Tower neighbors: A visit with Steven Johanknecht and Roman Alonso

With Commune, the designers gave California Cool a home, and now Steven Johanknecht and Roman Alonso are also neighbors.

When designers Roman Alonso and Steven Johanknecht came to Los Angeles - one in 1998, the other in 2002 - the city was still considered a relatively sleepy place to do business. That was before numerous major art galleries from New York and Europe opened branches in L.A.; before the fashion industry's top labels threw sensational parties in West Coast warehouses; and before a cavalcade of international star architects like Renzo Piano, Peter Zumthor and Herzog & de Meuron invaded the city.

Steven Johanknecht and Roman Alonso co-direct the style-defining office Commune.

Stephen Kent Johnson

Meanwhile, the two designers also live in adjacent residential towers at Griffith Park.

Stephen Kent Johnson

Over the past 20 years, L.A. has become a center of the cultural scene, ceaselessly attracting newcomers from all over the world. With their multidisciplinary company Commune Design, Alonso and Johanknecht have played a major role in this metamorphosis: They are among the representatives of this new Los Angeles, promoting local talent and giving their own style to the powerful message of California Cool. From the design of some hotels, for example, by Ace and other chains, to their many forays into product and graphic design, to their long-standing collaborations with recognized stars or young, wild artists and designers - think Alma Allen, Adam Silverman or even Stan Bitters - Commune's directors continue to champion refined, yet very relaxed bohemian chic.

Their work conjures up images of lovely beaches and bungalows, so it may come as a surprise that Alonso and
Johanknecht, of all people, chose to live in two adjacent apartment blocks built in 1966 in Los Feliz, very close to Griffith Park, that branching wonderland full of winding hilly paths, shrubbery and glorious landmarks such as the Art Deco Griffith Observatory, the Greek Theatre and the Hollywood sign.

"We always find a place for great things. If something excites us, it works."

"Basically, I live in an apartment building with a doorman in the middle of a park," says Alonso, describing the benefits of his nearly 80-square-meter apartment. "I can look at nature every day and go to the park. But I don't need to take care of it. I'm too lazy to manage a whole house." Johanknecht sees things similarly. "I lived in a cozy Tudor cottage for dozens of years, but then I wanted something different. I like the practicality of an apartment, and I like being so high up - you get a whole different relationship with your surroundings," he explains, describing the magnificent views of the San Gabriel Mountains and the downtown L.A. skyline from the balcony of his 100-square-foot apartment.

In Steven Johanknecht's master bedroom, Farrow&Ball's "Pelt" wall color competes with the sunny yellow Pierre Frey ceiling. Next to the cherry wood bed are nightstands by George Nelson. Pillows by Commune, sidetable by Eero Saarinen for Knoll.

Stephen Kent Johnson

One would love to imagine life like a scene from the Fifties sitcom "I Love Lucy." The two designers, like Lucy and Ethel, shouting something to each other from their apartments at the top of the twin towers across the courtyard while hanging out laundry on the side. The reality, of course, is different: Privately and professionally, the two compadres have been involved with each other in intertwined ways over the past few decades since they first met at Barneys New York, where they worked during the luxury department store's most successful era, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their apartments tell of their remarkably fruitful relationship: with furniture and objects from past and present projects, with the fine details that come from Commune's vocabulary, with various artworks and curiosities.

Velvety and sacred: For Alonso's living room, Adam Pogue designed curtains reminiscent of stained glass. Mohair sofa by Commune for George Smith, Butterfly chair by Pierre Paulin. Table: Michael Boyd.

Stephen Kent Johnson

Alonso's kaleidoscopic furnishings include a Midcentury-reminiscent dining set designed by FOC Michael Boyd (FOC stands for Friend of Commune); tables and sculptures by Alma Allen; Indian rugs from the estate of legendary artist and decorator Tony Duquette; a sofa from Commune's collection for George Smith; and lights from her series for Remains; a prototype floor lamp for the "Ace Hotel & Swim Club" in Palm Springs; a plethora of black-and-white photographs; plus Cuban art (Alonso's parents were Cuban, and he himself grew up in Caracas, Venezuela) and gorgeous curtains by Adam Pogue, whose textile work Commune distributes. "This was Adam's first commission from us. I gave him vintage fabrics that I had bought over many years and asked him to compose something new out of them, like stained glass. What he made of it was incredible," Alonso enthuses.

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