Archinect - Features

Spaceship or Water Recycling Plant? Inside Anthony Lumsden's Toilet Utopia

2019-08-08T10:24:00-04:00

Under the Skin is a review series that focuses on existing buildings in Los Angeles. Each review selects one finished building, whether newly built or long-time-standing, and takes an in-depth look at it in order to get under its skin.

For the third installment, we take a visit to Sepulveda Water Reclamation Plant, a remarkable experiment in glass skin architectural design, to look at the lasting and influential legacy of corporate architecture firm DMJM.

Sepulveda Water Reclamation Plant (currently the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant)

Built: 1984
Architect: Anthony J. Lumsden of Daniel, Mann, Johnson, and Mendenhall (DMJM)
Location: 6100 Woodley Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

Building Score: 8.2

Is it a Museum? An Up Close and Personal Review of Diller Scofidio + Renfro's Broad Museum

2019-02-13T12:44:00-05:00

The Broad is much more than a building, so to review it only as a physical object would be to fall for the decoy. The Broad is playing next-level games with art and real estate, in a similar way that Trump played next-level games with the media during his campaign. The benefit to The Broad’s games, of course, is that people can go see some beautiful art for free - or, more accurately, they can go see art at no cost to them, but which nevertheless is considerably subsidized by the City of Los Angeles. (More on that later.)

The Broad

Built: 2015
Architect: Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Executive Architect: Gensler
Location: 221 S. Grand Ave Los Angeles, CA

Building Score: 5.7

A House By the Park; A Look at the Frick Collection

2019-02-07T09:00:00-05:00

Callouts is a review series in praise of architecture, art, and the city.

Contrary to the common use of the modal verb “to call out” which emphasizes negative criticism, “Callouts” here draw from the architectural drawing tradition. Callouts in architecture establish a closer look towards a part of a project that requires more explanation and emphasized attention due to its complexity, uniqueness or typicality. They create a different, more detailed view of what has already been seen, expanding the reader’s understanding of the project.

Following that tradition, “Callouts” is a series of carefully selected complex, unique and banal projects, that have the potential to initiate a discussion, be didactic and affect their contemporary contextual mythology. Reviews for projects that do not satisfy these criteria can be found by typing “architecture” on your search bar.

An American Palazzo in Greenwich Village; The Headquarters of the National Maritime Union by Albert C. Ledner

2018-12-26T17:47:00-05:00

Callouts is a review series in praise of architecture, art, and the city.

The Building, The Hill & The Monument; The Stavros Niarchos Cultural Centre by Renzo Piano

2018-11-28T09:00:00-05:00

Callouts is a review series in praise of architecture, art, and the city.

Under the Skin; An Intimate Building Review of AC Martin's LADWP Headquarters

2018-09-18T11:37:00-04:00

Under the Skin is a new review series that focuses on buildings in Los Angeles. Each review selects one finished building, whether newly built or long-time-standing, and takes an in-depth look at it in order to get under its skin.

In this first installment, we take a look at the Department of Water and Power Building.

Built: 1964
Architect: AC Martin and Associates
Location: 111 N Hope St, Los Angeles, CA

Building Score: 9.4