Mourn the losses and follow the design community's role in recovery and rebuilding following the 2025 fires. Learn about must-attend art and architecture events. Read reflections on trends in design and culture.
Get all this and more in my twice-monthly newsletter for KCRW public radio station and its audience of design and architecture enthusiasts. It contains news, musings, "What I'm Digging," and a round-up of "Design Things To Do."
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Read latest and past issues by clicking on the links, below:
Wheels Up! Help Plan the Future of the Santa Monica Airport (April 15, 2025)
Party on Down at the "Night of Ideas?" (April 1, 2025)
The City Wants YOU to Create Some Great Little Housing (March 18, 2025)
Why Corita Kent's Work Matters so Much Right Now (March 5, 2025)
Brutalist Schmutalist: Oscar Noms for Design Buffs (February 18, 2025)
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Can Preservation go to Far? (January 7, 2025)
Hoop La La at Santa Monica Beach (December 10, 2024)
Exit Through the Gift Shop -- and Catch up on PST ART: Art & Science Collide (November 26, 2024)
On the holiday weekend, do your gift shopping while taking in some high culture, at the following best-curated museum stores in LA; Design Things to Do: Breath(e): Toward Climate and Social Justice, at the Hammer; Material Acts: Experimentation in Architecture and Design, at Craft Contemporary (Doris Sung's Responsive Bimetal, above); Sensing the Future: Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), at the Getty Research Institute; A Veiled Gazelle – Intimations of the Infinite and Eternal, at Museum of Jurassic Technology; Build a Better Santa Monica, a workshop at Santa Monica History Museum; vibe with Pauline Schindler in a Psychic Salon at the Schindler House; What I'm Digging: Leonard da Vinci, the documentary (and Martha, too); a reminder that the Ancients fought pollution, too; thanks to Joe Menchefski, for featuring me on his podcast Better Buildings for Humans.
A Walk in the Park(ing) at Expo Park (November 12, 2024)
The NHM Commons opens (with Barbara Carrasco’s 1981 mural L.A. History: A Mexican Perspective); will it improve the garden experience at the car-centered Expo Park?; Peter Zumthor's LACMA under discussion at LA Forum; Design Things to Do: David Godshall talks aout "New Ecologies of Radical Kindness" at Otis; Monica Lamela shows off her talents at There There: UNEARTHING, at Wedge Gallery, Woodbury University; LA Forum opens the door to House on a Hill by Barbara Bestor and a conversation with Johanna Hurme of Winnipeg-based 5468796 Architecture; Greg Goldin and Lorcan O'Herlihy sign copies of Building in Place at Arcana Books (and Helms Bakery is back!); LA Modern Auctions (LAMA) auctions off architect-designed furnishings for a good cause; Westedge Design Fair is here; Binge-watch Buildings at The Architecture & Design Film Festival Los Angeles; What I'm Digging: Buttons are back!; The quest for "green" concrete; The Diplomat is a must-watch
From Data Free to DATALAND! (October 30, 2024)
A reprieve from the noise, then a burst of it: Tatiana Bilbao, Refik Anadol and more at Monterey Design Conference; Design Things to Do: A treeloving twofer - Treehugger at Marta; GIANTS at Arcane Space; Architecture! Trivia, Trails, Topics and Wine at FORT: LA; LAMA auctions architects' designs; WestEdge Design Fair; The Architecture & Design Film Fair comes to LA; More on Schindler and women architects; What I'm Digging: John Craxton's cat paintings; Cheap Old Houses can be very expensive; Go, Dodgers!
The Race to Build Homes for Machines (October 15, 2024)
Data centers fill up commercial buildings, as Silicon Valley revives nuclear energy to power AI; Design Things to Do: Diane von Furstenberg: Woman Before Fashion and Ancient Wisdom for a Future Ecology: Trees, Time & Technology at the Skirball Cultural Center; Transforming Data Centers for a Sustainable Future, presented by USGBC-CA; PST Art West LA Hub: Culver City Block Party groups exhibit hours at the Wende Museum, Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI) and the Museum of Jurassic Technology; Tatiana Bilbao and other Top Talent Talks at USC; Friends of Residential Treasures Los Angeles (FORT: LA) holds a fundraiser, in an architectural treasure; What I'm Digging: La Maison; NYT story about a community life built on stable rent; Man One keeps the Kizh spirit alive in El Monte, above.
