diasporas and disaster
after winning my guest
gridskipper post, I thought it might be wise to actually read the site a little more often than I do (I usually head straight to the LA section when I do). and I'm glad I did today - there's an
interesting post about katrina causing the largest diaspora in american history. fascinating to see how concentrated the displacement is (not suprisingly).
epodunk provides a graphical representation of just where katrina survivors are heading.
best advertising campaign ever
spotted this ad on
losanjealous today. sort of awesome.
my marketplace moment - again
link to the
marketplace report I commented on. again, I sound about 12. at least this time I have an
actual affiliation instead of being some random "consultant."
I'm a gridskipper guest
krucoff hosted what I thought was a faux-contest to write a guest post on
gridskipper (didn't he burn that bridge a long time ago?). I had to name this location:
not really fair, since I took him there. but I "won" this "contest" and "wrote" a
post: promoting this weekend's MAK center architecture tour. I almost feel like I've hit the big time - a small satellite of the gawker media universe. like
S/2003 U 1 to gridskipper's uranus. he.
p.s. can you name the location? no cheating.
keywords that brought you here
some of the more interesting ones lately:
- edmiston olmstead frederick architect
- herzog meuron mosk
- kimberli meyer mak partner
- hunter urbanist movie con jackie chan
- koolhaas generic city straitjacket
- laguna beacon mtv season two quotes
- lacma proposal, koolhaas uses (shouldn't that be "koolhaas loses"? hehe).
- caltran koolhaas
- westwood veterans panel
- paul haggis new yorker santa monica vodka
- tia carrere's baby
- monica - what goes up must come down
- hamburger hamlet recipe bisque
- architects selfish
and the last two week's have seen a ton of inquiries about the houses on the mak center tour. I'm glad people are doing their research before going on the tour, since the docents won't be much help - and I speak as one.
the next apocalyptic horror
mike davis, what hath you wrought? he's practically the grandaddy of nightmare scenarios for LA's future. and now everyone wants a piece. as if yesterday's
economist article on preparing for the Big One wasn't scary enough, this week's LA Weekly devotes 30 pages to the deadly threat of...smog? seriously, smog? isn't that texas' problem now? well, no. this isn't just your everyday, run of the mill, fuel emission smog. this is
double super secret smog. the areas most at risk? the port of LA and the LBC - both areas where there is a huge concentration of diesel fuel emissions from ships.
tomorrow: the looming threat of locust plagues and what to do when the LA river runs red with the blood of a thousand virgins.
laist interview meyers about mak
jess conducts a
great interview with kimberli meyers, director of the
mak center, at just the precise moment when the mak center needs to promote this sunday's architecture tour (which is actually selling pretty well). see, hollywood isn't the only industry that can wrangle some synergy its way.
plan a and plan b
the
economist takes a look at how prepared CA is when the big one hits (not if, when). in the wake of katrina, everyone is looking at us next. the scary but obligatory stat:
The Southern California Earthquake Centre reckons that there is an 80% to 90% chance of a tremor of seven or higher on the Richter scale hitting Los Angeles within the next 20 years. According to the US Geological Survey, an earthquake of that magnitude would kill up to 18,000 in Los Angeles.
the verdict is mixed: most hospitals still have at least one building that hasn't been retrofitted and plenty of schools are lagging as well. but the freeway is looking pretty good, the gas company claims its pipes can withstand "strong tremors," and dept of water and power says it could double its pumping. (hehe).
and more importantly, the economist argues, we've had a lot of practice with disasters, unlike louisiana. um, I guess that's a good thing....?
as I move into my new place, john has been offering unsolicited earthquake-proofing advice. most of practical. some of it a little too survivalist, every-man-for-himself, run-to-the-hills scary. in fact, he's got not one, but two, disaster preparedness kits. the first is the hunker down and wait it out kit - water, canned goods, etc. the second is the escape kit - he hasn't bought all the supplies yet but they include a motor bike and propane. I think. I mock him now, will likely respect him later as this post become prophetic.
coolhunting expands
as if we needed any further evidence of architecture's "coolness", josh rubin's coolhunting empire has expanded with a new blog dedicated to architecture:
tropolism. josh's intro:
Tropolism explores the city through the eyes of architects. It calls attention to the art of architects, finds urban beauty wherever it may be, and otherwise revels in the pleasures of the dense city. It also is very skeptical about what architects have to say about their buildings. Its task is to inform, enliven, provoke, and elevate the debate about buildings and the city while refraining from gossip. The site begins in New York, and will expand to other major urban areas.
