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The Bonaventure has become a focal point for the debate on Postmodernism, ever since its discovery as a Postmodern hyperspace by [cultural theorist] Fredric Jameson some years ago…It’s a landscape that’s highly fragmented. It’s a space that de-centers you, makes you feel lost. And in this feeling of being lost and dislocated, you feel that your only recourse is to submit to authority. You’re helpless, you’re made helpless, you’re peripheralized, you’re lost in these spaces. — Ed Soja, eastofborneo.org
In light of John Portman's passing, here is a 6 minute clip with urban theorist Ed Soja discussing the postmodern nature of the infamous architect's Bonaventure Hotel located in downtown Los Angeles. h/t to Orhan from this thread. View full entry
After 2016 smashed records for the planet’s biggest deals, this year was not far behind. There was a noticeable flurry of activity in the aptly named Golden State of California where the rich and famous – and we’re talking the likes of Beyoncé and Jay Z – flocked to snap up a piece of prime LA luxury. But three of the most expensive homes were all inside one development in Hong Kong. — The Spaces
MacDonald Becket ’52, former chairman of the board and CEO of the architecture firm Welton Becket and Associates, died in Phoenix, AZ. He was 89. Becket, who graduated from the USC School of Architecture, was a driving force in the development of architecture in Los Angeles. Two of his major roles in California were coordinating the master planning and architectural implementations of the 260-acre Century City project and in the successful renovation of the state capitol building in Sacramento. — news.usc.edu
Among his many achievements, Becket was a founding contributor to MoCA's Architectural and Design Endowment in Los Angeles. He also designed the personal homes of former US presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Gerald Ford attesting to Becket's far reaching influence. View full entry
A new wildfire closed part of Interstate 405 early Wednesday near Los Angeles' posh Bel Air area and prompted evacuations [...]
The closure of I-405 -- a significant north-south artery in the country's second-largest city -- came after flames swept down the foothills toward the highway near Sepulveda Pass and the Getty Center arts complex as stunned motorists drove by shortly before 6 a.m.
— CNN
The Richard Meier-designed Getty Center — scheduled to celebrate its 20th anniversary on December 16 — woke up to a terrifying scene before sunrise this morning with the neighboring hillscape ablaze... View full entry
The Getty Center, that collection of hilltop buildings in travertine and white metal panels designed by the New York architects Richard Meier & Partners, opened to the public on Dec. 16, 1997. To mark the 20th anniversary of the Brentwood complex, we reached Meier, now 83, by phone to ask him about his memories of getting it built. — Los Angeles Times
The museum showcases failures to provide visitors a learning experience about the important role of failure for innovation and to encourage organizations to become better at learning from failure. — Museum of Failure
This December, corporate flops will be showcased when the Museum of Failure comes to Los Angeles. Don’t let the name fool you. The Museum of Failure is a celebration of history’s failed products and services and the lessons learned from them. Exhibited at the A+D Architecture and Design Museum... View full entry
During LA CoMotion — a downtown event featuring the so-called city of tomorrow — a Los Angeles artist group is reframing what the city of tomorrow is by bringing the art to the screens and streets. A local group of Los Angeles video artists is making strides — and having... View full entry
Only a dream can kill a dream. — Egg Shen
Developed with some of the minds behind One Night Stand LA, DOPIUM.LA aimed to preserve the original beauty of Chinatown, while showing its inspirational influence on an emerging community of creatives in Los Angeles. For one night, a group of artist, architects and atmospheric maestros turned... View full entry
"Buildings are just giant sculptures after all!" describes George Byrne, the Los Angeles-based photographer who points his camera towards architectural compositions as subject matter for his work. The Australian born artist has now been a resident of Los Angeles for eight years and it shows. ... View full entry
For homeless advocates who had been glowing after November, the unanimous vote in August blocking the project by a Los Angeles City Council land use committee, headed by Mr. Huizar, was a discouraging setback. It was also a reminder that some of the toughest battles lie ahead as Los Angeles moves from the task of persuading voters to raise money for the homeless to the logistics of getting the money spent. — NYT
Adam Nagourney reports in from L.A., where homeless advocates and neighborhood activists are fighting over implementation of HHH (a $1.2 billion effort to build housing for the homeless). NIMBYs or concerned citizens? Professor Tim Iglesias responded "it will require sustained political will to... View full entry
Teaming up with NASA is a big deal for Uber. First, it allows the company to tout the approval of the highly regarded space agency to skeptics. [...] Holden said that Uber wouldn’t have to wait for 2020 before it starts testing things out IRL. The company aims to begin operating a fleet of low-flying helicopters around Dallas-Fort Worth Airport — while working with air traffic controllers to not encroach on their flight paths —as a way to test NASA’s UTM system. — The Verge
Uber has teamed up with NASA to create an aerial taxi service called UberAIR. Los Angles was just announced as a city now working with the company to host their program along with Dallas-Forth Worth and Dubai. At least 19 other companies are currently developing flying car plans. Check out... View full entry
Among major initiatives announced for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s centennial year is the creation of a new permanent YOLA center to be designed by Frank Gehry. The famed architect will transform an existing facility, located in the LA suburb of Inglewood, into a central resource for the Youth... View full entry
Last week FixNation and Architects for Animals joined forces to raise funds for FixNation’s critical charitable services for Los Angeles’ homeless cats, including spaying and neutering (check out the projects from last year). To raise awareness cat shelters were designed and constructed by... View full entry
With the environmental review process now underway, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is moving forward with a $600-million plan by Pritzker Prize winner Peter Zumthor to makeover its Miracle Mile campus. The acclaimed Swiss architect's design would replace the current Bing Center, Hammer... View full entry
"I cross a bit my fingers,” Renzo Piano told me. “It may work. We shall see.”
We were standing inside the concrete shell of the main auditorium of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, an ambitious but troubled project that after a series of delays is expected to open in 2019. [...]
Construction workers hammered away all around us, producing a ring of noise that occasionally made it tough to hear Piano, who at 80 speaks more softly than he once did.
— Los Angeles Times
LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne dissects Renzo Piano's third Southern California project, the troubled Academy Museum of Motion Pictures which — plagued by delays and controversy — is currently under construction right next to his other two completed buildings, the... View full entry
