The Titans of Trade DIGS

“One of my morning jobs was to take a glass of hot milk across the patio, and over into the office where my dad had been working since 4 o’clock in the morning on drawings or writing,” recounts Dr. Raymond Neutra. “And going into the office, and there my dad would be sitting on a tall metal stool with his t-square and triangle.” The youngest son of the pioneering architect, Dr. Raymond Neutra currently helms the Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design (NISD), which is actively committed to preserving the physical and intellectual legacy of Richard Neutra. Along with using the Neutra legacy to help solve modern-day design challenges, the Institute promotes those engaged in activities “that reflect the values that my brother, father and mother were committed to,” says Neutra. Dr. Neutra joins the podcast for a far-reaching discussion: From new innovations at the Institute, to in-depth recollections of his famous father and the fascinating people who surrounded him at Neutra VDL Studio and Residences, an innovative live-work space in Los Angeles, now a National Historic Landmark, that was designed by Richard Neutra in 1932.

Known for grand Spanish Colonial Revival estates in Southern California, Kevin A. Clark has a knack for tapping into the roots of classic architectural styles—creating homes faithful to their design premises, but also light-filled and utterly comfortable for today’s 21st century residents. “I had no intentions of working in architecture because I was throwing pottery for a living, and also playing drums—and that wasn’t going to work out,” says Clark, who began his career as a draftsman before segueing into design, ultimately creating notable residences like Santa Monica’s “El Sueno” and the recent "Hanalei House" on Kauai's North Shore.
 
Kevin joins the podcast to discuss the come-to-life precision of his hand-drawn ink and pencil renderings, designing a home for design aficionado Lindsey Buckingham, and the evergreen allure of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture.
 
“I grew up in Venice, California, and riding my bike through Venice and Santa Monica I just had an affinity for it, and the romance of it,” says Clark of Spanish Colonial Revival style homes. “It is, in a lot of ways, our architecture. California’s architecture.”
 
http://www.kevinaclark.com/

Painter. Textile Designer. Entrepreneur. Serena Dugan’s creative chapters connect from her early days doing site-specific freehand painting, and as a textile artist who did block printing and printed her own fabrics. She then teamed up with boutique owner Lily Kanter and created the uber-successful home brand Serena & Lily before returning to her roots as a painter and an aesthetically free-flowing textile designer whose fabrics and wallpapers are released under her Serena Dugan Studio label. Serena joins the podcast to discuss the beauty of non-perfection and the power of checking out, plus shares her personal ideal of business success and plans for a new dream incubator on Shelter Island. “I tend to not be caught in yesterday’s story because there are too many great things that are possible,” shares Dugan, “and I’d rather not waste my energy thinking about what has happened.”
 
Serena's Website: https://serenadugan.com/pages/contact

Hannah Collins was still in art school when she approached San Francisco chef/restauranteur Adriano Paganini, then planning a new Mission District steakhouse, and asked to help out. She ended up designing Lolinda, a sleekly powerful space and launching a career around shaping some of the most striking eateries, lodging, and retail spaces in the Bay Area and increasingly, beyond. More recently Hannah, founder and principal designer of ROY, designed the luxury camping destination Yonder Escalante, described by Condé Nast Traveler “like parachuting into a design lover’s dream of the American West.”
 
Hannah joins the podcast to reflect on recent projects [Delfina, Yonder Escalante, Hi-Five Wine], as well as the roots of her passion for hospitality, how she’s growing her firm and why becoming a mother has made her a better designer. “At ROY we really see ourselves as telling other peoples’ stories,” says Collins. “We’re trying to pull their vision out of them and make it the best possible version they could imagine.”
 
ROY Website: http://www.thisisroy.com/about

Architect Stephen Francis Jones kicked off his career in a big way when Wolfgang Puck hired him to re-imagine the A-list eatery Spago. Jones then moved on to re-visioning other landmark restaurants before adding other public spaces, like food courts and work spaces, to the mix. Today he continues to create unforgettable social spaces that facilitate the utmost levels of comfort, stimulation and fun.
Stephen joins the podcast to talk about the continuously shifting lines of work and play, how biking and beach volleyball make for better architecture and recalls his early career days, like working for flamboyant post-modernist Ricardo Bofill in Barcelona.
“The key for a good design is to understand your client, where they’re coming from, what their objectives are,” says Jones, “and not so much implementing your own ideas and trying to make them their ideas. That ability to connect with someone and say, ‘Here’s an idea I just heard you say.’”
 
Stephen's Website: https://sfjones.com/

Designer Meridith Baer loved making personal spaces more beautiful in childhood, years before a Hollywood career led her to hand-forging the art and business of home staging. Today the lifelong creative leads a high-profile design business, staging A-list homes, designing luxe interior spaces and supporting other artists—while always remembering her roots. Meridith Baer joins the podcast to talk about the power of home—as well as growing up on the grounds of San Quentin as the warden’s daughter, which famed producer is responsible for her first Hollywood break and discusses her next big chapter. "I feel very satisfied that I've got to spend my time during the last 25 years doing what I really love," says Meridith Baer, "not what I was supposed to do."
 
Meridith's Website: https://meridithbaer.com