The editor is Chad Smith, an architect and award-winning designer with his own practice in Manhattan. In addition to Tropolism.com, he has contributed to The Village Voice.
needless to say, can't wait for LA.
serendipitous synchronicity
have I mentioned how happy I am apartment therapy has started an
LA version? even better, as I spend an inordinate amount of time surfing the web for the best price on a flokati rug for my new place, they post
this. great minds...although I think I've found some great deals - ebay of course, and
this place, who sells most of their inventory on...ebay.
and total non sequitor but I just did another
marketplace interview. should be on npr tomorrow morning, not sure which edition it will be on. today's topic: ad dollars shifting online. brings me back to...um...2000. those were the days. before march 10, 2000 at least.
oh, and one more non sequitor. I missed
everybody hates chris because of
the OC.
google video has the entire episode online. google, who loves you baby?
who's the smartest of them all?
british mag Prospect has put together a list of the world's top intellectuals. they should be commended for the global perspective - including chinua achebe, amartya sen, and Fernando Henrique Cardoso among many other non-westerners. the list, however, is a little light on women and the ones included are a little baffling (naomi klein? really?).
but you can vote on your top 5 picks:
http://prospectmagazine.co.uk/intellectuals/index.phpI included the (former) president of LSE when I attended - anthony giddens and larry lessig - who has been a supporter of aram's and my work for the lear center. I guess the voting is just like high school - you pick the people you know.
architects have a poor showing - just rem koolhaas is included on the list and as
design observer points out, there are no artists, filmmakers, designers and just one art critic.
monday media
the weekend was 1 and a half for 3: did manage to make it to
HD buttercup, tried to go to
western-project but the gallery was closed, and got to
rem koolhaas an hour early - but still didn't get in. so listened to the lecture from the courtyard. more on that later. oh, and packed about 6 glasses so this will be a busy week. onto our monday media:
- turns out suburban cops are just as sleazy and morally corrupt as inner city ones: our neighboring police forces have been caught "dumping" their homeless downtown. not only do they deny the dumping, but they claim they were helping the homeless seek social services.
- sprawl? what sprawl? the southern california association of governments (SCAG) hopes to meet federal guidelines for clean air by focusing all new development and population growth into just 2 percent of land. changing demographics for LA make it possible since few single people want to live in a large suburban home.
- and if you're tired of shopping for fruit at your nearby farmer's market, fallenfruit.org tells you where you can pick fruit locally for free.
dragging
I feel a little bad that I didn't make it to today's protest downtown, but I literally could not get out of bed until 11am this morning. I suffer from chronic insomnia, and dont usually sleep later than 7am so that's quite a feat. and have been dragging all day long. woke up at 11, needed a nap by 3. not sure why - maybe I'm sick, maybe its psychosomatic (everytime I think about packing, a similar lethargy overcomes me).
so when john called at 10:45 this morning, there was no way I was making it down there. he stuck around with his friends at
veterans for peace until about 1pm but left before the march had even begun. and I went back to being a lazy, armchair activist and active window shopper, after
jess called to check out the
domino (non) event at h.d. buttercup. so I dragged my ass away from this week's In Touch and a bag of chips to meet her and henry in culver city to gawk at furniture I can't afford. consider it 'research' for my upcoming apartment move. the rest of the afternoon was spent napping (natch) and surfing
design*sponge,
coolhunting, and
ebay while I watch '
design on a dime' on hgtv. sense a pattern?
now I wait for john who keeps calling me every 15 min to make sure I dont fall asleep again and bail on plans for tonight (I'm
tired, I don't have a concussion). he will be my design consultant for the new place, or at the very least, I will buy one of his amazing photographs. he knows which one I want.
this will be a john-intensive weekend since he's also my date for the rem koolhaas lecture at the hammer tomorrow. so much john, so little time. he's the epitome of the GBF.
going low brow
so looking back on my last two posts, I sound like some art snob who spends all her time reading the new york review of books and gallery-hopping, and would never stoop so low to enjoy a non-ironic pabst and the latest issue of US weekly. not true. I know I've written before of my love for weekly tabloids and
laguna beach, but now I feel compelled to admit that I have a real problem. I'm a TVaholic. I'm not as bad as a few friends - I assiduously avoid all reality TV (laguna and my super sweet 16 excepted) but I've probably given more attention to the new TV season than it deserves. here's my very quick rundown, all made possible by tivo. sweet, sweet tivo:
new showsreunion - sorta sucks
my name is earl - doesn't suck but how far can you go with jokes about being white trash. oh, wait - married with children ran for a decade? I stand corrected.
