Hmm, why don't we have sympathy for all these problems in Venice? A reader reports about tonight's West Los Angeles Area Planning Commission meeting that'll discuss the above building, which has gotten in trouble for being four feet higher than it was supposed to be. Writes our mole: "Well, the applicant claims the exception should be granted because: it's unfair they were caught, it's already built, it's a cool "green building," and it would be expensive to fix their mistake. The neighborhood council stated they would support the project for a payoff of $500,000, which they put in writing. Are exceptions for sale? The applicant claims he is bankrupt because of the delays on this project, although records show he just purchased and entitled another project in Venice, 373 Rose, just two weeks ago. Expect the full Venice circus to come out for this one tonight and as it is appealed to City Council."
All the pertinent documents surrounding this building can be found on the Venice Neighborhood Council web site.
· Venice Paper Pissed [Curbed LA]

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The latest in our occasional but continuing series of interviews with LA's architects, planners, politicians and thinkers who shape this city. Someone must have misinformed Ray Kappe, architect, academic and founder of SCI-Arc, about the importance of Curbed LA because he actually answered our emails and thoughtfully responded to our interview questions. Below, find his thoughts on sustainable architecture, the future of SCI-Arc, and why he rejects the "living legend" label.

[Image provided by Ray Kappe]

So, let’s start with the big question: what’s it like to be a “living legend”?

I have been fortunate and have enjoyed successfully practicing architecture for fifty-three years, with recognition, publication and design awards locally, nationally, and internationally; as well as having been involved in education for forty-four years, having been Founding Chairman of Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona in 1968 and Founding Director of SCI-ARC in 1972. The living legend “label” is generous and flattering but …”a living legend” is in the minds of others.

When an endeavor like SCI-ARC begins, it is only natural that it generates activism and cooperation in order to survive. During the first few years, the school was a true exploration into the social and behavioral aspects of the architectural education process. I also encouraged a large amount of pedagogical experimentation as well. By 1976 most of the founding students had graduated and SCI-ARC was accredited. It already had an excellent national and international reputation.

As our graduate program grew, we became more competitive with other graduate schools. By the time I stepped down as Director in 1987, after 15 years, our graduate program had grown to 125. Today it is 250, but competitively it is about the same as it was in 1987. Early on, it was rated, and continues to be, with the top schools of Architecture in the world. When one visits SCI-ARC today, one still feels the creative energy. We have just gone through successful accreditation visits from WASC & NAAB – collegiate & professional accrediting groups. Enrollment is up. Our program of European Studies at our villa in Vico Morcote (Lugano), Switzerland is being re-vitalized. So, I would say, with confidence, that the future of SCI-ARC looks excellent.

From this point, I would like to answer most of the remaining questions in the two primary categories. First, I will discuss Los Angeles and related questions, and then I will address those questions related to architectural design and my involvement with prefabrication, energy and environmental concerns, and sustainability.

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Hey, it's interview number five in our ongoing series of interviews. This week we speak with the Mayor of West Hollywood, John Heilman. Mayor Heilman is in charge of running a bustling burg of 35,000, bordered on three sides by the City of Los Angeles and to the west by the City of Beverly Hills. WeHo, as it is commonly referred to, is abuzz with new development and Pinkberry madness, leaving no gay or Russian immigrant untouched.

(image pilfered from the Czech internets via Google Image search)

West Hollywood is under a lot of pressure to provide more housing in a limited area. What is the City doing to balance the need to preserve the character of the City with the need to provide additional density?

We are looking at a number of strategies. We are holding a housing summit on December 4. We have developed a mixed use housing ordinance which we hope to enact. The ordinance will allow for additional housing along our commercial corridors. We are looking at revising our “granny flats” ordinance to make it easier for people in R-1 districts to develop an ancillary unit.

Our business license commission imposed additional conditions on Pinkberry, including litter pick up in the neighborhood, hiring a security guard to deal with queues, and limiting the hours of operation. We are convening a working group with local neighbors and businesses to develop recommendations to deal with the circulation and parking issues. The business has also opened other locations which has reduced some of the impact in West Hollywood.

It’s a great question, but I don’t like ice cream or frozen yogurt so I haven’t tried it. My friends have told me it’s great.

