Commissioned by Korean boutique hotelier, Lotte Hotels purchased the never-before-opened luxury hotel in the F5 tower, also call the Mark, whose interiors were formerly designed by French superstar Philippe Starck, in a style strangely reminiscent of Twin Peaks, and hired Lara to create new imagery for website and promotional materials. Scheduled to open in June of 2020, there are 14 floors of guest rooms, and another 4 floors of restaurant, lounges, meeting rooms, and a spa.
In another collaboration with the Concepts group at Starbucks, Lara went on location late February to capture the vibe of the new LA drive up app order Starbucks shop on Westwood and Ohio Streets, which surprisingly had a good deal of foot traffic and outdoor life as well! This shop was a former Coffee Bean, so the existing structure had a familiar coffee house feel, but beyond commissioned artist mural, was not part of the redesign.
Always thrilled for the opportunity to capture living retail spaces, and with the PCC (Puget Consumers Coop) being a beloved NW health food store institution, Lara worked to create new imagery for both designer and client, with design firm MG2 responsible for beautifully rebranding and remaking interior spaces for both the West Seattle and Ballard area stores.
On the last day in Abu Dhabi, we toured the war memorial of Wahat Al Karama, designed by architect Idris Kahn, which translates literally to Oasis of Dignity. A 90-meter long series of 31 massive aluminum-clad tablets, the monuent symbolizes unity and solidarity, and behind which lies the Pavilion of Honor, whose circular internal wall is clad with over 2,800 aluminium plates inscribed with the names of the UAE’s fallen heroes. The magnificent site also boasts a Memorial Plaza and spectacular reflecting pond double view to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. My gratitude goes out to our hosts at Meridian Intl and the UAE Embasssy US @meridianintl @uaeembassyus @uaeusaunited for organizing such well crafted itinerary and locations.
On the 2nd to last day of our whirlwind tour of the UAE with Meridian International @meridianintl and the UAE Embassy @uaeembassyus, we were lucky enough to adjust our timing to the extraordinary Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque to coincide with sunset and dusk, allowing for low light, long exposures, and some incredible audio tracks of the evening's call to prayer. Definitely on my list as one of the wonders of the modern world, the mosque is the world's second largest, hosts the worlds largest handmade carpet, and the largest Munich made Swarowski glass crystal chandeliers, it was built over the span of 11 years from 1996 - 2007 and employed a crew of over 3,000 intl workers per day! It's design is credited to Yusef Abdelki of HALCROW.
