Smart House- 11.17.07
On incredible temporary event spaces, the Smart House (home of the Smart Fortwo) is one of the coolest spaces around. Located on Abbot Kinney in Venice Beach, surrounded by some of the cutest boutiques, restaurants, and bars and only a few blocks from the beach, its a pity this loft will only be around till january. I was lucky enough to make it to the A+R launch dinner where we had dinner at the Smart House and cooked with Hans Rockenwagner and Wolfgang Gussmack of Rockenwagner - outdoor on the patio as a group we helped “cook” (aka stir) an unbelievably delicious pasta paella. Additionally when not housing special functions the ground floor is a showroom (cars ready to test drive out back) and a gallery space (i must admit i was pretty giddy to be having dinner with two Catalina Estrada paintings behind me) ~ while i was there the ROJO Magazine Collaboration with Smart’s new Fortwo was up! “The new special issue is now ready. featuring a superb cover artwork by Catalina Estrada, plus 160 pages full of exclusive artwork by selected artists and inspired by the new smart fortwo. Artwork by: Catalina Estrada, MWM, Deanne Cheuk, Yoshi Sodeoka, Tofer, Alex Prager, Friends with You, Ben Summers, Dalek, Holly Stevenson, Chet Purtilar, Jemma Hostetler, Meomi, Yoshi Tajima, Evgeny Kiselev, Vanessa da Silva, Bruno 9li, Cristiano Trindade, Todd Tourso, Amir H. Fallah, Justine Ashbee, Sergei Sviatchenko.”
While that first main image if from the PR company (it was SO dark that night i was there)… below are some i took quickly (it was distracting, so many amazing people to talk to and things to look at ~ but it should give you a feel for the night)
Here are some interior shots ~
You can see the Smart Capsules machine here!
This is an awesome bubbly computer setup ~ so many great circles clustered
As you walk up the stairs you get a history of the Smart.
Heading up the stairs the second floor has a full kitchen and was set up for dining ~ you can see heading up to the third floor, there were more paintings…
Here is Mr. Rockenwagner himself starting off the paella ~ and there’s Andy from A+R
So delicious!
One of the tables set up for us ~
The full kitchen in the smart house is no joke either ~ (sorry about the lighting, the constant change of rainbow colors was a bit much!) ~ the expresso from that machine was good stuff.
And a few more PR pics ~ here’s the rest of the patio if you went past the Paella making… and i love that when you look up there’s a Smart Car hanging out up there.
The Catalina Estrada pieces in another spot ~ from a previous set up.
I’m getting one of these little Smart Fortwo’s. Awesome little things.
----- dave t 15.07.10 03:42