Speaking of preservation, the battle over a new neighbor for the Richard Neutra-designed Strathmore Apartments in Westwood seems to have been resolved. Preservationists have been battling developer PPC Landventure, who wanted to put up a bulky Togawa Smith Martin-designed apartment building across from the landmarked Neutra building--opponents said it would overwhelm and overcrowd the Strathmore (Westwood's Design Review Board rejected the plan six times for being "incompatible with Westwood's North Village Specific Plan," according to the Architect's Newspaper). Nevertheless, the LA Planning Commission approved the plan and the opponents took the matter to court--a judge ruled that the PPCL would have to go back to the drawing board.
They decided to go all the way back and hold a design competition for the project; Michael Maltzan, Michael Folonis, Daly Genik, and Koenig Eizenberg were all shortlisted, but Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects finally won the commission--their design won approval from the Westwood DRB earlier this month, reports A/N.
The new plan "is composed of two buildings that each step down the street across from the Strathmore Apartments, reaching their minimum height across from the modernist landmark. Their shifting volumes reference the Neutra, which also steps down its hillside." They'll be "clad in colorful metal panels--some solid, some perforated, and some corrugated." Former opponents sound super psyched about the new plan.
· NEUTRA'S NEIGHBOR [A/N]
· Battle Over Student Housing Near Neutra's Strathmore Apartments [Curbed LA]
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