I asked a friend, ‘what is that Dinosaur looking thing that hangs over the freeway’… they replied ‘cheap Coop Himmelb(l)au’. A morning walk took me to visit their Visual & Performing Arts School on the edge of Downtown LA. A the fun but rough set of buildings fit in well in the rough & tumble area. I jostled through the group of teenage skateboarders ‘hanging out’, to get a few photos.
On a quick Saturday trip to Echo Park, a beautiful lake just outside Downtown LA, I discovered this ‘Bauhaus inspired’ 1970s apartment gem by Allyn Morris.
Images (http://silverlakelosangelesurbanvillage.blogspot.com.au/2009_10_01_archive.html)
The design development subject’s Mega Drawings were a hit this year – the class worked in groups to develop their projects from a previous semester. The final products were exhibited in December in the Downtown LA art walk.
The SCI-Arc Library and infamous Japanese curry truck that we welcome each Monday & Friday lunch time.
Start with a walk through Santa Monica, looking at all the beautiful art deco buildings – try not to be distracted by the fabulous newly refurbished shops on the third street promenade.
Hire bikes under the Santa Monica pier and cycle south along the beach to the funky suburb Venica. Pass the trapeze artists on the circus equipment, Muscle beach and all the weird and wonderful sights of Venice Beach, including the skate bowl;
Cycle through the backstreets of Venice looking at all the different types of architecture along the canals.
Further north past Santa Monica, cycle towards Malibu.
Jump back in the car and drive along Sunset Boulevard into Beverly Hills. Get lost trying and failing to find stars homes.
Drive up the weaving streets trying to get as close as possible to the Hollywood sign;
Park next to Harrison Ford on Hollywood Boulevard;
Visit the fabulous Marilyn exhibit at the Hollywood Museum housed in an art deco Max Factor building;
Drive down Rodeo Drive;
And back to Downtown LA on Wiltshire;
Have a sunset dinner with the Mariachi and Mojitos in the Mexican village “El Pueblo” just across the road from beautiful Union Station;
The Disney Concert Hall never disappoints, although a strangely cloudy day for LA, a town planner friend visiting from Melbourne provided the perfect opportunity to visit Gehry’s master piece again. This time we had the opportunity to climb right up to the roof terrace and weave amongst the sloping fins around the perimeter of the building. It was a really interesting experience peeking behind the facade at the details and construction which appears so smooth and shiny on the outside – the mess of steel behind is well hidden. Despite the little signs on the titanium ‘do not touch surface hot’… we had to touch – and indeed the glinting silver surface was very hot – you could fry an egg on it, even though the sun was hidden behind the clouds. The roof and curvature frames some interesting views across downtown. A must for LA visitors for a warped and interesting perspective of the city.
263 Site Visits 