I really like it. I don't get the hate for the sphere. I think it will be a cool space to enjoy in person, vs. just looking at drawings. - reader comment (NeutraFilmmaker67) — Curbed

This month, audiences will be able to check out the first program to emerge from Vergne's nascent administration: Step and Repeat, a multidisciplinary festival of performing arts, takes place at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA over four Saturday evenings, beginning Sept. 13 [...] Step and Repeat will feature a unique nightly lineup of poetry readings, noise/experimental music, performance art, stand-up comedy, live bands and deejays, all presented side by side. — LA Weekly

“More is more,” was the motto of Deborah Sussman, the graphic designer behind this brilliant visual riot, who died last week at the age of 82. Trained in the office of Charles and Ray Eames, she took their love of colour and pattern to new heights, establishing a studio with her husband, Paul Prejza, that would tackle everything from shop fit-outs to city wayfinding, sprinkling her distinctive brand, like sugary confetti, from Philadelphia to Santa Monica. — theguardian.com

A judge has called for retail giant Target Corp. to stop work on a partly built shopping center in Hollywood, handing a stinging setback to a project championed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Superior Court Judge Richard L. Fruin Jr. sided with two community groups who said in separate lawsuits that the City Council should not have allowed Target to build a 74-foot-tall structure in a location where such projects cannot exceed 35 feet. — LA Times

The study from UCLA's Ziman Center for Real Estate shows that the average renter in Los Angeles, which has the highest percentage of renters in the country, devotes 47 percent of his or her paycheck to rent. [...]

It's the latest depressing news about L.A.'s rental market, and it comes with a twist: affordability is not a new post-recession problem, but one that has been getting worse for decades.

“Our studies show a severe housing burden among poor renters has existed since 1970 — scpr.org

A six-story-tall floating "Rubber Duck" is making its West Coast debut at the Port of Los Angeles, where it will lead more than a dozen battleships and sailboats in the Tall Ships Festival L.A. parade [...]

Dubbed the world's largest rubber duck, the giant inflatable was created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman.

"The friendly, floating Rubber Duck has healing properties," Hofman said on the event's website. "It can relieve the world's tensions as well as define them." — latimes.com

The Emerald Necklace Expanded Vision plan, a multi-partner visionary project spearheaded by Amigos de los Rios and the Conservation Fund, aims to connect the forests of the San Gabriel mountain range with the waters of the Pacific through a network of public park space, bike and walking trails, and restored waterways. It’s an ambitious plan that will require coordination of the 88 cities and and dozens of public agencies in the L.A. Basin to achieve. — nextcity.org

Certainly, it's a minor miracle that Epiphany wasn't gutted at some point in its long life to make way for late 20th-century design nightmares such as drop ceilings and wood paneling. But more significantly the church represents an interesting period in Southern California history. — latimes.com

It relates to scale, who's going to be there, what reflects the culture and interests of the community. People's first notion about a park is Central Park — big, grassy, lush. So adjusting expectations about that aesthetic, we have a hard row to hoe in L.A. This is the era for our city to think about parks and the river and the urban forest as all one thing. — latimes.com

It has been the setting for music videos, TV commercials and scenes from the '80s movie "Less Than Zero." Now, the unusual Los Angeles home by influential architect John Lautner is slated to go on the market for $7.5 million.

Known as Silvertop, the house has a striking design: It is made up of a series of interlocking half-circles, with a massive, arched concrete roof over the living room. — online.wsj.com

From buckling sidewalks to potholed thoroughfares to storm drains that can’t handle a little rain, the infrastructure that holds [Los Angeles] together is suffering from years of deferred maintenance. Bringing pipes that deliver water to 3.9 million people up to snuff could cost $4 billion [...] The bill for repaving streets will be almost that much, according to estimates from a city consultant, and patching or replacing cracked sidewalks will require $640 million. — Bloomberg BusinessWeek

Our friends at PAR — or Platform for Architecture + Research — were announced as the 2014 recipient of the Presidential Emerging Practice Award from the AIA Los Angeles. In a constantly evolving setting like the City of Angels, the award is the highest honor that the AIA|LA Presidential Board presents to an emerging architecture firm in recognition of consistently creating innovative work. It also highlights individuals who take leadership roles in advancing the architectural profession. — bustler.net

Materials & Applications in Los Angeles has some fun social Saturday night events lined up for the entire month of August! The four-part VIS-Á-VIS performance series will include dance, music, a video and sound installations, and a film screening. — bustler.net