Newsletter, March 1987

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for Irchillclure and U,ban O!Sign 3454 West Firs! SCreet Los Angeles CA 90004 (21313896730

FORUM EVENTS The Suggestive Spaces series continues investigation of the cosmic underpinnings otlos Angeles in three events to be held !his spring. Events are free for members, $1.50 for non-memb&f"S. CaD 213-389-6730 lor information and reservations.

• L.A. Water and Power

Tour of Owens Valley AquedUd Fi~ration Plant and Castaic Hydroelectric Power Plant Saturday, March 26, 9 a.m. Car pools will leave from SCI·ARC and a location in Hoitywood !.b.a Lunch available for a nominal sum. Reserva-

tions required.

• Discussion of the Los Angeles Landscape w~h Pamela Burton. landscape arch~ect with Burton and Sp~z April 23, , p.m., Cal Trans Maintenance Yard, Sepulveda Blvd. althe intersection of the Santa Monica and the San Diego Freeways.

• Tour 01Union Oil Refinery, Wilmington

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FORUM N.,sl.II.,

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The FOf\.Im is a place, whether temporal or spatial, for the discussion 01 ideas and concepts related to ardliteC1ure and urban design in Los Ar.geles. But the Forum is also an (ongoing) process 01 production. Our bi-monthly newsletter and pamphlets are extensions of our 8IIents and a central component of our aC1ivi~es.

In the long run, we would like 10 collect a much wider array 01 information into a "Building Base": a unified eocyclopedia which collects the tragmentary ways in which the abstract soOal. economic and physical structures 01 our community are articu~ted - in a brmat which will allow makers of architecture in Los Angeles 10 comprehend what now appears as a vast and form~s context and kI aBate aitical moments of coherence within tMt environment. The "Building Base' project would be both a unifl9d architectural archive and a manual. both a collection 01 myths and

Membership in the Forum is open to any interested individual. The $35 annual lee enl~ les members 10 tree admission 10 Forum events, 10 receive the bi· monthly newsletter, and 10 purchase OIher Forum publications at reduced rates.

Members are encouraged to par1 iC~le in planning Forum activ~ies. Please

anecdotes and an analylical and aitical survey 01 the emerging ardlilecture 01 Los Angeles. In a world 01 increasingly complex and more manipulable forms 01 inbrmation and communication. i1 would also allow a targer public 10 unde rsland and respond in a aiticallashion 10 the representations 01 their world

Telephone:

formed by our architecture.

The 'Building Base' will be a compuler-based database accessible 10 both professionals and laymen. So far, the project is only a mirage. Kyou have any interes t in this notion. and would be interested in helping to structure the "Building Base", please contact Aaron Belsky: 2t3·938-6826 or Christian Hubert: 2t3-389·6730.

A postscript to the Forum'S Skyscraper symposium held January 19 at City Hal~ the reference lor speaker Mike Davis' article IS: Mike Davis, "Chinatown, Part Ii? The 'Internationalization 01 Downtown los Angeles". New lell R8IIfew No. 164.

(All exeerpt lrom the anide was publicshed in !he March 4-10 issue 01 LA. Weekly.)

check the appropriate category below i! interested.

Name: Address:

I am interested in participating in the foRowing activities:

D pubtications D planning and development D fund raising

D D D

lectures and discussions reading groups and research social events

• Newsletter Editor:

• Board Members:

Natalie Shivers

$heUy A. Berger Aaron Betsky

• Officers: Christian Hubel1, President Aaron Betsky, Vice-President Suzanne CaUey, SecretaryfTreasurer

Benjamin Caffey Craig Hodgens Christian Hubert Doug Suisman

• "Home as a Mirror of the Self: Explorations In the Experience of Dwelling": l ecture by Claire Cooper Harris 101, USC School of Architecture. Call 213-143·2723 for inlormation.

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with Kur1

'" '"m,,,' 'Codrio Gibbons only

• for information.

647 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Honywood.

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Monday, April I to 5:30p.m.

• "Rehearsing the City: City Pageantry In the Image of Pa ri s": lecture by Atan PlallUS Harris 101, USC School 01 Arch~ecture. Call 213-743-2723 tor intormation.

Monday, April/B, 5:30 p.m.

• Tour of work by Frank Gehry.

Sponsored by SAHlSCC CalIB1B-783-024 1 lor information.

Saturday, April 30 • Conference on Housing and the Homeless Sponsored by the American Planning Association, SCI-ARC, UCLA, USC. Call 213-743·2723 lor inlormation Saturday, AprU 23, 9 a.m. • 7 p.m.

in Downtown

Paramount and Raleigh Studios ,CaJI818·783'()241 for information. Cost $12.

