weirdest architecture event I've ever seen
I'm willing to bet this is the first and only event that combines architecture and cosmetic dentistry:
Lecture by MAK Center for Art & Architecture Artist in Residence Alfredo Barsuglia
DENTISTRY AND CONTEMPORARY ART
Esthetic Dentistry in Los Angeles
Wednesday, August 30th 2006
12-1 pm
Room B3-020
University of California, Los Angeles - UCLA School of Dentistry
Center for the Health Science
10833 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1668
Lunch will be provided
mail@AlfredoBarsuglia.com
www.AlfredoBarsuglia.com
1139 S. Cochran Avenue,
Los Angeles, California 90019
home: 1(323) 936-1465
mobile: 1(323) 877-8622
what I would have written about in curbed today
so
curbed LA is on summer hiatus (if you can call it that) until after labor day. which gives me the opportunity to post here what I would have posted on curbed - and I guess will in a week or so:
- we have a date for the first opening of H&M in SoCal: September 21st in pasadena located at 60 W. Colorado Blvd. Beverly Center and Westfield Santa Anita to follow later this year with no set dates. and they couldn't confirm for us a location or opening for H&H, so not sure where that stands.
- a soft landing is wishful thinking: krugman predicts a major housing bust. (paid registration)
- jess sent us a link to this awesome T shirt.
carmada convoy on sat
there is way too much going on this weekend, starting with the
LAXART benefit tonight and the office of mobile design's
prefab party, both at the same time. and of course
sunset junction and
zero 7 this weekend at the bowl. so I don't think I'll be able to fit in this event, but it sounds very very cool:
CARMADA
Driving art modules
Organized by MAK Center for Art & Architecture Artist in Residence Sonja Vordermaier.
Please join us for the closing party of the CARMADA performance.
Date: August 26, 2006; 7-10 pm
Place: 1168 E. 5th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013
15 local and international artists transform cars into small exhibition units and scatter into Los Angeles neighborhoods and traffic.
The Convoy will merge at specific points and end the day at downtown parking lot party for celebration and film screenings.
For further information please visit: www.carmada.org
Participating artists:
Eva Castringius
Erik Frydenborg
Gustavo Godoy
Hugo Hopping
Dawn Kasper
John Knuth
Kelly Lycan & Jinhan Ko ˛ Instant_Coffee
Michael Markowsky
Miguel Nelson
Kiersten Puusemp
Nicole C. Russell
Pascual Sisto
Allyson Spellacy
Bettina Camilla Vestergaard
Sonja Vordermaier
if only the airlines had a buy 2, get one free sale
I booked the first of my three planned fall trips to new york today. the first will put me in ny for rosh hashana for the first time in years, but I also have a wedding that weekend at the
rainbow room, which is far more exciting than apples and honey and brisket with the family. and since the couple is half indian refugee activist/half norwegian architect its going to be a blast. how could it possibly be anything else? lest you think its all pleasure, not business - I'm also speaking that week at a
conference in midtown. so I'll get to spend some time with family and friends and historic landmarks, and some time in a soul-crushing mid-priced chain hotel. unfortunately, I will have just missed the
Dada exhibition at the MOMA (whatever- the hammer's exhibition probably kicked moma's ass) but will hopefully have a chance to catch the
herzog and de meuron exhibition, even if I vaguely remember some lousy reviews.
architecture + food + celebrity scions
I almost missed
this since I didn't have my usual wed diet of food reviews last week as I hosted my baby sister: jonathan gold reviews
wilson (thumbs up) and gives us an awesome description of the outdoor patio:
The back patio resembles a cross between a Dwell magazine layout and a prison exercise yard.
Its spot on, but he forgot to mention the public restroom overhead lighting. when we walked past the restaurant a few weeks ago, it was the first thing we noticed - no one looks good in that lighting. so we opted for the front patio, which was just
slightly better, as long as you don't mind a side of car exhaust with your potato and fig tortelli. but those tortelli are so good they make us forgive booming car bass, unforgiving overhead lighting, and the possibility of proximity to eric owen moss:
As befits a modernist restaurant, the celebrities on view tend to be architects — this is one place where a sighting of Steven Ehrlich or Eric Owen Moss may be as big a deal as spotting Tony Curtis at Spago.
