Pacific Design Center Announces Honorees of Prestigious 14th Annual Stars of Design Awards during WESTWEEK 2008 March 26th at Pacific Design Center West Hollywood, CA (March 19, 2008) – Pacific Design Center (PDC) in West Hollywood, CA, the West Coast’s leading resource for interior design trades, has announced the winners of the 2008 Stars of Design Awards. Founded in 1994 as part of Pacific Design Center’s WESTWEEK, this year’s Stars of Design Awards will be celebrated on Wednesday, March 26th at 5:30 p.m. in Pacific Design Center’s Silverscreen Theatre. This prestigious honor recognizes eight Southern California design professionals, chosen by the industry’s leading critics, who have made a significant contribution in their respective areas of design and design related fields. “Los Angeles is home to extraordinary design talent, which deserves meaningful recognition from the industry,” says Mr. Cohen. “Pacific Design Center honors these outstanding individuals and companies during WESTWEEK 2008, one of the most exciting annual design events in Los Angeles.” This year’s honorees include: Lifetime Achievement: Harry Benson – Scottish-born photojournalist Harry Benson arrived in America with the Beatles in 1964 and stayed, becoming a renowned photographer for legendary Life magazine. In addition to the Beatles and 10 U.S. Presidents, Mr. Benson has recorded historic moments of high drama, from civil rights marches with Martin Luther King, Jr. to the resignation of Richard Nixon. His portraits are a “who’s who” of celebrity, and include Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson, Alfred Hitchcock, Judy Garland, James Stewart, Mick Jagger, Grace Kelly, Gene Hackman, and Steven Spielberg, among many other stellar personalities. His work is part of the permanent collections of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Currently, Mr. Benson photographs for Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, the London Sunday Times Magazine and other major magazines. In addition to receiving the Lifetime Achievement award, Mr. Benson will be unveiling his first ever Los Angeles Exhibit titled, Harry Benson – a Retrospective of Iconic Photography, during Westweek. The major exhibit, showcasing Mr. Benson’s illustrative career will feature more than 65 of his most famed photos and will be on display at Pacific Design Center though the end of May. Interior Design: Thomas Schoos Design Inc. – Thomas Schoos, born in Neuerburg, Germany, is a bold designer who has left an indelible mark on the American lifestyle. He began his creative career as a stone sculptor with a passion for painting, and then entered the fashion industry, painting for displays and showrooms. On vacation in L.A., Mr. Schoos met his future business partner, Thomas Schoos Design President & CEO Michael Berman, and stayed to open his first studio/boutique in 1996. Clients Include: Will Smith and Jada Pinkett, TAO Asian Bistro in New York, and Koi in Los Angeles. Mr. Schoos’ transformation of Santa Monica’s Huntley Hotel made Condé Nast Traveler’s 10th Annual “Hot List” of the World’s Top New Hotels. Current projects include the highly anticipated Nicky O Hotel in Miami, a 300-room hotel tower on Waikiki Harbor in Hawaii, and several new Las Vegas nightclubs. Mr. Schoos’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Architectural Digest, People, Vogue, InStyle, Food & Wine, GQ, Los Angeles and Angeleno magazines. Architecture: Pugh + Scarpa Architects – Pugh + Scarpa, the firm co- founded by Lawrence Scarpa and Gwynne Pugh in 1991, has redefined the role of the architect to produce some of the most remarkable and exploratory work today. In the past seven years, Pugh + Scarpa has received 35 major design awards including eleven national American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honor Awards. In 2004 The Architectural League of New York selected Mr. Scarpa as an “Emerging Voice” in architecture, and his work is currently on exhibit at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. In addition, Mr. Scarpa has taught and lectured at numerous distinguished colleges and universities throughout the country. He is the 2008 Ruth and James Moore Distinguished Professor at Washington University, and has served as the 2007 Eliel Saarinen Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan, the 2005 Max Fisher Visiting Professor at the Alfred Taubman College of Art and Architecture, and as the 2004 Freidman Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley. He is also the co-founder of Livable Places, Inc., a nonprofit development and public policy organization dedicated to building mixed-use housing on under-utilized and problematic parcels of land. Product Design: Jean de Merry – Jean-Claude de Merry’s Jean de Merry showroom opened in 2000, but owes its inspiration to the family’s tradition of several hundred years in the leather business. For hundreds of years, the founders’ families were involved in every aspect of leather, from raising sheep on the remote “Causse Noir” to the tanning of hides in Millau, the French city that gave America some of its most talented leather craftsmen in during the 19th century. In its flagship L.A. showroom and with representation worldwide, Jean de Merry has delved into old family secrets to recreate the process of aging raw hides to hand-craft club chairs that look and feel like family heirlooms. Art: Camille Rose Garcia – Born in Los Angeles in 1970, Camille Rose Garcia grew up in Orange County, visiting Disneyland and going to punk shows with the other disenchanted youth of that era. Her paintings of creepy cartoon children living in wasteland fairy tales are critical commentaries on the failures of capitalist utopias, blending nostalgic pop culture references with a satirical slant on modern society. Ms. Garcia’s creative influences include Phillip K. Dick, William Burroughs, Henry Darger, and Walt Disney. Ms. Garcia’s works of art have appeared in numerous magazines and have influenced countless young artists around the globe. “Tragic Kingdom,” a retrospective of her work was on display at the San Jose Museum of Art in May 2007, and she has upcoming solo shows in Berlin and New York. Photography: Art Streiber – Art Streiber is a Los Angeles-based freelance photographer with an impressive range of remarkable achievement in reportage, travel, portrait and entertainment photography. