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On Thursday morning I moderated a panel on the future of Los Angeles at the Getty Research Institute's symposium, Urban Ambition: Assessing the Evolution of L.A. The panelists were Christopher Hawthorne, the architectural critic for the LA Times; Anthony Vidler, outgoing dean of the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at Cooper Union; and Mia Lehrer, the Los Angeles landscape architect. Hawthorne and Lehrer sounded excited by the potential for urban development under the new mayor, Eric Garcetti. Hawthorne suggested that the city start to allow more development of things like granny apartments and co-living complexes in single-family neighborhoods zoned R-1, Lehrer said she would like City Hall to appoint a design czar to help ensure future construction is architecturally noteworthy.
The afternoon included panels with David C. Martin, co-chairman at AC Martin Partners, architect Eric Owen Moss and Frederick and Laurie Samitaur Smith, founders of Samitaur Constructs, The symposia continue today with a discussion of the built environment with Cathy Gudis, director of the Public History Program at UC Riverside; Matthew W. Roth, archivist for the Automobile Club of Southern California; photographer Don Normark; and Los Angeles Dodgers historian Mark Langill. This afternoon, "Site Unseen: L.A. on Film" will feature presentations and discussion with filmmaker Thom Andersen, director Allison Anders and film historian and archivist Marc Wanamaker. See the full schedule. The events are part of the Getty's programming for Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future 1940–1990, the exhibition on view through July 9. It's all under the umbrella of Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A.
Also tonight, the Getty is putting on Sonic Overdrive: Songs and Stories through the Streets of Los Angeles, hosted by Josh Kun and featuring performances by Chris Hillman, Exene Cervenka, Busdriver, La Santa Cecilia, Merry Clayton and the Silversun Pickups. This one costs $20.
