Starchitect Thom Mayne is Tearing Down Ray Bradbury's Cheviot Hills House Right Now
"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there.
It doesn’t matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that’s like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime."
LOL. My first thought when I saw the comments was "Wow. All these commenters come here full of rage and insults, and they have the nerve to call people who don’t watch Fox News "haters."
My second thought was "Gregory Speck" is an actual person’s name?
Third, of course, because I live in Virginia, is "Someone please remind me to wear Safety Orange vest when I finally get around to visiting the Museum of Natural History."
7 Awful Stories About the Man Destroying Downtown LA
I do not support the developers who bring us gridlock and ticky-tacky. Yet, I have to wonder where all of us were when Palmer was laying out his plans before the city council? When the chairman called for discussion on the proposals, where were we? Did our council rep. vote for the plan? Did we make our feelings and thoughts known to him/er? Did our rep vote the wrong way? Are we working to correct by unseating the rep for being so antisocial? Time to get off the dime.
7 Awful Stories About the Man Destroying Downtown LA
I do not support the developers who bring us gridlock and ticky-tacky. Yet, I have to wonder where all of us were when Palmer was laying out his plans before the city council? When the chairman called for discussion on the proposals, where were we? Did our council rep. vote for the plan? Did we make our feelings and thoughts known to him/er? Did our rep vote the wrong way? Are we working to correct by unseating the rep for being so antisocial? Time to get off the dime.
Gregory Ain "Modernique" House in Mar Vista Asking $1.2MM
I’m more of an Eichler than an Ain guy, but the irony here is social housing requiring gobs of cash up front and a mortgage payment beyond the means of the "every man".
The Saga of 20 Hilliard Street's Controversial Demolition
Working script…
Homeless, degenerate gambler Gregory Evans life is at its lowest point. Whilst picking through some garbage hoping to find his meal for the night, he stumbles upon a book, "Computer Hacking for Dummies". Intrigued, he reads the book front to back and is hooked. Over the next 3 years, while drifting between shelters, he hones his computer hacking skills at various public libraries throughout Atlanta. He eventually hacks into major corporate entities, creating his own rags to riches story. As he builds his wealth, and in a twist of coincidence, Evans stumbles upon another book, "The Idiot’s Guide to Real Estate". With his new wealth he purchases a sad building in Old Fourth Ward that is a shell of its former self… much like Gregory Evans. Perhaps this is what draws him to this acquisition…. OR perhaps Gregory Evans hacked into the AHA email database and KNEW they were looking to purchase this building DUH! DUH! DUHHHHHH! Soon, Gregory Evans makes the real estate flip of the decade and creates the worlds most embarrassing and narcissistic website know to man. Just remember… GREGORYEVANS IS WATCHINGYOU aaaand fade to black…
Do you think we can get Denzel to play Gregory Evans?
The Saga of 20 Hilliard Street's Controversial Demolition
Good lord — A $155,000 sale to a $750,000 sale. How did Mr. Gregory Evans pull that off when the economy crashed? Hopefully, Curbed can address this issue.
Nine Ways Vanity Fair Loves Gehry's Exploded 'Crystal Palace'
The brilliance of Frank Gehry’s building reflects not only his unique genius but the remarkable culture and context of Paris that has long supported cutting edge public architecture. While the Vuitton Foundation building by Frank is the product of a mature architect it does not mean that the choice of so called "star architects" is the reason for the brilliance of Parisian architecture. Frank was a once unknown architect working on small daring projects in Los Angeles with little recognition beyond the west coast. As I recall he was recognized for his work by the eastern architectural press and community at a critical time and this allowed him to develop his remarkable body of work. These beginning opportunities have been the basis for many remarkable careers.
The history of Paris’ outstanding architecture was created through the work of an enlightened group of governmental and wealthy patrons of the arts over a long period of time starting with the reconstruction of the city center by Baron Hausman and more recently by Malraux, Mitterand and Arnault among others. This culture has stimulated an environment that allowed lesser known architects to create remarkable pieces of architecture for significant urban projects.
In our times, the Pompideau Center by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers was designed shortly after architecture school. Les Projets, a tour deforce of architectural fragments dispersed in the Parisian landscape was done well before Bernard Tschumi became dean at Columbia. Similarly Monde Arabe, by Jean Nouvel was not done by a well published architect though he certainly became known after that.
Los Angeles has a similar opportunity to accomplish what Paris did. It has a great history of exploratory work done by Schindler, Wright, Neutra, Eames, Ain and others. Most recently work by Meier, Moore, Moneo, Pelli and Piano have made significant contributions to its public architecture.
Because of todays unique concentration of patrons with highly developed design sensibilities and the enlightened leadership of the current mayor, the city has a unique opportunity to create great architectural projects – a confluence of a highly educated class of patrons willing to invest in making Los Angeles a truly remarkable city and with cutting edge architecture schools showing the way through their explorations.
The selection of Zumthor, and Diller, Scofidio and Renfro among others are encouraging steps in the right direction because these are not architects considered in todays "star" oriented environment. They have been selected because of the outstanding work they have done in more quiet environments.
More opportunities must be given for lesser known architects to do cutting edge work.The initiatives on urban projects such as the LA River and Union Station I shows that the city has the motivation to further stimulate and develop this architectural renaissance in Los Angeles’ development.