Storecasting: Designer David Stark Helps Launch the Upper West Elm

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Good news, uptown nesters who don't want to schlep to Chelsea or Dumbo: The city's third West Elm is coming to Broadway between 61st and 62nd. The store opens March 4th, and for the first month, it will host an installation by David Stark, a designer who's made a name for himself creating spectacular event settings out of discarded packaging. How big a deal is Starck? Well, Design*Sponge, which has a giant crush on him, puts it like this: "Considering David has designed events for clients like Rachael Ray, Conde Nast, Target, and Nicole Miller he really is the king of event design."

For West Elm, Stark has created sculptures out of the company's own packing materials, all of which will be auctioned off to benefit the Cooper-Hewitt Museum. If they're anything like his shoe tornado, pictured above, we think we'll be into it.
· David Stark: Robin Hood Foundation [Design*Sponge]
· West Elm [Official Site]