slouching towards broadway
as joan didion's great '
the year of magical thinking' is adapted as a monologue for broadway, the guardian takes the opportunity to
interview didion and take stock of her body of work. I'm admittedly one of the "new, younger readers she has attracted" with the book, but this article makes me want to head over to book soup to pick up a few others, particularly the essay collections like '
the white album'. but can ruminations on 60's california culture ever compare to the heartbreaking precision she uses in magical thinking to capture her overwhelming grief? when I was reading magical thinking while in new york in dec, so many people struck up conversation with me when they saw what I was reading - her grief seemed to fit right in with the zeitgeist. I'm afraid I will inevitably be disappointed. its a good thing I have a massive pile of sept magazines to get through before I can get back to reading actual books.
almost forgot
with family in town for nearly two weeks straight, I almost forgot that I have to docent today at the
schindler house. john kindly switched weeks with me, so I have my docent duties today from 11-2:30. just as reminder, docent tours of the schindler house are available on the weekends, free with admission.
grand ave workshop
my sister will still be in town tomorrow, so I won't make this but if you feel like waking up early on a sat, the norman lear center is hosting their second grand ave workshop:
The Grand Avenue Civic Park
Public Meeting & Workshop #2
THIS SATURDAY, AUGUST 19th
10am - 12:30pm
National Center for the Preservation of Democracy
111 North Central Avenue
Between First & Temple
Across the plaza from the Japanese American National Museum
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Public parking is available at the lots at First & Central and at First & Alameda
Watch the Webcast on www.grandintervention.org
Join us in Little Tokyo for the second in a series of community workshops. The program -- organized by the official Grand Avenue Park design team, led by Brenda Levin, Mark Rios and Aaron Paley -- will include a presentation of initial design concepts that synthesize the ideas and principles generated in the first workshop. Participants at the workshop and those attending online will have the opportunity to give feedback to the design team.
Can't make it to the meeting? The Norman Lear Center is hosting a LIVE WEBCAST, complete with an online, real-time discussion board. Within 48 hours of the first workshop, as many people had viewed the Webcast online and posted comments as attended in person.
In an effort to extend its public outreach, the Grand Avenue Committee and Related Companies are endorsing event Webcasting and online civic engagement efforts by the Norman Lear Center. Online viewers can post comments and questions, which will be relayed to event moderators. Video of the event and a transcript will be archived online.
Please join us in person or online for this exciting experiment in civic engagement and design.
Download the August 19 flyer Watch video or read a transcript of the first Community Workshop Check out the Civic Park Work Plan Read the Draft EIR Report
end of summer sounds of the schindler house
you know summer is almost over - the schindler house is hosting their last in the summer series next weekend:
sound. at the Schindler House
Friday, August 25
A TRIBUTE TO THE SOUNDS OF FORBIDDEN PLANET
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Louis and Bebe Barron's otherworldly soundtrack with four composers still under its spell: Thomas Dimuzio, Tom Grimley, Sukho Lee and David Rothbaum.
Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
Performances begin at 7:30 p.m.
Advance admission: $18; $14 for students with valid I.D., FOSH (Friends of the Schindler House) and SASSAS (The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound) members; $25 at the door.
Space is limited. Advance ticket purchase recommended.
Purchase tickets online: www.soundNet.org/sound/2006 <http://www.soundNet.org/sound/2006>
Presented in association with
MAK Center for Art and Architecture, L.A.
At The Schindler House
835 North Kings Road
West Hollywood, CA 90069
323.651.1510
www.MAKcenter.org
Please do not contact the MAK Center for ticket purchase.
For further information,
visit www.soundnet.org <http://www.soundNet.org/sound/2006/august.shtml> or phone 323/960.5723
loving lorcan
my
interview with lorcan o'herlihy went live on
curbed LA today and I'm probably more proud than I should be since it basically consisted of sending an email. if only he had properly answered the fuck, marry kill question. oh well.
