Frank Gehry makes like an urbanist in his new plans for Related's high profile, $1.8 billion, nine-acre, Grand Avenue project in downtown Los Angeles. Could LA become an architectural mecca?
"The champion of stand-alone, sculptural architecture had delivered a surprisingly down-to-earth and practical scheme for the immense mixed-use program, to be built across the street from Gehry's own Concert Hall. While not entirely free of awkward details, and few projects covering nearly three city blocks would be problem-free at this early stage of design, the Gehry scheme acknowledges the constraints of both urbanism and commercial development."
..."Despite its large, conventional downtown, Los Angeles is notoriously a-centric, being a loosely packed shopping bag of different industrial clusters and ethnic communities.... The notion that Grand Avenue by itself will reorient Los Angeles towards downtown sounds like an idea hatched at a Chelsea pot party."
..."More tenable was the suggestion by real estate executive, philanthropist and fixer extraordinaire Eli Broad, that Grand Avenue would eventually join a circle of name-brand architecture in downtown Los Angeles that includes Rafael Moneo's Cathedral of Our Lady of Los Angeles and the future High School for the Visual and Performing Arts by Wolf Prix, aging bad boy of Vienna's Coop Himmelblau. This collection of architectural wonders will, predicts Broad, make Los Angeles 'a city of architecture second to none.' "
Thanks to Peter Slatin
FULL STORY: Gehry's Grand Strides
Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?
Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?
Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?
Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage
Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.
Updating LA’s Tree Rules Could Bring More Shade to Underserved Neighborhoods
A new USC study finds that relaxing Los Angeles’ outdated tree planting guidelines could significantly expand urban tree canopy and reduce shade disparities in lower-income neighborhoods, though infrastructure investments are also needed.
California's Canal Solar Projects Aim to Conserve Resources and Expand Clean Energy
California’s Project Nexus has begun generating electricity from solar panels installed over irrigation canals, with researchers and state agencies exploring statewide expansion to conserve water and boost clean energy production.
HHS Staff Cuts Gut Energy Assistance Program
The full staff of a federal program that distributes heating and cooling assistance for low-income families was laid off, jeopardizing the program’s operations.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
City of Moreno Valley
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland