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When executives at Taco Bell found out that the Downey building that housed their first restaurant was at risk of being demolished, they ordered the store “to go.” The birthplace of the Mexican fast food chain, located on Firestone Boulevard, is up on rails and ready to roll. Founder Glen Bell built the mission style building in 1962 and on Thursday night at 10:30, store “Numero Uno” will begin the 45-mile ride to company headquarters in Irvine. — Los Angeles Magazine
The original Taco Bell was initially threatened with demolition back in January. For all the best coverage of food-related design, do check out:• Upstarts: Design, Bitches• A Journey from Architecture and Design to Gourmet Dog Food• How architects are redesigning schools that encourage kids... View full entry
You're familiar with pretty much every phase of Julius Shulman's long career as an architectural photographer. You started following the globe-trotting Iwan Baan on Instagram way before he became a design-world celebrity. You can't recommend Ezra Stoller's black-and-white pictures of midcentury Manhattan highly enough.
But Wayne Thom? The name may draw a blank.
— LA Times
"Nobody really reads books," Niami says, "so I'm just going to fill the shelves with white books, for looks." Stepping past the nightclub's outdoor lounge area where circular banquettes will seem to float next to a two-story waterfall, he says: "I really think that this house is going to do a lot for L.A. Anybody who lives in the area is going to be proud to be near it." — DETAILS
Go ahead and hate! About half of the tennis court had to be built on pilings to account for the land's contours. This niche will have a covered viewing area and a fire pit.The infinity pool for the guesthouse, which, when built, will be 5,000 square feet itself.The motor court and the main... View full entry
Southern Californians have a distinctive — 'Saturday Night Live's' Fred Armisen and Kristen Wiig might say funny — way of giving directions. To get from Santa Monica to Hollywood, take the 10 to the 110 to the 101. Burbank to San Diego? The 134 to the 5. And, if you can, always avoid the 405. Why the definite articles?...Most of North America, in fact, omits the 'the' before route numbers. — KCET
More about L.A. freeways on Archinect:Christopher Hawthorne on repairing L.A.'s long-broken relationship with its freewaysLargest wildlife overpass in U.S. proposed for L.A.'s 101 Freeway, could ease area's roadkill problemOde to the Stack, Los Angeles's iconic infrastructureSouthern California... View full entry
For the first time since the early 1970s, a highly venomous sea snake has turned up on a southern California beach—the latest in a string of unusual wildlife sightings, including hammerhead sharks and red-footed boobies.
Though a bite from this yellow-bellied snake can theoretically be lethal, shutting down all nerve signals to the respiratory system, “Jaws” this is not: the snake attacks only when provoked, and no one has ever documented a human fatality from Pelamis platura.
— the Economist
According to the Economist, the sea snakes and other unusual sea creatures popping up along the coast of Southern California are a symptom of the emergence of a mass of warm water, which may likely lead up to one of the most intense El Niño's in memory."This snake, which typically lives in... View full entry
Our new podcast, Archinect Sessions: One-to-One is an interview show, straight-up. Each episode features a single interview with a notable figure in contemporary architecture – it's that simple. Usually, One-to-One will be led by me or Paul Petrunia, while occasionally others will serve as... View full entry
How do designers experience their cities as locals? No two people, let alone architects, perceive even the most frequented cities in the same way. There's no city that embodies that like the way Los Angeles does it. Beyond the ample sunshine and smog, juice diets, drought consciousness (or not)... View full entry
Leading up to (and continuing after) the premiere of Archinect Sessions' second season on November 5, we're posting individual interviews as Mini-Sessions from our first-ever live-podcasting series, "Next Up", held at Jai & Jai Gallery in Los Angeles' Chinatown and at the opening weekend... View full entry
Spiffing up materials the city puts out to promote safe driving “is definitely not what this is about,” Reynolds said. “It's going much deeper into the way we think about designing the streets. Art has the power to get people to sit up and pay attention and jolt them out of their normal ways of thinking. We can infuse unexpected elements into the design of the streets and the way of moving through the streets.” — The Los Angeles Times
For more on the (changing) art of street navigation: • What Do Pedestrian Traffic Icons Say About Your Culture?• Los Angeles has Created the Perfect Parking Sign• Seeking identity through city fonts• From California to Texas, car culture is losing its monopoly View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2015Archinect's Get Lectured is ready for another school year. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any... View full entry
In the dappled afternoon sunshine of the VDL House’s backyard in Silver Lake, senior Archinect Editor Orhan Ayyuce sat down with Enrique Norten, winner of this year’s Richard J. Neutra Award for Professional Excellence, to talk about modernism’s legacy and evolution since the mid-20th... View full entry
CicLAvia [is] a series of one-day events organized by a local nonprofit in which neighborhood streets are closed to motor vehicles so that people can walk and cycle freely...
Now, a study by the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health has found that the event significantly reduces air pollution along the CicLAvia route and even on other streets in the communities where the event is held.
— UCLA
For more information on CicLAvia, visit their website. View full entry
The L.A. Forum for Architecture and Urban Design is partying along the Los Angeles River for ForumFest 2015, Bridge. Tunnel. Channel., happening at the Sixth Street Bridge tunnel on Sunday, October 25. ForumFest highlights the historic Sixth Street Viaduct as a signifier of change in the city. The... View full entry
Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2015Archinect's Get Lectured is ready for another school year. Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any... View full entry
Time is running out to get your ticket to the 2015 Core77 Conference, DESIGNING HERE/NOW, taking place this October 22nd - 24th in Downtown Los Angeles. It's a full day of exploring the spaces between design disciplines where today's most impactful work is taking place. You don't want to miss... View full entry
