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WALL ART: Finally, a Patrick Blanc vertical garden in SF
HOME AS STYLE LAB: The new-wave collectors
RESTO'S GAMBLE: Can a CEO sketch furniture’s future? |60 Off the wall tk sar furs nape artis Pack Bl has ave Our
tial ou of his Drew Schou creaton~San anes et instar
70 The new alchemists. ros sss sss who. in the yin of asi
inguiyhave turned ther own ome in oning expernentin mer calectng
22 Pieces of his mind. nae rorya powetouse al vos
real eproicing and wearing ong antiques Even ove daring the
Cera pt neat every ps Hiway ous
7 Diplomatic immunity. This nth on the social cine, evan van
oro cu1ve 105 Members copies only
107 m Restaurant reviews foo news, an! great Bites from aroun the Bay
{8 Lining up for rnc at Potrero HS ew Plow mene
‘mee: Five great ways get your goat
128. Raghtbrain CEO. Restoration Hardware's conccastc chief once channeled Auguste
Rovlin, eroaimerone
Cover peroanam orice reves1g strnmcieco
This issue,
our editors
offer insights
into some
of the Bay
Area’s most
interesting
design ideas.
PRESIDENTS NOTE
{As the poet famously sad, “In the spring
a young man's fancy ighy tars to though
of seb
‘OK, maybe Lord Fanny actly sud th
yong mais thoughts are of lo, hut 8 r
ead ofthis column there ae ay) ko;
ane of ty great lores has long been the Gian
‘Last year' triumph was a fantasy come tue er
the whole Bay Arca—aid I think we ae ll
ready t.consint the ram right where ek
of ater the parade last November The race to
repeat as ch
and the home openers Friday, April 8 agains
the Cardinals
‘Spring also bring to mind thoughts of
enna atl roth For many of our readers,
that earns plan to een thee homes, A
pons starts i L.A on Match
asouneing 38 perce of them aus they
tuvertook a home rermodating jb ast year, a
ve antiipate an exen larger nutaber be sini
Fay active the mana abe.
“This sue, ou ets offer us their insights
inno some ofthe area ot interesting design
eas, They give ws a stcak preview of Drew
Schoo extraordinary “ving wall (ink:
Academy of Sciences ving root warned vertical,
‘ercated by the intervational las
star Patrick Blane and certain to become one of
the most aired sich works in the United
Sates. We als gta rare view inside the homes
of our ofthe regions mos infact furmitare
anndat cllectors, whose living spaces point the
vay toa reer new future for itvior decorating
Aan we learn how Gary Fridman, the abxesive
anu lian mine eh the reinveotion of
Restoration (Tarde, not only has open his
first ofa kind “desig gallery” inthe most
‘pone locaton ponble—ertas from the Sn
rapeisco Design Cenet—but i hting his bust
ras on ei able to sll ghd reprodic
ions of ring pieces he’ clsconere dang,
ing se
bis travels,
Callectng a a big part of our apring event
schedule aswell. On Apri 6 SEMOMA bold is
‘ianomal art auction, Attendee will get an
‘unprecedented charce to adi
‘ou—80 pieces of extraordinary art that have
hoon donate! for this parpos othe mast
It your budget does quite allen fora Richard
Serra cra Chuck Clots, then jin us nett tooth
at artMRKT, the international at fair athe SE
(Concaurse, where more
rca an fa il he igh
tore accu prices
What kindof art do ¥ collect? Hanging on my
‘ice wall isa print by Mark Ulritset formerly
an itector of San nea as fa precursor of
this magazine and nove best known fr is many
reat New rer covers My prize ited
fst print my boyhood hero, Willie Mays,
taking The Catch against Vie Wet
‘eof the 1954 World Series, the last tne that
the Gants then of New York) were word
pions Ulrksen created this inage or foal
‘master Andrew Hoyem of Arion Pres to lis
trate Heyes fine pres etn ofA Daye he
laces, Arold Hance acount ofthat gune at
the Polo Grounds, An entire Book about one day
ssatching the Giants play baschal: Noe thats my
idea of a young mats fae.
