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Watch a meditative and breathtaking aerial survey of the L.A. River

2017-01-05T14:26:00-05:00

Only one thing is certain now that Frank Gehry has undertaken the plan to revitalize the LA River: in the future, it will be different.

Check out Archinect's extensive coverage of the LA River Redevelopment, including interviews with major players like Mia Lehrer via the Next Up series...

This elegant aerial video by Chang Kim captures the current state of the concrete-channeled river, offering not only a meditative journey over freeway overpasses, opportunistic scrub brush and litter-choked rivulets, but a lush historic record of what this city's main water artery was, whatever it may eventually become. With a spare piano soundtrack composed by Nils Frahm, the video comes in at just under five minutes:

Listen to our final interviews from 'Next Up: The LA River' on One-to-One!

2016-12-05T16:43:00-05:00

Missed out on Next Up: The LA River, Archinect Sessions' podcasting event? Now you can listen to the whole thing, released in two parts on One-to-One. Last week, we released the first half of the interviews, and this week we've got the rest.

This week's playlist of live recordings features interviews with:

Lou Pesce (designer with Metabolic Studio)

Julia Meltzer (director and founder of Clockshop, a non-profit arts organization) and Elizabeth Timme (co-director of LA-Más)

Renee Dake Wilson (partner at Dake Wilson Architects and VP of the Los Angeles City Planning Commission) and Alexander Robinson (assistant professor of architecture at USC and principal at Office of Outdoor Research)

Mia Lehrer (founder and president at Mia Lehrer + Associates)

Individual episodes are available on Archinect Sessions. Listen and subscribe here.

Listen to One-to-One #48, featuring the last four interviews from Next Up: The LA River:

iTunes: Click here to listen, and click the "Subscribe" button below the lo...

Mia Lehrer discusses her long-running history with the LA River's redevelopment on our final 'Next Up: The LA River' Mini-Session

2016-11-29T13:09:00-05:00

It's here: our final interview from 'Next Up: The LA River', featuring Mia Lehrer of Mia Lehrer + Associates. Lehrer was a major driving force in the 2007 Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, and has worked for nearly 20 years on projects related to the River—undeniably preceding any involvement from Frank Gehry.

Paul Petrunia sits down with Lehrer to speak about her history with the river and its redevelopment, as well as her thoughts for how the project must proceed. Read more about Lehrer's work on the LA River here.

To get caught up on all Mini-Sessions from our Next Up: The LA River event, you can listen to the whole first half at once on One-to-One (the second half will be available next week), or download each interview separately through Archinect Sessions.

Listen to Archinect Sessions Mini-Session #8 from 'Next Up: The LA River' with Mia Lehrer:

iTunes: Click here to listen, and click the "Subscribe" button below the logo to automatically download new episodes.
Apple Po...

Now you can listen to interviews from 'Next Up: The LA River' on One-to-One!

2016-11-28T19:44:00-05:00

Missed out on Next Up: The LA River, Archinect Sessions' podcasting event? Now you can listen to the first half all at once, on One-to-One, recorded live. Next week we'll release the full second-half.

This playlist of live recordings features interviews with:

Frances Anderton (host, KCRW’s DnA) and Christopher Hawthorne (architecture critic, Los Angeles Times)

Steven Appleton (co-founder, LA River Kayak Safari) and Catherine Gudis (co-founder, Play the L.A. River game)

Marissa Christiansen (Executive Director (formerly Senior Policy Director), Friends of the Los Angeles River)

Deborah Weintraub (Chief Deputy City Engineer, LA Bureau of Engineering)

Individual episodes are available on Archinect Sessions. Listen and subscribe here.

Listen to One-to-One #47, featuring the first four interviews from 'Next Up: The LA River':

iTunes: Click here to listen, and click the "Subscribe" button below the logo to automatically download new episodes.
Apple Podcast App (iOS): click here to subscribe
SoundCl...

Listen to 'Next Up: The LA River' Mini-Session #7 with Renee Dake Wilson (LA City Planning Commission) and Alexander Robinson (Office of Outdoor Research)

2016-11-23T13:17:00-05:00

Our penultimate Mini-Session interview from 'Next Up: The LA River' pairs architects Renee Dake Wilson and Alexander Robinson. Dake Wilson, principal at Dake Wilson Architects, was appointed by LA Mayor Eric Garcetti to serve as Vice President on the city's volunteer-based Planning Commission—an array of professionals who make recommendations between communities and the city on planning projects. On the commission, she's worked particularly with proposals to change the height and density limits on development in Elysian Valley, aka Frogtown—the neighborhood along the LA River that has become a major node in the city's ongoing gentrification discussion.