The Living is Easy in Los Angeles, on the 54th floor in DTLA! (October 1, 2024)
An intrepid pair loves life on the 54th floor at The Beaudry (above; photo by David Schachter); Design Things to Do: Genelle Brooks-Petty shares lessons on life and interior design at Otis College; Rosten Woo leads a "binaural" tour at the LA River, with Clockshop; Lorna Turner and Wendy Emery lead a class on Type as Image, for Halloween, and the Los Angeles Printers Fair beckons, both at the International Printing Museum; Mimi Zeiger keeps indie architecture criticism going in Loud Paper and LARA; I talk with Toshihiro Oki about The Ma of Space: How Architecture Creates Change; The Overstory author Richard Powers is the guest at LARB's Fundraising dinner hosted by John Friedman and Alice Kimm; What I'm Digging: The Journey energizes Lincoln Boulevard; TFTM of staying in Ablin Residence by Frank Lloyd Wright; When squirrels were domestic pets.
"PTSD came to mind, not PST:" Art+Science and Architecture from Ear-splitting to Sublime (September 17, 2024)
WE ARE: Explosion Event kicks off PST ART with very loud bangs, while the architecture of Al-Andalus at Museum of Jurassic Technology soothes. Design Things to Do: Shaping Accident by Thom Mayne opens at L.A. Louver; Bruce Mau: Humans in Space, a talk at the Hammer Museum; Victoria Lautman talks with Shelley Kappe and Bud Brown about Engineering the House of Kappe; New Wave: Rebellion and Reinvention in the Vietnamese Diaspora, a new book based on a film, celebrated at Soap Plant/Wacko; Heidi Duckler Dance at Frank Gehry's Loyola Law School; Of The Moment takes off at A+D Museum; Bakersfield Built: Architecture of the 1950s, a weekend tour and symposium; Doors Open California continues. What I'm Digging: Guns to Roses? Culver City seeks new uses for old gun store; Every School has a House, a gift to LAUSD students from FORT: LA; L'Art du Crime mixes murder and art history in tantalizing French TV show.
When Art and Science Collide: Hello PST ART Pallooza, Goodbye Mystic Chapel (September 3, 2024)
PST ART: Art & Science Collide descends on Los Angeles; nature threatens architecture as Wayfarers Chapel (above) is dismantled and put in storage. Design Things to Do: Grotto-inspired Objects for a Heavenly Cave opens at Marta; We Carry the Land closes the show with a "Futuring" project; Frank Israel's talent on display on a tour of the Roberts Residence; I’m Your Man screening and conversation about its themes between the book's writer and translator; Views of Planet City on show at SCI-Arc Gallery, and Pacific Design Center Gallery; Doors Open California opens off this weekend. What I'm Digging: Operation Under takes art to the underground tunnels of LA; False column by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown dissed from the beyond the grave by donor John Sainsbury; Pachinko and Bad Monkey are both great dramas with great title design.
House Design Pet Peeves and a Change of Architect at Venice Dell Housing (August 20, 2024)
Can VP Kamala Harris's housing push succeed against local pushback; Eric Owen Moss replaced by Brooks + Scarpa at Venice Dell Community affordable housing; Design Things to Do: Gossip-themed literary party at LARB, Final Projects: Group LV at Mackey Apartments by Rudolph Schindler, Bowlarama!, book and bowling with Chris Nichols, Asian Comics: Evolution of an Art Form, closing soon at Bowers Museum; Lauren Bon creates a Portable Wetland for Southern California, at Brackish Water show; Rare Air: Endangered Birds, Bats, Butterflies, and Bees, illustrated by Sarah Kaiser, at Catalina art museum; Doors Open California coming in September, including tour of Anderton Court Shops, above; What I'm Digging: Memories of Peggy Moffitt; Burning Man’s Power Woman Katie Hazard on podcast with Scott Power; Pet Peeves about House Design.
