Luxury furniture maker Frank Pollaro, President of Pollaro Custom Furniture, Inc., joins “Starting Point” Friday to discuss his collaboration with renowned actor Brad Pitt, who has designed his own new furniture collection, featuring 12 original pieces for “people who collect art and functional art” that are debuting this week.
Pollaro explains that collaborating on furniture making with Brad has been “a lot of fun.” “What I like about him, about Brad, is that he listens and he’s thoughtful,” he explains. “Brad has a unique vision when he gets into a piece like this and we try to realize that in every way that we can.”
“He has been sketching for literally 20 years. We built a piece of furniture for him. When I saw them, I said let’s make some of these three dimensional,” Pollaro says.
The unique pieces “look like art,” but also strive to be functional. “We wanted to make it beautiful and comfortable,” he explains. Pollaro also says that each piece required extensive man-power for the research and design. The bed, for example, is designed in a continuous line.
For his latest role, Brad Pitt joins a familiar ensemble cast. No, it’s not George Clooney and the rest of the Ocean’s Eleven gang reuniting for another film. This time Pitt’s costars are Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Pierre Chareau, and Paul Dupré-Lafon. In his debut as a furniture designer, the actor is presenting about a dozen pieces—tables, chairs, and one rather fantastic bed—alongside 45 or so works by his collaborator, Frank Pollaro, whose New Jersey firm is noted for its impeccable reproductions of Art Deco furnishings.
The unveiling, which will take place November 13 through 15 in New York (register at pollaro.com for details), has been years in the making. “I’ve been doodling ideas for buildings and furniture since the early 1990s, when I first discovered [Charles Rennie] Mackintosh and Frank Lloyd Wright,” says Pitt. “Actually, I found Wright in college, when looking for a lazy two-point credit to get out of French. It forever changed my life.”
By now, Pitt’s passion for architecture and design is well established, evidenced by his Make It Right foundation, which enlists prominent architects to create quality affordable housing in post-Katrina New Orleans, as well as by his high-profile collecting of modernist and contemporary furniture. But it wasn’t until he met Pollaro that he seriously considered making his own furnishings. When Pollaro paid Pitt a visit to install a reproduction Ruhlmann desk the actor had commissioned a few years ago, he spotted Pitt’s sketchbook, filled with drawings of furniture designs. Pollaro didn’t hesitate. “I asked him, ‘Why don’t we make some of this stuff real?’” he recalls. “Brad said he thought that could be fun.”
Read more. Thanks Gabriella. There is also an exclusive interview with Brad.
• x022 BOOKS > In Times of Architecture Need. This is a fascinating book about the rebuilding of New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward with Make It Right. Brad provided an inspiring foreword. Please give credit.
PS. I know there have not been many updates here, but that is only because I do not post everything that is out there. I could fill up this website with all sorts of crap every day but I think my loyal visitors know that SB is not like that. I will only provide newsworthy stuff and add content when I have time. For the people that have complained about me not updating (yes, people email me about that): I work full time and try to have a private life, please respect that. I will always give my all for this website as it is my baby <3 Thank you.
The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina brought out the best in American volunteerism. Actor Brad Pitt, who has a home in New Orleans, responded with extraordinary creativity and commitment. The Lower 9th Ward houses of Pitt’s nonprofit Make it Right Foundation – individualistic and energy-efficient – are among the most inspired responses to the storm’s ravages. As the fifth anniversary of Katrina approached, Pitt spoke with historian Douglas Brinkley, his longtime friend, about his love of the city and his dreams for its future. Brinkley provided this exclusive interview to The Times-Picayune.
Whenever actor Brad Pitt is in New Orleans, he gets on his old thrift-store bicycle and tools around the city enjoying the architecture and ambiance. It’s his way of staying in shape. His favorite destination is pedaling across the retractable North Claiborne Avenue Bridge to the Lower 9th Ward to inspect his Make It Right Foundation houses.
Several categories of nominees will be among those designated to receive a Global Impact Award in Architecture at the conclusion of the Global Convention & Expo on Architecture in Chicago, April 16, 2010. Industry areas to be honored for their involvements this past year include: Top Firm, Top School of Architecture, Top Non-profit Organization, and Honorary Friend of the Architecture Community for which Brad Pitt has been selected.
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) April 2, 2010 — In recognizing the positive contributions and significant impact made on communities around the world through difference-making design/build projects, the Global Convention & Expo on Architecture announces its nominees for the 2010 Global Impact Award in Architecture (GIAA). On Friday, April 16, 2010 the historic Congress Plaza Hotel on South Michigan Avenue in Chicago will be the venue for the announcement of the winners for top firm, non-profit organization, and collegiate department of architecture for 2009. In addition to these, the year’s honorary friend of the architecture community will be recognized.
The american film star Brad Pitt arrived today to Avilés to work with the Niemeyer Center staff in order to define the terms of the future collaboration between him and the cultural center.