Robinson, while teaching at USC as an assistant professor, runs the Office of Outdoor Research and just recently completed a term as a Rome Prize recipient, researching the Tiber River as it relates to LA's and other cities' river infrastructures. He has also previously worked with Mia Lehrer's office on LA River projects.

Listen to Arc...

Listen to 'Next Up: The LA River' Mini-Session #6: Julia Meltzer (Clockshop) and Elizabeth Timme (LA-Más)

2016-11-22T14:46:00-05:00

For this Mini-Session from our Next Up: The LA River event, Nicholas Korody spoke with Elizabeth Timme, co-director of the urban design and architecture non-profit LA-Más, and Julia Meltzer, director and founder of non-profit arts organization, Clockshop.

Both Clockshop and LA-Más are located within Elysian Valley, aka Frogtown—a sliver of a neighborhood bordered by the LA River, the 5 and the 2 freeways. In recent years, Frogtown (predominantly a low-density neighborhood of single-family homes) has become a major focus in LA conversations about gentrification and development, and both Timme's and Meltzer's work is heavily invested in their context. Clockshop (in collaboration with California State Parks) has its HQ in Frogtown and hosts art events in the Bowtie, an undeveloped plot of land along the river. In 2015, LA-Más led a community "co-visioning process" (the 'Futuro de Frogtown') to determine the kind of development decisions residents were concerned about.

Korody spoke with b...

Listen to 'Next Up: The LA River' Mini-Session #5 with Lou Pesce of Metabolic Studio

2016-11-21T17:34:00-05:00

Los Angeles' Metabolic Studio, run by architect and visual artist Lauren Bon, creates site-specific, temporary "devices of wonder" that interpret landscape in new ways, shifting public perception of land and waterways. One of their most recent projects, 'Bending the River Back Into the City' (pictured below), is a three-part intervention that literally diverts water from the LA River back into LA, distributing it via "the city's first water commons, to allow the currency of water to create social capital."

Lou Pesce, an artist with Metabolic Studio, joined us at Next Up to discuss. As concerns about gentrification, public access and the drought raise issues of ownership and equity along the LA River, I wanted to ask about the economic ideas behind 'Bending the River' and how the project relates to the river's specific role in LA history.

Listen to Archinect Sessions Mini-Session #5 of 'Next Up: The LA River' with Lou Pesce:

iTunes: Click here to listen, and click the "Subscribe" button...

Listen to 'Next Up: The LA River' Mini-Session #4: Deborah Weintraub, Chief Architect and Chief Deputy City Engineer for LA's Bureau of Engineering

2016-11-19T14:14:00-05:00

As Chief Architect and Chief Deputy City Engineer presiding over a group of 800+ architects and engineers, Deborah Weintraub has a big picture of LA infrastructure in mind when it comes to the river. She also has a fair amount of historical perspective, having overseen the implementation of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan after it first issued RFPs in December of 2004.

Additionally, she oversaw the design and construction of the river's new 6th Street Viaduct by Michael Maltzan's office, which recently broke ground.

Nicholas Korody spoke with Deborah about her role as the most senior architect in the Bureau of Engineering, the river's urbanistic potential (and pitfalls) as a gigantic piece of infrastructure, and Gehry's role beyond hydrology.

Listen to Archinect Sessions Mini-Session #4 of 'Next Up: The LA River' with Deborah Weintraub:

iTunes: Click here to listen, and click the "Subscribe" button below the logo to automatically download new episodes.
Apple Podcast App ...

Listen to 'Next Up: The LA River' Mini-Session #3 with Steven Appleton and Catherine Gudis

2016-11-18T20:04:00-05:00

Steven Appleton and Catherine Gudis are some of Next Up's most active participants when it comes to physically being in the LA River. Appleton co-founded LA River Kayak Safari, which has lead over 6000 people on kayaking tours down the river. He's also a public artist, and has made work that engages with the river for more than 15 years—his "50 Clean Bottles of LA River Water" used a bespoke water wheel to pump the river's water into bottles, and clean it to potable levels.

Gudis, while her core role is directing UC Riverside's Public History Program, also co-founded Project 51's 'Play the LA River'—a game that invited Angelenos to explore different areas along the river's entire 51-mile stretch. While over 80% of the river is paved, there are stretches of soft-bottom, green wetlands that host their own diverse, unique ecology.

