The Academy Awards is Hollywood’s biggest night on its biggest stage—and this year, that stage is an especially zen space.
Each year, production designers Misty Buckley and Alana Billingsley reimagine the stage at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre. Some years it’s grandiose and bold; other years it harkens back to the golden era of Hollywood. But it’s never been as green as it is this year.
This year’s design—debuting exclusively with Vanity Fair—is especially unique. The theater has been designed to represent a calming garden courtyard, with greenery woven throughout it. It’s an ode to this year’s pointedly handmade theme—“A Human Touch”—as well as an attempt to create what feels like a relaxing space in a chaotic world.
“There is an unsettled nature around the climate right now, and there’s just something very calming about being surrounded by architecture, but having this space for trees to grow,” Billingsley tells Vanity Fair. “We are exploring the contrast between the organic and the rigidly architectural, and that creates the feeling that life can exist anywhere.”
The trees were handmade by artisans, and weave their way through the architectural structures. The entire area is lit to feel like “golden hour,” a film term describing the warm, glowing light that bathes the landscape just before sunset. “It’s just so divine,” says Buckley. “I think that also helps the audience feel connected and part of something, and really warm and held within the space.”
