5 posts tagged “design and architecture”
Probably LA's biggest contribution to architectural history is its residential design (think Irving Gill, Rudolf Schindler, Greene and Greene, Frank Lloyd Wright, Wallace Neff, Gerard Colcord, John Lautner, Cliff May, Frank Gehry, the list goes on and on. . .), and a new generation of architects is continuing to test ideas here. On Sunday, you can get to peek inside some of the recent creations on the Westside, on the AIA self-guided tour, The Herron Residence by Michael Lee Architects (Michael Lee, AIA), King Residence by John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects (John Friedman, FAIA; Alice Kimm, AIA), Painted Light Studio by by Jennfier Wen Architecture (Jennifer Wen, AIA), and Venice Prefab by Jennifer Siegal of OMD are the four homes that will be showcased on the May 3rd AIA/LA Spring Tour. Tickets are NO LONGER available via web, so there is no relevant address. Tickets are available only by physically going to WILL CALL between 11:00AM and 1:00PM.
Make sure to check out the 2008 Architecture Biennale at the Arsenale in Venice (http://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/), the biannual showcase of global design, mixing up work and personal appearances by journalists and architects aplenty ("Bird's Nest" designers Herzog and De Meuron and Frank Gehry are among this year's luminaries). The theme this year is Architecture Beyond Building -- a topic regularly explored on DnA in view of the multi-disciplinary nature of the design process and professional practice these days. The curator is Aaron Betsky, globetrotting curator and writer now at Cincinnati and based at one time in LA, and among designers invited to exhibit their architectural imaginings, LA's own Greg Lynn http://www.glform.com and Ball-Nogues http://www.ball-nogues.com.
Well, here we are in Devon; that's the county, or "shire" just East of Cornwall in Southern England, and we are staying with an old friend of mine, Melanie Eclare, in what proves to be quite an interesting part of the world, from a sustainable design perspective.
Melanie is a photographer and gardener (who photographed LA gardens for a book called New Decorated Gardens), and she's also one of life's seekers, always on a spiritual and emotional quest -- so much so she out-Californias the Californians. Now she and her husband Tom Petherick, an organic gardener and author of a new book, Sufficient, about growing and eating just enough and not too much, have bought themselves a farm where they are doing something called "biodynamic farming;" that is, planting according to the cycles of the moon and the zodiac. Since the potatoes and broad beans and beets and eggs and salad that spring from their land are quite delicious, clearly they are doing something right.
shown, made of local Hazel wood posts with a woven lattice of Wych Elm and Willow. It surrounds the vegetable plot and Jeremy says that eventually it will grow into a hedge. Also shown is our bedroom, that you could call a West Country answer to a yurt. It's a shepherd's hut from the 1920s, made of wood and corrugated metal and used by herders during lambing season when they were out with their flock.
Not only is their farm a haven of sustainable living but it happens to be located in a small hub of progressive thinking in South Devon. Right next to the farm is Dartington Hall; that's an estate that is home to an art school, a theater, and the Schumacher College (named after the "Small Is Beautiful" author E. F. Schumacher, and a think-tank for sustainable ideas). It also practiced what it preached through architectural experimentation. Cheek by jowl with the medieval Dartington hall is High Cross House, shown, that was built in 1932 for the headmaster of Dartington Hall School (a progressive high school now closed; it became a famous haven for hard-drug taking in the '70s). As you can see, it was designed in the International style by the Swiss-American architect William Lescaze, complete with furnishings by Alvar Aalto and ceramics by Bernard Leach. Also commissioned by Dartington's farsighted owners, were gardens by Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius! The only think Dartington lacks now, as it unfortunately contemplates closing its art school, are contemporary modern buildings that express the same degree of progressiveness as its owners showed in the early part of the 20th century.
Near to Dartington is a small town called Totnes, which happens to be one of Britain's first "Transition Towns", meaning it is planning for peak oil and transitioning into alternative energy sources. And, as we drove through the country lanes, passing flocks of sheep and cows grazing blithely in the fields, the radio was piping regular broadcasts about latest initiatives in South Devon to go greener.
All in all, in terms of a holistic approach to architecture and life, this tiny corner of my old country was quite inspiring.
Hi Everybody:
Wow, how exciting. Welcome to this, our first DnA blog (in fact, it's the first blog I've ever written). It's been created by the whizzkids in our web-room (Anil Dewan, Nicole Cifani and Nathan Lubeck) and it is going to be the go-to place for updates from me about DnA, the show, and about Design and Architecture in general. You'll see posts from Alissa Walker, DnA's Associate Producer and a demon blogger, and from all sorts of interesting people in the design world. But most of all, we hope to hear from YOU. Please use this space to post your feedback on shows, and your thoughts on what matters in design and architecture, especially in Los Angeles.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
The strange thing about writing this first blog is that I'm not actually in LA right now. In fact I'm in the living room of my parents apartment in Eastbourne, England where I've just arrived with my husband, Bennett Stein, and my little girl, Summer Grace, for a visit to celebrate my mother's 70th birthday. Eastbourne could not be further from 21st century design and architecture. It's a beachtown on the South Coast built in the late 19th century that now feels like time stopped in the 1950s. It doesn't have boutique hotels, organic farmer's markets, or an indie rock scene; instead it has fish and chip shops, rock 'n' roll shows at the bandstand, and golf courses for the retired army officers who used to be the backbone of the community here. It also happens to be the sunniest -- and that's a relative term -- place in England. It even has palm trees! And a beautiful Victorian pier as you can see in the picture.
THE BLOOMSBURY GROUP IN THE COUNTRY
Today we went to visit Charleston; that was the country home of Vanessa Bell, sister of Virginia Woolf, her husband Clive Bell, the art critic, their children and various lovers and friends, including Duncan Grant, the painter, the economist Maynard Keynes and other luminaries of the Bloomsbury group. Here, in sleepy Sussex, from 1916, they lived a bohemian life, turning this 17th century house into their own canvas to explore their interest in post-Impressionism, and in alternative lifestyles. They hung paintings by artists they admired and they decorated everything -- walls, doors, furniture , ceramics, curtains and upholstery -- with bold patterns and forms inspired by Cezanne, Picasso and Matisse. They created a gorgeous garden with a lily pond, and abundant, colorful flowers interspersed with primitive sculptures. They were socialists and conscientious objectors during World War I. The women were early feminists. |And they had complicated love affairs -- Vanessa Bell's daughter Angelica ended up marrying the male lover of her father, Duncan Grant! For a group of people living so large, the house feels surprisingly small, but the totally handcrafted, personal environment as well as their nonconformism remains a blast of inspiration. Shown is a pic of my daughter, Summer, sketching in the garden.
POC ON ART CENTER AND THE EDIFICE COMPLEX
One of the goals of this blog is to keep tabs on design news that we are not able to cover on our monthly DnA broadcast, due to lack of space or timeliness. Case in point is the news that broke last week that Richard Koshalek will not have his contract renewed as president of Art Center College of Design. Koshalek, the charismatic former head of MOCA, had embarked on an ambitious program of building and educational outreach that was exciting to outside observers. But along the way he had lost the support of students and alumni who felt he was putting fundraising for a Frank Gehry-designed building before student needs, like fundraising for scholarships. For more on this, tune into Politics of Culture on Tuesday, July 1, when Ruth Seymour will talk to art critic Edward Goldman, LA Times architecture critic, Chris Hawthorne and others about the perils of the letting an "edifice complex" trump content, not just at Art Center, but at arts institutions nationwide.
http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/pc
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