BRINGING SEXY BACK
Johnston Marklee was already one of the hippest architecture firms in LA. But now they’ve catapulted several spots up the ranks. How, you ask? By designing new stores for Justin Timberlake’s clothing brand, William Rast, that’s how. The firm has already designed pop-up stores in London, Paris, and New York (to a chorus of screaming girls when Timberlake came by) and is designing more in Palm Springs and San Jose. And in November, the firm will open the brand’s flagship store in the Century City Westfield Mall. The architects haven’t met Timberlake yet, but will finally see him at the Century City opening. “I hear he’s very nice,” said principal Sharon Johnston, coyly concealing any desire to start screaming and desperately trying to rock JT’s body, as she darn well should.
GERBIL CHATEAU
Speaking of important celebrity news, we hear from the most reliable gossip source we know, Britain’s Sun, that architecture fanatic Brad Pitt spent $82,000 building a house and racetrack for his kids’ gerbils at his estate in the south of France. According to the authoritative story, the complex includes “a maze of tunnels, seesaws and platforms.” French gerbils. Brad Pitt. A racetrack. Mon dieu. We can’t make this stuff up.
HOME TOUR HICCUPS
AIA home tours are always an adventure, but rarely do they produce as much drama as the AIA SF’s fall home tour did in September. First, SB Architects’ Alabama Street residence ran out of money just prior to finishing up, so the firm reportedly worked out a deal with furniture store Room & Board, producing a staged effect that looked more like a showroom than a real house. There was also a last-minute switch in the itinerary when a loft in the Oriental Warehouse by Edmonds + Lee ended up with major water damage from a leak next door. The project was replaced by Cary Bernstein’s Liberty Street Residence. Perhaps getting your home on the AIA’s tour has become like the Sports Illustrated cover jinx? Beware, all you tour-aspiring architects.
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