I now have my sister in town for a week so posting will be light once again. we scored tickets to the getty villa for today, drove out there intending to have lunch on the patio and got turned away at the door because of a power outage. they intend to honor the tickets another day but that still sucks and wasted too much gas. esp since I need to take her to one of her medical board exams tomorrow in el segundo. and even though I've lived here 3 years, I only have a vague idea of where that is and it sounds far and it will be a bitch doing that drive back and forth twice in one day (since its an 8 hour clinical exam). ah, family.
architecture odds and ends
dropped my parents off at the airport this morning. they seem to have a knack for traveling during international terror crisis. last summer, they arrived in london the morning of the bombings which luckily kept my sister at home waiting for them rather than on the tube during rush hour. they came to visit me there in 2003 right around the time we declared war and were supposed to have been greeted on the tarmac at heathrow by tanks (at least, they saw it on cnn but seemed to have missed it at the terminal). and this morning they spent an extra half hour repacking all of their liquids. so be forewarned: I will let you know the next time they plan a trip and you can plan accordingly. they're like the angels of terror. other than that, it was a good trip and I might post a little bit about it later since I took them to the schindler house, disney hall, huntington gardens, the venice canals and many many more places.
as for the odds and ends: the
mak center architecture tour has confirmed another house - this time a lautner:
Harpel House (John Lautner, 1956)
The Harpel House sits on a Hollywood hillside and is constructed as a triangulated system of deep glulam (glued laminated timber) beams on thick concrete columns. Lautner created a giant trellis covering almost the entire property, part of which was closed off for living and entertainment.
this might be the key to competing with the silver lake tour - even if silvertop's reputation overshadows many of lautner's other works.
and the lorcan o'herlihy interview is going up on
curbed LA on monday. finally. and its awesome.
email us suggestions for other good interview subjects - we're hoping to make it a semi-regular feature.
MAK center's fall architecture tour needs volunteers
I'm not sure of the wisdom of planning this so close to the Silver Lake tour, esp since the silverlakers have Silvertop and the houses on the MAK tour are a little less well-known, but who am I to argue? At least the MAK Center has case study #22. hard to beat that. anyway, they're looking for volunteers. still not sure if I'll be in town that week but regardless, its a good way to spend an afternoon AND you're helping a very good cause.
Have you ever dreamed of seeing the interior of some of Los Angeles’ architectural masterworks? Volunteer as a MAK Center Tour docent, and you will get an inside look at some of LA's most impressive modern houses. Dedicate 4 hours as a house docent on October 1, and earn a free ticket to that day’s architecture tour.
MAK Architecture Tour
Sunday, October 1, 2006
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
The 2006 Tour includes:
Case Study House #22 (Pierre Koenig, 1959)
This spectacular hillside house, immortalized in photographs by Julius Shulman is one of the most famous of the Case Study Houses. In perfect original condition, the house features steel construction, an L-shaped plan organized around a swimming pool and a breath-taking view of Los Angeles.
Morgan House (Irving Gill, 1917)
Irving Gill was an important forerunner of southern California modernism who favored the use of site-cast and tilt-slab concrete construction. This concrete house is recently renovated and a lovely example of Gill’s influential stripped-down sensibilities.
Fitzpatrick House (R. M Schindler, 1936)
Commissioned by a real estate developer to attract buyers to the area, this modern beauty sits prominently atop the hill at Laurel Canyon and Mulholland Drive. Spacious yet compactly organized, it is the closest Schindler came to adopting aspects of the International Style.
Kallis House and Studio (R.M Schindler, 1946)
Nestled into the hillside, this house conforms to the topography of the site, creating wonderful rooms with tree-house like qualities. The house is in excellent condition with most of the original features intact.
Other houses still to be confirmed!
Ticket prices for Tour
Self-driven: $65 Friends of the Schindler House and students, $80 general
public. Ride a shuttle bus for the afternoon sites for an additional $40. Lunch will be available for an additional $15
To volunteer as a tour docent, please contact Angelica Fuentes, 323-651-1510 or afuentes@makcenter.org
truth or dare
last week my co-editor josh and I put together a list of q's for our inaugural
curbed LA interview. we thought it might be fun to actually create some original content, and act like some a-hole college journalist or something and start interviewing architects, planners, gadflys we like for the site. the first architect we approached,
lorcan o'herlihy, actually said yes (but in fairness to him, he hadnt seen the questions before he agreed to do it. otherwise we might have gotten a different response). I had heard he was very open to working with dumb bloggers like us, (he did an excellent
LAist interview with
Jess last year) and I heard he was fiercely protective of his reputation, particularly after the
MAK center debacle (understandably). so now josh and I are eagerly awaiting the results to post on curbed, and the big question mark for us: will lorcan actually answer us this:
Fuck Marry Kill: Eric Owen Moss, Frank Gehry or Thom Mayne?
He did call me to speak very highly of thom mayne, so I guess we can assume he falls into the 'marry' category. so who will he fuck and who will he kill? fingers crossed that one actually gets answered.
