Dear DnA Readers,

I hope you’re doing well.

Here's a question. Which way, LA, housing-wise? Garden city or vertical city? 

The City of LA is in the process of adopting a Rezoning Program to meet a need for more than 250,000 new homes. Those living in pleasant single family neighborhoods, which take up around two-thirds of LA’s residential land, won’t bear the brunt. Following a two-year process of outreach and revisions, very low-rise areas have been let off the hook from adding additional density, notwithstanding the planning department’s own findings that such zoning perpetuates economic and racial segregation, as reported by Liam Dillon in the LA Times. 

So where will those new homes go? Well, 70,000 of them are slated for downtown Los Angeles, described by the planning department as the city's commercial, entertainment, cultural, and civic heart, and “the primary center of urban activity in the region.” This is the same downtown that is ringed by air-polluting freeways, has limited green space and schools, and is still recovering from the exodus of workers during the pandemic.

The Beaudry, designed by Marmol Radziner. Photo by Jason O’Rear.

The Beaudry

Yet, downtown living is attracting a new wave of Angelenos. At the foot of Bunker Hill, ascending like a slim menthol cigarette above the shops and offices of Fig and 7th, is a  dark glass-clad tower called The Beaudry. This 64-story building with 785 dwellings opened last year and is one of Los Angeles' tallest residential skyscrapers. It was designed for Brookfield Properties by Marmol Radziner, known for their restorations of modernist homes and handsome, ground-up variants on that tradition.

Since The Beaudry opened, I’ve been eager to meet someone who actually lived there and recently learned that a dear KCRW colleague, Jeremy Weinstein, and his husband-to-be David Schachter, had moved in. Not only that, they — and their dog Balthazar — had taken up residence on the 54th floor! This was a truly pioneering step into the future of home in Los Angeles and I was thrilled to get the chance to visit.

Balthazar enjoys the view, and the furnishings (pouf by Patricia Urquiola, rug by GAN Rugs, Sofa by Blu Dot). Photo by David Schachter.

The architects took the residential model of apartments arranged either side of a double-loaded, central corridor (like a typical hotel), and made them feel as much as possible like case study houses stacked on top of each other, with floor to ceiling glass walls, opening onto balconies facing spectacular views. “Our desire was to keep the floor plate really narrow so that we had a lot of natural light,” explained the architect Leo Marmol at a preview last year. The lack of such narrowness, by the way, is an obstacle to some of the hoped-for office to residential conversions in DTLA.

Atop a parking podium is a terrace for the residents, with dog runs, swimming pool, barbecues, a bocce court, and, says Marmol, “all the things that you pull off the ground level and create this world.” The high-level garden even has an attraction I had not yet seen in a residential tower: a putting green! Hopefully balls don’t fly off the roof. Inside are numerous amenities for residents, including meeting spaces, penthouse lounges, bars and gyms, all appointed in smooth, quietly luxe materials including travertine, walnut, and bronze. The Beaudry is in the urban heart, and yet it is also a safe, self-contained world.

View from the bedroom, with a Tacchini chair, and the embroidered artwork by artist Maddie Mo. Photo by David Schachter.

Weinstein and Schachter have a two bedroom apartment with a flowing kitchen-dining-living area. Schachter has designed the interiors, keeping the space airy and open, with pops of color and art. On entering your eye is drawn straight to the vertiginous drop on the other side of the glass wall. Whoa! It took courage to creep up and take a peek at LA from such bird-height.

The couple love their new home, which is peaceful and quiet at this elevation, and they credit Marmol Radziner “for designing a building that is not only beautiful but also very livable,” says Schachter. “The building and its interiors draw from the best of Southern California modernism, maintaining a flow between indoor and outdoor spaces. Inhabiting those spaces, one feels connected to the surrounding city and natural environment, instead of cooped up in a tower.” 

A "garden" on a high balcony. Photo by Scott Frances.

Of course, earthquakes come to mind, but these do not phase our plucky residential adventurers. “We experienced our first significant earthquake while living at Beaudry in early August, when a 5.2 magnitude quake struck near Bakersfield,” says Schachter nonchalantly.  “The [steel frame] building swayed for a few seconds, but that was about all that occurred. Management was quick to notify residents that '[the] building is equipped with a rolling foundation designed to protect against earthquake damage,' and asked residents to inspect windows and notify management of any cracks. We had none in our unit."

Finally, Weinstein and Schachter are also committed to what The Beaudry represents. “Really, this building is a model of what urbanism in LA can be,” says Schachter. “The traditional “LA dream” has been to move up from an apartment to a single-family home, but if anything, a building like Beaudry turns that idea on its head. Great design makes our lives better, and well-designed apartment communities can actually be a more compelling alternative to living in a suburban-style house. Something to consider as we take on LA’s housing shortage and build the future of this city.”

Design Things To Do

Tips from a Talent
Talk by Genelle Brooks-Petty
Thursday, October 3rd, 6:00 PM
Otis College of Art and Design, 9045 Lincoln Boulevard, Los Angeles, 90045  

Last I ran into Genelle Brooks-Petty, she was keeping people cool with yummy ice cream of her own recipes at ALL CHILL, an ice cream shop in Leimert Park, filled with artifacts of hip hop culture that she created with husband Julian Petty. Their goal was to serve up “culture, community, and cream.”  

That’s only one of many enterprises Brooks-Petty has taken on. The community activist, entrepreneur, SoCal NOMA board member, County of LA Commissioner (Marina del Rey Design Control Board), and more is primarily an interior designer and professor. She will share her wisdom on design and life at the school she teaches at, Otis College of Art and Design, this Thursday evening. Free and open to the public.

