LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0 - Page 22

citywatch · #**421** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 5:15 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by scania

Sometimes, I have to chime in because I'm not sure how it is here with the people on this forum, but the ones typically screaming these elitist attitudes, were always the ones, let's say wasn't even living in an urban area of the city(and more can be said, but to keep it politically correct) I'll leave it there.

the forumer you're replying to is very likely the same person who was red penned....& wished into the corn fields...awhile back. he was always into intellectual blather, a thousand words strung together as mainly flame bait, none of them even getting to the heart of the matter.

it's not the new or the somewhat older devlpt in LA....inc in dtla....that is the problem. it's not devlpt patterns of the recent past that give most ppl a poor impression of the city. It's not a matter of new projs in dtla that aren't tall enough, or are designed by architects like TCA, or....considering how quickly they book up....even the much lamented apt bldgs owned by GH palmer. It's also not an issue of newer projs in other hoods like the grove.

LA would be in fairly good shape if those really were the sticking points instead of things like these.....

ConstructDTLA

^ seeing the removal of a wondrous bldg like the taco house....far, far more than seeing the chopping down of pine trees on grand ave....all by itself is why I can hardly wait til the apt tower proposed for 4th & hill st breaks ground.

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LDVArch · #**422** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 5:30 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bikemike

[...] Very little of LA's architecture is enduring precisely because most of it is fashionable but vapid. It only looks cool to those types who are easily fooled. And "those types" in LA are the masses. [...] They see the anachronistic, faux-gothic USC Village as "collegial". [Emphasis added.]

[...] The stereotype that appearances matter more than substance is somewhat true.

[...] The reason LA's culture is ANTI-progressive is because its residents as a whole lack sophistication. [...] They live in an inferior version of Toronto but their brains are still stuck in Simi Valley or Orange County. Dense without connectivity. Discordant and brutally scaled. [Emphasis added.]

[...] My purpose: a single vote to counterbalance all the backwardness of the masses. Maybe if I can convert a few while I'm here we can make progress and we can build more intelligent (i.e. thoughtful) looking architecture.

The stereotype about LA, that appearances matter more than substance, is itself evidence of a lack of cultural literacy. As I argued in a recent post, this is not what people were thinking at Yale in the late 80's or in Paris in 2006. And, it is not what the culturally literate in the rest of the world think when they learn how little some of us paid for the work of certain young LA artists before the rest of the world discovered them. Given your high level of sophistication, I know I don't need to tell you the names of those artists.

Or, maybe I do because what culturally-literate person would say that "their brains are stuck in Orange County." Do you realize how silly that sounds when there is a Phillip Johnson in Garden Grove (Crystal Cathedral), when the contemporary artist Fred Tomaselli got his MFA at CSU Fullerton, and when Norton Simon of the Norton Simon Collection was CEO of Hunt Foods in Fullerton? Harold Williams "got stuck" in the OC when he ran Hunt Foods for Norton Simon. As the first president of the Getty Trust, he presided over the planning and construction of the Getty Museum in Brentwood. We should all be so lucky as to get our brains stuck in Orange County before doing something great elsewhere.

BTW, the rustics at Yale also think the faux-gothic style is collegiate. (The word is collegiate.) The style was as anachronistic in the early 20th-century as it is now. Like USC, Yale even went back to the style for the design of two new residential colleges. I would think a sophisticated person would know this.

BrandonJXN · #**423** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 10:13 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerellO

Dunkin Donuts is so overhyped.. I'm not a big fan of cakey donuts.. Tastes just like every other donut out there.. Actually you can find so much better local donuts. Coffee?? Tastes just like plain old coffee no difference there TO ME.

They are all over the place here in Chicago (I live across the street from one and not even half a mile from another). They have a decent breakfast menu but it's just like any other donut shop. If you want good pastries, go to any little indie cafe.

blackcat23 · #**424** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 2:47 PM**

http://urbanize.la/post/slow-moving-cornfield-park-renovation-finally-making-progress

Finally some progress at Los Angeles State Historic Park. It's not much, but at least things are moving again.

ChargerCarl · #**425** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 3:57 PM**

I <3 shitboxes

colemonkee · #**426** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 3:58 PM**

Still don't know why they had to remove all the pretty mature trees that were already there. Could have at least tried to transplant/move them.

