Kristin's List: A Guide to Cultivated Los Angeles

Meet up with Ari Kletzky, creator of the Islands of LA project, and enjoy a picnic on the traffic island at San Vincente & Del Valle Drive near Beverly Hills. I think this is a good “starter” island for me, sounds posh. I love that Ari is pushing us to rearrange our notions about public space and rediscover the easily missed “in-between” spaces. A post-picnic stroll through the other islands on San Vincente will follow an early streetcar route laid down in 1906.

WHEN: 8:00pm
ADMISSION: Free, bring food to share & a blanket to sit on
MEETING LOCATION: the traffic island at San Vincente & Del Valle Drive, Los Angeles
WEBSITE: www.islandsofla.org

It’s a hot summer Saturday and your kid is asking, “where can I get my hands on an industrial design project?” Join the ARkidECTURE one-day workshop at the Stuart Karten Design studio where children ages 8-12 will learn about the industry through a hands-on project. As part of a series of collaborations with L.A. architecture firms, the summer long ARkidECTURE program teaches the little people about the creative processes and techniques of the design world.

WHEN: 10:00am-1:00pm
ADMISSION: Free
REGISTRATION: call (323) 932-9393 or email info@aplusd.org
WHERE: Stuart Karten Design
ADDRESS: 4204 Glencoe Avenue, Marina Del Ray, CA 90292
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON A+D: www.aplusd.org

Dorothy Parker, who once proclaimed “Los Angeles is 72 suburbs in search of a city,” would be relieved to know we have located the city and the Big Parade is here to prove it. A two-day walk through Los Angeles, the Big Parade will begin downtown at the Angel’s Flight Stairway, traverse 100+ stairways and weave its way through scores of architectural landmarks. With a mid-point break at the Music Box Stairs in Silver Lake, site of the Laurel & Hardy film of the same name, the walking route will be filled with off road adventures — “backcountry” bushwhacking on a secret dirt road, paddle boating on Echo Park Lake, hearing a marching band and getting sweet treats from designated locals. Whether you are walking 1 mile or all 40, everyone is invited to join this celebration of seeing L.A. from the ground up.

WHEN: starts Saturday, July 18 @ 7:00am - ends Sunday, July 19 @ 8:00pm
ADMISSION: Free
WHERE: The Big Parade starts in downtown Los Angeles, moves throughout the city thereafter, see website for maps & timetables
WEBSITE: www.bigparadela.com

Praise be the day when I cross paths with the Coolhaus ice cream truck and have to choose a “Prefab Flavor” - Frank Behry, Mintimalism, Mies Vanilla Rohe, Richard Meyer Lemon or Neutrapolitan to name a few. Architect owned and imagined, the Coolhaus truck will be roaming the streets of L.A. this summer and will hopefully use its Twitter account Koji BBQ-style to let us know where to find it.

WHERE: the streets of L.A.
WEBSITE: www.eatcoolhaus.com
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/COOLHAUS

Take yourself off the grid of downtown L.A. and interact with it as a new terrain. Join the “collective situationist ludic engagement,” organized by UCLA’s research lab REMAP, for a walking exploration of our nuanced urban geography. Participants will be provided with mobile technology that maps out alternative ways to experience and play in downtown. Rooted in the situationist ideas of Guy Debord, the REMAP “engagement” encourages us to reconsider our place in our surroundings, to let go and mindfully drift.

REMAP’s “engagement” is part of a larger exhibition, “Photocartographies: Tattered Fragments of the Map,” that investigates how we understand our social, environmental and virtual maps and our power to re-imagine them.

