The 2024 Oscars Stage Was Inspired by the Work of Kim Kardashian's Architect
Hollywood’s biggest stars descended upon the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles yesterday in honor of the annual Academy Awards. This year—as the celebration honored movies released in 2023, from Poor Things to Oppenheimer—, the theater boasted a modern design with sweeping, curtain-like forms. The setup intended to draw every onlooker’s attention to the people on stage.
Co-production designers Alana Billingsley and Misty Buckley set out “to create a modern plaza that invites people in,” Billingsley recently dished to House Beautiful. She further explained that, “[It’s] a grand yet intimate space for framing the achievements of this year’s filmmakers. Every line and texture is designed to flatter and bring focus to the humans who will inhabit the space throughout the evening.”
The pair drew inspiration from the works of architect Tadao Ando—who is best known for his minimalist concrete structures and has built homes for a buncha celebrities, including Kim Kardashian—and Oscar Niemeyer, an early exponent of modern architecture featuring curves and concrete. For the tone of the ceremony's stage surfaces, Billingsley and Buckley referenced the cut stone and plaster finishes of classical architecture.
Billingsley and Buckley were also behind last year’s stage design. The Art Deco display was an ode to the moviegoing experience—and it just so happened to make it less likely for an attendee to storm the stage à la Will Smith circa 2022. Rows of seating replaced the spread-out tables of years past, and they stuck with the same design solution this year.
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