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**** Celebrity Client Stories ****

Angeleno

I searched the discussion threads, and can't believe I found nothing from Archinecters on famous clients. What gives? We know TV stars, musicians, movie gods and goddesses hire folks like us all the time.

What's your story?

 
Aug 6, 06 2:44 pm
kylemiller

celebrities are a media concoction, they dont exist! maybe thats why there has not been a post yet.

time for you to read some debord.

Aug 6, 06 3:11 pm  · 
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vado retro

val kilmer bought me an iced tea in pojaque new mexico.

Aug 6, 06 3:36 pm  · 
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Because if I told my celebrity client stories it would make my online presence too recognizeable to my former employers, whom I've shared negative stories about on here as well.

Aug 6, 06 4:20 pm  · 
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assbackward

One time I was working over the weekend in the architecture studio at college. There was one other student there, a few tables away. We were quietly working when we heard the door open. I looked up, and in walked Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman with their daughter (who was looking at the school), and my graphic design professor (who was giving them a tour of the arts facilities). I made eye contact with DeVito across the room, and couldn't help but grin stupidly and wave. He shot back a big smile, and they moved on.

Aug 6, 06 4:39 pm  · 
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treekiller

NYC, pre 9/11 lou reed- no phone manners.

From my h-wood daze, too many encounters (including working with Danny D) to tell them all. Still seeing Seinfeld riding a clunky 3 speed bike across the studio lot was priceless (this was 1999).

Oh- Kid Rock wins my biggest prick award for being impossible to work with.

Aug 6, 06 6:58 pm  · 
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Katze

Sorry, dude, no celebrity client stories, however met a few celebrities outside of work:

John Kerry – talked to him while dining at a restaurant in Boston.
Julia Child – talked to her at the Back Bay post office while waiting in line.
Joan Rivers – talked to her while waiting for a restaurant table in Boston (you can guess who was seated first).
Lou Pinnella – talked to him at a Bellevue, WA establishment.
Ichiro Suzuki – talked to him while dining in Bellevue, WA
ZZ Top Billy Givens – he autographed a menu for me at was quite the character.
Steve Martin – talked to him when he existed a restaurant in Boston.
Chef Jacque Pipen – talked to him while he was waiting for his daughter to come out of a restaurant in San Francisco.
Kiefer Sutherland - Use to come into an establishment I worked at in San Francisco.
Rob Snyder – best friends with an ex-friend of mine.

Aug 7, 06 1:07 am  · 
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Nevermore

I once gave a presentation to a certain individual who's once been on the cover of Forbes magazine.

In the middle of the presentation, his hot wife walked in , she was wearing so many diamonds , the reflecting light was blinding me..I couldn't see a thing....i was stumbling and groping for the presentation portfolio and clicking away blindly in air to proceed the powerpoint slides.

The presentation went well. Later he treated me to a large Domino's pizza too.

Aug 7, 06 3:48 am  · 
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kramer hit on my ex in LA.

Aug 7, 06 4:57 am  · 
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never had a celebrity client, but did do a 10800 sf log ski lodge for a very rich guy once. it was his 3rd or 4th house, it was in telluride co in a place that was only reachable by big suv and which was restricted anyway, and his next door 'neighbor' (couple mis away) was a house owned by tom cruise.

Aug 7, 06 7:24 am  · 
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oh and, for you sports fans (i'm not), my office did rick pitino's house here in louisville when he moved back to town. renovation. the appliances were a couple of years old so they needed new ones: sold the old ones to a friend in my office and he put them in his new kitchen renovation. weird to be able to say you've got rick's appliances - but probably more notable if you're here and understand the basketball culture.

Aug 7, 06 7:26 am  · 
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lletdownl

i once built a boat house for former president gerald fords ferrari

Aug 7, 06 9:50 am  · 
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Chili Davis

A boat house for a Ferrari??

