Coolhaus Branches Out Doggie Style
The Phydough truck premiered at the Americana at Brand in Glendale
Our favorite mobile, architecture-loving ice cream sandwich maker, Coolhaus, has added another truck to its growing arsenal. But this time the treats aren’t for humans. The new truck, Phydough, sells gourmet dog treats, ranging from duckfat-flavored biscuits to foie gras doggie ice cream.
Yes, this is no joke. Coolhaus founders Natasha Case and Freya Estreller started as consultants on the project—overseen by Patrick Guilfoyle, owner of Burbank-based doggie daycare Doubledog Dare Ya, which as far as we know is one of the world’s only dog kennels located in a contemporary-style home—but are now helping to operate the truck as well.
And world domination is on the horizon. Read more.
Comment: Architecture Is Not Enough at Grand Avenue
Map of LA's Grand Avenue; the new museum is colored red.
When Diller Scofidio + Renfro were solicited last June by Eli Broad to sketch an idea for his new archive and museum, the architects were forced to ask: “What do you build next to Disney Hall?” Answer: Something else. Where Frank Gehry’s work is smooth and impenetrable, the Broad Art Foundation is porous and accessible. The stainless steel concert hall reflects the city’s skyline; blinding sunlight bounces off its capering shell. The Broad’s concrete veil, by contrast, is a less aggressive spectacle. At three-feet thick, and punched through with large angular openings, the new museum looks as if it is cloaked in an ice cube tray twisted by a powerful algorithm. As, certainly, it has been, to pleasing effect. Read More
Video> Fly Through the New Broad Museum
Public lobby at The Broad (Diller Scofidio + Renfro)
Yesterday, Sam Lubell detailed The Broad Foundation’s much-anticipated LA museum complete with all the renderings. Now, we have a video fly-through of the new Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed space and isn’t it something! You can really start to appreciate the porous nature of The Broad‘s structural concrete “veil” and the views inside and out it will offer. You also gain a sense of its street presence sitting alongside Frank Gehry’s Disney Hall, which appears rather large in comparison. What do you think?
Thursday is D Day for Broad Museum
Site of the museum, on LA's Grand Avenue.
Finally. The design for Eli Broad’s new contemporary art museum in Downtown LA, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, is being unveiled on Thursday, according to a press release sent out today. The event will take place at 11:00 am at Walt Disney Concert Hall (next to the new museum site), giving us lazy journalists plenty of time to make it. According to the release, the museum will be “home to the worldwide headquarters of The Broad Art Foundation,” and will provide a home for Broad’s collection of more than 2,000 works by 200 artists. Since the museum saga has dragged out over several years between several cities, and because he’s hired one of the country’s top architects, Mr. Broad has done an excellent job of building our expectations. Hope it’s good!
Street Artists In The News
We're guessing WEHO City Council decided to listen to this guy
Shortly after street artist BLU’s installation on the wall of the Geffen Contemporary in downtown LA was whitewashed, we learn via Curbed LA what our Eavesdrop column had rumored weeks before: that another street artist, Shepard Fairey, is in the architecture news as well.
The legendary/notorious “Hope” poster creator was just chosen by the West Hollywood city council to design an art piece for the almost-complete West Hollywood Library (MDA Johnson Favaro’s really really big white structure across from the PDC with an equally big garage ) more than a year after the council un-selected him amidst controversy.
This is getting confusing… The library is also working with artist David Wiseman, whose swoopy white forms seem well matched to the building’s swoopy white aesthetic.
LA Stadium Designs To Be Unveiled
Is there another large downtown venue in store?
In a breathless press release, developer AEG and its partners have revealed that they will be unveiling renderings from the three finalists for the proposed downtown LA stadium tomorrow evening at 5pm (December 15).
According to Sports Business Journal, the three firms chosen via an RFP are HKS, HNTB, and Gensler (who designed the Ritz Carlton/JW Marriott where the press conference will be held.. hmm..).
The stadium’s proposed location is the site of the LA Convention Center’s West Hall. We will of course share the renderings with you after the presser, so stay tuned.
Of course, LA still has no football team, nor does it have an approved location for a stadium. But this is Hollywood! We know how to dream!
In other downtown news, City Council on Thursday will vote on the fate of the proposed Wilshire Grand redevelopment, which would include two large towers designed by AC Martin. Stay tuned everybody!
USC Reviews Go Way Way Up
Inside the 50th floor of City National Plaza's North Tower yesterday.
