Furniture for the city of dreams, or the Green Room behind the scenes of the "Oscar"

One sees the Academy of Motion Picture awards ceremony through the lens of one’s own occupational defects. Someone stares at the buttons of dresses, someone studies how the light is set, someone carefully listens to the hosts’ jokes, and we always wonder how the halls will be decorated, and especially – the mysterious Green Room, in which the beautiful actors and actresses are waiting for their entrance. We want to know the brands, on whose chairs and couches the objects of desire of millions of viewers are going to sit.

We watched the 85th Oscars (February 24, 2013) with particular interest. That year the stylish "Lincoln" and the bright and unusual "Life of Pi" became the favorites of the cinema race.

The green room was then decorated by Madelyn Stewart, one of the so-called “AD top 100”. (By the way, the Architectural Digest has been selecting designers and brands for the Green Room since 2002).Madelyn herself starred in her father Willy Wonk’s movie back in the 71 (also, to some extent, a history of magnificent organization of space and unusual interiors: just consider the "lickable wallpapers").

 Madelyn Stewart got inspiration from the brilliant American Art Deco of the 30s – the Golden era of the American cinema. In particular, it was the dashing and glamorous style of Cedric Gibbons, one of the creators of the "Hollywood glamor", the art director of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. (By the way, it was in the days of Hollywood that Gibbons earned the nickname «Tinseltown»). The designer’s aim was to create "a space in which modern stars wouldn’t be even a bit surprised to run into Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn." Or maybe into Gibbons himself.

 

When it comes to the fine styling that recreates the past and in the present equally well, world designers always choose Baker showing the highest class of the "styles game."Madelyn considered Tables, chairs and sofas by exactly this legendary house an appropriate environment for Robert De Niro, Joaquin Phoenix, Anne Hathaway, Helen Hunt and other glamorous characters of the evening.

 

Inspired by Art Deco and Gibbons, the Green Room was incredible in 2013. Polished black floors and stunning black doors with ornaments of gilt rectangles. Luxurious upholstery of Fine couches – golden velvet, highlighted with colored pillows. The traditional Art Deco and the ethnic geometrical pattern of the deep shell-shaped seats, so important today. Elegant black and white bar chairs, which would be appropriate for the graceful and swift Paulette Goddard or Vivien Leigh to sit on.

 

Besides the Baker furniture, the following pieces and accessories were also used: Feizy Rugs woven mats, parquet made by IndusParquet, outdoor furniture JANUS et Cie, paintings by contemporary American artists, selected by Questroyal Fine Art, Samsung TV panels, vivid upholstery fabrics Schumacher, sconces and lamps The Urban Electric Co. Bench, linen napkins E. Braun Beverly Hills, varnishes and paints Sherwin-Williams. All this has allowed Meydelin to combine glamor, magic and wonder, which the academy Academy Award comprises».

 

At the end, let us take a glance at the past relationship between the Oscar Green room and the Baker furniture:

 

Year 2004: Dorothy and Roy Christopher used the today worldwide-known collection of Barbara Barry for Baker to design the Green room: the Oval X-Back Side Chair (one of the most recognizable in the world of chairs), Nesting Tables and the Oval Coffee Table, Wood Lounge Chair and the exquisite mirror Parish Hadley Sunburst Mirror.

 

Year 2006: the same Dorothy and Roy Christopher paid tribute to the legendary architect S. Charles Lee, turning the green room into a fancy lobby of a classy movie theater. In order to realize their vision, they used Baker furniture from the collections of Thomas Pheasant and Jacques Garcia among other elements.

 

Year 2009: Stephen Shadley recreated the atmosphere of the Hollywood’s glamorous 70s in the Green Room with a "view" on the downtown of the City of Angels, using furniture from Baker and McGuire Houses and huge photo canvases. Finally, in 2011, a renowned designer Baker Michael S Smith created an elegant private library for the Oscars, inspired by the great paintings of the Golden Age of Hollywood. He used furniture from various Baker collections, including his own for its design.It were the delightful Baker Regency Arm Chairs that the ageless Reese Witherspoon and Halle Berry and the witty and elegant James Franco were sitting on, giving interviews to the editor of the cult American magazine Vanity Fair.