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Today is our fourth in a semi-regular series of Curbed LA interviews with the architects, planners and thinkers who are shaping the future of this great city. This is our first interview with a member of the City Hall elite: Eric Garcetti, City Council President. Mr. Garcetti has a few things on his plate at the moment including Prop H, the affordable housing bond; Prop R, the term-limit extension/ethics reform measure; and the general well-being of his constituents. He agreed to answer our questions and now we wished we'd asked him more probing, personal questions that would reduce him to tears a la Barbara Walters. You're next, Jack Weiss.

In your Slate diary from 2004, you wrote about a $1.5 million dollar hydrogen car you were driving around courtesy of Honda. Are you still driving it? Has the City made any push for incentives for citizens to own an alternative fuel vehicle (i.e. hydrogen or bio-fuel) similar to the incentives provided for hybrids?

It was fun to drive the hydrogen car—despite the heavy prototype price tag, the city only paid $500 a year to lease it. Also it had a funny perspiration problem. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have water as the exhaust. I would drive around dripping water from the exhaust pipe.

I’m back in my electric RAV 4 now. As for the city and alternative fuels, our biggest incentive has been allowing hybrid and ZEV drivers to park for free at meters. The program is still in effect, and not a week goes by that someone doesn’t say that learning about that program helped them decide to go hybrid. Keep in mind that you have to follow posted time limits.

The City of Los Angeles now has the largest fleet of alternative-fuel and hybrid vehicles of any urban government. Our policy is that we must buy alt-fuel or hybrid vehicles, unless there is some compelling reason that we cannot. Our overall fuel prices actually went down in the midst of this change, despite rising costs at the pump.

That’s a great question. I think term limits are appropriate, but on the other hand, you wouldn’t fire your favorite doctor just because eight years were up. If the voters won the right to return me to office for a third term and then exercised it, I’d like to finally figure out how to permanently fund the affordable housing trust fund. We’ve done amazing things with the trust fund – getting it started under the last mayor and fully funded under this one – and the challenge in front of us it making it less of a scramble every year and more of a fiscal given. I could also see through business tax reform, and set in motion multi-decade projects like the Hollywood Freeway cap park (see below). I'd also give my constituents more “best years”--where my understanding of how to work the system for their benefit is at its highest. That takes everyone about four to five years to figure out. With only eight years to serve now, that doesn't give the community a lot of value for their vote.

I’ve met the descendants of the original Pobladores, the settlers who traveled from the San Gabriel Mission 225 years ago and stopped at the L.A. River, also known as El Rio de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula. They wouldn’t be happy if I got the name wrong.

As for my Spanish, I learned it from my grandfather, who came from Parral, Chihuahua, and my grandmother, whose family was from Guaymas, Sonora. The name Garcetti comes from an Italian immigrant to Mexico many generations ago; I’m half-Mexican, on my father’s side. (Mom’s Jewish, in case you were curious.)

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The third in our semi-regular interviews with the architects, planners, politicians, and thinkers that shape LA. This week: Stephen Kanner of Kanner Architects. A self-described "Restrained Modernist," anyone driving past the intersection of Western and Hollywood will recognize his colorfully cubic Metro Hollywood Apartments above the Redline Station. And any architect who builds an affordable housing complex above public transit, punctuated by primary colors, is ok by us.

For the aspiring architect in Los Angeles, where do they begin, what should they expect, and is there any place better than LA at the moment to be doing architecture?

Well, one thing the young architect should realize is that architecture doesn’t truly start until you’re out in the real world. School is essential, of course. It’s where you can explore – sometimes without limitation. But nothing quite prepares you like the real world for creating architecture and watching it come out of the ground. You must deal with a myriad of constraints - budget, schedule, restrictive codes etc. - while being the in-house psychologist/accountant/marriage counselor. While walking those various tightropes you hope to create artful architecture.

As far as Los Angeles is concerned, I would say it’s a great place to practice architecture because, compared to other cities, there’s a higher percentage of clients with an open mind. Also, there are 11 architecture schools in Greater Los Angeles. That makes Southern California a cauldron of creativity and experimentation. So, if we’re talking best place in America, I’d say LA is the best place to be working today. That said, I’ve always been a fan of many European cities and the intangible something that informs their architecture communities. Over time these cultures have evolved in places like Switzerland, Finland, France, Japan, England, Spain. The architects have worked out issues of art and structure and learned from years of trial and success. The general public in these countries has witnessed this maturation and accepted it as progress.