kitchen confidential: I want to like it. I really do. loved the book. I
almost like the show.
prison break: the guy's hot. that's enough for me.
returning showsarrested development: still love you. you was robbed at the emmys.
nip/tuck: yup, still love you too.
the office (american): I thought I could never love you since I loved the british one so much. I was wrong. you are getting better and better. c'mere baby and warm up your side of the bed. the american version is starting to make house party look like house party 2 - know what I mean?
lost: waiting for me on tivo.
the oc: oh how I miss the days of marissa's hackneyed lesbianism and seth's comic book obsession - and I didn't think that was possible. season 3 sucks so far.
iron chef america: watching bobby flay lose are the episodes worth watching. I love watching him go down.
high hopesveronica mars: she filled the gaping hole in pretty, perky blondes who kick ass left by buffy. season 1 was so great - I have high hopes for season 2, but I'm afraid no arc will match the pathos of season 1 - it had it all - best friend's murder, drug-fueled rape, possible incest, missing mother. what can possibly top that?
24: you pulled me back last season, keifer, with that smooth, gravelly baritone - you can do it again.
so that's it. I dont watch desperate housewives or amazing race. yeah, yeah. they're great -I've heard. but what I've seen is totally overrated. they're not taking up my precious tivo space. I'd like to see
everybody hates chris but its on opposite
the oc. I haven't
yet given up on my favorite half-jewish family. yet.
I wish I had a new
lost or
veronica mars this season. doesn't look like its going to happen.
update: saw
lost. wtf? its great but I dont want to wait a week to find out what happened to the raft. I waited all summer, motherfuckers. give me my sawyer and my jin and my michael now.
one more update: ok, so
the OC wasn't
that bad tonight, at least something happened. and next week looks good - marissa's new school looks like it might be rougher than OZ. maybe she'll fashion herself a shiv from a spork in the school cafeteria. or become someone's bitch. oh wait, that was season 2.
and special movie review: saw
flightplan yesterday. that movie is so preposterous it makes
red eye look like a documentary. jodie, what are you thinking?
more mak stuff
two upcoming mak center events, plus tickets for the oct tour are still available. splurge - its going to be great.
'glass, concrete and stone,it's just a house not a home'September 23, 2005 - September 25, 2005
Final Projects Exhibition, Group XX Reception, Friday, September 23, 7-10 pm
8 pm Presentation by kabru
Exhibition Hours, Saturday & Sunday, September 24-25, 12-6 pm
MAK Center Artists and Architects in Residence.
Work by Songül Boyraz, kabru, Hans Schabus, and Milica Topalovic & Bas Princen. To be held at the Mackey Apartments, 1137 S. Cochran Avenue, Los Angeles.
Starving for Embarassing ArchitectureSeptember 29, 2005
Book Launch and Presentation Thursday, September 29, 7-9 pm
In cooperation with Villa Aurora
Erik Göngrich, Villa Aurora Artist In Residence (visual arts) 2003, draws on information gleaned from questionnaires and interviews to create a collage of texts and images that shed a new light on the city. He will give a presentation on his book “Starving for Embarassing Architecture,” published in 2004 by Villa Aurora, Berlin, which documents his findings in Los Angeles.
MAK Architecture Tour 2005October 02, 2005
Architecture Tour and ReceptionTour, Sunday, 11 am – 5 pm
Cocktail Reception, Sunday, 5 pm – 7:30 pm
Experience some of Los Angeles’ exemplary modern homes, generously opened by their owners to give you a chance to see both interior and exterior.
Please join us for a very special tour of:
Silvertop (John Lautner, 1957)
The Walker Residence (R. M. Schindler 1936)
The Wilson Residence (R. M. Schindler, 1935-38)
The Tierman Residence (Gregory Ain, 1939)
The Yates Studio (R. M. Schindler, 1938-47)
The Bubeshko Apartments (R. M. Schindler, 1938 and 1941)
The Schlessinger Residence (R. M. Schindler, 1952)
The Elliot Residence (R. M. Schindler, 1930)
Followed by a cocktail reception at The Wolff Residence (R. M. Schindler, 1938)
more info:
http://www.makcenter.org/MAK_Exhibitions_Upcoming.php#
this weekend
there's a ton going on that I want to do/see and I'm afraid I may spend my time packing instead. here's what I hope to do:
- rem koolhaas at the hammer. I wrote my master's thesis about him, still haven't seen him speak live.