DAYLIGHT ENGAGEMENT: 4:00pm-6:30pm
NIGHT ENGAGEMENT: 9:30pm-12midnight
ADMISSION: Free
WHERE: g727
ADDRESS: 727 South Spring Street, Downtown LA
G727 WEBSITE: www.gallery727losangeles.com
REMAP WEBSITE: la.remap.ucla.edu/ludicity
PHOTOCARTOGRAPHIES WEBSITE: www.tatteredfragments.info
PHOTOCARTOGRAPHIES EXHIBIT: Closes July 3, 2009

A marriage of fantasy, sculpture and the natural world, architect John Lautner’s visionary structures are icons of 20th c. SoCal architecture. The Hammer Museum presents the first major exhibition of his work in “Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner.” With specially built large-scale models, digital animations and never-before- seen drawings, one can experience the internal spaces, project scale and construction processes of such modernist residences as the octagonal “Chemosphere” house.

“The Architect as an artist for human environment must see what produces and constitutes the essential greatness of our civilization – or man will be a statistic.” – John Lautner

WHEN: 11am-7pm Tues, Wed, Fri & Sat; 11am-9pm Thurs; 11am-5pm Sun
ADMISSION: $5 General/$3 Seniors/Free for Students, UCLA Staff & Members
FREE ADMISSION: every Thursday
WHERE: Hammer Museum
ADDRESS: 10899 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024
PHONE: (310) 443-7000
WEBSITE: www.hammer.ucla.edu
ADDITIONAL INFO: The exhibit closes October 12

What exactly is a straight line? The rooms we inhabit, the grid-like layout of our streets and the shelves where we store our belongings all speak to us in straight lines. Visit the Institute for Figuring’s online exhibit, “Hyperbolic Space,” as it examines our human-created world of rectilinearity.

For thousands of years mathematicians believed there were just two types of geometry, the plane and the sphere. But another more aberrant structure lurks beneath the surface of Euclid’s laws. See how the “Hyperbolic Space” exhibit illuminates this through the art of crochet.

The Institute for Figuring is dedicated to the poetic and aesthetic dimensions of science, mathematics and the technical arts.

WHEN: all day & all night
WHERE: The Institute for Figuring, Los Angeles, CA
WEBSITE: www.theiff.org/oexhibits/
ADDITIONAL INFO: The online exhibit is ongoing

Artists, designers and activists are putting their quarters in the meter and transforming parking spaces into temporary public parks. Park(ing) Day LA has organized a one-day citywide greening of those dreary asphalt spots that define so much of our car-centric lives. Teams will create personalized landscapes, i.e. “Shakespeare in the Park(ing),” with lawn chairs, moss, potted plants and other greenery. To celebrate the wonders of these ephemeral parks, the A+D Architecture and Design Museum will host an Open Air After Party outfitted with a virtual garden, antioxidant cocktails and the tunes of DJ Garth Trinidad.

WHERE: all over LA, check map for exact locations & times at www.parkingdayla.com
PARK(ING) DAY LA WEBSITE: www.parkingdayla.com
AFTER PARTY INFO: www.parkingdayla.com/events.html

According to Thomas S. Hines, UCLA professor of history and architecture, the entertainment industry of yesteryear was not solely drawn to kitsch and glitz. Kicking off the Hollyhock House’s new lecture series, Hines will discuss “The Other Hollywood: Modern Architecture and the Los Angeles Film Community.” With a focus on the two dominant branches of architectural modernism – rationalism and expressionism – Hines relays how architectural trendsetters like Lloyd Wright and Richard Neutra captivated a movement of sophisticated actors, writers, directors and producers.

The lecture will take place at the Barnsdall Gallery Theater with a reception to follow at the Hollyhock House.

WHEN: 7:30pm
ADMISSION: Free
WHERE: Barnsdall Park
ADDRESS: 4800 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027
PHONE: (323) 836-0288
WEBSITE: www.culturela.org

Let the champagne spill forth and the chocolate cake be aplenty for all those at the christening of Skylight Books 1814. Adjacent to the original Skylight Books, the spacious 1814 gives such sections as film, theatre, art, photography and design the luxury to spread out and flourish. In addition to the all-day store discount of 18.14% at both locations, a specially formed staff band, Skylight Juice, will play a wicked brand of improvised “cacophonous soft rock.” In more ways then one Skylight Books dares to go where no independent bookstore has gone before.