Aug 7, 06 9:52 am  · 
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larslarson

saw sean penn this weekend in san francisco..and the mayor
apparently.

once worked on rosie and kelly's house..actually i was in charge
of the project..although i didn't do all that much design work.
both nice people actually, but still strange thinking back to that
first client meeting...i also overheard her asking, 'where'd that cute
blonde kid (me) go...did he leave already'..which was odd.

have seen all kinds of celebrities living here in new york.
i live on the same street as jennifer connely and paul bettany.
jon turturro used to ride the same subway as me..and i accidentally
bumped into him.
favorite sitings: matthew broderick, mike meyers watching hockey
(same day), kevin bacon, willem defoe, the question mark guy,
phillip seymour hoffmann right after he won the oscar...i walked up
to natasia leon sp? (from american pie) at a bar after i'd had a few
too many..and asked her why she didn't get more lead roles...
she ended the conversation with 'thanks, pardner'...saw the lead
singer from coldplay exiting his apartment the day after gwyneth
had their second kid.

Aug 7, 06 9:56 am  · 
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WonderK

I haven't done any work for celebrities either, but if not for work, I wouldn't have seen most of them:

-Jerry Seinfeld on 57th street in Manhattan after buying model-building supplies
-Joey McIntyre (of New Kids on the Block ;o) after an off-broadway play that he starred in
-Ethan Hawke in a bar in Chelsea
-Cincinnati Reds Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns, drunk in a Northern Kentucky bar
-and my personal favorite, Jimmy Carter on a plane in Seattle...he shook everybody's hand and all I could say was "good morning, Mr. President!"

Aug 7, 06 10:11 am  · 
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Angeleno

Who's "Rosie and Kelly"? If you're gonna name-drop down to first names only, make 'em recognizable!

Aug 7, 06 11:18 am  · 
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Chili Davis

Rosie O'Donnell and Kelly Carpenter??

Aug 7, 06 11:20 am  · 
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larslarson

thought it was obvious...rosie odonnell. and her girlfriend kelly.
guess she's more of a minor celeb now that she's stopped doing
her show and comedy etc.

Aug 7, 06 11:21 am  · 
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mm

Lars, do you live in Park Slope? I heard that that Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly live right near me in Park Slope, but haven't seen them. Probably wouldn't recognize Paul, though. I only have a vague conception of what he looks like...

But I did see John Turturro at the farmers market a few weeks ago. Completely unrelated to architecture...

Related to work, I did see Diane VonFurtstenberg walking out of my office... She's amazingly beautiful.

And I've seen/met several starchitects at my office... but they aren't real celebrities.. They aren't even on the level of reality tv celebrities.

Aug 7, 06 12:41 pm  · 
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silverlake

i designed a small cabana for a guy in the hollywood hills who wanted to build it illegally because of all these issues with caissons, etc. we were going to have to work around pee wee herman's schedule, who was his next door neighbor. i never saw him, but apparently he is a major pain in the ass to live next too and complains about anything.

it didn't get built, the owner sold the house to the singer of maroon 5. those hills are just chalk full of celebrities...

Aug 7, 06 12:51 pm  · 
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ok, just one, no names.... The office I worked in was doing a waterfront condo renovation for a quite famous man, and his famous wife whom I'd never heard of at the time. She would call up and say in a very old-fashioned accent, "Can you put (boss's name) on, darling? I'm feeling very weak today, I can only speak for a few minutes really." At the time I thought she was just being dramatic, trying to sound more important, command attention and such, but I'd humour her and go get my boss since she was an important client and I'd be sacked otherwise. Then last year I heard on the news that she was dead, and felt pretty badly for thinking that.

Aug 7, 06 1:06 pm  · 
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brian buchalski

i have no idea who most of these people are, probably because i haven't watch tv since the cosby show.

but i have seen le bossman get out of a car downtown once...i shrieked like a school girl "OHMYGOD I LOVE YOU BOSSMAN" and he gave me a little wave...it was sooooo sweet of him!!!

Aug 7, 06 1:10 pm  · 
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larslarson

mm.

if you live near grand army plaza on prospect park west...
then you live near them.

paul's most famous role.. chaucer in a knight's tale?
although he was also in a beautiful mind...and master and commander
http://imdb.com/name/nm0079273/

the also take the 2/3 pretty often...

steve buscemi lives in the neighborhood as well.

