Archinect - News

AIA chapters voice concern over proposed regulations on architects in California

2022-12-09T11:22:00-05:00

Several chapters of the AIA in California, including AIA California and AIA Los Angeles, have published an open letter to the California Architects Board (CAB) in opposition to proposed changes in how licensed architects in the state must advertise their license number. California Code of Regulations 135 (CCR 135) would require licensed architects to include their license number on “all forms of advertisement presented to the public in connection with an offer to provide architectural services.”

According to CAB, the new regulations are designed to raise public awareness of the difference between unlicensed and licensed architectural services by requiring architects to display their licensure numbers in advertising.

The open letter in opposition to CCR 135 sets out four areas of concern on behalf of the AIA chapters. The first takes aim at the initial estimate by CAB that “lice...

AIA Los Angeles joins growing opposition to controversial UCSB Munger Residence Hall

2021-12-21T12:23:00-05:00

The AIA Los Angeles chapter has issued an open letter to the President of the University of California, voicing opposition to the proposed UCSB Munger Residence Hall. The project, which has gained an intense media spotlight both within and beyond architectural spheres, would see the construction of bedrooms for 4,500 students, 94% of which would not have access to natural light.

The letter, penned by AIA LA President Mitra Memari, describes the proposal as one which will “create harmful and unhealthy living conditions for its residents,” setting a “negative precedent, literally and symbolically, for generations to come.”

“We urge UCSB to follow best design practices supported by numerous studies, and not advance the Munger Hall project further,” the letter continues. “We recommend that UCSB reconvene its design review board to re-examine best pract...

ACLA & AIA Los Angeles present the 15th iteration of the annual 2x8 Student Exhibition and Scholarship Award Ceremony

2021-10-27T09:29:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by ACLA, AIA Los Angeles, and 2x8 Exhibition

ACLA & AIA Los Angeles are proud to present 2x8:Assemblies. Join us again in person this year at Helms Design Center to view exemplary student projects from 19 unique architecture and design programs throughout California, to celebrate the diversity of architectural philosophy, and encourage conversation around our central theme of Community.

2x8 is an annual non-profit program that functions as a student exhibition and scholarship fund, and design competition. It was formed with the intention of introducing student work to the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industries. In order to celebrate the academic diversity within California, 2x8 invites a broad range of programs from across the state to participate and presents students an opportunity to receive scholarships at the opening reception and ceremony. The opening reception is free to attend and open to all.

Image courtesy of @helmsbakerydistric...

PORO-City, a modular milk crate design, is chosen as this year's 2x8 Exhibit design competition winner

2021-08-06T15:11:00-04:00

The 2x8 Exhibition is a design competition and scholarship program that highlights students' work from various architecture and design institutions across California. Led by the AIA|LA, ARCHITECTURE FOR COMMUNITIES LOS ANGELES (ACLA), and the 2x8 Committee, this year's winning design is PORO-City by Chieh-Ting Chuang, Martha Kriley, Yushan Men, and Kyoung Eun Park. The project uses milk crates to function as a brick system that "is neither transparent nor solid, housing the exhibition without imposing a hard boundary," shares the design team.

As the official media partner of the Exhibition, Archinect and Bustler will be covering this year's event, projects, and student winners. What makes this particular exhibition design competition unique is its open call to design faculty, however this year the committee opened up the call to designers based in California. The competition's brief asks for designers to "design, build, and install the 2021 2x8 exhibition to showcase up to 40 studen...

7 steps for ending homelessness proposed by AIA Los Angeles

2021-06-30T12:30:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects Los Angeles (AIALA) has published a set of strategies urging LA city leaders to tackle the city’s homelessness and affordable housing crisis. The“House All Angelenos” Call-to-Action urges officials to adopt seven strategies aimed at accelerating the construction of affordable homes, and facilitate a more diverse, resilient housing portfolio for the 66,000 residents that lack adequate shelter in the region. The strategies encompass changes to zoning, subsidies, definitions of dwellings, and requirements for developers to provide affordable housing in new developments.

