DavidRockwell

Oscars Stage Design to Be More Glamorous and Fantastic Than Ever

The Oscars are a glitzy event, there's no doubt about that, but after last years low key approach stage designer David Rockwell isn't holding anything back for this years event. Described as "bigger, shinier, and with more moving parts than ever before," the stage will feature a stunning quarter-moon curtain hung with 100,000 glittering Swarovski crystals, plus three moving platforms, several rotating LED panels, and other effects like mirrors and metal architecture. The whole thing is inspired by the basic elements of movie making -- light and movement -- and is meant to show off the event's hosts and winners in the best possible way.

How impressive and beautiful it must to stand on that stage and look up into that amazing curtain!

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Tags: academy awards, AcademyAwards, celebrities, david rockwell, DavidRockwell, oscars, swarovski, swarovski crystals, SwarovskiCrystals

Dramatic Indoor Treehouse Eatery Opens in Vegas

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Architect David Rockwell has constructed an 80-ft. tall "treehouse" inside Crystals at Las Vegas' $8.5 billion CityCenter to house a dramatic new eatery called Mastro's Ocean Club. Guests enter the restaurant through an elegant portal of wood-lined lowered ceilings and meandering walls into a dining room featuring curved white leather booths and banquettes accenting hand-crafted mahogany beams and sapele wood. On the dining terrace, Mastro's offers views of the angular shapes, towering ceilings and the unique artistic elements of Crystals. The signature grand bar and piano provide a livelier, energetic dining atmosphere with live entertainment seven days a week. Crystals is the nucleus of CityCenter, located on 67 acres between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, features several hotels, entertainment venues and luxury boutiques.

Gallery: Mastro's Ocean Club

Tags: architect, architecture, David Rockwell, DavidRockwell, Las Vegas, LasVegas, restaurant, treehouse

Reach Resort Rolls Out $37 Million Makeover

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels

The refined Reach Resort in Key West, which boasts the area's only private natural beach, just unveiled a $37 million makeover placing it in the top rank of Keys getaways. The revamp, led by the award-winning Looney & Associates design studio, brings a fresh, contemporary, boutique hotel feel to one of Old Town Key West's longstanding favorites. Located near that great Southernmost Point Guest House for sale that we told you about recently, the Reach beach is just seven miles from the only living coral reef in North America.

Rolled out in phases over the last few months, the final step of the revamp was just completed with the opening of an outpost of New York's popular Strip House restaurant. Designed by David Rockwell, the saucy steak joint with an haute-burlesque theme - think of a restaurant run by a demure Dita Von Teese -- is becoming a popular export. As we reported recently a Strip House also just opened in San Juan's chic Condado Plaza.

Gallery: Reach Resort Revamp

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Tags: David Rockwell, DavidRockwell, Florida, Florida Keys, FloridaKeys, Key West, KeyWest, Reach Resort, ReachResort, Southernmost Point, SouthernmostPoint, Strip House, StripHouse

Condado Plaza Unveils $65 Million Makeover

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

All phases of the three-year, $65 million renovation have finally been completed at the Condado Plaza Hotel & Casino in San Juan. Owner LXR Luxury Resorts brought in New York-based architect David Rockwell, whose firm is best known for its work on Nobu, the W New York and the upcoming JetBlue Terminal at JFK airport, to do a 20,000-sq.-ft. multipurpose lobby redesign. Manhattan meets Latin in the vibrant revamp, which includes two bars and a banquet hall.

Rockwell also designed a branch of New York meat-eaters mecca Strip House for the project, with a mixture of silk, velvet and leather plus vintage burlesque photos on the walls. Designer Leo A. Daly redid all 570 guest rooms in an equally colorful and stylish fashion. The resort features three freshwater and saltwater swimming pools, a stretch of private beach and a 24-hour casino.

Gallery: Condado Plaza Hotel & Casino