Getting the LED Out

I just made a site visit to one of my projects currently under construction. The design includes the introduction of illuminated canopy elements spanning above a previously poorly lit and underused courtyard and streetfront entry along Wilshire Boulevard in west Los Angeles. The LED panels were recently installed and powered up along with the new exterior glazing at the ground floor. The polycarbonate panels that will function as lenses for the canopy have yet to be installed -- the individual light sources will be diffused -- but there is something intriguing about seeing the LED matrix revealed. The long life of the LEDs mean that replacement of the fixtures will be minimized over the life of the project and the quality and color of the light should remain uniform. Looking forward to seeing the installation of the new courtyard paving and furnishings.

Inner Space

On September 22, I had the privelege of hosting a program in downtown LA on private/public private partnerships for open space in a city that is home to over 6500 lineal miles of road and 900 miles of alleys but in which over 2/3 of children are not within walking distance of a park. Panelists included Richard Loring who discussed his innovative Formosa 1140 project which includes a neighborhood pocket park, Alfred Fraijo, a land use attorney with Allen Matkins discussing plans for the Hollywood Freeway Central (Cap) Park, and Sarah MacPherson with the Hollywood Property Owners Alliance discussing the greening of alleyways in Hollywood. One of the highlights of the event included display of presentation boards and a concept model of the Park 101 Freeway Cap Park provided by EDAW.

GREEN Tea

Another 'Green' facade has popped up. This one is in Culver City. Royal/T on Washington Boulevard is a So. Cal. incarnation of the popular Cosplay restaurants that originated in Tokyo as a part of the otaku culture and that include maid cafe's (Meido kafe) and butler cafes (shitsuji kassa) where the service staff dress as traditional maids or butlers. Inside, the space includes playful pieces by Takashi Murakami. The facade is uninterrupted fuzzy plastic green grass. The first significant artificial turfs were developed in the 1960s and AstroTurf was installed at the Astrodome in Houston in 1965. The quality and variety of synthetic grasses have increased dramatically in the last decade. Still, one wonders why it took so long to start applying it to the vertical surface of buildings.

Lighting UP

Bega has introduced an innovative line of in-ground luminaires using single watt LED lamps. The fixtures are entirely solar powered and need no external power source (obviating the need for costly routing of exterior power). With built-in light sensors, these fixtures automatically illuminate when darkness falls. They are intended for in-ground use but can be used on vertical surfaces though they are recommded for use on only south facing surfaces where they can be sufficiently charged by the sun.

Contemporary Temporary in Huntington

This temporary exhibit structure for Nike 6.0 was erected in the middle of SWAG alley at the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington: an elegant and effective shade structure that included, among other features, the first Augmented Reality Slot Machine (seen in photo at right) designed by Total Immershion in conjunction with ad agency Wieden+Kennedy.

Hollywood Madame

The Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum at the corner of appears to be somewhat successful in its attempt "to complete the western end of Hollywood Boulevard ... and to make the space deferential to the existing landmark [Chinese Theater]." I attended a private event there recently in advance of the official public opening. Interestingly enough, though, the material presence of the building appears strongest on Orange Street where the flowing brick facade seems to suggest the notion of scultpting in wax.

"Green" Building

Memphis At The Beach Cafe and Bar opened in Manhattan Beach at the end of last month. The new restaurant/bar is addition to the family of Memphis restaurants that begain in 1995 in Costa Mesa with the original Memphis Cafe, created in the shell of a comdemned dive bar next to the Lab Anti Mall. I used to take refuge there on trips to the OC from the Bay Area. The Manhattan Beach addition designed by Poon Architects (the downtown CHAYA) belongs much more to LA and proudly advertises its 'green' aspirations.

Under the Pier

I found this amazing light effect under the Santa Monica Pier this weekend. A reminder of the power of light and shadow.

Soy Systems Samples

I just received samples from Greneker Solutions showing wall components mocked up at half scale. One of the samples is in their raw soy plastic (kind of yellow), the other is in their standard matte white finish, and the third in a glossy red. The forms are very crisp and solid.

Chair Apparent

I attended the launch of the new Knoll Generation chair at the Knoll showroom in Santa Monica last week. Knoll CEO Andrew Cogan was in attendance along with about 2-300 members of the LA design community. There's an overabundance of mesh chairs on the market aimed at the Aeron, originally designed for Herman Miller in 1994 by Don Chadwick and Bill Stumpf, but the high performance elastomer net back, surprising multidirectional flexibility, dynamic suspension control of the Generation makes it unique. The Aeron is unique and adjustable but generally prescribes a single way of sitting. The Generation challenges the notion of correct work posture and posits that there are multiple ways of sitting that we all use. Still the presence of dated looking padded seat cushion seems disappointing and its questionnable whether the Generation has the same iconic quality of the Aeron. Will Malcolm Gladwell choose to write about the Generation in his follow-up to Blink? We may have to keep looking.

New Hive

Designed by Craig Varterian for Boom, Hive is a modular shelving/display system sold in two finishes, solid wood in walnut veneer or white lacquer. A set of three runs for $125 on their website. I snapped a photo of these more slender units at Dwell on Design though I couldn't find them on the website.

Fabric Clouds

I attended the Dwell on Design conference, billed as the West Coast's Largest Modern Deisgn event, in LA yesterday. One of the most impressive displays was a suspended composition of Kvadrat Clouds near the exhibition entrance. Designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Kvadrat (a supplier of European textiles founded in the 1960s), clouds are a unique 3 dimensional tile concept. They come in boxes of 8 or 24 and are attached by rubberbands. Available in 2 fabrics and 7 color combinations, they can be assembled in custom configurations in "a fluid and choatic way."

Overlapping Webs

I've been working on studies of a rectified web wall. Stacking the physical models led to interesting effects. Shifting and rotating the grids affects the ratio of open to solid and corresponding transparency and translucency. The direction of light and color create dramatically different results.

Laser Finish

Laser cutting is a relatively young technology. One of the appeals of laser cutting is that compared to traditional methods of cutting, there is little contamination, warpage, or distressing of the material due to lack of physical contact (electromagnetic radiation in the form of an emitted laser beam is used to cut the material.) Additionally there is no wear on the cutting element as there is with a physical place. The strength of the laser itself, however, does vary depending on the material being cut. I sent a job to the laser cutter this afternoon and was really interested in the laser burn left on the protective coating of the acrylic board. A physical record of the process and unexpected forms found in the process of making.

Soy Systems

I toured the Greneker Solutions factory in south Los Angeles yesterday. Greneker is doing amazing things with their fiberglass free "soy-systems" plastics. Originally entering the visual merchandising industry as a mannequin fabricator in the 1930s, the company now generates a wide range of forms and interior displays though their staple still seems to be mannequins. I snapped a photo of a scale model of the Sci Fi exhibition space design by LA-based Graft Architecture. Also in production at the time of my visit were several display panels for a DC shoes store in SOHO. Soy Systems so not use petroleum derivatives or fiberglass and can be rotation molded (rotation in three dimensions evenly distributes the plastic along walls of a mold) to create large hollow forms.