West Hollywood Design District’s Retrospective Celebrating 6 Decades of History

Cecconi’s restaurant on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood with indoor and outdoor spaces designed by London-based interior designer Martin Brudnizki.
Photo Courtesy: Soho House Group

Herman Miller showroom photographed in 1949 at 8806 Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood, designed by Charles and Ray Eames.
Photo credit: Charles Eames, courtesy of Herman Miller Inc.

The West Hollywood Design District is pleased to present “Decades of Design,” the first-ever retrospective exhibition uncovering, examining and celebrating six ecades of rich design history in West Hollywood. The curated gallery will showcase design pioneers and present tastemakers through bold graphics, photographs and original product. The retrospective will launch on November 19, 2014 and will be on display through February 2015.
“There is so much design history found on Melrose Avenue, Robertson Boulevard and Beverly Boulevard alone that deserves to be recognized,” says show curator Gregory Firlotte, a 33-year veteran of the West Hollywood Design District scene. “How many people know that one of the few surviving buildings designed by the internationally-acclaimed furniture design team Charles and Ray Eames was the Herman Miller Showroom that can still be found on Beverly Boulevard 65 years later?” he points out.
The “Decades of Design” exhibition celebrates not only the remarkable businesses and designers of the past, but also those who carry that legacy forward to a new and global audience. “There is no other place I want to be,” says superstar interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard about the West Hollywood Design District. “The positive energy here, its artistic atmosphere and the colorful characters who populate this city make my creative juices flow, and my business flourish.” Bullard’s sentiments echoes those of the multitude of interior designers, stylists, architects, craftspeople, and fashion designers, who like Bullard, have come to this most unique city over the past six decades.
An integral part of the exhibition is an online component that complements the visual displays with more information on the people and companies found within the West Hollywood Design District, both past and present. Thus, visitors to the show as well as library patrons can learn more about the large, colorful images displayed on five interconnecting walls in the library’s main reading room.
“This is an exciting opportunity,” notes Ryan Farber, executive director of the West Hollywood Design District, “to showcase to the community at large what many of us close to the design profession have known for many years — that West Hollywood has always been, and continues to be, a thriving and creative hot spot whose cultural impact has global implications.” And when one ties in all the various trades, professions, cultures and styles spanning all age groups and lifestyles found in the West Hollywood Design District, it is a mix unlike any other anywhere in the U.S.
The exhibition is proudly sponsored by Ariana Rugs Inc, Union Bank, and Dominick’s. The West Hollywood Library is located on 625 N San Vicente Boulevard, West Hollywood, 90069. Library hours are Monday through Thursday 11:00am-7:00pm, Friday and Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm, and closed on Sunday.

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