oneshotexhibition.org blog

While much of the US economy is trying to survive from the downfall of the real estate market, there is one project that is still going and building with less fanfare but has most of the tourist gawking about is the City Center on the Vegas Strip. It is a City Center (aren’t all hotel casinos a city within itself) along Las Vegas Blvd, near E. Harmon Ave. intersection, with its own zip code that cost 11 billion dollars, consisting designs by world re-known architects: Daniel Libeskind, Ceasar Pelli, Helmut Jahn, Rafael Viñoly, Norman Foster and David Rockwell, having it bill as a world-class city development focusing on art and architecture with an emphasis on sustainable design, being develop by MGM Mirage Company at the cost of 11 billion dollars. It shows what kind of diversity in architecture can bring to Las Vegas at a price.

It was an opportunity to hang out with some friends in last month’s March Madness in New York, New York Hotel and Casino to check out the center. During the day, I could overhear crowds of revelers and tourist commenting the look of the center. A couple with a heavy southern accent commented that they didn’t know what to think about the look of the complex, especially at the Daniel Libeskind design, “it didn’t look pretty, but I think it’s ugly.” In some of the theoretical world of architecture, it is a compliment and reveling in it. It’s weird. Las Vegas, in a whole, is a town that is perceived of being of not knowing what to think.  With all the kitsch, urban sprawl, traffic, lack of water resource and the fact it is in the middle of the dessert. It seems that people like myself escape to an area made out of nothing for something other than the truth and the reality of a sustainable city.

Back to City Center, late in the evening at 4:00 in the morning, I got the chance to really check the center up close while walking to the Sahara Hotel to get to the hotel room. While there were less people on the strip, I found there were no security at the gate and had the possibility of walking inside the complex with no problem. It seems that there resources are running thin, construction is moving in a snail pace and MGM Mirage are trying to get more financial backing to finish the project, the possibility of selling off some of their casino resorts to avoid bankruptcy.

What the problem is with this lifestyle center is the cost and livability in comparison to the rest of the City of Las Vegas; a unit of one can cost up to 23 million dollars. More people are losing their homes in break neck speed. The role of well known architects has been co-opted in designing over the top designs that become a selling point for the exclusive and not for all classes. While mainstream Las Vegas has become a bastion of the absurbity, we could always come to the originator of gaudiness and kitsch is Liberace.

View of City Center w/ Daniel Lebeskind designed building in the foreground (tilting walls).

A closer look @ City Center

The front entrance to City Center

The Dessert night brings comfort, where no secure place has no purpose nor reason that pierces  the conscious mind.

Exposed beyond the surface of doubt.

                                       The true originator of Las Vegas: Liberace

Song of the Blog: Holiday in the Sun by the Sex Pistols in the album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here are the Sex Pistols

One of things in moving away from car culture that lasted for more than 50 years is to develop areas that are pedestrian friendly near transportation stops, meaning transportation oriented development (TOD); Make places more inviting and pleasing of the senses by integrating mixed use, open space and connectivity to the neighborhood.

One sort of banal and mundane approach of the typical urban sprawl that hasn’t brought any revitalization nor a paradigm shift of urban renewal into a community is the proposed commercial development at the corner of Woodman Avenue and Oxnard Street in Van Nuys (it’s really called Valley Glen for real estate purposes and local governing councils). It’s right in the center of a transportation stop for the gold line and is a perfect opportunity to have a new type of development in that corner with some good design acumen. This type of development is the same approach that disenfranchises communities than to more forward into a sustainable society.

This development could exacerbate the mindless cost to extend the practice of more parking lots and boxy buildings for the area that doesn’t tell about the people, area and locale of its richness and diversity. When will there be some kind of civic approach towards urban design that has the capacity to embrace the neighborhood and capitalize urban growth.

It is time to rethink this type of development and design, to bring down the hideous mini-mall that’s going to be obsolete.

The site on the corner of  Woodman and Oxnard where the mini-mall is being develop.

  The proposed development of vacant lot. A typical approach to Urban Sprawl near the TOD site on the Orange Line.

Close up of the building. Check out one of the name of the businesses (Modern Design). Far away from the truth.

Song of the Blog: the pre-released song Georgia by Eagle and Talon on the up-coming CD THRACIAN

The director of Los Angeles City Planning, Gail Goldberg, who came from the San Diego Planning Department in 2006 to revamp and reconstituted the planning department came to a panel discussion about the future of the San Fernando Valley at Woodbury University in Burbank to explain the audience that the planning department will do real planning and one of the aspects for having good planning is to have good design. The name of the symposium event is Shifting Focus: Architecture, Urbanism, & Development in the San Fernando Valley. She says in general that Los Angeles doesn’t have good planning, to say the least, any planning (which is true). Her intentions are to have the community be involve in the process and that designers, architects and urbanist will play an important role in all. The hope is to gain a valuable paradigm for other cities to follow and gain more insight in redeveloping and redesigning the suburban landscape, which the San Fernando Valley is a good case study.