Aug 7, 06 1:31 pm  · 
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having worked out in malibu for a bit , obviously with some clients with notariety . why is it that they always want to do shit illegally? i may sound naive and probably ansered my own question but seriously the aint broke . oh well maybe when i have that kind of money i will understand , but until then, le sigh!!!! :)

Aug 7, 06 2:09 pm  · 
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Ramsey

Did a "villa" in the Carribean for a former heavyweight champion of the world. Probably not quite as famous as a couple of the guys he knocked out. My boss had meetings with him at his training camps and went to one of his big fights but never took me along. I did at least get to go to the site a couple of times, and met him there. He was a nice guy and a pretty good client. And he always had his entourage with him, including some sort of "spiritual advisor" guy who just seemd to sit there on a couch stoned the entire time.

Aug 7, 06 2:41 pm  · 
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tinydancer

never worked for anyone famous-but saw Adam Sandler at Stage Deli-he waved at us as he was chauffered off in his black SUV, and Tom Jones hit on my best friend while we were at a bar in Atlanta-he's a scuz-totally grossed both of us out!

Aug 7, 06 7:20 pm  · 
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vado retro

the famous and infamous:
in albucrackee: doogie howser, kurt russell, bryan dennehy,michelle shocked. in santa fe, val kilmer and his wife joanne whalley kilmer, harry morgan(colonel potter) in denver: allan ginsburg. in goshen indiana, steve buscemi, also have met three members of the weather underground. mark rudd, bernadine dohrn and bill ayers.

Aug 7, 06 7:41 pm  · 
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mdler

DEVO's former drummer is one of my electricians

Aug 7, 06 8:08 pm  · 
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tempdrive

I wasn't personally working of the project but my office was working on a house for Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson...I never herd Tom but I would over hear Rita on speaker phone durring phone meetings. The principal and project architect had it best...they would fly out to LA to meet and have dinner with them.

Aug 8, 06 12:28 pm  · 
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momentum

did some design work on a house for Stone Cold Steve Austin. i don't know if it got built though. every time he came into the office, he had just finished working out at the gym.

i bumped into Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs a couple years ago in a movie theater.

i also bumped into Avery Johnson of the Spurs in a walmart of all places when i was in high school.

way back when my wife was my girlfriend, and working in a fast food place, Matt Damon came through the drive through rather drunk. she's never liked him, so she gave him a bunch of shit for driving drunk. i don't know if she gave him his food.

Aug 8, 06 7:33 pm  · 
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standaman

On my first day of work this summer, I was browsing the 'Projects' drive only to find a folder titled "Shakira Residence."

Aug 8, 06 11:18 pm  · 
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mdler

one of my clients was trying to sell his house in Beverly Hills...apparently Lindsy Lohan stopped by shitfaced...he tried to get her in the sack

May 10, 07 7:10 pm  · 
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mightylittle™

who hasn't?

May 10, 07 7:16 pm  · 
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mightylittle™

she's actually one of my clients.

May 10, 07 7:22 pm  · 
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bowling_ball

No international celebrity work to speak of, but I did have my picture taken with the Honky Tonk Man a few years ago. At a skate shop. In his full Honky Tonk Man regalia.

Surreal to say the least.

May 10, 07 7:37 pm  · 
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mightylittle™

i sat next to brad pitt and cate blanchett at a restaurant in beverly hills.

spent the whole time trying to catch a look down the back of her pants.

i may be lewd and lascivious, but i'm honest.

May 10, 07 7:49 pm  · 
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n_

My coworker and I are currently doing some freelance work for the house of the man who wrote such 80's hits as Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name (Shot Through the Heart)" and Aerosmith's "Jeannie's Got a Gun."

Whenever he discredits one of our ideas, we automatically reply "Shot through the heart and your to blame..."


May 10, 07 7:58 pm  · 
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n_

Oh yea, and I used to play with Shakira when I was a kid.

Our moms went to school together and I lived much of my summer childhood in Barranquilla, Colombia playing with her and my cousins. She still sends us Christmas cards every year.