- one of my favorite shelter rags, domino, is sponsoring a three-day event at hd buttercup. I'll post the info below.
- see the arne svensen exhibition at western project of photos of forensic reconstructions of murder victims.
and there's the
last cemetary screening of the season on sat, the
abbott kinney festival, and the anti-war/anti-bush
rally on sat downtown. too much going on. might be able to do a quarter of what I intend. oh, and did I mention I need to start packing?
hd buttercup press release below:WHAT: DOMINO MAGAZINE – Condé Nast's new shopping magazine for the home – is celebrating its second issue by co-hosting a huge publicshopping event (it's first!) with L.A.'s most dynamic new players,H.D. Buttercup Manutailer™ Furniture Mart, the nation's onlydirect-to-consumer furniture and design showroom in Los Angeles onFri., Sept. 23 through Sun., Sept. 25.The weekend shopping event is FREE and open to the public, featuring major discounts, giveaways, sweepstakes and interactive booths with experts on-hand all weekend to teach, demonstrate + solve decorating and home style issues with consumers.
domino booths are all FREE + include:
Interior design consultations: domino has gathered several local LAinterior designers to sit with shoppers – who are invited to bring photos + Polaroids of their homes – everything from kitchens to bathrooms to unfinished garages – for free advice, ideas + solutions
Cooking classes + wine and cheese tasting: local LA chef ChristopherEme from Ortolan, and Chef Craig Petrella and Sommelier PeterBirmingham of Norman's restaurant will teach cooking + wine tasting classes
Free spa treatments: domino spa boutique will include free manicures, hand massages + products from OPI
Gardening classes: Eduardo Xol will teach landscaping for the sensesduring the weekend – based on sight, smell and taste
Handyman fix-it lessons + classes: domino's resident handyman will teach the basics of remodeling + repairing the home – everything from installing ceramic tile to decorating a nursery to painting a room to common bathroom repairs will be included
Art classes: Painter + graphic artist Freddi Cerasoli who creates PopArt inspired by street art forms and DJ culture. Cerasoli willteaches art classes + demos all weekend
Feng Shui consultations + classes: Feng Shui Coach Cheryl Janis ofSacred Surroundings will teach + consult on how to change your spaceto change your life
Free shuttle service at lunchtime to/from nearby restaurants: Subaru will taxi shoppers to/from the domino event to nearby restaurants forlunch – they'll even make reservations for consumers!
angst unites artists
I still dont have much time to blog, but dont want to abandon my legion of fans (ok, like 2). so here's an
interesting article on how frank gehry and sydney pollack bonded over their mutual artistic angst - the result is the documentary,
Sketches of Frank Gehry (the title is a little miles davis/harlequin romance). just finished screening at the toronto film festival this week.
movin on up
the only thing I will miss about my current apartment is the view of the hills on days like today, when they occasionally disappear because of the clouds.
I have the mondays
busy busy but all good stuff - new clients, new projects, new apartment, etc. will try to write up in more detail two of the art/architecture related events I attended this weekend: the
Not a Cornfield lecture on fri night (which in the words of one friend during our post-lecture de-brief on the project is "politically dubious" and I have to agree) and the
basquiat show at moca (which again, I found ultimately disappointing, with the exception of the warhol collaborations). in the meantime, here's some monday media links, which I've only given a cursory read so caveat emptor:
back to work and packing.
update: matteo also wants me to post that's
new york's gansevoort hotel is opening their LA outpost downtown, although I feel like I had read this already somewhere before, although maybe I'm confusing it with Miami.
mark your calendar
today is
constitution day. or maybe its tomorrow - and just moved to today so school kids across america can celebrate. in any case, my sister forwarded me this email. keep in mind, she's in her 20s, in her third year of medical school and graduated from yale. she also works 16 hour days doing her rotation in the HIV and oncology ward in elmhurst, queens:
Attention students –
As you may or may not have heard, President George W. Bush signed a law that designates September 17 as Constitution Day. All federally funded institutions have been asked to provide educational programming for all students on the U.S. Constitution. As a federally funded school, we are required to implement a program for you.