Well, I’m past president but it’s fresh in my mind. Your question is apropos because connecting students with AIA was a focus for me as president. Membership is free for students, so why not sign up?
And depending on where you went to school could be free for up to another 18 months. The benefits are tremendous. There’s the mentorship program, career days, portfolio reviews by AIA board members, scholarships, the annual 2x8 exhibit of student work, access to panel discussions. There is a job board and a place to post your resume so people can find you. Plus you get discounted tickets to the Masters of Architecture lecture series, which has presented such luminaries as Tadao Ando, Thom Mayne and Richard Meier.

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The second in our semi-regular series of interviews with the architects, planners and thinkers who are shaping the future of Los Angeles. Today, on this most holy of days, we atone for McMansions, unsustainable development, and overpriced real estate with an interview with Jennifer Siegal of the Office of Mobile Design, known for its innovative green prefab design.

Let’s begin with pre-fab first. What is the typical cost of an OMD pre-fab home? How long does it take to construct? What is the ratio of land costs to labor and materials cost today?

Most of the homes we are designing are customized for the client and the specific site. The homes are California manufactured steel dwellings and offer cutting edge sustainable material surfaces. We can put these 'mods' together to form any size house: 1 or 2 stories; choice of interior and
exterior finishes; wired for security, sound and internet; all kitchen, bath, appliances; fireplaces; and as many 'green' and 'sustainable' materials as you like.

The homes we are currently designing range from 800-5000 sq ft. The locations range from the city of Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Manhattan Beach, Venice, Joshua Tree, and Desert Hot Springs. A few of these are open for public viewing. Please find our mini-portfolio at http://www.designmobile.com/ - just go to architecture, then in the news section at the bottom of the page you’ll see the download for mini-portfolio.

In addition to these custom homes, we also offer our modern Take Home. The four innovative design styles allow clients to customize their homes at an affordable price. They tend to range from $210 to $270 per square foot, so they’re an excellent option when compared with custom architecture. You’ll see examples of homes built from combined modules in the mini-portfolio above. Typical on-site, “stick-built,” or wood-framed custom home-building with similar architectural quality wouldn’t have the advantages below.

Benefits of OMD Prefab occur up-front and over time:
1. Neighbor-friendly construction - mitigates all the hammering and sawing that usually must occur on-site.
2. Increased level of design for the dollar.
3. Provides expedited availability or move-in date or reduced/expedited timeframe for construction loan terms.
4. Long term performance, in terms of building sustainability, maintenance, and utilities usage.
5. Exceeding seismic requirements, their steel moment frame offers very safe, long-lasting living/working environments.
6. Increased level of ‘known’ factors can be helpful in financing acquisition and budget maintenance.
7. Extreme sustainability throughout many aspects, especially avoidance of on-site construction waste, (as much as 30% of your materials can go into the dumpster).
8. Their interior spaces provide more volume than many traditional or existing spaces, and work well for both residential or professional/commercial functions, appealing to a more open-plan sensibility.
9. Increased level of quality, safety and efficiency for the construction management.

Today we launch a semi-regular series of Curbed LA interviews with the architects, planners and thinkers who are shaping the future of this great city. Our first interview subject: Lorcan O'Herlihy of LOHA, who is currently building three housing projects in West Hollywood, won recognition for the Jai House in Calabasas and has accumulated an impressive list of projects in Southern California. Now he takes on his greatest challenge: answering why so many Southern Californians love faux-Tuscan architecture.

Let’s start with the bane of Curbed LA’s existence. The problem that has been plaguing us from the beginning: Why is there such a proliferation of faux-Tuscan architecture in LA?

“Faux-Tuscan” style, with its thick walls, recessed windows, patios and porticos, asserts that it is appropriate for our arid climate. Unfortunately, it is the new style for sprawl in Southern California and the environmental sensitivity is the “Red Herring”. When architecture is driven by style and not ideas “faux-Tuscan” can be the result.

I was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland and came to Los Angeles at 15 years old. After graduation from University I worked back east with I.M.Pei and Partners on the Louvre Museum and Steven Holl Architects. When I decided to open my practice I came back to Los Angeles as it is a place for innovation and is in constant flux. An architect can develop ideas and test them with a client base who is equally inspired in the belief that Architecture can enrich their lives.

Beach. The ocean is an edge condition which I’ve always been drawn to and makes Los Angeles unique. Not many large cities have an ocean as it’s back yard.

We’re due for an earthquake.

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