Film inspires architecture, architecture inspires film. These are our favourite cases.
06.23.2021
A meditation on sustainable architecture.
On a group of rugs that eventually became paintings.
Sister Corita Kent’s legacy lives on.
06.9.2021
There is a lot to unpack about an absurdist film following a man on a psychedelic path to enlightenment.
05.12.2021
A conversation about the connection between music and architecture.
Finding inspiration in process.
Exploring the familiar and the foreign in neo-concrete art.
Following an iconic design born from a single thread.
04.1.2021
Exploring a radical vision for the fusion of architecture and art.
“There should be no such thing as art divorced from life, with beautiful things to look at and hideous things to use.”
How the set for a film becomes its main character.
We look beyond the iconic furnishings and into the distinct world of an elusive hero.
02.25.2021
Theirs was a love story that began at the Bauhaus school. It was fated to be iconic.
We chat with ceramicist Logan Wannamaker about his life and work in Taos.
A timely exploration of one of LA’s artistic historians.
The contrasting beauty of a Glaswegian architect.
01.21.2021
On the corner of Orange Grove and Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena lies one of our favorite museums of art.
An explanation for our annual new year's poster led us to an exploration of paintings by one of our own.
A comprehensive photographic record of a prolific metal workshop and design house.
Leïla Menchari, 1927-2020
On the same Parisian street, inside the same empty glass box, an artist manifested dreams; we’re happy to immerse ourselves.
12.24.2020
In the Field: Salk Institute
Examining the origins of a radical laboratory in a California beach town offers insight into architecture’s role in scientific discovery.
We chat with Josie Ford about our collaboration and her inspiration.
Imagine being a photographer in 1969 in Hollywood. These are the photos you would take, and the story you would tell.
The Southland by Matt Tyrnauer
An excerpt from our new book "Design Commune"
10.20.2020
From the Library: Rock Punk Disco
Escaping our bubbles through Watanabe Katsumi’s striking images of Japanese nightlife.
In the Studio: Adam Pogue
We chat with Adam Pogue about his work and LA.
Uncovering the history of a minimalist Ashram in India helps us explore how a building can inspire spirituality within.
A founding member of the Memphis Group cleverly translates sculpture into painting.
From the Library: Charles Jencks
Architectural historian Charles Jencks meticulously documented images of the most outlandish and brash homes he found in LA, dissecting a uniquely Angeleno sort of ugly-beauty.
11.9.2020
Emma Kunz, 1892-1963
At a time when our day to day world can feel so difficult to understand, looking out to the metaphysical world of Emma Kunz's drawings is a spiritual journey altogether.
Our posters and graphic ephemera have served as our voice for 14 years. When we have something to say, we’d rather show you than tell you. Feel free to share and spread the word VOTE BLUE AND SAVE THE WORLD.
In the Shop: The Ise Stool by Summer Studio
We talk with Jack Sasaki of Summer Studio while he walks us through the construction of our collaborative Ise Stool.
Under a canopy of redwoods overlooking the Pacific sits Lloyd Wright's glass church.
09.16.2020
08.27.2020
Finding the beauty in the everyday, to celebrating the democratic places we can all share and to spending our time exploring.
08.6.2020
We take an overdue look into the life of a prolific mid-century designer who balanced an unapologetic exploration of modernity with her deep connection to centuries old craft traditions.
07.12.2020
06.14.2020
05.31.2020
05.16.2020
05.2.2020
04.18.2020
04.3.2020
We’ve been spending a great deal of time in Japan and we’d like to highlight a few things we love. This is a focus on one of the most fascinating traditions, hailing from the city that’s consumed us: Kyoto.
02.14.2020
The Los Angeles of John Baldessari, 1931-2020
Baldessari highlighted the aspects of humanity that oft fell to the background. This started a unique dialogue within the realm of contemporary art and began right here in his Los Angeles studio. We honor his life and career.
01.9.2020
12.20.2019
Ray Kappe 1927-2019
We honor the life a California architect who ensured his life’s work would become a reminder to seek out diversity, to share common resources and to leave the world a more beautiful, equitable place.
12.12.2019
Technology has offered us a lot, but the basics — the simplest forms — remain the most appealing. In the US, those simple forms we admire have been largely shaped by a small group of religious folks in New England, known as the shakers.
10.28.2019
We follow alongside an architect, philosopher, psychologist, and artist as he sought to understand the elusive notion of beauty by attempting to map it onto a 3-dimensional axis.
10.7.2019
During a visit to one of England’s most prolific textile designers, we find a collection of work rooted in quirky family history and a wild child-like imagination.
11.17.2019
09.17.2019
At Commune, each of us has a shared title: designer. It’s not a surprise then, that we tend to be immensely inspired by those whose creative endeavors embrace more than one concentration. Dagobert Peche is one of these people.
08.1.2019
Jackie’s thoughtful restoration of the White House.
07.4.2019
During a visit to a large retrospective of Hammons’ work, we discover an oeuvre that reflects not just one artist’s 45-year singular experience but uncovers a collective American consciousness grappling with racial injustice.
06.20.2019
05.9.2019
It was the 1970s: New York, Studio 54, Warhol and Halston and Minnelli… and Elsa Peretti. Eventually, Elsa left this behind for another life, and we understand why.
04.25.2019
04.11.2019
03.21.2019
03.7.2019
02.21.2019
02.7.2019
Working during the height of expressionism, Lurcat sought to revive a lost appreciation for the mysticism and symbolism in medieval tapestry. We explore the way he interpreted them with a modern stroke.
01.24.2019
01.10.2019
12.20.2018
12.13.2018
10.29.2018
10.22.2018
10.8.2018
10.1.2018
11.25.2018
11.18.2018
11.4.2018
09.20.2018
09.13.2018
Commune’s third collaboration with Exquisite Surfaces.
08.30.2018
A strange and beautiful surprise in the deepest parts of Stockholm.
08.23.2018
Inspiration by the Australian based Aboriginal artist.
08.16.2018
07.26.2018
07.12.2018
