By on Fine Books & Collections - February 23, 2012
Architectural Digest's 10th Annual Signature Greenroom at the 84th Academy Awards®. Credit: Roger Davies for Architectural Digest.
Every year Architectural Digest designs an exclusive backstage lounge for Oscar presenters and honorees. This year, that greenroom has a designer library, too.
Thatcher Wine of Juniper Books in Boulder, Colorado, was called on by this year's AD Greenroom designer, Waldo Fernandez, to fill the room's empty bookshelves. Fernandez's overall design evokes the Hollywood of the 1930s and 40s, with references to the glamorous parties of director George Cukor. Wine ran with that idea, imagining shelves of books that look like vintage film reels.
A portion of the library prior to installation. Courtesy of Thatcher Wine.
"The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences gave me access to their archives," he said. "I picked out classic film scenes, then printed them on book jackets." All of the photographs he chose are recognizable, fit to a new medium. As anyone who has seen Wine's custom dust jackets (FB&C profiled his work last fall) can attest, the effect is incredible. "There is no one else in the world who does what I do with the book jackets, so this was the perfect project for me to come up with a never-before-seen idea ... I am so honored to be a part of it," he said.
Wine flew out to Los Angeles earlier this week to personally install the library backstage at the Kodak Theatre in anticipation of Sunday's 84th annual Academy Awards.
While it's not the first library in an AD Greenroom, it is certainly one in which the books don't just blend into the background. "The idea being that books are relaxing and help calm the presenters before going on stage. My library calms and also inspires with a dose of film history and nostalgia," Wine said.
What's underneath the jackets? A selection of entertainment biographies and books about film, he said. When Wine works on a project like this, he leaves it up to the client whether they want a curated collection or just props behind the art