At our #CKkingspointproject, how did I bring my client's request for a Villain's Lair-meets-a-1960s-vision-of-the-future-to-life?
By the iconic film sets of Dr. Strangelove, of course!
My hat is forever tipped to brilliant set designer Ken (born Klaus) Adam. That movie set went on to inspire 1983's "War Games" starring Matthew Broderick, photo below, which introduced a healthy dose of 1980s color and further served as inspiration for our color palette.
Ken Adam, a German jew, served as a British pilot against the Nazis during WWII and later trained as an architect. He created the iconic sets for "Dr. Strangelove," in which a striking circular pendant illuminates a round table intended to evoke men playing poker -- strategizing a war game -- and directly Stanley Kubrick apparently loved it. How could you not?
Before he died at age 95 in London, Adam went on to design the vintage car in Ian Fleming’s "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and sets for seven James Bond movies, including climactic villainous scene sets for Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice and the first 007 movie, Dr. No.
I love hand sketches of film sets and interior design. They remind me of my days in architecture school!
After studying the Strangelove sets, we actually explored making a custom light fixture that perfectly matched the guitar-pick shape of the dining table, but it turned out to be impractical.
But look close, and you will see how the light fixture mirrors the shape of the table base below. That's our homage to the incredible production design of the iconic film.
Yes, I took a little creative license to create a brighter version of a villain's lair -- this is a vacation home in Palm Springs, after all.
Our clients flee the Chicago winters and come to Palm Springs to be in the sun. This "lair" still needed to feel light and bright.
To create a dining room that feels a bit like Mission Control, a mural map of the earth features analog clocks that show the local time in places meaningful to our clients. Scotland, where one of them hails from. Chicago, where they live now. Southern California, of course, where their vacation home is. And locations popular with Bond Villains: Russia and the Bahamas.
Shop the Look
Sources--
Chairs: Chairish
Table: Christopher Anthony Ltd
xo
CK
Credits:
Photos: Public 311 for Christopher Kennedy Inc.
Flowers and styling: Keith Fortner