An interesting article addressing emerging design in Los Angeles from the Los Angeles Times Home & Design. In it they mention Cal Techs Milikan Library, and the continued growth of Cal Tech. Perhaps most emblematic of contemporary L.A. architecture culture is the revival of older buildings for new uses, a hipsterish twist on what preservationists call adaptive reuse. On Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park, just west of downtown, architect David Lawrence Gray and developer Linear City have remade William Pereiras Metropolitan Water District building (completed in 1963, with an eight-story tower added a decade later) into a charismatic (and not inexpensive) apartment complex called the Elysian. In the final analysis, we may realize that this burst of construction hasnt produced the kind of architecture, freewheeling and unconventional, for which 20th century Los Angeles was famous. The city is far more regulated and expensive for builders than it was even two decades ago. Fire and seismic codes and a shrinking supply of vacant land have conspired to make bold architecture tougher to realize. As a result, even as we lament the many lessons we failed to learn during the downturn, it may be time to reassess just what design innovation means in Los Angeles. Formal gymnastics are less impressive in this regulated, risk-averse city — or simply less relevant. Political savvy is more and more a necessity, as is the ingenuity to imagine new roles for old buildings. latimes/entertainment/arts/preview/la-et-cm-ca-fall-preview-architecture-20140914-column.html#page=1
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 21:38:47 +0000
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