Recently the IIDA SoCal, Los Angeles City Center chapter, held what it hopes will be the inaugural Designwalk L.A. It was conceived as an event to allow industry peers to reconnect and stay updated on the newest industry products and innovations. Since WestWeek has long since faded as a relevant contract market event, there hasn’t really been an opportunity for the L.A. commercial design community to have a NeoCon-like experience and see the industry’s newest offerings.
Once upon a time many of the contract manufacturers were located either in the Pacific Design Center itself or nearby in the West Hollywood district. But in the late 80s and early 90s they began relocating their showrooms all across town to follow their clients to emerging creative, high-tech and entertainment neighborhoods.
Given L.A.’s notorious traffic congestion, this has meant the prospect of visiting multiple showrooms and venues in a single evening just hasn’t been an option. And visiting them on foot was most definitely out of the question.
DesignWalk L.A. 2018 began with a launch party at Gensler’s spectacular atrium space after which the crowd followed a well-planned walking circuit from showroom to showroom.
The tour ended with a rocking wrap party in the showroom of Haworth dealer, IOS. And there was plenty of inspiration in between at every host showroom or design office tour stop. The event was a well-planned, well-attended and welcome gift to the design community that would not have been possible a few short years ago.
The indisputable evidence that downtown Los Angeles has remerged as Southern California’s center for commerce AND design is reason to celebrate. Over the past 10 years, the trend of moving to the up-and-coming zip codes is slowly reversing itself with major design firms like Gensler, DLR Group, HDR, CallisonRTKL and Smith GroupJJR committing to a downtown presence and joining the other Top 100s that were located there all along. Branch offices have proliferated as well, with national and local powerhouses like Wolcott, Ware Malcomb, Carrier Johnson & Culture and The Switzer Group moving to the center.
The trend back to downtown is not limited to A&D firms. Manufacturers are opting to set up shop in the city center too, with Steelcase, OFS, Haworth, Teknion, Knoll and most recently Shaw Contract now having showrooms in downtown. And the trend is gaining momentum as dealers and rep groups move into an area that has suddenly become walkable – although as a post-event note, I don’t recommend it in high heels.
Industry-wide events like Designwalk L.A. don’t just happen. A lot of volunteer hours by IIDA members went into making it a success. But as with most good things that do happen, there is a driving force behind the scenes. In this case, co-chair Monica DuPrey gets a ton of credit. A New Yorker who moved to L.A. in 2010 to join the downtown IA Interior Architects office, she has a background in FF&E and a history of close collaboration with architects, developers, facilities groups and contractors in the Big Apple. But in L.A. she found herself asking, “Where’s the design community here?” What she felt lacking was the experience of seeing product in context and the way the designer and manufacturer communities connect. She missed the kind of exposure going to NeoCon or First Look or even easy access to a showroom provides.
Ms. DuPrey’s response was to organize her own color-themed post NeoCon event in the IA office; eventually opening it up to other downtown firms. A second event on Valentine’s Day was dubbed the “Red Party”, where materials and finish manufacturers were invited to display new products, creatively incorporating red or pink. The goal, as with the DesignWalk, was to craft product, ideas and design into an experience that left attendees walking away inspired and wanting more.
As the popularity of these events outgrew IA’s space and party planning capabilities, Ms. DuPrey took her vision to Ali Dahl and Jason Shepley at IIDA, and the process of planning for what will now be an annual IIDA event followed. This year there were 14 locations in the design tour. Each stop presented products in a theme the planning group decided in collaboration with their co-hosts, making this trade show experience truly special.
At the wrap party, IA Interior Architects Lighting Design Studio was awarded “Best Experience of the Evening.” While each stop played an important part, IA went above and beyond by transforming its entire space with lighting seamlessly integrated into each installation, creating ambiance and flow throughout – and with product information creatively shared.
Knoll’s brand new showroom was a favorite, featuring a live chair-painting demonstration by local artists and the opportunity to interact with Knoll products in unexpected ways.
Southern California is a hotbed of innovation in many fields and the first ever IIDA DesignWalk L.A. 2018 is evidence of the creativity of our commercial design community and that downtown L.A. is once again a happening place to be.