We ask you (on an honor system) to access the attached document and to read the information. We trust that you will comply with this requirement so that funding will continue to be available to our institution to provide great educational experiences for you.
We recognize that you have MANY responsibilities and obligations – this should only take a few minutes.
We thank you for your attention.
attached is a 2 page doc that outlines the history of the constitution with such gems as "The constitution of the united states is the primary law of the US federal government."
no child left behind indeed.
b roll
while (or should I say whilst?)
gehry is all over the british press (who have already coined a nickname for the gehry/pitt project for Hove: "the pitts"), our local media is finally turning to some lesser known names in architecture:
- LA Weekly take a look at josh schweizter to see how architects build for themselves, when there is no client, no deadlines and "the possibilities were endless."
- and latimes profiles Mark Rios, an architect who manages to straddle both landscape and building design, and even product design thrown in for good measure. oh, and he's kind of hot.
I'm not going to sleep tonight
I try to avoid writing about the personal on this blog but this week my interest in real estate intersected with my need for a new apartment. I've probably seen upwards of 20 apartments in the past week - mostly in hollywood and los feliz. I've seen big complexes, small garden complexes, terrible 80s complexes and one brick place from the 20s that should have crumbled in an earthquake long ago. searching for an apartment is perhaps one of the most disheartening, frustrating, overwhelming tasks I've faced in a while.
I was hoping for a large, bright space with hardwood floors that also had off-street parking. I quickly starting ticking off the things I could live without: hardwood floors, parking, large space. until tonight. I finally saw the most amazing apartment in my price range that has all of the above and then some. the new yorker in me kicked in - told the manager I wanted it before the other girl who was seeing it uttered those words (she repeated them 1 second after I did). I ran home, filled out the application, printed out bank statements, copied a recent credit report - I'm nothing if not thorough - and went back an hour later to return my application, hopefully beating the wanna-be actress/temp to the punch. so now I wait. the application goes in first thing tomorrow and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'd still be close enough to runyon canyon for yoga every day and walking distance to the sunset 5.
I know LA isn't like NY when it comes to apartments - they don't check 10 years worth of IRS returns, require a co-signer even if you make six figures, or reject you because they don't like the cut of your jib. whatever that means. but I'm still nervous. matteo says homes are like men - you know when it feels right. I'm much better at picking the apartments.
fall previews
it seems the media is inundated right now with fall previews - new tv shows, new films, new fashion, and architecture and design is no exception.
nicholai ouroussoff weighs in on the fall architecture season (and LA is conspicuously absent) while in the home and garden section,
black is declared the new black. and the latimes ingeniously combines the new TV season with new design, in the form of an article on, what else,
TV tables.
another mak center event
its final projects time:
Please join the MAK Center for Art and Architecture for the opening reception of...
‘glass, concrete and stone, it’s just a house not a home’
—David Byrne
MAK Center Artists and Architects in Residence
Final Projects Exhibition, Group XX
Reception, Friday, September 23, 2005, 7 to 10 pm
8 pm Presentation by kabru
Exhibition Hours, Saturday & Sunday, September 24 - 25, 12 to 6 pm
at the Mackey Apartments
1137 South Cochran Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90019
Twice yearly the MAK Center for Art and Architecture hosts visiting Artists and Architects in Residence who spend four months living and working in the R.M. Schindler-designed and newly renovated Mackey Apartments in the mid-Wilshire district. ‘glass, concrete and stone’, showcases work by the 2005 residents — Songül Boyraz (Austria), kabru (Austria), Hans Schabus (Austria), and Milica Topalovic and Bas Princen (Netherlands). The residents will open up their living rooms as exhibition spaces to display the results of their residencies including photographs, site documentation, maps, video and presentations.
