pure bliss

Architect Tadao Ando fulfills a longtime dream of LA fashion maven Lorenzo Hadar with a house that whispers beauty and restraint

- MAYER RUS

Lorenzo Hadar speaks about the inspiration and influence of Japan with an almost religious reverence.

The Los Angeles style czar began making regular pilgrimages to the Asian archipelago more than two decades ago, searching for Japanese design talent to stock the avantgarde H. Lorenzo fashion boutiques that have been a staple of the LA scene from the time he and his wife, Sharona, opened their first location in the early 1980s.

THE DINING ROOM IS CENTERED ON A GEORGE NAKASHIMA DINING TABLE AND CHAIRS, PURCHASED THROUGH SAKURA SEISAKUSHO. PHOTOGRAPH BY ARAM DIKICIYAN, DRAWINGS BY YOSHIMOTO NARA. OPPOSITE A VERTICAL CONCRETE FIN MODULATES THE PLAY OF LIGHT AND SHADOW WHILE CHANNELING VIEWS.

"Those trips changed me fundamentally, my personality, the way I think, my aesthetic," Hadar avers. "I started to love their culture, the minimalism, the attention to detail, and the emphasis on quality."

It was during those sojourns that the fashion impresario first became acquainted with the work of architect Tadao Ando, sparking a profound fascination that culminated, years later, in the commission for Ando to design a home for him in West Hollywood, just blocks from the H. Lorenzo boutiques on the Sunset Strip.

THE FOCAL STAIR OF CONCRETE, WOOD, GLASS, AND METAL IS WASHED WITH LIGHT. OPPOSITE TRIANGULAR FORMS ON THE HOUSE'S UPPER LEVELS TEMPER THE RECTILINEARITY OF THE ARCHITECTURAL COMPOSITION.

"I loved how pure Ando's designs felt, how the light came through in such a special way. Each time I visited one of his projects I fell more in love with his philosophy and approach," Hadar recalls.