Does the Art, Architecture and Sport at Intuit Dome add up to a Good City? (August 6, 2024)
The Intuit Dome opens, with munificent art and architecture, but is it good for Inglewood? (See the arena, designed by AECOM, with digital art by Jennifer Steinkamp, above; photo by Iwan Baan); Design Things to Do: Modernism, Inc., the movie; "The World is Yours!" mural unveiled at Destination Crenshaw; Soriano in Long Beach; Freedom Tree Park opens at Jordans Downs, Faces of Watts models public art done with the public in mind; Black California Dreamin’ comes to the end of its run at CAAM; Sculpting with Light and Abstracted Light exhibitions open at the Getty Center; Tarot Card reading at the Schindler House; Modern by Moonlight, LA Conservancy tour; What I'm Digging: Join Or Die, the movie; Eight-legged engineering; Cat-loving men.
The Ritziest Mini-Mall in LA Makes a Comeback (July 23, 2024)
Frank Lloyd Wright's Anderton Court Shops (lightwell, above, in photo by Etan Rosenbloom/etandoesla.com) on Rodeo Drive gets a facelift; Design Things to Do: Design for Dignity housing conference returns to AIA/LA; Fortune-telling returns for the summer season at the Schindler House; Multifam Glam, Again! takes Abundant Housing enthusiasts on a tour; The influence of Japanese architecture considered, at SAH/SCC; Modern Time Machines sends a video love letter to vintage LA; I talk with Alan Pullman and Wolfgang Wagener about Soriano at his 1940 Kimpson-Nixon house in Long Beach (see image above); LA Conservancy tours to Frogtown, DTLA and City Hall; What I'm Digging: Stop Nyquist; An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children; Gary Baseman's Peace Thru Purr pins.
Golden Oldies Kick Sand in Face of the Young and Restless (July 9, 2024)
Report on LA‘s aging population demands housing solutions for next generation; Design Things to Do: Hear from David Judson about innovation in stained glass at the historic Blinn House; Come to a Q and A with Max Podemski, author of A Paradise of Small Houses; See 42 portraits of Joan Quinn at Laguna Art Museum; Hear Ed Ruscha, Judy Baca and Vincent Valdez discuss their artistic takes on Los Angeles; Hear about the making of a design district; Check out Venice Heritage Museum (mural, above), and hear from two Venice photographers; What I’m Digging: “Hot Jesus,” and AI depictions of the Son of God; the Tableaux of Fashion at the annual Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach; Love-ly posters by Yves Saint Laurent (above) at Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA).
Inspirational Isla (June 25, 2024)
Isla Intersections opens with fanfare, bringing housing made of shipping containers with a green “paseo,” to South LA; by Holos Communities and Lorcan O’Herlihy; Design Things to Do: Socks and suits businesses are among the “local“ brands at a pop-up market at Helms Bakery District; Craft Contemporary hosts a workshop on indigenous mapmaking; LA Gallery Weekend brings you multiple gallery openings; experience Vincent Valdez: El Chavez Ravine on a docent tour at LACMA; help KitchenPOD put down roots in South LA food desert; see the elemental drawings by Yves Saint Laurent, opening at OCMA; What I’m Digging: joyfully eclectic winners of the 2024 AIA/LA Residential Design Awards; Matthew Macfadyen, formally Tom Wambsgans, in Succession delights in Stonehouse; Article asks if humans are “killing pets with love.”
Visioning for Santa Monica Airport gets underway, with your Input, Please (June 11, 2024)
Santa Monica airport is slated to close in a few years, and the City seeks feedback from Angelenos about what should fill the space; Design Things to Do: a magical fundraiser at the Neutra VDL House; Isla intersections, designed by Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects, opens with public celebration; The greats of organic Modernism under discussion at the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation; Celebrate the icons, legends, and trailblazers of Sugarhill at Village Green; LA Design Weekend opens in DTLA and at Eastside hotspots; What I’m Digging: dream houses in California in a new book by Michael Webb; the very watchable “New Look;” Cameron Silver and the joy of caftans.
