Design By Chance – Platform and DTLA

October 28, 2017

Design By Chance – Platform and DTLA

The next day was a day of discovery, design and inspiration. Our first stop was at Platform in The Hub at Culver City. It’s difficult to describe this place and the experience of it. To call it a mall would be a huge insult. This is an ultimate experience of design, culture, food and retail on a tiny, precious scale. Again that description “deep” comes to mind. Every store, restaurant and coffee shop are “originals” no chains here.


Platform - pic from L.A. Times website

Platform is a new development in Culver City, small in size, only 50,000 square feet of unique brands of retail and fabulous cafes and eateries. It has a semi industrial yet intimate feel due to the boxlike corrugated exterior of the buildings that resemble shipping containers and raw concrete. These materials are brought to life with a brightly coloured mural by local artist Jen Stark and beautiful plantings.


The Architecture of Platform

The largest shop is the Tom Dixon store showcasing his furniture, lighting and objects. Within Tom Dixon, there has opened a clothing store - Reservoir – a carefully edited selection of women’s clothing and shoes that fits in perfectly with the vibrant esthetic. Also added recently is Hayden, an all day neighborhood cafe and wine shop - a beautifully designed space with exquisite food. Hayden was opened by chef-partner Ari Kolender and Anthony Cailan (brother of Eggslut chef-owner Alvin Cailan). I personally, am not a foodie but...when my taste buds stand up and dance when I eat, I know it is amazing!


Hayden at Platform


Wine Wall at Hayden


Breakfast from Hayden


Tom Dixon at Platform
 

Inside Tom Dixon at Platform
  Platform
 

Plantings at Platform

Platform


 Plantings at Platform
 

Beautiful Potted Plants at Platform
 

Sidewalk Details at Platform
 
Pure Cycles Container Store at Platform


Take a Wee Spin at Pure Cycles Container Store at Platform

The entire experience of Platform brings together all of your senses. From the incredible eateries to the well designed plantings and outdoor lounge areas to sit and enjoy, it is truly one of a kind.

A few streets away, we discovered this beautiful glass building with an exoskeleton metal structure. We have since found out this is a restaurant called Vespertine housed in the Waffle Building. Vespertine’s chef is Jordan Kahn. We hear it is absolutely an experience you don’t want to miss. It had a beautifully landscaped garden at the exterior, which has seats to relax in and enjoy the view. We walked a little to the right – outside of Stink Studios - and stumbled upon this amazing structure high up in the air – a metal structure with planters filled with cacti – about 150 feet in the air. It was incredible.


Vespertine in the Waffle Building
 
Garden behind the Waffle Building
 
  Amazing cacti garden high above in The Tract



Beautiful metal sculpture in The Tract

Taking the time to drive around and discover what else the area called The Tract had to offer was well worth it.

It was then time to regretfully leave the Hub and make our way DTLA to visit our friends at A+R and their new store at ROW DTLA.

The ROW DTLA: A historic district, thoughtfully reimagined for creative space, retail & art. With approximately 1.3 million square feet of office space and 200,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space, The ROW DTLA has the potential to become a destination haven for people who appreciate good design, be it in clothing, jewellery, food, beer, furniture or accessories.


The ROW DTLA
 

The ROW DTLA
 

The ROW DTLA
 


Coming soon to The ROW DTLA

Its current occupants include an eclectic mix of restaurants, bars, food trucks, retailers and one of our favourite design stores – A+R.

I am totally envious of their new store, the space and layout as well as the product lines. While they carry many of the same lines as we do, they have the space to showcase more products from each line and it looks good.


A+R at The ROW
 

A+R at The ROW
 


A+R at The ROW

After an hour of talking shop, design and Google/American Apparel gossip, it’s time to check out what else is happening in DTLA, which included some black ice cream at Little Damage.

There is also a very dark side to DTLA that I find difficult to look at and understand. It is a very sad situation and I am horrified with the tent city that is set up along the sidewalks. It astonishes me that there is so much development happening with new hotels, condominium developments, night clubs, restaurants and retail stores....and yet, hundreds of people are living in tents on the sidewalks! What is going to happen to them? There is seriously something wrong with a city that has so much wealth in it and yet others have to live like this.


...and I ask myself...what is the design of this?

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