This event is free and open to the public.
more details here.
not everyone loves the cornfields
I wonder if
this point of view will be presented? or if the lecture will just be a giant clusterfuck of self-congratulations for a job (almost) done. and like so many public infrastructure/park projects in LA, this one too seems to be rife with backdoor deals, bullying, and contentious debate on the use of land. only the "bad guy" this time isn't a
major multinational corporation or a
greedy businessman looking to displace the poor for a ballpark. this time its a
non-profit who has done (and continues to do) a great deal of public good.
some interesting facts on the history of the cornfields in the gonzalez's article:
Little known to most Angelenos , the Cornfield park site was once the railroad terminal where several hundred thousand Mexicans (including U.S. citizens) were illegally deported during the infamous anti-immigrant hysteria of the 1930's. The Cornfield -which was never in fact a cornfield-- train terminal used for livestock and grain deliveries was thought more appropriate for Latinos than the more fashionable Union Station, which was used to transport "more respectable" Americans.
it also was also adjacent to the original Indian settlements of the Tongva people and served as home to the first Chinese community in this city.
thanks to jess for the article.
not a cornfield at the cornfields
a few people have asked where the cornfield lecture is. answer can be found
here. it looks like the lecture is actually at the cornfield and starts at 7:30 so flashlights might be necessary? was at the
bowl last night and its cold these days at night - definitely will bring a sweater.
some interesting lectures
materials & applications, home of maximilian's schell, is hosting two interesting lectures this weekend. I'll be at the fri evening lecture for the "
not a cornfield" discussion:
Friday, September . 16 . 2005 @ 7:30pm
"Not A Cornfield: Salon"
Free Admission.
:Agri(c)ulture: What's Growing in LA?:
Jenna Didier (founder of Materials & Applications) in discussion with Lauren Bon , Marty Kaplan, and Janet Owen.
Join Not a Cornfield artist Lauren Bon, director of the Norman Lear Center Marty Kaplan, writer and curator Janet Owen, and designer, engineer and founder of Materials & Applications Jenna Didier for a discussion of some the many issues arising at the intersection of culture and the public realm.
More info: notacornfield.com/events/sep16.html
Saturday, September . 17 . 2005 @ 4pm
Andreas Froech & Emanuelle Bourlier [e-panelite.com]
:Translucent, lightweight,
modulation of light and vision:
Please join us for a daytime open air show and tell session with these material innovators.
Panelite is the leading developer and distributor of experimental materials, including translucent honeycomb panels to the architectural and design industries. Join us in a rousing Show & Tell with the creators of this beautiful product.
Have a favorite gadget or an especially inspired creation? Bring it with you to Show & Tell! At the end of every event we will invite members of the audience who have brought something to share to come up and tell us about it.
Complete schedule of the lecture series is available at emanate.org/showntell.htm .
$5 at the gate.
Come to Materials & Applications for the next lecture in our ongoing open-air discussions on design, technology and culture in a "show & tell" format at the courtyard exhibition space at 1619 Silver Lake Boulevard in Los Angeles. This series accompanies the wildly popular Maximilian's Schell installation. Come have fun in the golden vortex!
M&A is a non-profit organization that conducts architecture and landscape research in an environment open to all. More information is available on the M&A website: www.emanate.org.
volunteers needed
no, not another plea for katrina. I'll leave that to julia roberts and sean penn. the mak center is planning a major architectural tour of private homes for oct 2 and is looking for volunteers and if you give 4 hours, you get a free ticket to the tour. I'll be managing the volunteers at silvertop that day:
Have you ever dreamed of seeing the interior of Silvertop by John Lautner, recently featured in the Los Angeles times magazine? Have you ever wondered what Schindler’s houses look like on the inside? Volunteer as a MAK Center Tour docent, and you will get an inside look at some of LA’s most interesting modern houses. Dedicate a mere 4 hours as a house docent on October 2, and earn a free ticket to that day’s architecture tour. Don’t miss this great opportunity!
Please pass this along to any responsible student or colleague that may be interested in seeing the following houses without paying for a ticket:
MAK Architecture TourSunday, October 2, 200511:00 am – 7:30 pmSilvertop (John Lautner, 1957)Straddling the ridge above Silverlake, this classic Lautner, recently featured in the LA Times Magazine,features a sweeping concrete roof, glass walls and garden designed by Garrett Eckbo.
The Walker Residence (R. M. Schindler 1936)This house cascades down a steep hill, mimicking the sites’ topography and taking full advantage of a view of Silverlake.
The Wilson Residence (R. M. Schindler, 1935-38)Another great example of a cascading hillside house.
The Tierman Residence (Gregory Ain, 1939)Pure geometry with unexpected articulations makes this house critic/architect Robert Venturi’s favorite Gregory Ain house.
The Yates Studio (R. M. Schindler, 1938-47)Originally designed as a music studio addition to a bungalow, it was the site of a concert series called “Evenings on the Roof” that continued until 1954.