BrianMojo · #**427** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 5:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by losangelesnative

RE:Code LA is hosting six public forums unveiling portions of the new zoning code, the first one is tonight at Union Station http://recode.la/updates/news/public-forums-sneak-peek-new-zoning-code

Is anyone going to any of these meetings that can report back? Would love to hear some of the details of what's being proposed.

BrianMojo · #**428** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 6:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by colemonkee

Still don't know why they had to remove all the pretty mature trees that were already there. Could have at least tried to transplant/move them.

Totally agreed. It almost physically hurts me when people cut down trees.

Wilcal · #**429** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 6:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChargerCarl

LA is dominated by NIMBY's because we stupidly allow local residents to have a large voice in planning decisions. It's an institutional problem. Move planning decisions away from local governments and I promise you we'll see better outcomes.

I agree. Nimby's do have a disproportionately large voice, which has to change. And, unfortunately this process has become, as you say institutionalized in this city. This is evident with the AIDs group in Hollywood which I'm sure is not a single entity with Silverstein in tow (he only sniffs the money trail). I think that in that case it is those in the hills who are wealthy and resent the abrupt changes in their environment. My feeling overall when it comes to development is to engage and trust the planners (after all they are professionals whom we do hire to perform a specific job), and let the local populace have measured say in the process. I think that the major problem being is that the city and its politicians are too "chicken shit" too stand up and cave too easily to pressure.

Valyrian Steel · #**430** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 6:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianMojo

Totally agreed. It almost physically hurts me when people cut down trees.

Yeah, yesterday I noticed these people cutting down a couple of trees down the street from my house. I get effing pissed.

cesar90 · #**431** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 7:01 PM**

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ChelseaFC · #**432** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 8:22 PM**

Sad news, as a construction worker has died after falling while working on the Wilshire Grand

http://ktla.com/2016/03/17/construction-...r-landing-on-passing-car-in-downtown-la/

a9l8e7n · #**433** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 8:59 PM**

Wonder how it happened

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChelseaFC

Sad news, as a construction worker has died after falling while working on the Wilshire Grand

http://ktla.com/2016/03/17/construction-...r-landing-on-passing-car-in-downtown-la/

blackcat23 · #**434** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 9:51 PM**

New Renderings of 950 E. Third Street

Now underway in the Arts District

King Kill 'em · #**435** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 10:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by a9l8e7n

Wonder how it happened

He wasn't wearing his safety strap thing. Probably a suicide

Valyrian Steel · #**436** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 10:06 PM**

Apparently he was an electrician, and shouldn't have been so close to the edge.

caligrad · #**437** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 10:49 PM**

Yeah its sad to hear, I feel for his family. I was at the doctors office and when the news broke, most people in the waiting room first thought was "it sounds like suicide".

Apparently his job didn't require him to be that close to the edge.

It being only his 2nd day, good weather, wind speeds are low, makes you wonder what was going on. We probably wont hear another update on the story for months.

upward 2000 · #**438** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 10:50 PM**

He was an electrician according to KTLA. Second day on this job site.

colemonkee · #**439** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 10:53 PM**

The comments on the redesign of 950 E. 3rd Street on Urbanize LA are hilarious. I'll add mine:

The architect's vision: "We really wanted to design something that honors the deep history of the area. Specifically the part of the history where homeless people shit all over the sidewalk in the middle of the afternoon. And we're proud to unveil a design that does just that: shits all over the sidewalk in the middle of the afternoon."

On a more serious note, very sad about the Wilshire Grand death. We've been pretty lucky in LA that this hasn't been more common.

caligrad · #**440** Posted **Mar 17, 2016, 11:10 PM**

^^^ You beat me to it Colemonkee HAHA the comments on urbanize are pretty funny but sadly accurate to say the least.

I don't understand why Architects lately feel the need to overwork their projects. Ok fine we get it, 7 storys are going to be a way of life in some parts of LA, that's fine, but why feel the need to add 7 different colors ? why give every unit a balcony ? why add all kinds of exterior zig zag/wavy lines ? why have Tetris type protrusions coming out one side of the building but not the other ? why feel the need to add excess walls and stucco when glass and other materials are in some cases is cheaper?

Sad thing is these units will probably run around $2500 for a one bedroom when the building cost could have dramatically been decreased with a far better looking product.