Limited by the constraints of its scattered design buildings, USC’s School of Architecture yesterday held its final reviews on the 50th and 51st floors of City National Plaza’s North Tower in Downtown LA. The giant review, called Blue Tape: Super Review, included 48 studios, about 70 professors, and over 700 students, including those studying architecture and urban design, landscape architecture, and historic preservation. Yours truly got to sit in on Jennifer Siegal’s studio: Generation Mobile: exploring the deployable free-range cuisine truck culture, which featured some mind-bending re-imaginings of today’s fairly traditional food trucks. The two floors, which used to contain offices for Bank of America (sorry guys) was donated by Thomas Properties, which owns both of the towers at City National. The 52-story buildings, by the way, were designed by A.C. Martin in 1972. We wonder where they’ll do their next reviews? Read More
Lost In The Architecture
37 first year SCI-Arc students have just finished a mesmerizing new installation in the school’s parking lot called Sway. The project is made of 228 thin bundled steel rods, bolted into the ground and joined via flexible (and wild) wire units above. The vast and tightly-packed array of bendy rods are responsive to subtle changes in wind force (and not-so-subtle pushing by visitors), enabling the structure to move around like trees in a forest, or a collection of organisms. At night they catch the light in changing and surprising ways.
The 1A Studi0—which produces a large installation every year— was led by professors Nathan Bishop, Eric Kahn and Jenny Wu. Bishop accurately called the piece an “encompassing environment.” Which is what makes it so great: the chance to walk right into the art and interact with it.
NBC Tries To Forget Conan Through Architecture
Conan's NBC set, before the big breakup..
Most of us move on from difficult breakups by eating ice cream or going on long walks. Not NBC. They build things. Now that Conan O’Brien has started his own show on TBS, NBC has awarded IA with a commission to redesign his former Tonight Show sound stage in Studio City (which reportedly cost $50 million to build) into a two story newsroom for local and network news. IA has signed a non-disclosure agreement, so they can’t talk about it. But according to the RFP, the 70,000 square foot project, awarded earlier this fall, will include studios, control rooms, edit rooms, offices and and storage. It should be finished by June 2012. So basically they want to obliterate any memory of Conan? Well, yes, our inside source tells us, that’s exactly it…
See A Theater In The Making At Hard Hat Sunday
A Noise Within's construction site
Classical repertory theater A Noise Within (ANW) will find itself occupying some interesting digs next fall, moving from its longtime leased space in Glendale to a new 33,000-square foot facility built into the former Stuart Pharmaceutical building—a historic, mid-century modern complex designed by Edward Durell Stone. The design is being carried out by KKE and John Berry Architects. But before ANW even packs its bags for its new home, the company is giving culture vultures free peeks of the facility in construction every second Sunday of the month, including this Sunday. “It’s one thing to see something already built, but it’s another to see everything that goes into it,” said artistic director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, who is on hand for each tour, along with co-artistic director Geoff Elliott and the occasional board member or project superintendent. Contrary to its name—Hard Hat Sundays—guests don’t wear the head gear, but instead gather safely on a viewing deck and peer down at the site in progress. If you’ve ever wanted to know more about rebar than what you’re supposed to, or simply want to enjoy the sunset with other culture lovers, this could be your ticket.
Emeryville Art Center Short List On Display
Edmonds+ Lee's plan removes the site's existing building altogether
The SF Chronicle’s John King today shares the shortlist for the new Emeryville Center For the Arts. The six contestants are some of the city’s best young firms. In fact organizer David Meckel—stressing this push for emerging talent— initially said that the winner should not be a fellow of the AIA. The finalists include: Aidlin Darling, Edmonds + Lee, Jensen Architects, Ogrydziak Prillinger Architects, Schwartz and Architecture, and Envelope A+D. Their plans are currently on display at Emeryville City Hall, next to which the arts center will eventually sit . All except Edmonds+Lee include the site’s existing 1940′s brick building. Aidlin Darling includes a sloped green roof for film watching; Ogrydziak Prillinger layers spaces in and out of the structure; and Jensen architects opens it up with large, movable glass walls. The winner will be announced next week, so stay tuned.
New Eagle Rock Arts Hub Opening In Style
Workers put the finishing touches on Live Arts LA
This Saturday night LA’s newest arts center will be opening its doors for a sneak peek: Live Arts LA, a 5,000 square foot space for theater, dance, and the visual arts is built into a former warehouse in Eagle Rock/Glassell Park (our favorite up-and coming hipster neighborhoods). The cavernous open span building was renovated entirely out of repurposed materials by a team led by Hollywood set builder Daryl Lee. Saturday’s event will be a fundraiser for performance troupe Whiskey Carousel, a sassy cast of characters that performs a combination of vaudeville, cabaret, and burlesque. The night will also have performances by other dance groups as well as live music and art installations; including a piece by LA architects Layer, called Squid Capsule, a collection of transparent vinyl membranes hanging from steel cables that you may have seen installed at the Silver Lake gallery Materials & Applications. Live Arts LA will officially open later this month, offering everything from Afro-Caribbean dance classes to rehearsal rooms. Buy tickets to the event here, and get a preview below. Read More
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