Eric Owen Moss-designed affordable housing back on track after years of pushback (May 29, 2024)
Venice Dell Community, designed by Eric Owen Moss for Venice Community Housing, gets reprieve from lawsuit purgatory; Design Things to Do: Long Beach Architecture Week opens its doors; Three housing conferences try and offer solutions to LA’s thorny residential challenges; Be enraptured by Wrapture, by Jim Isermann; Zocalo Public Square holds ideas fest about innovation in California; Mullen Transportation Design Center opens at ArtCenter College of Design; Heidi Duckler brings her dancers to the old LA zoo; What I’m Digging: Thoughts about Musk from Brownsville, Texas; in praise of “3 Body Problem;” John Kamp and James Rojas make the case for more flowers in the city.
Traveling in Style, Wes Anderson Style (May 14, 2024)
Accidentally Wes Anderson (AWA), the exhibition (above), opens at Santa Monica Museum of Art; Design Things to Do: Design Miami.LA; Adam Moss talks about The Work of Art; Los Angeles: A Model City opens at A+D Museum; At Home in Venice: Houselessness & The Human Right To Housing In Los Angeles, an exhibition and talk by John Raphling; California Green Building Conference at the BeeHive; Sam Lubell and Greg Goldin talk with me at Helms Bakery District about the Atlas of Neverbuilt Architecture; Corrections and Collections, a conversation at the Wende Museum about architectures for art and crime, with me and author Joe Day; The Edge of Summer: Belonging in a Strange Land, Clockshop Celebration and Fundraiser, honoring Julia Meltzer; What I'm Digging: "Micro-forest” just planted at Santa Monica College; Sounds of Seeley, a music mix created by DJ Caviar; The Code, exquisite pop song wins Eurovision 2024.
Hello From the Old Country (April 30, 2024)
The 15-Minute City, a book by Carlos Moreno, is published as cities debate pedestrianization and other 15-minute city strategies; Design Things to Do: LEGENDS 2024 comes to the La Cienega Design Quarter, West Hollywood; O-Launch Weekend, student graduation show at Otis College’s Los Angeles Campus; Design and build your Dream Front-Yard Plaza with John Kamp and James Rojas
Ontario Museum of History and Art; How To Save Your Favorite Building, a conversation about Reconciling Change With Continuity, hosted online by the Schindler House; Victoria Lautman interviews Elizabeth Smith about the 1989 MOCA exhibition, Blueprints for Modern Living; Design Miami comes to Los Angeles; Common Ground – Exhibition and sonic improvisation featuring artist Adam Silverman and Austin Antoine of Get Lit at the Skirball Cultural Center; What I'm Digging: "My Grandma’s Doilies are Not a Joke"; Adam Markovitz picks some of the best bridges in Los Angeles; Marc Mimram, French engineer, designs modern bridge for neoclassical Bath.
Ideas Still Bloom in an Architecture "Graveyard" (April 16, 2024)
Architectural ideas are tested at Coachella festival (above, photo by Lance Gerber) and at "Poly Canyon" in San Luis Obispo, aka the "Architecture Graveyard." Design Things to Do: "Wild Things Are Happening: The Art of Maurice Sendak" opens at the Skirball Cultural Center; SCI-Arc's 2024 undergraduates present their thesis projects; Angel City Press writers on the cityscape join the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books; Flowers for Aline, flower arrangements by Ravi Gunewardena and other Sogetsu Ikebana masters installed at the Hollyhock House; Tim Street-Porter and author Annie Kelly talk with Victoria Lautman at the Neutra Office and sign books at Arcana; Potter Daniels Manor is the 2024 Pasadena Showcase House of Design. What I'm Digging: A mad cheese-rolling contest in Gloucestershire; "Lights Out, Texas" helps prevent migrating birds smash into towers; What's in a middle name?
Frank Gehry and Diller Scofidio + Renfro Build Again on Bunker Hill (April 3, 2024)
Two new buildings are coming to Bunker Hill: the Colburn Center by Frank Gehry and a Broad museum expansion by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Will they bring anything new to Grand Avenue? Design Things to Do: Suited Up! Thom Browne signs his new book at Arcana Books on the Arts; The Radical Practice Of James H. Garrott, Exhibition at the BAg Gallery; Tim Street-Porter and author Annie Kelly, in conversation with Victoria Lautman at Neutra Office; Fireplaces Photo contest, organized by NAHR; CHIP, the Citywide Housing Incentive Program, seeks public input. What I'm Digging: The Mulkey Show, as explored by Vanessa Friedman; Kim Kardashian and Judd Foundation in furniture furor; SNL spoofs Tiny Desk Concert, and brings to mind the genius of Ruth Seymour.