Paul spoke with Appleton and Gudis for Next Up about reframing Angelenos' expectations of the river by helping them get their feet wet.

Listen to Archinect Sess...

Listen to 'Next Up: The LA River' Mini-Session #2 with Marissa Christiansen, Senior Policy Director of Friends of the Los Angeles River

2016-11-17T12:55:00-05:00

Our second conversation from 'Next Up: The LA River' is with Marissa Christiansen, Senior Policy Director of Friends of the Los Angeles River. FOLAR, as the non-profit is known, turned 30 this year, and was founded on the mission to "protect and restore the natural and historic heritage of the Los Angeles river and its riparian habitat through inclusive planning, education and wise stewardship." Its role in much of the river's discourse has often included reminding all parties involved that the river is indeed a natural river, and host to a diverse ecosystem—despite its characterization as the "world's largest storm drain" ever since the Army Corps of Engineers paved most of it for flood control in the 1930s.

Christiansen trained as an urban planner before joining FOLAR this year, and spoke with Nicholas Korody about the organization's history within the river's redevelopment, its focus on reconnecting people with the river's immense natural resources, and the delicate balance betwee...

Listen to 'Next Up: The LA River' Mini-Session #1 with KCRW's 'Design and Architecture' host Frances Anderton and LA Times architecture critic, Christopher Hawthorne

2016-11-16T12:44:00-05:00

When Frank Gehry's office was first attached to the L.A. River's master plan and redevelopment, the river began attracting fresh attention over a project that had already been evolving for decades. This October, in an attempt to do justice to the river's complexity and history (and the accompanying urbanist discourse), Archinect hosted 'Next Up: The LA River'—a live podcasting interview series with an array of architects, planners, artists, and journalists with varying perspectives on the subject.

We're now eager to share those conversations with everyone as eight Mini-Sessions, released as part of our Archinect Sessions podcast. Myself, Paul Petrunia and Nicholas Korody moderated the conversations, which took place at the Los Angeles Architecture + Design Museum on October 29, 2016. While we reached out to them, unfortunately no representatives from Gehry's office were able to take part.

Our first Mini-Session was moderated by myself, with Frances Anderton (host of KCRW's 'Design and...

Join us this Saturday for Next Up: The L.A. River, ft. Mia Lehrer, Christopher Hawthorne and more!

2016-10-26T12:57:00-04:00

The L.A. River's redevelopment is one of the most challenging, and exciting, projects currently underway in Los Angeles. Accounting for the River's 51-mile stretch, and all the neighborhoods it runs through, is a mammoth endeavor—and one that will necessarily involve contention and compromise. As a toast to this XXL project, Archinect is hosting Next Up: The LA River—a live podcasting interview event featuring perspectives from all along the river's edge.

On Saturday, October 29 at the A+D Museum in Los Angeles, we'll be discussing the River and its redevelopment in a fast-paced format of quick interviews and panels, featuring the following:

Mia Lehrer (Mia Lehrer & Associates)
Christopher Hawthorne (architecture critic for Los Angeles Times)
Deborah Weintraub (Chief Deputy City Engineer Bureau of Engineering)
Frances Anderton (Host of KCRW's Design and Architecture)
Steven Appleton (LA River Kayak Safari)
Marissa Christiansen (Friends of the LA River)
Elizabeth Timme (LA-Más)
Renee Dake Wil...

Archinect presents Next Up: The L.A. River, at the A+D Museum on Saturday, October 29!

2016-10-18T12:06:00-04:00

For the latest installment of Archinect's live podcasting series, Next Up, we're focusing on the L.A. River, and the wide swath of urbanist concerns within its ongoing master planning efforts.

It could be the project that makes, or breaks, Los Angeles. With a complex historical legacy and an often-misunderstood ecology, the L.A. River’s 51-mile stretch is at once a huge urban opportunity, and to many, an even bigger eyesore. Thirty years ago, nonprofit Friends of the Los Angeles River was founded to protect and advocate for the river, and shortly after, the City of L.A. began looking at ways to take better advantage of the immense resource. Since then, many more communities and stakeholders have joined the conversation, raising concerns of ecology, sustainability, gentrification, public space, affordable housing, social equity—a wealth of complexities that testifies to what a lightning rod of urbanist discourse the River has become.

While conversations about the L.A. River’s future ...