Grant Kirkpatrick is one of those architects that is actively shaping the way we view Los Angeles. He, through his firm KAA both creates and re-imagines places and spaces. The firm’s mission states a devotion to warm, contemporary design. Providing solutions for modern living and at the same time, he has a love and a sense of duty to protect the structures that Southern California offers the world. Grant and I sat down at the Vondom showroom during West Week at the Pacific Design Center to talk about Southern California architecture, his Marina Del Rey offices that have already lived lives as the original Hobie Catamaran Factory and a warehouse for all of the props and set decor from Cast Away. 

 

**Side note, can you believe that Cast Away was released in the year 2,000? In the following conversation, Grant tells me about the fact that his current offices served as the prop house if you will during filming and I thought it would be fun to reintroduce you to a past guest on Convo By Design from the 2016 WestEdge Design Fair, Rosemary Brandenburg. Brandenburg was the Set Decorator on Cast Away, a Robert Zemekis film starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Peter Von Berg and of course Wilson, the volleyball. It’s one of those Southern California stories that ties architecture and film making, seamlessly.

 

Back to Grant. Kirkpatrick has published a new book called California Contemporary: The Houses of Grant C. Kirkpatrick. This covers 30 years of architectural mastery in Southern California. These homes possess elements that have come to embody the California lifestyle. Architects from around the world try to emulate elements of the modern style and use of materials, not to mention the seamless flow between indoors and out. Kirkpatrick, as you might imagine, has a solid roster of celerities for whom he has designed home, including; Matt Damon, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and of course, of course, Tom Hanks. So the circle is complete. This is KAA Design’s Grant Kirkpatrick. And after Grant, Set Decorator of America member, Rosemary Brandenburg. 

 

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That was Grant Kirkpatrick of KAA Design and this is set decorator, Rosemary Brandenburg. Convo By Design segment producer Andrew Linde sat with Rosemary at the WestEdge Design Fair in 2016 and she talks about the business of set decoration and her work.  Another side note, set decorators have one of the coolest jobs imaginable. Rosemary has had her fair share of amazing films, here are just a few… Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The Hateful Eight, Hancock, Transformers, Amistad … too many to list here, But, she also worked on a new release called Hotel Artemis, scheduled to be released in June starring Sofia Boutella, Jodi Foster, Dave Bautista and Jeff Goldblum. We will do our best to catch up with Rosemary around the opening of the film. In the meantime, this is Rosemary Brandenburg .

 

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That’s all folks, thank you Rosemary Brandenburg of the Set Decorators Society of America, Grant Kirkpatrick of KAA Design and you. Thank you for listening. If it wasn’t for you, this podcast would not exist and would not have grown to what it has become over the past five season. If you enjoyed this episode of Convo By Design presented by ThermaSol, and I hope you did… please go to “Ratings and Reviews” on iTunes, leave us a note and a positive review. Positive ratings helps us attract new listeners to the podcast.. and it is very much appreciated. Thank you for listening, I’ll meet you right back here next week.  

 

Music provided by Electric Sol

Artist: Electric Sol

Song: Your Love Makes Me High

www.electricsolmusic.com

I was asked to moderate a conversation at Dwell On Design  featuring two very interesting individuals, Clay Alexander CEO of Ember and Erik Charlton CEO of Noon Home. These gentlemen run companies that are trailblazing the path toward fully integrated products and home automation. We discuss their products and how they envision an integrated home. We discuss some issues relevant to the topic like artificial intelligence and privacy concerns. How do we create a well built, well designed and fully integrated home? Following is a conversation to start figuring that out.

 

This presentation from Dwell On Design was part of a new podcast series called Design, Etc., the official podcast of the LA Design Festival. Opening this up is Haily Zaki, host of Design, Etc., and founder of the LA Design Festival. The festival is June 7th through the 10th at ROW Downtown LA and Convo By Design will be hosting the Audio Design Lab from the LA Design Festival. A weekend full of interesting conversations with artists, designers, set decorators, influencers and those shaping the way we work, play and live so please come on down and visit us. 

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This episode is all about home automation, innovation and more than one reference to the Jetsons.  Enjoy, and if you do… please go to “Ratings and Reviews” on iTunes, leave us a note and a positive review. Positive ratings helps us attract new listeners to the podcast.. and it is very much appreciated.

​

Music provided by Electric Sol

Artist: Electric Sol

Song: Your Love Makes Me High

www.electricsolmusic.com