She explains that neighborhood (commercial) corridors will transform itself into mix-use; higher density and pedestrian oriented streets while most of the inner residential neighborhoods will still keep their character. She mentions that 23 planners in the downtown region will reassign to the valley to refocus and address the issues relevant to each community.

Right now, she mentions there is a new community plan program (look under Plans & Ordinances) for the communities around LA to redevelop and revitalize where communities can be sustainable and vibrant. The communities being focus in the Valley are Sylmar, Granada Hills and Sunland / Tujunga areas.

The hope is that the new City Planning Department will play a major role in which how is the City of Los Angeles will shape and re-landscape itself into a world-class urban city where the residents will feel proud of their community. We wait and see how the process will evolve and how innovative designers, architects and planners are going to be involved. The possibility is endless.

Director of City Planning for the City of Los Angeles, Gail Goldberg, with her mission and vision statement for the department and for Los Angeles.

Song of the Blog: Do Want You Gotta Do by Nina Simone on the CD The Essential Nina Simone 

There’s an article in the LA Times regarding the shifting animosity towards development along Ventura Blvd., from Studio City all the way the Woodland Hills because the impact of traffic in the area. A lot of attention goes to mix-use housing to create a more a pedestrian friendly atmosphere but complaints from neighborhood councils are becoming more frequent and a lot of bickering amongst city planners, developers and residents.

In the meantime, Barbara Faga wrote that the problem is not about the density and sprawl. but design on Planetzen. Then on the Economist article, politicians are pushing density in order to redesign areas near mass transit station to have pedestrian friendly places. The question are they following on what they preach or they are selling out to developers without concession from the public in terms of building smart growth?

One of the Redline subway station stops

Song of the Blog: Handle with Care (Traveling Wilburys tune) sung by Jenny Lewis on the CD Rabbit Fur Coat

Prior to heading back to LA, there was a stop to a Straw Bale Home in Cambria, built by the owner/elementary school teacher with a little help from friends and subcontractors. Finished in 2004 with a construction budget of $76,000 (not included permit fees & land purchase). Go figure.

Straw bale home in Cambria facing south for passive solar heating in the backyard. Also using reclaim lumber from old demolished home, which make it cost efficient and more sustainable.

Interior view of fireplace in living area.

View from the backyard overlooking the open foothill ranches of San Luis Obispo County.

Song of the Blog: Universal Highness by Thievery Corporation the CD Sounds of the Thievery hi-fi

California Straw Bale Association (CASBA) recently had their conference at the beautiful campgrounds of Cambria, north-west from San Luis Obispo. Builders, Engineers, home owners who are interested or already have a straw bale home participate in the event. Probably the most important, if not unpretentious event with a little more than a hundred members participating at Camp Ocean Pines, overlooking the central coast, with the majority bunking together in the camping, while others camp amongst the trees and nature.

A series of presentations, discussions and some laughs made it enjoyable, while gaining useful information on straw bale construction. There were owners telling stories about their success and failures (mostly success) in construction and after, builders and contractors explaining their methods of building in Northern / Central California and the San Diego County, a sit down discussion regarding making a better detail for windows, different types of lime plastering application and financing for a straw bale home construction .

The importance of the conference is not only the amount of information on straw bale construction but also the contingency of representatives from different parts of California. Most of the participants are from Northern and Central California with a few from San Diego County. The most underlying factor is there were only four (4) participants from LA County in the conference; a couple from Palmdale who were interested in building a Straw bale home, myself and one senior project manager from a large corporate architectural firm in Pasadena.

Los Angeles isn’t too receptive in terms to straw bale construction as an alternative material, while LA is pretty much a center of innovation and design, but the value of using straw bale can have a lasting effect towards sustainability and affordability, depending the size, scale and use of the project. Straw bale could instill new ways of to Angelenos alternative use towards design and space; flexible, organic, indigenous and worthy of bringing a humane factor.

Hay is for Horses and straw is for building discourse in Architecture.

CASBA @ Camp Ocean Pines in Cambria, the Central Coast of California

View from Camp Ocean Pines, CASBA conference location.

Bill Donovan from Truckee, CA presented his straw bale construction work to the members of CASBA.

CASBA members enjoying themselves at the conference.

Presented item regarding the energy efficiency of straw bale homes vs. typical single family residences. (A possible use for commercial and mix-use buildings)

A perfect ending to the conference.

Song of the Blog: Nature of the Experiment by Tokyo Police Club on the CD A Lesson in Crime

The eastern part of the Los Angeles region, the City of Downey, home of the Carpenters, the Blasters, Weird Al Yankovic and James Hetfield of Metallica, is a blue-collar suburban neighborhood where the major industry was the Rockwell Rocketdyne division (aerospace industry) and Coca-Cola distribution factory. Mostly a flatland territory, dominated by your usual suspects of strip malls, ginger bread ranch homes and car-dealership lots.

A great deal of the area has not transform itself a situation what is happening in the Westside of Los Angeles with gentrification, high property values, old mom and pop establishment disappearing and at times snobbery of its residences, usually they are transplants. You could still find Chris’ and Pitts Restaurant on 9243 Lakewood Blvd. and one of the original MacDonald’s hamburger stands (3rd oldest), which also has a mini museum on location. These are landmarks that define our culture and the city of Downey.

