Owl Bureau, a new and used bookstore with a focus on art, fashion, architecture and design, opened last week in Los Angeles, Calif., the New York Times Style Magazine reported.
Owner Richard Christiansen, founder of the ad agency Chandelier Creative, opened Owl Bureau in L.A.'s Highland Park neighborhood, in a space shared with his ad agency's office. The name Owl Bureau comes from the building, which once housed a pharmacy called Owl Drugs and still features that old signage.
The store features a small but specialized inventory that includes books from Christiansen's personal collection as well as new titles curated with the help of Mast Books, an art- and design-focused bookstore in New York City. All of Owl Bureau's books are shelved face-out, resting on wooden pegs and shelves protruding from a curved wooden wall. At the center of the curved wall is a wooden door featuring ornately carved reliefs of owls, cacti and bumblebees, which leads to the Chandelier offices.
Christiansen told the magazine that he plans to host book and magazine launches, along with readings and signings. One of the store's first events will be an evening with French architectural photographer François Halard, and eventually Owl Bureau will have an artist-in-residency program.