AI, Design and a Royal Photoshopping Drama (March 19, 2024)
AI: Can design companies survive without? Can designers survive with it? What can we learn from the Royal photoshopping drama? Design Things to Do: Hanging Toilets and Happy Families: a Book and a Talk about ADUs; Full Spectrum: Colour in Contemporary Architecture, SCI-Arc symposium; Breaking Ground: The Legacy of Women Landscape Architects, Pasadena; The Genius of the Place: The Life and Work of Geoffrey Bawa, private film screening, hosted by L.A. Forum; Anna Heringer, Donghia Designer In Residence Lecture and Reception; ED1: Friend or Foe?, a dialogue hosted by FORT: LA; What I'm Digging: American Fiction lampoons liberal expectations about Black writers; Sam Apple goes on a dog hotel odyssey with his Goldendoodle Steve; Paul Tough finds that his young son Max finds his peeps when he takes up Russian.
Design for Activism, and for Optimism (March 5, 2024)
Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot attracts hundreds to Fear Not pop-up exhibit and talk honoring the heroic Alexei Navalny; Design Things to Do: Nowruz festival celebrates the spring equinox for the 14th year at UCLA; Deborah Murphy celebrated for her work raising awareness of pedestrian needs; Jack Rogers Hopkins: California Design Maverick exhibition opens at the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts; Oliver Furth talks about OP!, the book and the attitude, at Spring Market at PDC; Artificial Intelligence: Understanding the Impacts of AI in Design, under discussion at Spring Market at PDC, and then at Westside Urban Forum; Well at Work and ED1: Friend or Foe? coming up at Neutra Offices;
What I'm Digging: Riken Yamamoto wins Pritzker Prize; Antoine Predock passes; RIP Iris Apfel, model for aging with gusto; dog in flowers at Frieze LA (above).
Surf the Curve of Nowness (February 22, 2024)
A federal preservation group pushes for more conversion of historic buildings to housing, as modeled in Awesome and Affordable; Design Things to Do: In Tune With Itself: Bennet Schlesinger has a show at Marta; Invisible Collection becomes Visible at Phillips Auction House; Fundraiser for MATERIAL Press and Neutra VDL; Launch party for Los Angeles Review of Architecture (LARA); The Art Juggernaut Arrives: Frieze Los Angeles/Felix/Perrotin/The Pit; What Does Water Want? Walking tour with artist Rosten Woo and Clockshop; Julius Shulman Prize for Jerald Cooper; What I'm Digging: Pets for Renters; Oceanwide Plaza Saga; Aluminaire House Illuminated.
Move over Marilyn, Here Comes the Aluminaire House (February 6, 2024)
The Aluminaire House comes to Palm Springs; Design Things to Do: Elena Manferdini and Claire Isabel Webb discuss AI and Art; ADUs Explained/Self-driving Tour; Galia Linn and Senon Williams at Emma Gray HQ; Shure Design Studio Gallery + Retail Space opens in Glassell Park; Valentine's Day tour of Venice Canals/Russell Brown at Modernism Week's CAMP; LA Art Show; Stories Untold at Modernism Week in Palm Springs; Introducing Indigenous Architecture; What I'm Digging: Women in a Rage/Griselda and Feud: Capote vs. the Swans; Men in Suits/Suits and Holdovers; Happy New Year, Emperor’s College.
Awesome and Affordable: Yes, You Can Have Both (January 23, 2024)
New pool grottoes blocked in Beverly Hills until the city builds affordable housing; Awesome and Affordable shows AH can be great. Design Things to Do: Electric Moons, a convo about LA streetlighting at A+R; Under The Influence with Langarita Navarro, and Jia Yi Gu at Gehry's Baldessari house; Art Iran and Power in Every Thread open at Craft Contemporary; UnHoused: A History of Housing in Santa Monica opens at Santa Monica Museum; Mayer Rus talks with Brett Woods and Joseph Dangaran at Leica Gallery; AI and Art, a conversation with Elena Manferdini and Claire Isabel Webb at the Italian Cultural Institute; What I'm Digging: Mob Wife Core; the reopening of Murrieta Springs; All Creatures Great and Small.