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Conde Nast Portfolio, Entertainment Weekly, W, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Esquire, Elle, O/Oprah Magazine, In Style, Time and Newsweek. In the world of entertainment, Mr. Streiber’s clients have included many major television networks and movie studios including ABC, CBS, NBC, HBO, CNN, Fox, Sony Pictures and Warner Brothers Studios. His recent television work includes the key art for “Big Love,” “House,” “CSI: New York,” “October Road,” “Lost” and Tracy Ullman’s “State of the Union.” He also photographed the one sheets for “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Cloverfield,” “Evan Almighty,” “Pineapple Express” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” Graphic Design: Kyle Cooper – Details magazine has credited Kyle Cooper with “almost single-handedly revitalizing the main title sequence as an art form.” Mr. Cooper has directed more than 100 film title sequences, and is the founder of Prologue Films and Imaginary Forces, two internationally recognized motion design companies. Cooper earned a M.F.A. in Graphic Design from the Yale School of Art, where he studied independently with Paul Rand. Cooper is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and holds the honorary title of Royal Designer for Industry from the Royal Society of Arts in London. Urban Design: Roger Sherman Architecture and Urban Design – Roger Sherman is founder and managing principal of Roger Sherman Architecture and Urban Design. His work, which includes large-scale planning projects, design of public spaces, commercial and multifamily residential development, is known for its innovative approach to architecture and urban design. Mr. Sherman has received numerous awards, including AIA Awards in 2007 for Railyard Park in Santa Fe, NM and Gateway Park in Toledo, OH. Among his widely-acclaimed projects: an award-winning proposal for RePark, an end-use plan for FreshKills Landfill in Staten Island, NY (2001); a Transit-Oriented District plan for North Hollywood, CA (1998); and the West Hollywood Civic Center (1989). Mr. Sherman has taught and lectured widely, including at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he was a visiting studio instructor; and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Mr. Sherman received his B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.Arch with Distinction from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. The distinguished jury for the 2008 Stars of Design Awards included 6 distinguished design experts and artists including: Arnold Schwartzman, Graphic Designer; Linda Pollari, Chair of Environment Design Otis College; Rose Brantley, Chair of Fashion Design Otis College; Thom Mayne, Morphosis (Architect); David Keeps, LA Times; Dina Morgan, FIDM, Interior Design Department Chair Pacific Design Center presents WESTWEEK DesignForum 2008: HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR on Wednesday and Thursday, March 26 & 27, in exclusive media partnership with Architectural Digest magazine. An internationally recognized trade event, WESTWEEK welcomes thousands of design professionals and trade journalists each spring. For more information please log on to www.thepacificdesigncenter.com/events.htm. WESTWEEK DesignForum 2008: HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR marks the third of four Markets sponsored by the Cohen Design Centers and Architectural Digest partnership. Past market events have been held at the Decoration and Design Building (NYC) and the Design Center of the America’s (Southeastern Florida). The fourth and final market will take place this May 6th in Houston, TX at the Decorative Center Houston. About Pacific Design Center (PDC) Founded in 1975 and designed by Cesar Pelli, Pacific Design Center is the west coast’s largest multi-use facility and is the leading resource for the interior design and the entertainment & arts communities. PDC houses offices for the world’s premier entertainment companies, over 130 showrooms and 2,200 manufacturers; and boasts The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA); two Wolfgang Puck restaurants (Red Seven & WP); the SilverScreen Theater, a 380 seat state-of-the-art luxury film venue and reception facility; and a 200-seat Conference Center. In 2010 the Red Building will be completed featuring 400,000 square feet of Class-A office space. This architectural wonder will complete the composition of Cesar Pelli’s original vision for this 14-acre campus. Pacific Design Center was featured on Bravo’s competition reality series, Top Design, and has been home to both the Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards party and the HBO Emmy event. Pacific Design Center is located at 8687 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, CA. For more information, call 310-657-0800 or visit www.thepacificdesigncenter.com. About Charles S. Cohen Known for his skillful repositioning of commercial real estate, Charles S. Cohen heads a multi-faceted real estate development company that owns and manages over eleven million square feet of prime Manhattan, Los Angeles, Florida and Houston office and showroom space. Other design centers owned and operated by Mr. Cohen include the Decoration & Design (D&D) Building at 979 Third Avenue in Manhattan, the Decorative Center of Houston (DCH) and the Design Center of the Americas (DCOTA) in Dania Beach, FL.