Se yn at thelr
1a 50 galeries from
ing grea works aa
QE
A
RETAIL
PIECES OF HIS
MIND4. racic
SITTING ON THE BELGIAN CLASSIC
Hl Arm Sipcovered Sofa in the grand enty roo of
his new Henry Adan Stet sore, Gary Frida, co
GEO and chaitman of Restoration Hardware, occasion
P ght to greet cso
Fri
speaks with the unbridled, rape ent
om ofa lear determined io inpire, so keeping up
With hin ike trying to atah 2 pedometer to gall
ing ractiore,Sylh charity Gature Summer Tempkins
‘Walker, in designs lac, enters the store with a
fen The interview stp
"We were justin Foie Reach playing gol tay,
‘ays Tomphine Waler who designs casonvenbroidered
think would be shopping
furnishings actos the street witha decoratr, atthe
iy Design Center: Ite, Tenpkins
Walker deribes how she dragged her fre into the
store urging her tod
ware “Iooks great Tompkins Waer gushes. As the
women depart, Friedman saes up the encounter a is
[previous breakneck pace: “She like the sor, tha’
good Her husbands Brooks Wither
ehectssroune, He ther coouried Esprit nd er
her howe in Restoration Had
tom, the other colbunde, is Susie Tompkins Buel—a
ig pantropist in San Franco,
Tennphkins Walker's endorsement in
cr clearly meats something to Frei
tmarkcter on the leu for sigis tha wt many
ofare
obmesive
design cogoscenti have called his inane gamble at Res
{oration Hardvare might us turn out tobe a huge win
ely feloving the big
clsser since the Great Depression,
leat wat be need to ave his ang cmpany—was 8
te ype of nur Curie. He had already trae
formed Restor
o Hardware once, frm a ll me
‘hander of tons, gulls, a toys ito a more ypcae
[purveyor of items forthe home, Hut hist, he woul
‘allenge the very notion of how home hiss ae
sade ane sek
Tod
sir of high-enl fasion abl, ike Hert,
Friends to forgo a ction
head handcraftnanship. He
ig hin on ee a he scoured
‘lca markets foun Pats to Pais to ind the aig
scale mis
sho commited oflae
TOOHOCTh=
TO) HANDLE
> OX
+
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i NG
t ,
ROBERT LOPEZ/ei\en
CHRISTINE DEAVER
fo?) CGIAR NO
my) (
ROai2)
a,
nya SOUARE
Sip & Nibble. Drink & Dine. Shop & Taste. Stay & Play.
Whatever the reason, Rendezvous a! GSQ and discover
tan urban escape of wine bars, restaurants, boutiques, & cafes.
GhirardelliSQ.com
Cee Ee Ocal
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Sees eee
‘900 Neuth Pont Street at Bach & Larkin Streets | Phone 418.775.5500
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‘ALReso, Friedman oversecs the slightest deals of every
Piece of firnture he sells down to the with an nish ofa
tmetal band on the wooden trunk where his eather brie
‘ease nove reas (he says he spends only five minutes a month
at his des,
Ase
sey: Reso il ine or deo Frieda drive ane eye, and
The hos i “Whats so great about than! why Uve had
‘more ft than eves because, forthe fit tne by
‘ater, [was able to make a basins 100 percent personal”
the explains. “What you sce at Restoration Havdare fat
expresion of wat Iblis, what ie, and what Unk
eroling as ei, he has card the right to have his
areal way wo fine”
FRIEDMAN'S LAUNCH OF HIS RECONFIGURED STORE LAST
September was a potent sya ofthe brand’ reinvention —
anil the event of the season fr a design conmnanty ill in
the post 2008 dlr unas nea of chosing Corie Madera,
where Reto steady
ts
store and is headquarter,
Fridman decided
in the 5, 000-sjare-foot,
Palladian syle building in
A San Francisco that housed
antique king Ed Hardy's
bases for 16 years. The
space, dscrectly st back
From the street behind a
crushed granite courtyard
guarded by H-ooc-high
wooden gates, hal served
YY aan anchor tothe design
tise anl Hardy ha
ten mus for the lavish
themed panties he hosted
he there. ie during the
oniturn, he'd decided
cerned thal some ofthe
design locals would greet
the new Resto wth a
there goes the neighbortocd” atid But instead, his Sep
tember 22 opening bh drew S00 pecple—ara a ine that
serapped aronod the blk fr
