LOS ANGELES | Central City Project Rundown 5.0

[WonderlandPark]

I don't exactly agree with Curbed calling this "Grove DTLA" but a pretty large shopping center looks to go into the Arts Dist.

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2014/06/the_arts_district_is_getting_a_grovestyle_openair_mall.php

[bobcat]

Originally Posted by WonderlandPark

I don't exactly agree with Curbed calling this "Grove DTLA" but a pretty large shopping center looks to go into the Arts Dist.

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2014/06/the_arts_district_is_getting_a_grovestyle_openair_mall.php

Kind of a silly comparison given that the Grove cost 10 times as much to build.

But the interesting part is that according to the article the AD's average household income is $125,000. Seriously?

[caligrad]

Looking forward to more of those warehouses on the east side of DT to disappear ! Its time ! I think a Grove-ish type development in the arts district is a good idea. If I had it my way and was a billionaire, a football stadium would sit nicely in the south east corner of the DT loop. Imagine the development that would spur, especially with land in that area not as expensive yet as it is by LA live.

[Illithid Dude]

I'm really not feeling the idea of a second shopping center in the art's district (remember, there is one planned for the American Apparel HQ).

[caligrad]

^^I haven't heard of that proposal before but the lot that it sits on is massive would a huge building as a centerpiece, I would rather see that come into fruition than this new one. The only thing about that proposal is that the American Apparel headquarters is surrounded on all sides by 5-6 blocks of complete dead zone.....which actually may be a good thing. a shopping center plopped there may spur development around it. Just waiting for skid row to go away. soon im sure.

[StethJeff]

Originally Posted by brudy

Ava is by far the ugliest building under construction. Insane colors, lots of mismatched materials, weird attachments to the facade and topped with an 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵. It is the Mr. Potatohead of architecture. No lively area deserves this monstrosity.

But hey, I can agree about Office Depot.

I think the giant letters running vertically along the side of the building that spell out "A V A" are the ultimate cherry on top to this disaster. Switch this building with that beautiful 5-story brown LOHA building that's a few pages back and I wouldn't be complaining at all.

[colemonkee]

^ There are actually two of those signs now. This thing is a disaster. They took a design that could have been somewhat respectable and TCA'd the 🞵🞵🞵🞵 out of it.

On another, more positive note, steal is rising at the Federal Courthouse site. Things are starting to get interesting.

[brudy]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

^ There are actually two of those signs now. This thing is a disaster. They took a design that could have been somewhat respectable and TCA'd the 🞵🞵🞵🞵 out of it.

On another, more positive note, steal is rising at the Federal Courthouse site. Things are starting to get interesting.

Yep, steel is poking over the fence.

And AVA has been poked by the ugly stick. The double signs are double-awful and like those damn birthday candles that don't blow out, the joke is on us. But I like that TCA is now a verb :-)

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by ChelseaFC

Parcel M plaza with denser greenery than I expected

those appear to be the 100 yr old olive trees that the landscaper has included in the plaza's design.

A clear indication of why the broad museum felt it had to file a lawsuit against the fabricator of the facade is apparent in the scaffolding. It was being slowly removed a few wks ago, but now it's fully back up all over again. To have to take the time & go to the trouble & expense of doing that means something must be quite amiss with what they previously installed. yikes!

as for the story of the deloitte accounting firm moving from cal plaza to the gas tower....& by so doing reducing its total space in the hood by 50%....that info should be printed out & taped onto the foreheads of all those ppl who keep wondering why dtla can't have more taller bldgs.

If we were instead reading about the opposite of major companies cutting back their footprint in the hood...if they instead were expanding & gobbling up lots of office space....it's very possible the grand wilshire tower truly would have been the tallest in LA & on the west coast.

I miss the lengthy photo updates that were being posted to this thread somewhat regularly, at least several wks or a few months ago.

Ppl are talking about the new apt bldgs in little tokyo, which haven't had recent pics of them inserted here for several wks. It's more difficult to know just how good or bad any of the projs in dt are when there are a lack of photo examples to look at. however, if the colors shown in the artists rendering of the proposed apt bldg between the 2 phases of the avant on fig st really do end up looking that way in real life photos, they'll be clashing & looking declasse.

[brudy]

Originally Posted by citywatch

Ppl are talking about the new apt bldgs in little tokyo, which haven't had recent pics of them inserted here for several wks. It's more difficult to know just how good or bad any of the projs in dt are when there are a lack of photo examples to look at. however, if the colors shown in the artists rendering of the proposed apt bldg between the 2 phases of the avant on fig st really do end up looking that way in real life photos, they'll be clashing & looking declasse.

If I can get over that way, I'll take some shots. The colors of AVA and the other one are pretty bad - worse than in the renderings. It looks very juvenile with the various colors, shapes, and signage. There's also a nasty clash of materials. The brown area on the front of the AVA actually looks like aluminum siding from the 1970s and has a very cheap appearance. It's a total mishmash of colors and materials. It's very very strange. I'm seriously bummed about this one because I love the location and had thought about moving there, but there's no way I'd live in that thing.

The only plus is the street level activation and the hopefully new residents. As a design, this thing is a serious failure.

[LAsam]

Why are we getting such horribly designed residential infill architecture? I visited Portland recently and their new residential infill looks much nicer than ours. It's almost as if TCA is designing a new vernacular akin to the the dingbats of old that will be maligned for generations to come... It's unfortunate because instead of being excited for infill, we're all filled with trepidation now hoping it won't look as bad or worse than what we've recently had built.

[colemonkee]

Man, I hope TCA staffers read this forum.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

Man, I hope TCA staffers read this forum.

My wish as well. What an embarrassment to the architecture world.

[blackcat23]

http://brighamyen.com/2014/06/17/grove-1...now-planted-new-broad-plaza-downtown-la/

Grove of 100-Year Old Olive Trees Now Planted at New Broad Museum Plaza

[DistrictDirt]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

My wish as well. What an embarrassment to the architecture world.

Just to reiterate TCA folks (if you're reading this):

Your work is bad, and you should feel bad.

[brudy]

Well, we're talking about the people who designed such legendary monstrosities as Wilshire and La Brea, perhaps the ugliest large project we've seen here. They have to be completely clueless and even if they do read this I'm sure they think they're doing just spectacular work and we're just a bunch of interweb cranks.

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

Just to reiterate TCA folks (if you're reading this):

Your work is bad, and you should feel bad.

[alki]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

Man, I hope TCA staffers read this forum.

I was thinking the same thing.........TCA staffers lurking on this forum, please identify yourselves and explain.

[alki]

Originally Posted by brudy

Well, we're talking about the people who designed such legendary monstrosities as Wilshire and La Brea, perhaps the ugliest large project we've seen here. They have to be completely clueless and even if they do read this I'm sure they think they're doing just spectacular work and we're just a bunch of interweb cranks.

Well if they believe that, then they need to go to the Curbed LA article on AVA. Comments are running 4 to 1 against the project.

[brudy]

TCA at the end of a project: