L.A. now boasts the tallest building west of Chicago—the Wilshire Grand Center in the Downtown district. “If you watch the opening sequence of Blade Runner from 1982 and look at how it imagines L.A.’s skyline in 2019, you can’t help sense life emulating art"
Meanwhile, the creators of the sumptuous new Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills traveled back in time for inspiration...“We studied everything from the decor of the movie sets to the style of leading Hollywood actresses”
— Architectural Digest
Back in the day, Hollywood movies used to draw their inspiration from the city of Angels as many of LA's most iconic buildings played starring roles in Tinseltown. Today, the tables have turned and the cities architecture has begun taking a note or two from Hollywood. Proving that the expression... View full entry
To snap a photo of the Hollywood sign, tourists have clogged hillside streets and hiking paths, spurring battles in Hollywood Hills neighborhoods and in court over how people should be able to access the iconic landmark.
Now Mayor Eric Garcetti has floated an alternative: Building a gondola to ferry visitors to the beloved sign.
— The Los Angeles Times
Instead of having to evade trespassing laws (or take the long way around), those who want to visit the Hollywood sign up close may be able to simply take an aerial gondola lift if Mayor Eric Garcetti's recent remarks become a reality. As this article notes:Garcetti spokesman George Kivork said in... View full entry
What’s the root cause of Los Angeles’ affordable housing crisis? Many blame the new luxury housing developments springing up... driving up interest in the neighborhood and attracting hipsters. Landlords take notice and soon rents start climbing. That’s the story anyway.
But here’s the thing: If booming development in hot markets like Hollywood and downtown is why rents keep going up... why have the same price increases hit locales with extremely limited development?
— LA Times
"Because our problems aren’t driven by a local phenomenon but by a regional one: low residential vacancy rates. Nothing is more important, and data from the American Community Survey confirm this. Zooming out to look at the 20 largest U.S. cities rather than local ZIP codes, the... View full entry
A first-in-the-nation complex to be built in Hollywood would house about 200 LGBT seniors and young adults on the same campus.
Lorrie Jean, CEO of the the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which is building the $100 million complex, calls the two generation groups "the two most vulnerable parts of our community."
— scpr.org
Related stories in the Archinect news:As "gayborhoods" gentrify, LGBTQ people move into conservative AmericaHomes of the homeless, seized: L.A. cracks down on free housingToilets for everyone: the politics of inclusive design View full entry
The pull of the Hollywood sign has...generated anger along the winding roads in those hills as homeowners have complained of a crush of motorists clogging roads, hikers in the middle of narrow streets and smokers flicking cigarettes into flammable brush... Now some homeowners are taking their battle to court, demanding that the city close a popular path into Griffith Park used to view the famed sign until the effects on the neighborhood have been fully evaluated. — latimes.com
The residents of Beachwood Canyon, a very affluent neighborhood, argue that traffic to one of the only public trails leading to the iconic Hollywood sign is a public safety issue. Claiming that the city has failed to properly address environmental concerns, they've formed a group, Homeowners on... View full entry
The WUHO Gallery in Hollywood was abuzz on the opening night of “Hélène Binet: Fragments of Light” this past Saturday, in celebration of Binet as the 2015 recipient of the Julius Shulman Institute Excellence in Photography Award. Co-curated by JSI Managing Director Emily Bills and Binet... View full entry
In the heart of Hollywood's Barnsdall Park, Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House will officially reopen on February 13, as recently announced by L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell, and the Barnsdall Park Art Foundation. This isn't the first time the iconic house has been... View full entry
At the end of a cul de sac near the Hollywood Bowl, park your car in a garage carved into the hill. Walk through a gated tunnel to a private elevator where you'll be taken up 6 stories through the hill to the top of a Tuscan tower. Nestled in a quiet walk street enclave high above the bustle of Hollywood Blvd.
1bed, 1 bath includes the aforementioned private parking garage (remote door opener). Washer/Dryer, hardwood floors and terrace.
— Craigslist
The apartment was featured in Robert Altman's 1973 "The Long Goodbye." In the neo-noir film, Elliot Gould plays Phillip Marlowe, a private eye living in a tower high up in the Hollywood Hills. The apartment was also featured in Kenneth Branagh's Dead Again. According to the craigslist ad... View full entry
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
On May 17, the yearlong series' final event, inspired by L.A.'s most prominent icon, the Hollywood sign, is being staged. Six projects will be installed on the Hollywood sign trail, where all of Los Angeles is laid out before hikers. Details are still being finalized, but the event could feature imaginary viewfinders designed by Elly Ward and mini-monuments erected by Elizabeth Timme, co-director of design office LA-Más. — latimes.com
Trek to the Hollywood signWhat: Installations along a trail near the Hollywood signWhere: Hollywood sign trail. Park in the Greek Theatre Parking Lot G in Griffith Park or at Griffith Observatory and take the shuttle to the Hollywood sign viewing area.When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May... View full entry
Co-presented by Hennessey + Ingalls, the A+D Museum and the Cal Poly LA Metro Program, Ma Yansong lectured last night on MAD's history and the trials of Chinese architecture. Now with offices in Los Angeles and Beijing, MAD is poised to fulfill the high expectations bestowed on it as a Chinese... View full entry
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
Worlds of Cityvisions will also see the launch of the new international competition Evolution: the architecture of future mankind, about the future of Beijing featuring a special jury panel comprised of Sou Fujimoto, Greg Lynn, Sanford Kwinter, Eric de Broche des Combes and Ai Weiwei. View full entry
The only geodesic dome movie theater in the world, Becket’s design was inspired by Buckminster Fuller—and the nation’s midcentury obsession with landing on the moon. Built to resemble a giant spacecraft, the Dome boasted futuristic floating stairways—a first for any movie theater at the time. Simultaneously projected images using three 35mm cameras were so cutting-edge, the Dome’s own original projector—the Norelco Universal—would win a Technical Academy Award in 1963 [...]. — Los Angeles Confidential Magazine
Drop by Hollywood’s finest art and architecture bookstore, Hennessey + Ingalls, tonight for a special event launching Shaping the City, a newly revised edition of contemporary urbanism case studies. The event will also feature a conversation with University of Toronto’s Director of... View full entry
It's hard to miss the vibrant 3-D mural at the front entrance of the Citizens of the World Charter School - Hollywood. The mural, known as "On the Fence", was created by students, teachers, staff, and parents of CWC-H and Le Conte Middle School as a collaborative project. Both communities... View full entry
