Hot Wheels in J-Town and Dogtown, Get ready for Small Lots, Big Impacts RFQ, "Rebel Architects" speak at Architecture Uncorked, Rodeo Drive celebrates Clueless, and more.
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I hope you’re doing well amidst the daily barrage of shocks to the system, including the transformation of the lawn of the Rose Garden into something that looks like an ice-skating rink.
Yes, this is trivial relative to ICE raids and budget-busting cuts, but it matters to anyone concerned with POTUS’s home improvements. "Why trade greenery for granite?" asks Vogue. Apparently, stiletto-heeled guests got stuck in the mud. Better to replace it, Trump explained to Fox’s Laura Ingraham, with “gorgeous stone.”
Next, apparently comes the 90,000 square-foot ballroom to be built in the East Wing of the White House in, of course, monocrat neoclassical, trimmed with gold. It is being designed by James McCrery, head of his own firm and expert in the design of traditional Roman Catholic Churches. Interestingly, he became an ardent classicist after too much immersion in Deconstructivist theory. He studied under onetime Ivory Tower darlings Peter Eisenman and Jeffrey Kipnis, and later worked for Eisenman.
Trump has been chomping at the bit to build this ballroom since 2010, reports NPR. The project is eliciting concerns, both ethical — who's paying? — and architectural, but the architect said, per the New York Times, it was a necessary addition to the White House, because presidents have “faced challenges hosting major events.”
The White House, with Ballroom addition.Rendering courtesy of McCrery Architects
Irrespective of his politics and persona, Trump is unusual in being a builder. Twenty-six commanders-in-chief have been lawyers, more than half of all U.S. presidents, and they tend to delegate the decorating. But it’s unfortunate that his personal design choices don’t model America’s more future-forward design and tech.
Which made this item inspiring — a YouTube show in which a teen and 20-something machinists and welders compete for who can best perform tasks like making and installing parts for rockets.
A show that comes with the tagline, “Tools are hot. Machines are running. This is Clash of Trades,” is unlikely to outperform The Hunting Wives (see, What I’m Digging, below) but the reality show puts a spotlight on regular teens and 20-somethings in community colleges and high schools who aren’t aiming to be influencers, and makes the case for trade tech, as communities and school districts come to face the fact that not every kid should or wants to attend debt-heavy, non-vocational, four-year college.
We covered the reemergence of "Modern Trades" several years ago on KCRW's DnA, and it is exciting to see it so creatively covered on this little YouTube program.
Design Things To Do
Starter Homes for the 21st Century? Small Lots, Big Impacts -- Information Sessions Multiple dates including webinar on August 6th, 11:00 AM
Small Lots, Big Impacts is a two-stage competition sponsored by UCLA-cityLAB with LA4LA and the City of Los Angeles, to stimulate designs for low- and mid-rise housing that advance LA’s legacy of lovely multifamily living, and could be attainable to first-time and middle-income homebuyers. In Phase 1, a jury singled out prize-winning designs for a range of sites and density levels.
Now comes Phase 2, where the organizers award actual sites to teams of architects and small developers. An RFP will be issued soon, and this month, there’s a slew of events preparing entrants for the process, starting with this webinar on Wednesday, August 6th.
Echo Yards, by Shin Shin, earned Special Recognition in Phase 1 of Small Lots, Big Impacts
Celebrate Fashion Creativity Rodeo Drive, multiple locations Through August 10th
Just in case you had forgotten that Rodeo Drive is a three-block concentration of high fashion, the business owners want to remind you, with Rodeo Drive Celebrates Fashion, a week of events and activations that “turn the spotlight on the exemplary craftsmanship, creativity and innovation” powering this luxury destination.
It kicked off this past Monday by honoring Mona May, costume designer for the unforgettable 1995 teen movie hit Clueless (May isinterviewed on this episode of Rodeo Drive - The Podcast), and continues with attractions including a street-side display of vehicles from the underground and amazing Auto Vault private collection, a preview of Fendi and Zegna’s fall-winter collections, and a chance to learn about gemology and fine watch-making at Piaget.
Architecture Uncorked #4, by FORT Saturday, August 9th, 5:00 PM–6:30 PM Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Architecture Uncorked, the fun-filled, 90-minute talk, tipple, and trivia produced by FORT: LA, is back with its fourth outing this Saturday. This time the featured topic is Episode 2 of Rebel Architects: From Venice to the World Stage, FORT’s 12-part documentary about the architects immortalized in Ave Pildas’ 1980 iconic photo at Venice Beach: Frank Gehry, Thom Mayne, Eric Owen Moss, Frederick Fisher, Coy Howard, Craig Hodgetts and the late Robert Mangurian.
Following a screening of Ep. 2, several of the architects featured in the doc will join artist Chuck Arnoldi and me onstage, to riff about the time when Venice Beach’s low rents and bohemian vibe fomented artistic creativity, capped with a tasting of wines inspired by the “rebels,” selected by sommelier India Mandelkorn.
"Rebel Architects" in Venice, 1980 and 2024, photos courtesy Ave Pildas
Hot Wheels in J-Town and Dogtown
Classic Car Show
Venice Heritage Museum, 228 Main Street, Venice, 90291 Sunday, August 10th, 10:00 AM–4:00 PM
Speaking of Venice... its history and stories are being kept alive at Venice Heritage Museum, the free public museum that opened last year on Main Street.
