess I forgot about the 12-noon rush hour.

Start 'Em Young

Bouncers from Bloom


Scandinavian Child has minimalism down


Boodalee knows what kids want


Coochicoos rocker


Designs from Boon and Coochicoos hammock

If it's good enough for mom and dad, you better believe it's good enough for baby. Tiny Eames? Mini Poulsen? It seems that these days it pays for a designer to be 'small minded,' and some of the most innovative designs at this year's show were meant to be drooled on, dragged across the floor and bounced up and down on. Children's design not only had a strong presence at this year's show, but it held court at the entrance, filling an entire aisle with bent plywood see saws, Lucite bouncy seats and high-tech high chairs. Mill Valley-based Jeanice Skvaril, designer and founder modern children's bedding line, Boodalee, debuted her new mini decorative pillowsâ—the perfect compliment to her bedding, or perhaps a shrunken Knoll rocker. Scandinavian Child has perfected no frills baby furniture, and while I can picture their pieces complimenting my stainless steel kitchen appliances, I can't vouch for how excited a two year old would be about the pared down design. I'm no expert, but don't babies like garishly colorful things that make horribly annoying noises? Regardless, stylish parents are embracing the philosophy that maybe it's not all about baby. A recent NYT article about mixing design and childrearing quoted a new parent as she espoused her wisdom on the subject. She refused to mar the look of a floating walnut staircase by putting wire railings on it for her toddling child. "We couldn't bear it," she said. "It was too ugly. So basically what we did was we trained the kids to hold onto the handrail, and it's worked. No one's ever fallen off." Well then.

Around the World

Manjaca out of Paris had a fleet of lamps that made me swoon


Knoll in navy? What could be better? - A vignette from Tom Dixon Dutch design company - Moooi is headed up by Marcel Wanders. Their center-of-attention sofas are available at Twentieth in L.A.

This year a new line-up of international design brands made their CA Boom debut, including Poliform, Scavolini and Knoll. Many of my favorite offerings came from this wordly crew.

A Walk in the Woods

Stools from Cisco Home, One for my wish list: a new petite chair and ottoman from Thos. Moser, Weego Home's new clean-lined chair. It can be customized in any fabric


Francesco Gillia of Bottega Montana has created a new joinery method


Bottega Montana table and stools, Asymmetrical spindles from L.A. designers Clay and Wood

I've always got an eye out for trends. This year, pulling in right behind the baby train was wood. I know, seems kind of obvious, but set amongst all the illuminated colored resin, shiny stainless steel and synthetic and recycled composites, these natural wood pieces stood out from the crowd. Besides the handsome colors and patterns of all the different grains, it seems traditional sentiment was sneaking about at the show and these wood pieces expressed it best—from mid-century simplicity to colonial detailing to classic joinery.

Home Tours!!

I raced to meet the last shuttle of the day just seconds before it took off, and I was so glad that I made it. Not only does my voyeuristic side live for house tours, but the home of architect Stephen Kanner would be on today's tour, and there was plenty of buzz about it. Friday's tour would take us through five homes in Pacific Palisades. While the upscale neighborhood is heavy with manicured lawns, white picket fences and romantic gabled windows, our tour bus passed those homes right by in favor of the concrete cubes surrounded by rock gardens and bamboo (lots of bamboo).

Melinda Gray


The kitchen

First up was a modest two-story home by architect Melinda Gray of Gray Matter Architecture. The small lot didn't provide much space for a yard, so Melinda created generous decks on the second floor. A long picture window running parallel to the open mezzanine eliminated any view of the neighbor's unappealing roofline, while perfectly framing a mountain ridge (don't ask me which one—I've already given you the disclaimer about my map-reading skills).

Light as Air

Stanley Felderman, gracious host, Floating detail, Museum-worthy vignette


Photograph by Julius Shulman

Next up was the family home of architects Stanley Felderman and Nancy Keatinge, of Felderman Keatinge + Associates in Century City. Felderman met us out front and led the tour himself, and it was by far my favorite house. One of the first things he pointed out was that every single plane in the home was floating. No walls actually met the floor or the ceiling, and the seams of each stair were disconnected by a sliver of air—it really did add lightness to the already airy and sun-filled home. The jaw-dropping feature was the rear wall behind the main living space: It was floor-to-ceiling sliding glass, covered with a thin sheer curtain to catch the breeze. Furnishings by Verner Panton and Frank Gehry gave the home a gallery-like quality, yet it all seemed surprisingly livable for a family with two young girls. I felt validated in my love for the home when Felderman pointed out a gorgeous family photo of the four of them in the kitchen taken by Julius Shulman. Apparently, Julius and I have similar tastes...

Kanned Goods

A confession: I've recently been having mixed feelings about contemporary architecture. All the new steel and concrete towers sprouting towards the sky in San Francisco these days make me sentimental for the classic Beaux Arts buildings that surround my home in Civic Center. I worry what kind of legacy these new buildings will leave, if future generations will stare in admiration at the aluminum framed walls of glass and wonder how on earth it was accomplished (as I do with so many century-old structures in SF). The next house on the tour offered more food for thought. Architect Stephen Kanner's home was featured on one of CA Boom's earlier architecture tours a few years after it was completed in 2001. This time it was the oldest house on the tour, and I must admit that it was showing its age. The layout of the house confounded me, and the narrow hallways and divisive layout seemed to push you away from any common, well-lit areas and the circular windows and exterior powder blue tiles made it seem older that its 7 years. Granted, everyone on the bus familiar with Kanner's work had high expectations for the home. That, and the fact that it was the only one tour with no guide, made everyone leave scratching their heads. I wonder what Julius would think...

Party on, Wayne

Me and CA Boom show manager Charles Trotter, ReadyMade's MacGyver Smackdown


Barker Hangar, photo: Laurie Weirjbicki

The first CaBoom is like an old Modest Mouse Album—everyone likes to hang around the newest, biggest CaBoom and talk about how they were at the first one five years ago and how Juliette Lewis sang at the opening night party. Well, I missed that one—and the other three, but I couldn't be more excited to be here for number five. And the opening night party, while absent of the celebs rumored to have attended in years past, was still a rollicking good time. The biggest star moment I had was being introduced to Charles Trotter, show manager and one of the folks who helped launch the very first CA Boom. Charles said that the more subdued vibe is actually a plus for the participants, who benefit from a greater number of trade attendees as opposed to rowdy consumers (I'm looking at you, Juliette). Fair enough. But things got plenty rowdy anyway, with party games hosted by ReadyMade magazine, a stocked bar and an outdoor lounge outfitted with furnishings from PIE and a cozy Nomad yurt from Ecoshack. It was the perfect wrap-up to a day filed with great design, and I can't wait for next year. Because then I can tell everyone, "This is nothing compared to number five."