Activating the Bookstore Eclectic (January 9, 2024)
Ruth Seymour Remembered; Design Things to Do:A talk about Common Ground with Los Angeles Planning History Group (LAPHG); Counter:image: Acres of Books in art walk in Downtown Long Beach; We Are Here: Imagining Space in the 21st Century at A+D Architecture + Design Museum; Electric Moons: Talk with author India Mandelkorn at A+R, Housing Vienna, coming up at the Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design; Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy; What I'm Digging: Murder at the End of the World; Ancient Elements of Cool; Cats and More Cats.
Which Way Design in the "New Age of Uncertainty? (November 28, 2023)
The game of thrones at OpenAI; Design Things to Do: ASU asks what AI means for creativity (see public artwork by FreelandBuck, above); The Los Angeles Conservancy celebrates Linda Dishman as she leaves after 31 years; Architects gather for their annual AIA/LA design awards and the AWAF fundraiser featuring Sade Elhawary; Helena Arahuete talks about her own work following years with John Lautner, at Neutra's Silver Lake office; Lucas Reiner talks about trees of life at the Inglewood Cathedral exhibition; I sit down with Ann Weber at Wönzimer Gallery to talk about art and community amidst her solo exhibition; What I'm Digging: Furry rat-catchers, bird-saving glass, exercises for "radical attention."
California Forever! (November 7, 2023)
Is "New Dork City" the answer to California's housing stalemate?; Design Things to Do: A+D Museum is back with a new home and fundraiser, KAOS Theory at Artform Studio and on Artbound film about Angel City Press, Common Ground at Construction Specifiers Institute, Design for Dignity at AIA/LA, David Netto at Arcana Books on the Arts, LAF hosts Under The Influence at Manola Court, It's About Time at Brand Library, Westedge Design Fair is back, Inglewood Cathedral at Arcane Space Gallery, Don't Call Me Ugly tour by LA Conservancy; What I'm Digging: "Lamb Mowers" in suburbia, Miranda on the Florentine Codex, Scott Power in convo with Prime and Man One.
In Praise of Obsession (October 24, 2023)
Driven Angelenos and their future as California becomes a gerontocracy; Design Things to Do: Modeling Sound with Frank Gehry and Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on its twentieth birthday; Pictures in the Garden by Matt Wedel, at L.A. Louver gallery; Art in the Garden, by Chris Wolston, at Hotel Bel-Air; Judy Baca and artists paint another stretch of The Great Wall of Los Angeles, at LACMA; John Waters, Pope of Trash, on show at the Academy Museum; Hollywood Forever Cemetery adds the Gower Mausoleum and Columbarium; a "thereminist" named Armen Ra performs at Marta; What I'm Digging: the new no-brand Barnes & Noble; Bad Bunny in drag; the many accomplishments of Annie Philbin, including the latest Made in L.A., as she departs the Hammer Museum.
Remembrance of Things Past (October 12, 2023)
Saving the Schindler House; Recalling Wayne Ratkovich, saver of fine buildings destined for the wrecking ball; Design Things to Do: The Beauty & Mischief of Blackman Cruz; Culver City Art Walk and Roll; Crossing Design Borders: A Conversation with Mark Rios; Dwell Time: Rose Lowinger talks with Carolina Miranda about her new memoir; Procession: Performances and Festival honor the history of the LA River; Crafty Fundraisers: FORT: LA at the Mosaic Mansion/Craft Contemporary to honor Suzanne Isken; What I'm Digging: Shetland TV series; Cold Plunges; Save Iconic Architecture.
The Joy of Maximalism (September 28, 2023)
A riff on the topic as Simon Doonan's latest book Maximalism: Bold, Bedazzled, Gold, and Tasseled Interiors is published (Image above: staircase at Kips Bay Showhouse in NY, designed by Sasha Bikoff, photo by Nicholas Sargent); Design Things to Do: Darius Airo's work on show Casual Banter, at Face Guts; Parties to celebrate 102 Years of Nuestro Pueblo: The Watts Towers of Simon Rodia; The Good Future Design Alliance (GFDA) takes on Design Waste; Marina Otero and Liam Young in conversation at the Hollyhock House, at LA Forum's Under the Influence 002; OCMA First Anniversary Week of fun; What I'm Digging: Men Thinking About Rome; Philip Kennicott's brilliant take on A/C addiction; Five Places LA, featuring Shana Nys Dambrot and Laurie Lipton.
