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:

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About Next Up: The LA River

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. Amelia Taylor-Hochberg, 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.