I hope you’re doing well after a bumper weekend: The country’s birthday! The wedding of the century! And then there was soccer.

Even those who find “the beautiful game” boring for its lack of goals must admit the Mexico-England game was a nail-biter on a par with the Knicks' playoffs. (As for the USA loss in Round 16, see "NOT Digging," below.)

Better yet, for anyone interested in the life of the city, the tactical urbanism potential of the World Cup is delivering as hoped. I love the viewing parties that have popped up all over LA — in restaurants, museums (Getty, below), libraries, on sidewalks. They are even bringing cheer, and restaurant-goers, to a place that had been in doldrums for quite a while: Santa Monica’s 3rd Street Promenade (above).

Soccer viewing at the Getty Center. Photo by Frances Anderton.

In a bid to revive the once-thriving destination, the city of Santa Monica has introduced Entertainment Zones, part of a larger, economic Realignment plan. They are allowing outdoor drinking on the Promenade -- and some other locations during big events, like the World Cup and LA28.

One of the arguments made in favor of hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games is that they will stimulate togetherness — and commerce — across LA neighborhoods, benefitting locals and visitors. The city's Department of Rec and Parks promises municipal fanzones, but it seems any business or institution can get into the game, with a large TV screen and some outdoor furniture.

So far, these pop-up watching parties are showing the way.

Image courtesy City of Santa Monica

The summer fun doesn't stop with the footie, however. Right now, we have some Centennials to celebrate as well: 1926 is the year the Los Angeles Central Library opened its doors, and cars -- and car culture -- took off on the new Route 66. Read on for the lowdown on their birthday events — and many more Design Things to Do.

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Design Things To Do

Top Pick: Happy Birthday Central Library!

The 1920s were a runaway decade for Los Angeles. Its population exploded, from 577,000 to over 1.2 million. Construction surged. In 1926 alone, up went civic landmarks including Bob Hope Patriotic Hall, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, El Capitan Theatre — and the LA Central Library, designed by Bertram Goodhue, in a blend of Modern materials — concrete — and fanciful styles including ancient Egyptian, Byzantine, and Spanish Colonial.

It’s near-demolition in the 1970s birthed the LA Conservancy; arson fires in 1986 destroyed nearly 400,000 books and damaged the building, which was then restored and expanded (by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, also architects of the now demolished LACMA Art of the Americas Building).

The crowning glory of the Richard J. Riordan Central Library. Image: Photo by Zeetz Jones/LA Conservancy

Now it is the HQ for a network of 73 libraries, and this Saturday, July 11th, Central Library will host an all-day birthday festival. Enjoy live music, puppetry, tours of rare collections, and a presentation by the creators of the new pop-up book, Los Angeles Central Library POPS: Celebrating a Century of the Light of Learning.

This is published by Angel City Press at Los Angeles Public Library, a creative new partnership that makes the library both librarian and book publisher. ACP at LAPL also created the delightful L is for Librarian: The ABCs of Los Angeles Central Library.

LA Central Library, the pop-up version. Image courtesy Angel City Press.

The Central Library also provides free health and homeless shelter services. In keeping with that concern about housing, the library is hosting a display of some 60 posters designed for Frame The Future, a competition co-presented by Friends of Residential Treasures Los Angeles (FORT: LA). Read about it here and here.

On Saturday, July 25th, from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM, FORT and LAPL will host Frame The Future Live: 60 Bold Posters. 10 Big Ideas. 90 Minutes Real Debate!
This is a free public viewing and dialogue with some terrific speakers about the ideas that have emerged from those posters, including desires for vacancy taxes, more community-centered or owned housing, and, simply, building abundantly! RSVP here. More details soon.

Frame The Future posters in the Tom Bradley Wing at LA Central Library. Photo by Frances Anderton.

Quick Picks

Also in 1926, Route 66, connecting the Midwest to the West, opened to serve America's fast-growing car culture. This Sunday, July 12th, the Petersen Automotive Museum will mark the centennial with a display in its parking lot of historic cars, from “competition machines… to icons of popular culture,” which will then parade west to the Santa Monica Pier, the endpoint of the iconic highway.