OPENING PARTY: 3pm Grand Opening Party
STORE HOURS: 10am-10pm
ADMISSION: Free
WHERE: Skylight Books
ADDRESS: 1814 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
WEBSITE: www.skylightbooks.com
ADDITIONAL INFO: 18.14% discount is valid all day at both stores

Tap into the local creative flow at Pecha Kucha Night’s energized forum for young designers, architects and photographers. Allowing presenters to show 20 images for 20 seconds each, the evening generates a lively exchange around the artists’ current projects. Named for the Japanese words for the sound of conversation, Pecha Kucha Night has spread virally to over 120 cities.


WHEN: 8pm
ADMISSION: Free
WHERE: A+D
ADDRESS: 5900 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036
PHONE: (323) 932-9393
ROYAL/T WEBSITE: www.pecha-kucha.org/cities/los-angeles

Combining Bauhaus modernism with Southern California building traditions, architect Richard Neutra built a radical “glass house” on Silver Lake Boulevard in 1932. Open to the public this Saturday, take a tour of the dramatic flat-surface structure with rooftop and balcony gardens.

Funded by Dutch philanthropist C.H. van der Leeuw, Neutra named his house after his benefactor. The VDL Research House was designed to accommodate Neutra’s office and two families on a small 60 x 70 foot lot.

WHEN: 11am-3pm
ADMISSION: $10 (cash or check)
TICKETS: Door
WHERE: Neutra VDL Studio and Residences
ADDRESS: 2300 Silver Lake Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90039
PHONE: (323) 644-5480
WEBSITE: www.neutra-vdl.org

While the bikini-clad killer gymnasts, Bambi and Thumper, attack 007 at the Elrod Residence in “Diamonds Are Forever,” the audience gets a glimpse of John Lautner’s architecture. As part of the Hammer’s current Lautner exhibit, the screening of the 1971 Bond film reveals the architect’s notable cultural influence…as well as Ernst Blofeld’s evil plot to build a deadly laser satellite. 1971, United Artists, 120 min.

WHEN: 8pm
ADMISSION: $9 General/$8 Students, Seniors & Members
WHERE: Billy Wilder Theater @ The Hammer Museum
ADDRESS: 10899 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024
PHONE: (310) 206-8013
WEBSITE: www.hammer.ucla.edu

In conjunction with the Hammer Museum’s “Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner” exhibit, a lively panel will discuss the role played by Modernist buildings in feature films. Highlighted architectural protagonists will include Lautner’s “Chemosphere” residence in “Body Double,” Neutra’s Lovell House in “LA Confidential” and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Marin County Courthouse used in “Gattaca.”

WHEN: 7pm
ADMISSION: Free
WHERE: Hammer Museum
ADDRESS: 10899 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024
PHONE: (310) 443-7000
CONTACT: www.hammer.ucla.edu

The free and informal forum known as Pecha Kucha Night brings together artists, designers, photographers and thinkers to share their ideas and projects. Hosted by Royal/T, 20 presenters will project 20 slides for 20 seconds each on the subject of their choice. Named for the Japanese words for the sound of conversation, Pecha Kucha Night began in Tokyo in 2003 and has spread to over 120 cities around the world.

The presenters include:
Christiaan Cruz - Manga and Anime aficionado
Gabriel Ritter - Independent Curator/ M.A. Candidate in Art History, UCLA
Kaz Oshiro - Artist
Kulapat Yantrasast - Executive / Creative Director, wHYarchitecture
Koji Iijima - Artist
Landscape Fieldworkers - A collective of practicing geographers
Rika Hiro - Research Assistant at LACMA and Getty Research Institute
Susan Hancock - Art Collector/ The Owner of Royal/T
Susan Edwards - Web Editor at The Getty
Tak - Comme de Garcon, Guerrilla Store Owner
Yuya Takahashi - Hair Stylist

WHEN: 7pm
ADMISSION: Free, rsvp required: rsvp@royal-t.org
WHERE: Royal/T
ADDRESS: 8910 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232
PHONE: (310) 559-6300
ROYAL/T WEBSITE: www.royal-t.org/cafe