This Sunday, the spotlight is on the neighborhood's car clubs: Venetians Car Club, Venice Drop Tops, and more.
Owners of classic and custom muscle cars, lowriders, and convertibles will display their vehicular finery, served up with Menudo from Chef Paul Baca, music by DJ Johnny, Chicano poet, author, and radio host Matt Sedillo, and more. The event is hosted by Yolanda de Cordova and Marilyn Ramirez.
Classic cars of Venice, seen on July 4th, 2023. Photo by Frances Anderton.
Cruising J-Town: Japanese American Car Culture and Los Angeles — Book signings: multiple dates, locations Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community — Artcenter exhibition, through November 12th
Gotanda Impala_pg122 - Tats Gotanda with his award-winning 1959 customized Chevrolet Impala, the Buddha Buggy, 1963. Credit: Photo by Dick Day. Image provided by Hearst Autos, Inc.
Schindler Space Architect Screening followed by Q&A with Director Valentina Ganeva Wednesday, August 20th, 7:30 PM Laemmle NoHo, 5240 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood Additional screenings, through August 25th, at multiple Laemmle locations
Viennese-born Rudolf Schindler transformed Los Angeles architecture with buildings shaped by space, light, and interconnection with nature. In the feature length documentary, Schindler Space Architect, director Valentina Ganeva draws on rich archival material, new cinematography, interviews, voice-over by Meryl Streep, plus a little bit of fantasy, to vividly tell the story of Schindler's ideas, life, loves, and his complicated relationship with L.A.’s other founding Austrian Modernist, Richard Neutra.
The film will screen as part of Laemmle's Culture Vulture series at multiple venues, with a Q&A with Galena at the Noho screening on August 20th.
The Oliver House, designed by R.M. Schindler. Still from Schindler Space Architect, courtesy Valentina Ganeva.
Gold Coast: Treasures of California Pageant of the Masters Performances nightly, through August 29th, 8:30 PM 650 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
One of the LA region’s most enduring summer entertainments is also its quirkiest: the annual Pageant of the Masters, launched in 1933, in which Laguna Beach residents dress up and pose as characters in a series of paintings. Participants in these Tableaux Vivants have to endure heavy make-up and standing stock still in front of a large crowd.
This year’s theme is “Gold Coast: Treasures of California,” so you will see stagings of paintings from the Getty, LACMA, Laguna Art Museum, de Young Museum, and more, including Lee Blair’s "Mary By The Sea," below, from The Hilbert Museum of California Art at Chapman University.
Mary by the Sea, painted by Lee Blair. Image courtesy Pageant of the Masters
Single Stairway to Heaven Design Competition, sponsored by Livable Communities Initiative Deadline: August 31st
If you have ever wondered why apartment buildings in Los Angeles invariably feature enclosed, unpleasant "double-loaded corridors," this is in part due to building codes requiring two staircases. Reforming this code and mandating only one staircase could open the door to far more interesting apartment building design, say the team at Livable Communities Initiative. LCI has launched a competition for great "single stair" designs, and entries are due by August 31st. There is $30,000 in prize money to be shared among winners.
Have some summer fun watching The Hunting Wives, the new Netflix show based on the book by May Cobb, in which demure Sophie (Brittany Snow) from Boston gets swept up in the swinging social whirl of Margo (Malin Åkerman) and her posse of gun-toting, Texan, wealthy wives. Hubby describes the show, which comes with murder, bisexuality, and equal opportunity ridicule of Red and Blue culture, as “soapy, sexy, forbidden fruit, a taboo-challenging stampede of sacred cows being housebroken and buggy whipped to the highest euphoric heights.”
Image courtesy Lionsgate Television
Not So Cute
Cute animal pics dominate social media, with emphasis on cute. So it's shocking, if bracing, to read about a Danish zoo's FB post inviting people to donate their aging "animal companions — their guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens and even small horses — to feed to its predators." For anyone squeamish about their pets being slaughtered by sharp-toothed lynx, lions, and tigers, the "guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, and even small horses" would be first "gently euthanized" by staff. The post elicited outrage but also provokes interesting questions about how far the zoo was prepared to go to "mimic the natural food chain." Might the "natural" next step be to release the animals from zoo-prison into the wild and let them hunt at will?
Oh, is Twinkle hungry? Photo by Frances Anderton
RIP Wallis Annenberg
One who might have had some thoughts on the Danish zoo's request was Wallis Annenberg, the longtime Los Angeles philanthropist who passed on July 28th. Her civic largesse touched my life directly several times, including through her support of KCRW; the former Annenberg Photography Space, where I curated a show; and through her various projects that I covered over the years, including the Wallis Annenberg PetSpace and Wildlife Crossing. Of all her gifts to the region, the latter may be the most profound, in helping Angelenos mend the deep ruptures we have made in the human-animal relationship. Thank you, Wallis Annenberg.
Rendering of Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing
That's it for this week. Thank you as always for reading.
Yours, Frances
P.S. Subscribe to the KCRW Design and Architecture newsletter here, get back issues here, and reach out to me at francesanderton@gmail.com.
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