The Bubeshko Apartments (R. M. Schindler, 1938 and 1941)This hillside building has units which range from tiny to large, providing an opportunity to see the scalability of Schindler’s design principles.
The Schlessinger Residence (R. M. Schindler, 1952)Schindler’s last house is still owned by its original commissioner; virtually nothing has been altered since it was built.
The Elliot Residence (R. M. Schindler, 1930)This well-sited hillside house feels much larger than its modest size, thanks to Schindler’s masterful use of interlocking spaces.
Cocktail Reception 5:00 pm – 7:30 pmThe Wolff House (R. M. Schindler, 1938)Schindler’s buildings were rarely white. The recent restoration of this house brought back its original colors; their intensity and combination defy expectations.
Ticket prices for Tour and ReceptionSelf-driven: $65 Friends of the Schindler House and students, $80 general public. Ride a shuttle bus for the afternoon sites for an additional $30
To volunteer as a tour docent, please contact Angelica Fuentes, 323-651-1510 or afuentes@makcenter.org
I saw my laptop flash before my eyes
I've been away from the computer for a little while, not by choice. fri afternoon my hard drive decided it had had enough and pretty much had a major meltdown. I thought I had lost all of my files. client work, book proposal, photos, the entire second season of entourage - all gone. after a restless night and an early morning, let's call it a disagreement, with C over the fact I had not backed up my laptop in ages, he promised to help fix it.
and fix it he did. he earned his self-appointed nicknames: "the divine mr. C" as well as "joe kickass." all my data has been recovered and I've spent the last 14 hours straight rebuilding windows, copying my files back onto my laptop from my brand-spanking new external hard drive, and reconfiguring my wireless connection. fortunately, I only lost power a min or two in the outage. except I can't get the wireless adapter to work and now I'm frustrated and angry. and the divine mr. c doesn't know the first thing about wireless so now I need to find a new IT guy. any volunteers?
mak day
this sat marks the 118th birthday of everyone's favorite austrian architect. no, not neutra. r.m. schindler's of course. so to celebrate,
the schindler house is free and chock-full of activities. there will be several panel discussions on topics ranging from collecting art to renovation to modernism and fashion, as well as prototypes for upcoming shows. full schedule found
here.
additionally, my monthly docent duties are calling - so I'll be on hand from 2:30-6pm sat to give tours of the house. since I'm no longer teaching, this is my only chance to lecture (except for the occasional ones I give to my parents on the evils of bush, the importance of learning how to use a computer, and why too many refined sugars are bad for them. they've all remarkably sunk in, I must be better than I thought). anyway, I digress. come by for some good tours and discussion.
99% Aeromad: A Prototype for an Inflatable Dwelling Alexis Rochas 2005
today's protest
with most of the media still firmly entrenched in covering katrina and its aftermath, there isn't much going on that is architecture-related. or maybe I just don't feel like writing much about it. and the latimes, normally a second-rate rag compared to the nytimes, has been exceeding my expectations. I sit and read and silently applaud
op-eds like this. but sitting and silently applauding only goes so far, so later today I will be attending
this protest at the federal building in westwood. will it lead to bush's resignation? probably not. but it will feel better than sitting on my couch and cursing the TV.
also, in addition to my newfound respect and admiration for the latimes, comes the return of my hero to late night TV. last night's
daily show reaffirmed my love for jon stewart. as I texted (is that a word?) to jess last night, jon stewart is my boyfriend so bitches better step. that includes his wife, other stalkers, and my mom (who also has a crush on our favorite mensch.) that's right mom, Step. The. Fuck. Off.
oh and here is some interesting LA/urban/whatever news:
good news: CA's legislature is about to pass a law
banning the sale of soda and junk food on public school campuses. A similar ban already exists for LAUSD.
bad news: the legislation doesn't address the other basic cause of childhood obesity and its subsequent health problems - lack of physical fitness. also, the nutritional guidelines are somewhat lenient:
The legislation is aimed at limiting food sales to dishes that get no more than 35% of their calories from fat, 10% of their calories from saturated fat, and have no more than 35% sugar by weight.