September 13, 2023
The Nimoy, formerly The Crest Theatre, opens with Musil-designed murals revived; Design Things to Do: Derrick Adams: Come As You Are opens at the Gagosian Beverly Hills; Adaptive Reuse at the California Club; Close to the Edge closes with two fun events (a talk with Prime; a symposium with Sekou Cooke); A Wondrous World of new shows at LACMA; Delightful Houses discussed with FF&P; Gary Leonard talks at Los Feliz Library; What I'm Digging: Shopping lists in the 17th century; Monique Birault's Cromolyn Collection of lamps; a fab Reggio school in Madrid, Spain, that teaches sustainability without being preachy.
Commune with the DNA of Los Angeles
August 29, 2023
"Commune with the DNA of Los Angeles," says FORT: LA's Russell Brown as he captures Stilt Houses on Screen; the campaign to stop the Canyon Hills development as attitudes to land-use change; Beverly Hot Springs saved, for now; Design Things to Do: Alfredo Boulton at the Getty Center; Threading the Needle at Angel City Brewery; Solving the Puzzle of Adaptive Re-Use; Prime Time at Helms Bakery District; What I'm Digging: the anniversary of LA buses; a new playground at Nickerson Gardens; Zócalo's California-as-destroyer take on Barbenheimer; Falling Felines (and Sassy Chickens) delight.
August 9, 2023
The case for more passive cooling, less air conditioning. Trees saved in Beverly Hills. Design Things to Do: Teena Apeles writes about 52 Things to Do, and I reflect on getting around LA on the Metro, while Design Things to Do includes: Bossa Nova and Brazilian Design at Sossego, Printed Matter’s 2023 LA Art Book Fair, Dominique Moody's Sacred Studio, Multifamily Glam Walking Tour with Yours Truly. What I'm Digging: the news about a Renter's Caucus in Sacramento, Homeowners Fighting in The Owners, Rapper's Delight and Feline Figures.
July 26, 2023
Is it Goodbye to Beverly Hot Springs? News: A beloved natural spa (in a delightful fake grotto) may be sacrificed to make way for new homes. Can't we have both? Design Things to Do: An Evening of Urbanism + Unearthing a Black Aesthetic; The Art of Ruth E. Carter; Interstellar Fun at Wende Museum; Black California Dreamin' at CAAM; Tiki Tales on Catalina. What I'm Digging: a "documentary" about NEOM; Swimming in the Seine; eating al fresco on the roof; and mourning the amazing Sinéad O'Connor.
From the Garden of Alla to Barbie's Dreamhouse
July 13, 2023
Goodbye William Kelly, beautiful man who co-created a beautiful place; more coverage of Common Ground and why we should care about the second stair; Design Things to Do: A conversation about Vertical Shared Access Reform; An Evening of Urbanism; the remarkable Alla Nazimova, her legendary home and hotel, and a play about her at Theatre West; Museum as Medium for photographer Elizabeth Gill Lui; Fun with cardboard at Rediscover; Barbie, the movie, promises a design fantasia; What I'm Digging: Old Glory, Outlander and anything that supports green canopy; and the Lincoln Lawyer.
June 29, 2023
Exploring the Regional Connector and the new public art; Design Things to Do: At LACMA, Women Defining Women in Contemporary Art of the Middle East and Beyond, Afro-Atlantic Histories, Coded: Art Enters the Computer Age, 1952–1982 and Sam Francis and Japan: Emptiness Overflowing; ALL CHILL brings "ice cream with a mission" to Leimert Park; The Flower Show celebrates the artistic view of flowers by Alison Saar, David Hockney, Henri Matisse, the architect Thom Mayne and more. What I'm Digging: Loren & Rose and Dolly Lowe.