"On a daily basis, architects create supportive, affordable, and market-rate housing throughout the Los Angeles area. It is our responsibility to share the expertise we have garnered with our region at this time of crisis," says AIALA President Wade Killefer, FAIA. “While these strategies lead to housing for those currently without, they also elevate life for all Angelenos. They imp...

Barbara Bestor, Kevin Daly, and many others named winners of this year's AIA LA Residential Architecture Awards

2021-06-14T19:16:00-04:00

Winners of this year’s AIA Los Angeles Residential Architecture Awards have been announced in an expanded field that has nearly doubled in size since its inception six years ago.

Those selected were chosen by an international jury of academics and architects from the US, the UK, and Italy.

Adaptive Re-Use/Renovation/Historic Preservation, Citation Award: Residence in Venice, CA by Studio Benson. Photo: Eric Staudenmaier.

The awards have been expanded in recent years to incorporate different societal issues such as climate change and the housing crisis. This year’s recipients represented the best designs across eleven different building areas covering projects that ranged from affordable housing to adaptive reuse.

Single Family Residential - Medium (Up to 5,000 Sq. Ft.), Citation Award: Laurel Hills Residence in Studio City/Los Angeles, CA by Assembledge+. Photo: Matthew Millman.

The city’s aesthetic and 20th-century lineage shined through as influences that London-based juror Peter C...

Honoring California architecture students through scholarship at the 2020 2x8 Virtual Exhibition

2020-12-23T14:29:00-05:00

Virtual events became commonplace as in-person conferences, symposiums, and exhibitions switched to a virtual format. As event teams transitioned to digital platforms, the amount of work and effort showcased provided a humbling reminder of how far visual representations of work could be taken.

In November, the AIA Los Angeles and the 2x8 Committee showcased their annual 2x8 Exhibition and Scholarship Award Ceremony. In previous years, this in-person event would attract students, faculty, visitors, and more than 20 California-based schools to witness an exhibition that celebrates the very best the state have to offer.

Archinect Feature: AIA|LA recognizes the work of California's architecture students at the 2019 2x8:Exchange Competition. 2x8 Exhibition: Exchange (2019) Designed by: small talks: LA – At Helms Bakery District. Image © Kirill Volchinskiy/Courtesy of AIA|LA 2x8

Besides student work and scholarship awards, what makes the 2x8 Exhibition so unique is the site-specific exhib...

AIA|LA's 2x8: Domum student exhibition goes digital featuring an immersive virtual environment

2020-10-08T12:12:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by AIA|LA 2x8 Exhibition

Architecture will be experienced virtually as students of the top California architecture programs will be exhibited at 2x8: Domum, for its first year as an entirely virtual event. The Exhibition will open with a scholarship award ceremony for the winning projects and will feature an immersive virtual environment where attendees are invited to explore the student work. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

AIA|LA is proud to host 2x8: Domum in its 14th iteration of the annual Student Exhibition. The exhibition showcases exemplary student work from 16 Architecture and Design Universities throughout California to celebrate the diversity of architectural philosophy and encourage conversation around a central theme. This year’s theme reflects on the dialogue surrounding housing in Los Angeles and other urban centers across the country.

Students were encouraged to submit presentation materials and 3D models that respond to th...

AIA Los Angeles announces call for faculty exhibition design proposals for 2020 2x8: DOMUM Competition

2020-01-10T14:00:00-05:00

This news post is brought to you by AIA Los Angeles

*Competition Update: The open call for faculty submissions has been extended to February 17, 2020

AIA Los Angeles is seeking local faculty to design and build this year’s exhibition for the annual 2x8 student competition. The theme “DOMUM” centers on the urgency of California’s housing crisis. The exhibit will curate ideas from schools of architecture, allowing students the opportunity to present their work to a professional jury as well as the AEC industry. The exhibition provides visibility to students and showcases their work, as well as the pedagogy of their institutions, to the greater architectural community.

