An LA Eye on London

London 2000+

London, where I spent my college years, has long been a buzzing center of art and design that has generated plenty of interesting architectural ideas (Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas and many other architectural luminaries were schooled there) but little exciting new architecture – thanks to want of space, limited opportunities for young architects and tyrannical design review. Most notable new buildings in the last 30 years seemed to be high tech: exquisitely engineered but often rather soulless, transparent glass and lacey steel structures. Well, all that’s changed, according to LA’s own Sam Lubell, California editor of the Architects Newspaper and author of the new book, London 2000+. He has sought out a diverse array of new buildings, among them office towers in the high-tech tradition by the likes of Norman Foster but also art-inspired statements like the Rivington Place visual arts complex by younger talents like David Adjaye (heard on last month’s DnA on Obama’s victory and what it could mean for cities). Lubell will be talking about his findings and signing books tonight at the new LA Forum HQ at 6520 Hollywood Boulevard (just East of LACE).

DESIGN SCRIBES UNITE

Lubell is a member of the small club of Angelenos, including yours truly, who write about design and architecture in LA; and almost that entire membership gathered this past Monday at GOOD magazine’s new HQ on Melrose to read from their own works (organized by de LaB, "design east of La Brea"). If audience appreciation had been quantified by a laughometer, the stars of the evening were the Curbed LA duo of Marissa Gluck and Josh Williams on “hideous” homes for sale, which snarkily mocked other people's taste; the City of Weho’s urban designer John Chase on a very strange personal encounter, and a quite brilliant rap about LA’s recession-hit design world by the de LaB event’s organizer Alissa Walker (also DnA’s own associate producer). Some of us will be back at GOOD next Thursday, December 18, to go one better on observing LA; rather we’ll be offering up ideas for how to improve it!