Known to the local gentry as the Big Blue Whale, WeHo's Pacific Design Center could soon get a new nickname. Maybe something like Big Red? The Bloody Iceberg?

A hundred years ago, when unincorporated West Hollywood was called Sherman, Melrose and San Vicente Boulevard was the home of the local railroad switching yards. Video killed the radio star and freeways killed the trains.

In 1975, the long abandoned yards were surrounded with "Designer Gulch": scads of boutiques and studios of local design talent called this home. The location seemed a natural for an international center and a plan was born. World renowned architect and Yale University Dean Cesar Pelli, FAIA, designed the Center. Famous for his "glass skin" buildings - being all the rage in the 70s -, Pelli set the PDC apart with bright bold, Crayola Crayon colors.

The original plan had 1.2 million square feet and 130 showrooms to display and sell 2,100 interior product lines to the trade. The ‘hood was already home to professional interior designers, architects, facility managers, decorators and dealers. What could go wrong?

I'll tell ya what: the original owners couldn't fill the massive building and ran out of moola two third's of the way through. The last piece of the PDC puzzle, the Red Building, was never completed. Back to the drawing board, literally.

Enter new owner, Mr. Charles Cohen, who really kick started the PDC when he took it over in 1999. First thing, he brought diversity (love that word!) and new tenants. Several ad agencies and very big time public relations outfits are now working out of the Green Building reclassified as "creative office space." Ain't that an oxymoron?

By installing the "conch shell" light fixtures and the two huge outdoor metal sculptures of the Lamp at the east corner and the Chair at the corner of Melrose and San Vicente, Cohen has given Big Blue a revitalized look. It's working bigtime. The PDC now enjoys 98% occupancy.

We love the new landscaping and the re-designed outdoor plaza with a multicolored triangle fountain and a reflection pond. The triangle giving the nod to the local Gay Community and the three colors allude to the original triple building concept in bold primary colors: Blue, Green and finally, at long last, Red.

Already a Designated Architectural Resource for the City of West Hollywood, the images of the Red Building are nothing but breathtaking. Knife-like and slicing through the northern edge where driveways used to be, Red will be an amazing completion, though the noise from the pile-driver is driving the neighbors nuts. But peace will come in the Summer of 2010!

The PCD was always available for parties but here again Mr. Cohen and Co. has stepped up to the plate and really made things happen. Occasional affairs are now routine and annual. Elton John hosts his Oscar bash here as does HBO for the Emmys. I am so on the list.

Citizen Cohen goes another step further and plays host to the annual AIDS Walk, "Gay Pride" week, West Hollywood's Book Fair (this Sunday, September 28th) and The Human Rights Speaker Series.

Hungry? Wolfgang Puck has not one but two restaurants here. The Café is on the 3rd floor of the Blue and the new one, Red Seven, is on the plaza level of the Green. Design industry events are in full swing with the Fall Market new product preview is going great guns this week as well. Go. Now.

THE DETAILS:The Red Building
www.red-building.com
Completion:2010

Story by Victoria Joyce.

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