And on Saturday, July 11th, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, the International Printing Museum in Carson, CA, hosts its own show of cars from vintage to the muscle car era, along with the chance to print historic automobile ads and images, in AMERICANA CAR SHOW: A Celebration of Revolutionary Machines.

Classic cars in the Vault at Petersen Automotive Museum. Image courtesy Petersen Automotive Museum.

While at the Petersen Automotive Museum, check out a contemporary spin on car culture: “Flat Out: The Art Of Joshua Vides,” in which the graphic artist spent nine days hand-painting five vehicles in the Armand Hammer Foundation gallery to make them appear like black-and-white, two-dimensional illustrations. Vides calls the intriguing reverse process “Reality to Idea.” 

Image courtesy Petersen Automotive Museum

Architect and artist Rick Gooding (of architecture firm Chu-Gooding) continues the art of hand-drawing, creating imagery that "evokes engine works and machine constructs." See If I Had a Hammer: The Poetry of Tools, an exhibition of some of his Subterranea drawings and the tools he uses to create them at Henrybuilt LA, 806 Mateo Street, Los Angeles, CA 90021. Through September 17th. The public opening reception is next Thursday, July 16th, from 6:00–8:00 PM. RSVP: 310-461-4610 or hellolosangeles@henrybuilt.com.

Sketch of hammers by Rick Gooding

albertz benda, the West Hollywood outpost of the New York gallery, opens a new show on Friday, July 17th (through August 8th) uniting luxury menswear designer Etai Drori with digital artist Felipe Pantone in Parallel Practices: Tailored Structures & Kinetic Surfaces. The duo has reworked mid-century furniture sourced across Los Angeles. It’s worth checking out for the added value of the location: tucked away in a house on 8260 Marmont Lane, Los Angeles, behind Chateau Marmont, and offering a fresh view of that marvelous building. The opening party on Friday runs from 6:30–9:30 PM. RSVP here.

Image courtesy albertz benda.

What I'm Digging

Breezing through… Murder Mindfully, a gently diabolical, German black comedy-thriller about an over-stressed lawyer (Tom Schilling) who, hilariously, applies “mindfulness” training to handling his thuggish clients and ends up on the dark side, while becoming a much better dad. I love the access to dramas streaming from around the world. This one is set in Berlin. Great way to travel this summer without going anywhere.

Image courtesy Netflix

Remembering... map-reading. I have only ever had one thing stolen out of my car in LA: my Thomas Guide, in the 1990s. Now these once indispensable map books are obsolete but a massive collection of them is archived at the Los Angeles Public Library. Peter Hauge's story of that collection is one of a trove of essays in the newly published Issue #17: EVOLUTION of Acid Free Magazine, a biannual publication of the Los Angeles Archivists Collective. Other good reads include a reflection by Mimi Zeiger on a show of the shards of the LACMA buildings demolished in 2020 to make way for the David Geffen Galleries. Lest we forget.

Image courtesy Acid Free magazine

What I'm NOT Digging

Is Nothing Sacred?

One of the things that defines sport is rules. When Jarell Quansah got a red card during the Mexico-England game, the English team was pissed, but they had to take it on the chin and soldier on, one player down. When Team USA striker Folarin Balogun was red-carded, Annoyed Daddy POTUS enlisted FIFA to get Balogun reinstated, flouting rules that global soccer has abided by since 1962. This set a horrible precedent, tainted the "beautiful game," and made the sad loss to Belgium arguably a better outcome for Team USA than moving forward under a cloud. Can the toddler-adults please get out of the way? On a more positive note, this story about English fans getting to know equally soccer-mad Mexicans is a delight.

Well, that's it for this week's newsletter. Please send your design news, questions, and comments to francesanderton@gmail.com. Get back issues here. Remind your friends to sign up for the newsletter here. And support KCRW's newsletters by donating at kcrw.com/give.

Yours with very best wishes,
Frances

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