architecture

Friday, July 27, 2012

Nice Bookstore

Recently I've seen a car commercial far too many times that is shot partly, of all places, in a bookstore. My first thought was not, "Gee whiz, what a nice car," it was, "My, that's a nice bookstore."

G-bookstore.jpg
[Screenshot | click image to view commercial]

Digging around the internet with keyword searches "bookstore", "tree", "car commercial", and combinations of those and other words, I could not find the store. But then I considered that most likely a commercial would be shot in Los Angeles, then Hennessey + Ingels came to mind. I'd visited their Santa Monica store many years ago, and even though they no longer have that store on the 3rd Street Promenade (they moved to nearby Wilshire Blvd.), the commercial actually happens to be shot in their Hollywood store.

Space 15 Twenty is the name of "the unique retail setting" where Hennessey + Ingels is located. It is one of nine stores (Urban Outfitters is the anchor) in "the curated environment" that also includes an outdoor courtyard, local music, film and art venues, a gallery and a pop-up shop. I'm not sure if the tree is a permanent fixture in the store or placed their for the commercial, but the curved ceiling and exposed structure are features shared by it and the other stores. Combined with the courtyard and skylights (note they light cast on her red dress from one), it adds up to a pretty damn nice bookstore.

Update/Correction: As Quixote's comment indicates, I was wrong, wrong, wrong. The store is not Hennessey + Ingels, it's Skylight Books on Vermont Ave. also in LA. Below is a photograph comparing H+I and Skylight Books:

SB-Bookstore.jpg
[L: Hennessey + Ingels (source) | R: Skylight Books (source)]

The reason for my confusion is evident, given the ceilings' shapes and materials, but the diagonal articulation of the wood members is clearly not happening at H+I, only at Skylight. Not sure how I'd think straight members are the same. Nevertheless, thanks to Quixote for fixing my error.

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