June 15, 2023
Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip Hop Architecture, created by Sekou Cooke, comes to Helms Bakery District. If you are wondering if Hip Hop is a new architectural style, "how Hip-Hop Architecture is produced is more easily described than what it looks like,” says Cooke. Also, CicLAvia comes to South LA for Juneteenth; fabulous Oceanside Architecture is the topic of a conversation presented by FORT: LA at Sossego; LA Design Festival celebrates summer with "design for the people"; What I'm Digging: Donuts, the edible ones, and Doughnut, the economic theory. One Margherita.
What's so Special about Vienna?
June 1, 2023
A look at "Red Vienna" and its social housing program that has captivated housing experts from California; Adaptive Reuse 2.0: the City of Los Angeles expands the ordinance allowing the conversion of offices into housing/Design Things to Do: Kellndorfer at Neutra VDL House; Last Remaining Seats; Hammer considers L.A.’s Housing Crisis, with KCRW’s Anna Scott; Pride Week; Male Edition: The Art of Men’s Style; Los Angeles Design Festival/What I'm Digging: Bureau des Legendes; books by Eleanor Catton. And cats.
May 17, 2023
Gloria
Molina, remembered; protective trees both real and sculpted will
memorialize murdered Chinese; Cassina opens supersize showroom; MyGBCE
comes to SoLA Beehive; tarot card readings at the MAK Center and
"collective care" at LA State Historic Park; California Photography Now
at LA County Fair; Fun at Eurovision and Goodbye to Sumiko.
May 3, 2023
A
meditation on loneliness and housing and land-use, prompted by the
Surgeon General's "National Framework" on rebuilding social connection;
MADE in Beverly Hills celebrates old Hollywood glamor; try out
“conceptual scents” at the LA Scent Fair at Craft Contemporary; Legends
2023 comes to LACDQ; ceramics "converse" at LACMA; AIA/LA opens the
doors to (W)rapper (and a talk with Eric Owen Moss) and other buildings
at ArchFest; spring shows open to the public at SCI-Arc and Otis College
of Art and Design; The Diplomat and Birnam Wood are What I'm Digging.
April 18, 2023
A
tribute to Mary Quant and her belief in the future; a “smog eating”
mural is unveiled in East LA; Earth Day brings Seeding The City, a
Climate Change conference and last sighting of Lauren Bon's Underland;
the LA Times Festival of Book brings hundreds of authors and events to
USC (including Yours Truly at the Angel City Press booth and on a panel
about how to solve the housing crisis); MADE in Beverly Hills pulls lets
people step over the threshhold of Hollywood landmarks including a tour
of the swanky Trousdale Estates.
April 4, 2023
The
Georgian makes a comeback, with a nod to Santa Monica's "Bay City"
days; rewilded gardens are on show for all to see; more about Seeding
The City as it brings Fairy Gardens, wild animal drawing classes to
Helms Bakery District; AIA/LA invites emerging and established firms to
show their creativity in designing denser housing for Los Angeles; a
preview of the designers who'll turn Coachella into a public art pop-up;
the Battle of the Oranges and more on (W)rapper.
March 21, 2023
An
argument for more "eyes on the train" as ridership drops on mass
transit; a defense of Eric Owen Moss's "menacing cyberpunk" (W)rapper; a
welcome to Bowie in the USSR at the Wende Museum; the PDC Spring
Market; Design by Diversity Day, Small Infrastructures, Seeking Zohn,
The Other Art Fair; Flowerboy Project/Sean Knibb's spectacular Digital
Flowers, soon to go on show, up large, at Helms Bakery District.
March 8, 2023
David Chipperfield wins the Pritzker Prize; in Women's History month, a celebration of Marie Louise Schmidt, creator of the blockbuster -- and block-shaper! -- 1936 California House and Garden Exhibition; lessons from the demolition of Hotel Pennsylvania; Joe Osae-Addo back in LA; Clive Piercy on show; Puss in Boots a furry wonder.
February 22, 2023
Designers Yves Behar and Sebastian Errazuriz debate A.I. and how much
it will impact their creativity; art, furniture and art-furniture goes on show in
cool spaces at the Cody House and a Marta installation; Samara Joy, M3GAN uncut, and the "scary"
15-minute city.
February 7, 2023
Frieze and Modernism Week come to town; Livable Communities Initiative seeks ideas for the ideal street; designs for a Memorial to massacred Chinese people go in front of the public; in Black History Month, consider the semantics of African-American or Black?