cohostd by Arhitetwat Digg’ ew editor in clic, Mang
et Ruslan it was atten! bya heaine-worhy ni of
sociales, ncaing former Gap chai Bab Fer ai ic
vile, Randi Fisher: the ageless Denise Hale nel Harper’
Beseer conto and
Sorokko, plus bola interior designers ike Pal Wiseman,
Ker Fal, and Jfiry Weisman—all former fixtures of Ha
dys extravaganas
“T want the pty to eeat hid of apiatona plat
form” Fredinan say, “to signal othe designers and
secs that this isa very eiereim Restoration Hardware” It
sect to have worked. “The new store has ben impeccably
don,” says Gabriela Sarl, whose own showroom is dow
space x phenomena, and heyve really cap
te couture coecor Tatiana
gg sttrmcico 10COLDWELL BANKER
SAN FRANCISCO LOMBARD
Lio Thmeco eV EAL)
TOP PRODUCERSi
:
3
i
i
8
detergent on is cover, bt the ig mane came in 2008
ncugh, right aller President George W. Bush gave his pec watt
ing of economic calamity: The next day, Res sas dropped 80 pe
ent, a dhe future a yas in jeopardy, but the ou
hig Piedra il fea iit bs
Atroppang his prives and compromising on quality. He figured there
‘were till enough people at the higher end ofthe market who
werent cl that the tart ding to do
‘eis io create a brann-ew market niche, “People thought Iwas ra
13" Friedman says, “bt there was ell no premiam fury brat
tha adieu home design together ith etl view
mpetirs by
serious trouble, so he de
DEFINING ONESELF AS A “CURATOR” RATHER THAN A rear
one's stores a “galerie,” and one's catalogs as “publications” may
sem ike piting on is, yet there's substance bchind Rests ta
‘morphosi Frida his ppd a team of profesional that
ince ole-world arti ai antiquatians and even Fel Hardy
himself, who now consuls on a partie his Resto sl ells fi
tar offerings sch bath Gxtures ad Kalan being, bt the
‘phase son the reprodiced antique faritre. For example,
at Ma(wonty: the Napa shop owned by one of his het frien,
Mictal Plenske ida buslap chat for $7.00, copied
tan now sells ifr $1,205. You cai tll the difference, except
as worn.” he say) Sat Mateo, he
aay the aap it
found an elegant pa of ISth centr tbls for $3,000 that became
Rea’ Liens Head Si ables. ‘The smaller one sl for $7 the
lange one, for 95,
The ea of repreductions may son Alas, bt the techni
tee cone along way sce
‘wher historical model were ote tepreciced
on, Revive huss, 50 popu it
cary 3th centr, ere oe filled Wi
Jesigied pices The backlbegt when sederaiss did! that
‘nas prsdutin could bea noble meara of spreading good design,
Why would someone want a copy ofa sie ow a bygone era
when more relevant, high-concepe design was ava at a affor
ale price?
Fricdinanisappecach is somes hybrid, embraing the artis
snl the democratic Some pees are Freda or another design
rs) take on an orginal design, bur most are more oF less ext rep-
Tes ofthe real antique, The challenge, he sys ito capture the
‘essence of an original without making it look ake “Eventhough
many ofthese pies were pase down through multiple genera
ins ne lt inthe bat, a the rain got doxgh the rot and
washed off he Gish, the design, the proportions, and the beau
pina ste all here,” Frida explains. “They live a fe ad have
2 on, which ety
Te helped by a wi the
lobe—in Bejing. Vim, Post, Hay, and Turkey. Rests May
Ini Steamee Trunk, for example, are crafted inthe Chinese werk
shops of Timothy Oulton. Londo
reproductions. Each of the trunks takes thrce days to compte at
features sch haa finshed! deta 63,00 hanamcre base ai
heads The price frm S145 to S28K5.
days ofthe indatalrevlution,
ius dale an
Koret Designs.
San Francisco Planning and Urban Research
(SPUR) is a public-policy think tank that engages
thought leaders and citizens in planning for the
future of San Francisco. Funded with Koret
eigen SPUR's new street-level gallery space
a range of dynamic public programs. Its
endsetting Young Urbanists initiative is designedeM NS
ART AUCTION 2011!
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