May 10, 07 7:59 pm  · 
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Living in Gin

My own celebrity sightings/encounters, work-related or not:

- Back when I worked at a Circuit City store in the suburbs, I sold some blank tapes to Richard Marx.
- The church I used to go to here in Chicago is next door to Iron Mike's Grill on Chestnut Street, and sometimes when leaving church I'd see Mike Ditka eating outside.
- I once rode in an elevator at Water Tower Place with Micheal Jordon and his entourage.
- I saw John Madden in a restaurant on NYC's Upper West Side.
- I met former Illinois senator Paul Simon (the guy with the bowtie who looks like Orville Redenbacher) at Philadelphia's airport, and briefly talked with him. Nice guy.
- I also met former Illinois governor George Ryan at my church in NYC when he gave a sermon there in favor of abolishing the death penalty. Also a nice guy, too bad he's now a convicted felon.
- I can say that I (to some degree) designed the office suite of the CEO of a major electronics company here in Chicago, who is somewhat of a celebrity in the business world for radically changing the culture of what was once a very stodgy and conservative company.
- I was once behind the late Marge Schott in line at a Kroger's store in Cincinnati. She was a former patient of my father's, along with Johnny Bench and a few other Reds players.
- I was standing next to, and briefly exchanged plesantries with George Takei in the lobby of the Merchandise Mart here in Chicago. I didn't know it was him until one of my co-workers told me later. I'm really terrible at spotting celebrities, and I've probably encountered many more than I actually know about.

May 10, 07 8:23 pm  · 
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mightylittle™

george takei! nice!

May 10, 07 8:27 pm  · 
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treekiller

beam me up mr. solo!

May 10, 07 10:29 pm  · 
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I was working a late night in the model shop of an LA office, probably my 2nd or 3rd week there, and the phone rings. I say "hello?" (why bother with formalities late at night, right?). Some guy on the other line simply says "This is Michael Ovitz." A silence of a few seconds follows. Who the hell is this guy, I think to myself. I say "uhhh, yeah. how can I help you?" To my credit I had just been traveling abroad and wasn't up to date on the Disney trial and stuff. Ovitz was obviously annoyed that not only was I not expecting his call, I had no damn clue who he was or what he might want. I was aware that we had a big house in the office for a celebrity client. He wanted to know why his plan sketches that were supposed to have arrived that day hadn't arrived yet. I had no god damn clue, though at this stage I realized I was probably talking to someone who probably earned more money during the phone call than I would all year, and I'm sure I apologized profusely and told him to call back the next day--try us during business hours, perhaps?

Sorry this story would have been a lot more interesting with a fist fight or something.

May 11, 07 2:30 am  · 
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mdler

i was at a party with the Hilton sisters...Paris dropped the soap

May 11, 07 2:47 am  · 
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eastcoastarch03

i'll play with shakira

May 11, 07 12:07 pm  · 
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mdler

looks like MDLER was doin' a little drinkin' last night....

May 11, 07 1:05 pm  · 
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n_

Although he wasn't my client, my studio had to collaborate with David Carson, graphic designer 'extraordinaire', for a installation charette.

He's a dick.

May 13, 07 10:51 am  · 
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FOG Lite

Hmmm, I had a good friend in that model shop, el Duderino. Though I know that Ovitz house has been in that office a loooong time so maybe your time didn't overlap.

May 14, 07 9:42 am  · 
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mdler

Went to a Buff + Hensman house today that a friend of mine is renovating for the guy who created Sponge Bob Square Pants...

wish I would have thought of a talking sponge...

Jun 14, 07 1:02 pm  · 
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toroid

rode the elevator in St. Louis City Hall with Montel - he got off at 3 (mayor's office?) - i continued up to 4 (planning)...he was very cool, impeccably dressed and smelled wonderful!

Jun 14, 07 1:46 pm  · 
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Sean Taylor

Working for celebrities is a double-edged sword in my experience. The work itself is typically good and I have done a couple of really special projects for celebrities in the past. But, the confidentiality agreements that I have signed preclude me from photographing or marketing the work in any way.

Jun 14, 07 6:27 pm  · 
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binary

i do work for myself all the time....

cryzko....aka B
known in the detroit scene for poppin and b-boyin since the 90's. occasionally given credit as the "token white boy" in the detroit house scene due to my supurb dancin skills and overall flip approach...

Jun 14, 07 8:16 pm  · 
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