"Places like M&A provide architects with the opportunity to fail. I mean that in the best possible way," said Benjamin Ball of Ball-Nogues, whose practice got its start at M&A. Ball-Nogues works are now in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Not many clients will support a trial-and-error process on an untested structure. M&A is a place where you can do that." — latimes.com

The city of Los Angeles is considering a proposal from Councilman Bernard Parks that would pass the cost of retrofitting apartment buildings on to tenants. Currently, only 50% of major renovation costs may be passed along to tenants, with landlords and building owners paying the cost of retrofitting. — scpr.org

The idea of wrapping a house in giant graphic stickers, like the ones used for ads on city buses, appealed to Eric Chu the moment his architect suggested it. [...]

Applying colorful, blown-up photos to the exterior glass walls — allowing daytime views out, but not in — was the unconventional solution proposed by Mr. Chu’s architect, Whitney Sander, who runs Sander Architects with his wife, Catherine Holliss. — nytimes.com

Los Angeles may be known for its celebrities, glitz and glam, but the city's mayor, Eric Garcetti, is focused on something decidedly less flashy: infrastructure. [...]

"We destroyed our public transit system from the '30s and '40s and '50s, and so we're in the process of rebuilding it," Garcetti says. "A bigger program than anywhere in the U.S., but a long way to go." — npr.org

The latest addition to the Los Angeles skyline — the New Wilshire Grand, the tallest structure to be built west of the Mississippi — takes a major step forward Saturday when more than 2,000 truckloads of concrete are driven through downtown for what is being billed as the world's largest continuous concrete pour.

The slurry-fest begins at 5 p.m. and is expected to last nearly 20 hours. — latimes.com

Communities can transform underused areas of L.A.’s largest public asset—our 7,500 miles of city streets—into active, vibrant, and accessible public space with People St, a program of the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT). Eligible Community Partners can apply for approval to create projects that enhance the quality of life in this city. Three innovative types of projects are available: Plazas, Parklets, and Bicycle Corrals. — People St.

In 1968, artist Billy Al Bengston enlisted the help of Frank Gehry to design the LACMA exhibition’s scenography [...] East of Borneo publishes a conversation between the two:

FG: I was a hanger-on to the art scene because the architects that I was collegiate with at the time thought I was nuts. Even my friends at the time and those who are still my friends thought I was weird, but I didn’t know I was weird. And when the art guys embraced me, I was declared weird by association probably. — east of borneo

Most readers may be very familiar with Italian architecture lab Cityvision for its thought-provoking architectural ideas competitions [...]. Now Cityvision goes traveling and pitches its tent in Los Angeles this March. For the first time abroad, the exhibition Worlds of Cityvision will be on display at Woodbury University's WUHO Gallery from March 6-23. — bustler.net