Design Focus of WestWeek

Does a “global” style in design really exist? What do the newest residential, office, hotel and health-care furnishings look like? How does corporate culture affect design?

These and other questions relating to new directions in the design industry will be addressed during WestWeek 92 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at Pacific Design Center.

A dialogue between Santa Monica-based Frank O. Gehry and Peter Eisenman of New York will focus on the Venice Biennale, in which both architects participated. It will be part of a series of seminars starting at 2:30 p.m. on opening day of the 17th annual event.

Other symposiums will deal with indoor air quality, editorial directions of architecture magazines and the impact the recently state-approved certification for interior designers will have on the design profession.

Several WestWeek 92 exhibitions will be open to the public starting on Saturday and will continue for several weeks.

“In the Modernist Tradition: Frank Gehry Explores Bentwood” will be shown in the Murray Feldman Gallery at Pacific Design Center and features prototypes, drawings and objects reflecting Gehry’s design process and influences on his new line of bentwood furniture; open Saturday through April 8.

“Industrial Elegance” focuses on the beauty of designed objects for the home and office, ranging from everyday tools to computer equipment, a vintage Rolodex, the Stealth bomber and the Mazda Miata’s tail light. WestWeek 92 is the traveling exhibition’s first stop on a national tour; open March 23-April 8.

“Design Explorations: 2001” explores the question: “How will we live in the year 2001?” It features the concepts of 250 entrants in the exhibit competition sponsored by Metropolis Magazine and Parsons School of Design in New York; open March 23-April 17.

“Geometric Constructivist Abstractions in Painted Steel” highlights the outdoor sculpture of Benbow Bullock; open Saturday through May 1.

Conferences geared to design students will be held on Friday, starting at 9:30 a.m. Topics will explore career paths in interior design, design education and training and a discourse on global style.

Attendance at WestWeek’s scheduled seminars and other events is limited to interior designers, architects, space planners, manufacturers, facility managers, corporate clients and allied professionals, except for the certain exhibits. For further information on WestWeek 92 events and registration call (310) 657-0800.