2x8:Exchange (2019). Image © Kirill Volchinskiy courtesy of AIA|LA 2x8

BACKGROUND: 2x8 is an annual exhibition & scholarship program showcasing exemplary student work from architecture & design institutions throughout California. Celebrating the state’s unequaled diversity in pedagogical directions, each of the participati...

Brooks + Scarpa's LA Flower Market redevelopment takes a step forward

2019-08-21T09:00:00-04:00

Designed by Brooks + Scarpa, the redevelopment would entail the renovation of site’s northern building and demolition of the southern building. That would make room for a new 15-story building with 323 residential units—32 of them reserved for moderate-income families—plus about 64,000 square feet of office space, 64,000 square feet of wholesale space, and roughly 10,000 square feet of event space.

The city planning commission is now backing the planned redevelopment of the Southern California Flower Market in Downtown Los Angeles. "The materials and colors of the structures are intended to mimic the bright colors of flowers," Curbed reports.

AIA|LA chapter issues nine point plan to help address homelessness in Los Angeles

2019-08-16T12:00:00-04:00

Due to many factors, now more than ever, LA architects have a responsibility to offer solutions and creative resources to solve this crisis immediately — as if our currently 59,000+ unsheltered Angelenos were displaced by an earthquake or a wildfire.

Norma Merrick Sklarek awarded posthumous 2019 AIA|LA Gold Medal

2019-07-18T18:57:00-04:00

Norma Merrick Sklarek, a pioneering 20th century architect, has been posthumously awarded the 2019 AIA|LA Gold Medal by the American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles chapter.

Born in 1926 in Harlem, New York City, Sklarek learned carpentry skills from her father during the Great Depression, and eventually studied at Barnard College and the Columbia University School of Architecture. She graduated with an architecture degree in 1950 and would go on to lead design teams for some of Los Angeles’s most impactful practices, where she worked on many of the most significant and innovative design projects of the time.

Sklarek led the design of the Pacific Design Center's Blue Whale building while at Gruen Associates. Image courtesy of Wikimedia user Gary Minnaert.

According to a press release announcing the award, Sklarek worked as the director of architecture at Gruen Associates, where she led the design of some of L.A.’s most iconic late-20th century buildings, including the Californ...

AIA Los Angeles announces top residential architecture projects for 2017

2017-05-17T18:34:00-04:00

The AIA Los Angeles chapter celebrates some of the area's best contemporary residential projects in the Residential Architecture Awards. For 2017, the chapter announced 29 winning projects, many of which were designed by notable L.A. firms like Lehrer Architects, Tighe Architecture, Belzberg Architects, Michael Maltzan Architecture, Bestor Architecture, XTEN Architecture, and plenty more.

Some of this year's winners include:

Affordable Starter Home Prototype (South LA, CA) by Lehrer Architects

Photo: Michael B. Lehrer, FAIA, Nerin Kadribegovic, AIA, and Benjamin Lehrer

IVRV House (Los Angeles, CA) by SCI Arc - submitted by project coordinator and design faculty Darin Johnstone, AIA

Photo: Joshua White.

MU77 (Los Angeles, CA) by Arshia Architects

Photo: Paul Vu, Brandon Vogts

Peace Creek Villas (Chengdu, China) by John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects

Photo: Su Chen

Blackbirds (Los Angeles, CA) by Bestor Architecture

Photo: Laure Joliet, Iwan Baan.

Garrison Residence (Redondo Beach, CA) by Tighe Architecture

Photo: Art Gray

See more of the winning projects on Bustler.