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Monday, Apn'l 4, 5:30 p.m.

• lecture by Peter Cook and Christine Hawley SCI-ARC. Call 213-829·2481 lor information.

Wednesday, April 6, time I.b.a.

• "Pa ris as a Work of Art": ledure by Norma Evenson Harris 101, USC School of Arch~ecture. Call 213-743-2723 lor inlormatiorl.

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Thursday, March 24, 7:00 p.m.

• Tour of A. Quincy Jones residence (The Ba rn) Call 213-743-4471 for information. Cost $15.

Sunday, March 27, 3 to 6 p.m.

• "Formal Structure In Islamic Arch itecture of Iran and Tu rkistan": Studies by Klaus Herdeg lindhurst Ga~ery, USC School of ArcMedure.

March 7· March 25, M- F 10-6, Sat. 12·5 • W Anglophilia": Exhibition of Briti sh Industrial Design Califoma Museum 01 Science and Industry, Expos~ion Park Through April 13, open daily 10-5

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The Let's Nol and Say We Did Dept: A masler plan sponsored by the eRA cans lor the Union Passenger Terminal (1934-39, John and Donald Parkinson, el a1), one of the truly wonderlullrain stations in the world, lo become a mega-retail mall as the centerpiece of a multi-modal !ransi! center that will include lacililies lor tlains, buses, and subways - but nol in the original slation. 7 million square feet of ol1ice space will be buik behind I ~e slation. A 6000 space parking garage is also slated lor the development.

The Kirsten Kiser Gallery has invited a number 01 arch~eds and students al USC, UCLA. OIis·Parsons, and SCI-ARC to design lile guard towers.

Among the participants are, nOl surprisingly. Frank Gehry, Stanley Tigarman, Roben Slem, Michael Graves, and Cesar Palli. What IS surprisi"9 is that Ihe U.S. Depar1menl 01 Beaches and Harbors is actualy considering building them. The schemes will be exhi>~ed allhe Gallery from June 251hrough July. The winning sludenl design will be on Ihe cover 01 Main magazine.

1Undevelopedlland does nol have scenic qualny. 1I is devoid 01 beaVly. 11 IS ugly, vacanlland: So says developer C.R. Wojciechowski, whose proposal lor a 106-room hOlel, lS-hole gol1 course, 17,000 s.f. commercial center and 224 single-family homes on 257 acres of Topanga Canyon was partially denied by the County Planning Commission. He is currenlly suing his opponenls for unjustly depriving him 01 profits from the project .

(or 10 besl places

r A.ao:o<cliir~ to Alan Hess)

Colfee's coffee wherever you drink~ , so you might as well choose a great buildi-lg 10 have ~ in. Here's a ~sl 01 places all owr town where the collee is wOOh drinking: • Kerry's, 14846 Venlura Blvd., Sherman Oaks: a 1953 collee shop, a M 01 Mom and Pop, a b~ 01Sputnik. Prel1y neaT original condilion.

• Ship's Culver Cily, Overland al Washington, Culver C~y: the besl piece 01 Googie remaining since Ship's Weslwood wenlto the greal commercial strip in the sky.

• Pann's, La TijerafCenlinelaA..a Cienega, Inglewood: recently remodelled, but al least not by MaTis Callender.

• Bob's Big Boy, Riverside Dr. al Alameda Ave., Toluca lake: the CUNing glass wall oilers a str~ panorama for contemplation as you sip.

• Denny's, lankershim al Burbank, North Holywoocl: The only reason to drink hele is so you can say you had collee al one 01 !he firsl Denny's (1958).

• DuPar's, FaTmer's Masket like having coffee at the k~chen table 01 your gleat uncle's larm .

• Penguin's, Olympic allincoln, Santa Monica: Plastic panels 01 penguin playgrounds make Penguin's worth a stopover.

• The Parasol, Pacific Coast Hiphway al Hawlhorne: a giant parasol in the grand lradilion 01Los Angeles Giani C'tIjecl ArcMecture. The theme is carried out in the parasol chandeliers inside.

• Google's, Olive al Fifth, downlown: nollhe original LaVlner Googie's, but QOOd if you mentally subsMule lhe original turquoise ceramic tile lor Ihe red Orick veneer that exists loday. look in the back comers IOf !ragmenls ollhe real thing.

• Rae's, 2901 Pico, Santa Monica: One 01 the dozens of Biffs im~alors, but fs survived. A classic coHee shop shape and plan.