7 Days of Design
7 Days of Design
Paths to Enlightenment
Within L.A.'s endlessly shifting urban landscape, the Architecture and Design (A + D) Museum has singled out 17 developers who, in its estimation, have a wider vision of the city's future aesthetic than the ubiquitous stucco apartment or boxy office building on pedestrian-unfriendly streets. The exhibit Enlightened Development includes proposals from nonprofit organizations as well as multinational and multi-industry corporations such as AEG, owner and operator of the Staples Center.
Exhibition curator Tibbie Dunbar cites three rubrics under which the diverse participants were judged: good design (aesthetic creativity), consideration of the urban fabric, and sustainability.
The most salient characteristic the participating developers share is a more holistic approach to urban design. Livable Places, for example, was founded with the explicit goal of redeveloping underutilized urban spaces into affordable, green housing for a variety of income levels. One such project – on display at the museum – is an apartment building in Long Beach, built on a lot that was previously a school bus yard.
Ryan Lehman, Livable Places's executive director, believes an “enlightened” development project in part “needs to interact with the street in a way that is conducive to urbanism; which means having some visual variety and mix of uses so it encourages people to get out and walk.” That's right, walk.
The exhibit also highlights the integration of art into development via the Venice Collaborative, a development company founded by Frank Murphy. Although it focuses mainly on Venice condominiums, single-family units, and what Murphy calls “art lofts,” the company firmly stipulates that every project – several of which line the Abbot Kinney thoroughfare – must dedicate at least one public wall of the building to large-scale art.
“We kind of like creating some tension between the artist and the architect; to get them to kind of bash heads,” Murphy says, laughing. “It gets some really exciting stuff going.”
As for how these developers will change L.A. in the coming decade, Dunbar is pragmatic. Her hope, however, “is that we're creating communities where one can live and work.” The face of L.A. is changing rapidly, maybe even, in some cases, for the better. Go see how.
–Ayse Arf
Enlightened Development. A + D Museum, 5900 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., (323) 932-9393. Tues.-Fris. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sats.-Suns. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. $5; $2.50 students and seniors; free for kids under 12. Closes May 31. Aplusd.org.
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THIS WEEK IN THE CITY
Thursday 12
TAKE IT OUTSIDE/INSIDE
We know we should eat them, but it's also healthful just looking at them. Add more greens to your daily visual diet by creating a lush enclosed garden with the help of noted L.A. architect and educator Frederick Fisher. As part of the environmental lecture series “GreenSpeak” at Descanso Gardens, Fisher will give the talk “A Space in the Middle: Building Wrapped Around Gardens,” which will include a brief history of this type of human-created landscape. He'll also discuss the current values and varied interpretations of these “outdoor rooms,” with examples from his practice. 7 p.m.-9 p.m. $20; $18 members. Reservations recommended. 1418 Descanso Dr., La Cañada-Flintridge, (818) 949-7980. Descansogardens.org.
Friday 13
MAKE IT WORK
This week offers almost more design talks than Sherwin-Williams has colors, and you could paint the town red trying to attend them all. Coming up Wednesday, for example, AIA/LA hosts an Architects' Forum featuring John Barone, David Thompson, Clive Wilkinson, and duo Linda Pollari and Robert Somol (info: Aialosangeles.org). However, today, Friday the 13th, could be your lucky day – especially if you're into sustainable “holistic” design. Kat Steele (no kidding) of the Oakland-based Permaculture Guild speaks tonight about the Permaculture design system – what it is, how it works, and how it deals with issues of food security and stability in both cities and suburbs. 5 p.m. Free. Farmlab/Under Spring, 1745 N. Spring St. No. 4, downtown L.A. Farmlab.org.