Click here for details.

Scary Type
Type as Image, for Halloween: class with Wendy Emery + Lorna Turner
Saturday, Oct 5th: 12:00 PM–4:00 PM

AND

Los Angeles Printers Fair
October 19th and 20th, 10:00 AM–4:00 PM
International Printing Museum, 315 West Torrance Boulevard Carson, CA 90745

Digital schmigital. It’s still hard to top the delights of the inky printed word, especially when it comes artfully hand letterpressed or screenprinted by graphic designer/artists Lorna Turner and Wendy Emery.

This Saturday, the duo will hold a class at the International Printing Museum in Carson. They will show how to apply the “familiar shapes of letterforms to create designs, patterns and characters while maintaining focus on proper printing technique and principles of design (scale, repetition, white space, canvas area, etc)." The focus will be on imagery for Halloween. I am sure this class will be fun.

Then, on October 19th and 20th, the print museum will hold its annual Printers Fair. Against a backdrop of “the world’s largest collection of antique presses, visitors can encounter “the creative worlds of beautiful printing and handmade books” from 80+ vendors. 

Click here to reserve a spot for the ticketed class. Click here for more information about visiting or being a vendor at the Fair.

Learn how to make faces out of typefaces and other skills. Image courtesy Lorna Turner.

Loud Paper and LARA, with Mimi Zeiger
Loud paper Reading Room and Residency
October 6th–December 29th, 2024
Opening Reception, Sunday, October 6th, 2:00 PM–5:00 PM
Stairwell Gallery, Westlake-MacArthur Park area (location provided on RSVP)

AND

LARA Fundraiser
Thursday, October 17th, 6:30 PM–9:00 PM
908 South Olive Street Los Angeles, CA 90015

Speaking of small presses….

In 1997, the curator, critic, and editor Mimi Zeiger founded the architecture zine loud paper. Zeiger and collaborators wanted to “increase the volume of architectural discourse,” and produced 13 issues of commentary on architecture, art, music, books, and culture, from its founding through 2009. 

Now Zeiger has taken up a Residency at Stairwell LA in LA, where she and visitors can “slow down, read, revisit, and archive small press media.” She will hold a launch party on Sunday, at which you can see copies of the entire run of loud paper (also archived at People’s Graphic Design Archive and Internet Archive).

Click here for details.

LARA Fundraiser

One of Zeiger's more recent indie press projects was LARA, the sister publication to NYRA, a broadsheet filled with architectural criticism by a galaxy of independent writers, amidst illustrations of buildings and an oft-appearing cartoon rat. The creators of NYRA/LARA and Zeiger will host a fundraiser on October 17th to support a possible next issue and support production and staffing into the future. As the project evolves, it's possible the NYRAT may be replaced or joined by another critter. "We are on the lookout for a LARA friend," says publisher Nicolas Kemper.

Click here for details.

Full cover of LARA.

The Ma of Space: How Architecture Creates Change
Wednesday, October 9th, 6:30 PM–8:30 PM
Cocktail Reception: 6:30 PM
Toshizo Watanabe Culinary Cultural Center, 244 S. San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

If you ever wondered about the philosophical underpinnings of minimalism, consider "Ma." This is "the concept referring to the spaces between boundaries intentionally left empty to allow different people, things, places, and experiences to co-exist with less friction between them," in the words of the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC).

Next Wednesday, come hear a conversation about “Ma” with Toshihiro Oki, Architecture Advisor at Grace Farms, the snaking, glass-walled River building emerging from the natural landscape in New Canaan, Connecticut, designed by SANAA. 

I will talk with Oki about the design of Grace Farms, JACCC, and other examples of architecture and urban space that fosters “positive change and community” through the artful application of “Ma.”

While there, you will have the chance to wander in JACCC's surprising and lovely garden, below.

Tucked in the heart of Little Tokyo is a restful garden, at JACCC.

Dinner with Inspiration
LARB Fundraising dinner with Richard Powers
Tuesday, October 22nd, 6:00 PM–10:00 PM
Home of Alice Kimm and John Friedman (address available on ticket purchase)

I don't think I am the only person to have been transformed by The Overstory, the novel by Richard Powers about a motley group of Americans brought together to save redwood trees, which expands our understanding of the arboreal network that sustains us.

Powers has written many other highly praised books, including his latest, Playground, this time part AI-thriller, part ode to the oceans.

So it will be very special to hear him speak at a Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB) Luminary Dinner coming up on October 22nd while raising funds to maintain LARB.

To cap it all, the cocktails, dinner, and talk will be held at the private home of architects John Friedman and Alice Kimm in Silver Lake, which is worth visiting in itself.

Click here to purchase tickets. Questions: Email Emily VanKoughnett at emily@lareviewofbooks.org.

Cover for the audiobook of The Overstory

What I'm Digging 

Awesome Journey on Lincoln

Over the past year, I've been seeking out "awesome" examples of affordable housing in LA and showcasing them each month at Awesome and Affordable: Great Housing Now!, produced by Friends of Residential Treasures: Los Angeles (FORT: LA). This past month was the turn of The Journey, designed by Long Beach architecture firm Studio One Eleven for Venice Community Housing. They have created a haven on one of the least likely of locations — noisy, polluted, Lincoln Boulevard — through a careful arrangement of terraced levels that buffer sound and deliver views and relaxation. Moreover, the name of the building refers to its goals: to create a foundation, sense of purpose, and future — a journey, if you will — for its community of adults and young people some of whom have experienced homelessness and instability. Read about it here; support FORT generally at their upcoming fundraiser, on October 19th.