Downtown LA's vision of an architecture and design super cluster

2015-04-22T14:23:00-04:00

When the Architecture + Design Museum announced their impending move to the Arts District late last year, their short-term (two-year) lease had some wondering what was in the cards for the museum's future. [...]after their lease is up, the A+D Museum is hoping to move again—into a new building that will house it, the American Institute of Architects' Los Angeles chapter (AIA/LA), and the much-anticipated Center for Architecture and Urban Design Los Angeles (CALA), a non-profit "design commons."

Winners of AIA Los Angeles’ 2014 Design Awards

2014-11-17T19:46:00-05:00

The AIA Los Angeles chapter hosted a festive night of celebrations for their 2014 Design Awards, which honors architectural excellence by L.A.-based architects. The eventful awards ceremony took place at the Bradbury Building, the Million Dollar Theater, and Grand Central Market — three historic landmarks in Downtown Los Angeles.

A total of 21 firms and 14 Presidential Honorees received awards. In addition to the Design Awards and Presidential Honorees, the awards program included the Next LA Awards (unbuilt work).

DESIGN AWARDS + Presidential Honors

Above: HONOR: Emerson College by Morphosis Architects in Los Angeles, CA.

MERIT: Santa Monica Public Parking Structure #6 by Behnisch Architekten & Studio Jantzen in Santa Monica, CA.

MERIT: Tongva Park + Ken Gensler Square by Miriam Mulder, AIA - City of Santa Monica, James Corner Field Operations, and Frederick Fisher & Partners in Santa Monica, CA

CITATION: Vault House by Johnston Marklee & Associates in Oxnard, CA

NEXT LA

NEXT LA - HONOR: Hearth by After Architecture in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada.

NEXT LA - HONOR: Lexington Center Reinvention and Expansion by NBBJ in Lexington, Kentucky.

NEXT LA - MERIT: Daegu Gosan Public Library by Synthesis Design + Architecture in Daegu, Korea.

NEXT LA - CITATION: Liepaja Thermal Bath by Steven Christensen Architecture in Li...

PAR wins the 2014 AIA Los Angeles Emerging Practice Award

2014-08-08T15:21:00-04:00

Our friends at PAR — or Platform for Architecture + Research — were announced as the 2014 recipient of the Presidential Emerging Practice Award from the AIA Los Angeles. In a constantly evolving setting like the City of Angels, the award is the highest honor that the AIA|LA Presidential Board presents to an emerging architecture firm in recognition of consistently creating innovative work. It also highlights individuals who take leadership roles in advancing the architectural profession.

An evening awards ceremony will take place at the Million Dollar Theatre & Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles on October 29, 2014.

PAR Founding Partner, Jennifer Marmon:

Find out more on Bustler.

Nearly 10 years old, Disney Hall needs upgrades

2013-09-05T13:29:00-04:00

Panicky cost-cutting measures during construction left out elements that would have made the exterior and lobby more dazzling and the hall more flexible. The Music Center, which maintains the hall, seems in danger of taking the venue for granted, not eager to invest in it when it can bask in glory by doing nothing. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is planning a subway line under the hall, raising concerns that train vibrations will spoil the sound.

Cellular Complexity - 2013 Faculty Winner of AIA|LA’s 2x8 Student Exhibition Design Competition

2013-06-27T18:45:00-04:00

Following the call for proposals for the recent 2x8 Exhibition Design Competition, the AIA Los Angeles chapter has announced "Cellular Complexity," a project by UCLA lecturer Julia Körner in collaboration with Marie Boltenstern and Kais Al-Rawi, as the winning entry. The Installation will be completed by February 2014, just in time for the 11-year anniversary of the annual 2x8 exhibit.

Frank Gehry's Schnabel House updated and sold for $9.5M

2013-01-26T11:42:00-05:00

Built in 1989, the five-bedroom, five-bathroom residence has been described as "a village that looks inward." There is a main house, an office, a guesthouse and a garage-and-gym structure with a breezeway. The half-acre of grounds include a reflecting pond, a swimming pool and an olive orchard.