Like most suburban territories, McMansions has become more prevalent in the neighborhoods, and even the destruction of cultural and historical landmarks like Johnies Broiler on Firestone Boulevard and Old River School Road.

Johnies Broiler has been embroiled in a discussion whether it is salvageable since part of the structure has been torn down. There has been a grass-roots initiative to save Johnies and a article in the LA Times showing the importance preserving what is left in a ever changing landscape that loses a bit of history.

What are the possibilities in reforming and reconstituting Johnies Broiler into a different use where elements of a bygone era can be integrated into a new form of development and revitalization? Can that marriage last under the cloud of progress where history, redevelopment and rezoning plays a part in suburban neighborhoods becoming more urban?

These are the challenges in which urban designers and architects must tackle in the ever-changing suburban landscape.

The oldest Mcdonalds w/ Speedee on top of the sign @ the corner of Lakewood Blvd. and Florence Ave. in Downey.

The original golden arches.

The old town center in the City of Downey @ Downey Ave.

One of the oldest homes in Downey @ the corner of Paramount Blvd. and 3rd Street.

The oldest house in Downey with its water tower.

Johnies Broiler on Firestone Blvd. near the corner of Old Rivers School Road in Downey.
Signage view of Johnies Broiler looking west on Firestone Blvd.

Destructive view of the car canopy @ Johnies Broiler

A closer look of Johnies Broiler

Song of the Blog: We Only Just Begun by the Carpenters on the album Close to You

The newest approach in using storage containers in construction is the one in Venice, located on Main Street between Westminster and Horizon Ave. Unknown on who is the Architect and is still under construction.

Using 14 – 20 foot Storage containers (2 rows of 7 containers on top of each other), occupying the second and third stories of the building with a concrete structure underneath. Stack on unison with both sides of the individual containers taken out in order to transverse the containers into a bigger and utilizing space.

It’s interesting approach on how simplistic and economical which seems feasible towards the construction cost but we’ll have to see the total estimates when it is done. It looks like there is going to be a 2 or 3 unit building. The surface of those containers has retained the quality and ingenuity with also kept the doors on the south side of the building.

The only question is how the interior space will work to make the experience enjoyable to compliment the exterior.

View from Main Street in Venice.

View of the north-side of the storage container building.

The backside view on Innes Place. (Note: southeast side exposes the existing crate doors, which give it a decorative tone to the facade)

Song of the Blog: Metamorfosis by Cafe Tacuba on the album Avalancha de Exitos.

There has been quite a discussion on the use and design of storage containers- the way it’s being recyclable, sustainable and affordable. Two firms in Southern California who are pushing the envelope or making a concerted effort in using shipping containers into the building industry – Jennifer Siegal of Office of Mobile Design and Peter Demaria of Demaria Designs Associates Inc.

While the use of containers are the integral part of their design, the language of using the containers is not moving in a direction of self-exploration of space, no interplay or dynamic movement amongst the usage of the containers. It seems that the occupying space and material of the containers are their central theme. Not to take away what they have accomplished but the investigation of using containers in producing a new direction of social, mental and psychological space can be explored, rather than stacking on top of each other.

For example, the house in Redondo Beach by Peter DeMaria represents the massing and transparency of the house where the roof line is the dominate feature in the interplay of space. The interior space is determined by the containers stacking which gives it a double-space effect.

The spaces are more direct in plan than having certain nuances of residual and open spaces, therefore it’s more about the use than the utilization of storage containers. It wouldn’t be a innovative way of using them for a certain family or group but it gets to the point of reusable materials and space.

House on Redondo Beach by Peter DeMaria of Demaria Associates.

Song of the Blog: Would I Be The One by Sean Lennon on the CD Friendly Fire

With the outlaw of the McMansion throughout the city, most new home owners who came to America want to put their stamp into the model neighborhood which they could afford and want to live. Some come with consequences of sticking out like a sore thumb, a rotten apple, out of style and gaudy.

It brings an up and arms approach of their neighbors who  believe it degrades the neighborhood by the owners/developers appeal. None of it would be sensitive to the concerns of the neighbors but they believe it’s an improvement than before.

One of the suggestions is their culture from their former foreign land suggest it’s OK to do anything because it’s a free society and it’s America (somewhat like the Borat movie). It may be they aggrandize themselves their wealth for neighbors, siblings and relatives for to see or it’s a narcissistic view of themselves in society.

In Los Angeles, it’s more prevalent in neighborhoods where there is a new influx of immigrants capitalizing from a successful entrepreneurship which enables them to imprint their cultural heritage, even though it’s out of context, scale and insensitive towards their surroundings with the the neighbors. The impact of disassociation has left an indelible mark.

Should they be burn to the stake or to accept it as a paradigm shift from a bucolic landscape of suburbia or a historic neighborhood that hasn’t been designated to a cultural landmark to a multi-faceted culture face of personality which is integrating with the rest?

Stay tune with with your neighborhood and other neighborhoods.

(Guess who coming to Diner?)

Song of the Blog: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised by Molotov on the CD Con Todo Respecto