Antiques market, boutique hotels, art district: discover Los Angeles
A map of the metropolis with the guidance of interior designer Giampiero Tagliaferri from Silver Lake to the Helms Design District and the new openings in Beverly Hills.
4' min read
4' min read
It is impossible not to immediately love Los Angeles, a city full of contrasts. If the streets around Downtown are full of art galleries, interesting shops and trendy restaurants, the more suburban neighbourhoods are oases of peace. I moved here more than ten years ago, when I worked as creative director for Oliver Peoples, the luxury eyewear brand of the Luxottica Group, and I must confess that the city continues to be a source of inspiration, awe and surprise for me. It allowed me to discover my true passion - designing the interiors of private residences, boutiques, hotels and restaurants - and I opened an interior design studio. Today I am happy to do what I always wanted to do, and living here has given me extraordinary opportunities. I am always travelling, I also have an architecture studio in Milan, but I cannot stay away from Los Angeles, which I now consider home, for long.
I live in Silver Lake, a quiet neighbourhood surrounded by nature: I also like it because Richard Neutra lived here, whose style in which art, landscape and functional living coexisted. My studio is a ten-minute walk from home, a real luxury. The city wakes up very early and during the week I do that too, starting the day with a Pilates session and then indulging in a matcha tea or a green juice from Intelligentsia. Instead, the first coffee of the day is customary at Maru's Espresso Bar in Beverly Hills. For a quick lunch I recommend Sqirl for its bowls, sandwiches and special dishes like the Sorrel Pesto Rice, a risotto with feta, basil and watermelon. If I feel homesick for Italy I go to Ceci's: I always order the pesto lasagne and torta della nonna, my comfort food. While waiting for the opening of Sant Ambroeus in Beverly Hills, whose interior I designed and which will become, I bet, my favourite place, for a dinner with friends I recommend Saffy's. I like its informal atmosphere, brightly coloured furnishings and Middle Eastern-inspired cuisine. For more formal dinners, the restaurant at the Sunset Tower hotel is perfect, where you can breathe in the charm of old Hollywood and from the terrace you can embrace the whole city. A recent discovery is Lucile in downtown Silver Lake, a 1930s church that is now an intimate boutique hotel, and the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood, where you can meet the stars of the silver screen.
One thing I love about Los Angeles is its art scene: apart from the Arts District, now a destination for the curious who come to admire the murals and watch the performances, I recommend the Hammer and The Huntington museums, and the Regen Projects art gallery, which collects work by Richard Prince, Anish Kapoor and Wolfgang Tillmans. If you are looking for rare texts on photography, art, fashion, film and music, there is the Arcana bookshop in the Helms Design District. On the fashion theme, stores like Mohawk and Just One Eye come to mind, offering a selection of timeless, casual and sportswear.
When I finish work early, I like to enjoy the golden hour. I stroll around Silver Lake and admire the mansions that Rudolf Schindler, Raphael Soriano and Frank Lloyd Wright built from the 1930s onwards for their eccentric clients: they are almost a century old, but still very modern. I have always been fascinated by the American Mid-Century, the Brazilian design of the 1940s and 1950s and the rigorous elegance of the Milanese Gio Ponti and Gae Aulenti.
After work I love receiving friends and cooking Italian dishes like saffron risotto, to which I add mushrooms or seasonal vegetables that I buy strictly from Erewhon, a true institution in LA. Besides, I have a house that lends itself to conviviality, with outdoor spaces where one can enjoy the California climate from autumn until spring. The architecture is by Edward Richard Lind, a pupil of Rudolf Schindler, another great teacher of mine, and is an example of how Californian Modernism can be diluted by Japanese influences. I furnished it with collectibles bought during my travels and from antique markets and shops such as the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena and the Long Beach Antique Market by the ocean. For unique industrial design pieces here, a visit to Seventh House or JF Chen, somewhere between an art gallery and a showroom, is a must.