That formula would not likely pass muster at a Weight Watchers meeting. Among the foods that qualify are Pop Tarts, baked potato chips, baked Doritos, honey roasted peanuts, Carnation Ice Cream Sandwiches and various other "light" varieties of ice cream.
more good news: CA is one step closer to
legalizing gay marriage.
bad news: the governator may veto the bill.
neither good nor bad - yet: and after new york's failed attempt to bid on the 2012 olympics,
LA will put its hat in the ring for the 2016 summer games.
monday media - tues edition
it seems like just yesterday that my monday media was a tues edition bc of a three day weekend. I would mourn the end of summer but that seems superfluous in a city like los angeles. it just means fewer bugs and more comfortable nights. anyway, a few news items of interest:
the gloves are off
the weekend in palm springs was great - thanks to
jess for arranging and happy 31st. I think I may have offset the cost of my room at the
parker through the theft of toiletries - hermes soap, molton brown bath gel, peter thomas roth sunscreen. I was able (barely) to restrain myself from stealing the jonathan adler vases and pillows, and the first editions of
Fear of Flying and
Valley of the Dolls (sense a pattern here?).
the main (only?) topic of conversation this weekend? katrina of course, and since our little group consisted of 1 new orleansian, 2 media grad students and pretty much everyone else working in media in one capacity or another - analysis of the media's coverage. everything from
NBC's ridiculous attempts to censor kanye west, to the nytimes'
all-katrina op-eds. finally, finally - the media is doing its job. the gloves are off. and we're not the only ones who noticed this - read
slate's excellent coverage of the media's excellent coverage of katrina (how's that for meta?) and the systemic failures of the bush administration in preventing the levee breaches and then responding to the city's needs. how's this for an opening salvo:
A former deputy chief of FEMA told Knight Ridder Newspapers yesterday (Sept. 1) that there "are two kinds of levees—the ones that breached and the ones that will be breached." A similar aphorism applies to broadcasters: They come in two varieties, the ones that have gone stark, raving mad on air and the ones who will.
I hope it continues past this tragedy. I doubt it will, given the past 5 years of incessant media pandering to the bush administration. but I will applaud it while it lasts. please anderson, and joe and jack - stay angry.
off to palm springs
spending a couple of days in
PS.
brangelina, eat your heart out.
hawthorne takes on katrina
jess alerted to me this
article in today's latimes - christopher hawthorne examines the role of architecture in katrina - how some modernist symbols have failed us - in particular the superdome (but he also predicts a similar decline for the astrodome) and how the program of other buildings have been turned upside down - quite literally - as roofs become floors, highways become boat docks.
the destruction of the superdome in particular, has symbolic resonance for him:
"More common was a growing sense of desperation and entrapment in a place designed for leisure and distraction — bread-and-circus architecture turned into a place where the desire was simply for bread and water, or other kinds of basic relief."
he also attacks the folly of designers who believe they can create perfect climate-controlled environments:
"It is not just the architecture of the two domes, however, that is looking outdated this week. It is the very idea they embody so fully: that modern buildings — and, by extension, modern cities — can offer perfect protection against the elements, that Mother Nature is neither a vital source nor a threat but simply a nuisance. That notion is one victim of Katrina that none of us needs mourn."
with all the (justifiable) hand-wringing over the condition the new orleans' architecture, hawthorne undertakes a nuanced, intelligent investigation of the role the built environment (or un-built in this case) plays in a disaster of this proportion.
my katrina post
there isn't much I can add to the already thousands of articles, blog posts and images online of the devastation wrought by katrina. C's immediate family was mostly spared - his mother's house is undamaged, and his brother's house is ok save for a gaping hole in the roof where a tree hit it. unfortunately, his grandfather, aunt and cousins have all lost their respective homes and the condition of his father's apartment is unknown. but everyone evacuated in time and is physically fine. so all I can really do here on this blog is link to some places for information and relief efforts:
and some articles related to new orlean's architectural history:
"In early 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in U.S., including a terrorist attack on New York City."
the third likely disaster? a catastrophic earthquake in SF.
demolition double dose
following up on the previous post about possible gehry-designed buildings destined for demolition, this
one hits a little harder. sure, its not the original brown derby, and seems to have undergone some extensive renovations over the years, but this is one of those older buildings I'd hate to see go. love the ceiling, love the booths, love the circular bar. would be a much greater loss to LA than gehry's enclosed mall in SM.
strangely, a cursory google search for the coalition "save the derby" that has sprung up results in plenty of articles, but no web site for the group. any further details? post in the comments.
what goes up, must come down
two early
gehry-designed buildings may face demolition - a building on the UC Irvine campus and the santa monica place shopping mall. it seems no one is really shedding a tear for either structure, even as gehry gears up for the grand ave development.