Saturday 14
ON THE PAGE, OFF THE CHARTS
L.A. is home to many tremendous graphic designers. Right now, it's also showcasing top talent from overseas in two lively exhibitions. At the Skirball Center, soak in the saturated palettes of The Art of Vintage Israeli Travel Posters, featuring artifacts from tourism and transportation agencies during the 1950s and '60s. (Closes July 8. $5-$10. 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A., 310-440-4500; Skirball.org.) Also, the Japanese American Cultural Center's Doizaki Gallery presents advertisements and commercial designs by members of the Tokyo Art Directors Club (Tokyo ADC). From logos to books and packaging, see the contemporary and forward-thinking creations of big dogs in the Japanese advertising world. (Closes July 29. Free. 244 S. San Pedro St., Little Tokyo, downtown L.A., 213-680-3700; Jaccc.org.)
Sunday 15
A BETTER BISCUIT BOX
There's been a lot of chatter lately about upscale downtown dwellings. Among the highly anticipated residences – and not just because of the phenomenal factory-pane windows – is The Biscuit Company Lofts, in the former West Coast headquarters for the National Biscuit Company (a.k.a. Nabisco). From Friday through April 29, step into the loft lifestyle of your art-inebriated dreams by taking a public tour of three renovated spaces there, each decorated by an established designer. Kenneth Brown, star of HGTV's reDesign, created a “gentleman's pied-à-terre”; Biscuit Lofts architect Aleks Istanbullu went for minimalist modularism; and the principals of Andersen-Miller Design merged art with urbanism in innovative ways. Closed Mondays. $25 per tour. 673 Mateo St., downtown L.A. Lamag.com/biscuitcompanylofts.
Monday 16
GREEN STREETS
To add to the celebration of WestWeek 2007 at the PDC last month, AIA/LA opened its fifth annual 2x8 exhibition, featuring a juried selection of student work. Drawn from many of California's academic architecture and design programs, this year's display features projects tackling the theme “Vert,” which could mean vertical, green, or any other “vert” one's seen. (Closes April 26. Free. PDC, Blue building lobby, 8687 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood; Aialosangeles.org.) Green also colors the work of the 11 women artists in EcoArt, which opens April 14 at the Junior Arts Center in Barnsdall Park. See their use of recycled materials, plus practical and conceptual address of our current environmental crisis. (Closes May 12. Free. 4814 Hollywood Blvd., L.A., 323-664-6295; Culturela.org.)
Tuesday 17
BRIGHT RAYS AND DARK DAYS
More L.A. design to see, this time through photographers' lenses. In addition to 2x8: Vert, the PDC is also the site of On the Sunny Side of the Street: Polaroid Images from Los Angeles, featuring selections from local photographer Jim McHugh's 10-year project capturing this city's architecture and, ultimately, its disappearing landmarks. (Closes April 30. Free. 8687 Melrose Ave., ste. B222, West Hollywood; Jimmchugh.com.) Upon the same terrain in 1979, photojournalist John Humble documented L.A. on the occasion of its bicentennial, intending “to show the city that few had cared to photograph.” See 40 of his color shots from then in A Place in the Sun: Photographs of Los Angeles by John Humble at the Getty. (Closes July 8. Free. 1200 Getty Center Dr., L.A., 310-440-7300. Getty.edu.)
Wednesday 18
LOVING THE ‘ARTSCENE'
For 25 years, ArtScene magazine has been bearing witness to the evolution of Southern California, and L.A. in particular, as the area's popular image shifted from a cultural wasteland to a creative wonderland. Tonight, ArtScene celebrates itself, plus many of the artists who've graced our city with inspiration and intellect, via the Los Angeles Art Awards. This fundraiser for the art mag and its programs is not only open to the public, the public also votes for the winners in three awards crossing several generations. Enjoy tasty vittles, a panel discussion with ArtScene contributors, and a performance by Suzanne Lacy and Kim Abeles with Llyn Foulkes playing his assemblage Machine, plus more art notables than we can note, making it a time of perfect design. 5:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. $200. LACMA Central Courtyard, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. Info: Artscenecal.com.
Published: 04/12/2007
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