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31 Jul 09

Smart Green Infrastructure: How to Grow Sustainable Cities (EnviroSpeak.tv)

QUOTE:
Andy Lipkis, Founder and President of TreePeople, describes how this organization has pioneered an integrated approach to managing urban ecosystems as watersheds in the Los Angeles region. This involves strategic tree planting, tree-mimicking technologies, and community engagement to generate multiple solutions to the environmental threats facing our cities, including ensuring a sustainable water supply, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, preventing water and air pollution, fostering stronger neighborhoods, and creating jobs. For a summary of TreePeople's six demonstration projects that are now collecting 1.25 million gallons of water every time it rains 1" in Los Angeles, visit www. treepeople.org. Video Going to Green: Planting Seeds of Change with Community Forestry produced by the Media & Policy Center Foundation for PBS.
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Great stuff here - fascinating to see how "silo-think" works against solving problems.

www.envirospeak.tv/327 - Preview

environment ecological_urbanism los_angeles envirospeak.tv green_technologies urban_renewal

08 Jan 09

Asian Designers Are Schooling American Architects--Here's How

A bit of a fluff piece (this is the "printable" page - FastCompany has so much annoying flash & crud on its front pages), but there's an interesting thought about *im*permanent architecture here.
QUOTE
One of Ma's core ideas -- the impermanence of architecture -- has particular appeal for anyone who would be happy to see Los Angeles' relentless sprawl bulldozed. Ma, 43, views today's Western architecture as a descendant of the Greco-Roman tradition, which is all about building in stone and erecting things that are intended to last forever. (Which makes it all the more amusing that he's an occasional collaborator of Koolhaas, creating mind-bending buildings, such as Beijing's CCTV headquarters, that look as if they might fall down.) Clearly a son of modern China, he questions the West's preservationist reflex. "Everything has a life cycle, as should buildings," he says. "Preservation is an action in sacrifice of future possibilities. The future needs its own space."
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www.fastcompany.com/...print - Preview

fast_company architecture los_angeles asia

26 May 08

"L.A. vision: a towering sign," by David Zahniser (LA Times) - Astani Enterprises Inc

File this under "life imitates art"? There's a fascinating battle happening in LA over whether or not Sonny Astani, businessman and developer, should be permitted to install a new kind of LED-generated image, 12 stories above the street and 14 stories tall, on the side of his 33-story condo building currently under construction in downtown LA.

The inspiration? Opening scenes in Blade Runner of downtown LA, showing "a skyscraper-sized advertisement portraying a Japanese woman smiling before popping a snack into her mouth. Astani says an image, such as that of a flying sea gull, could now even travel from one building to the next."

I have to admit this sounds really cool, but I can see why many factions in LA would oppose this, too. We're all familiar with the really bright illuminated advertisements -- even Victoria has a small version of one, installed outside the arena on Blanshard at Caledonia. It's bright, too bright. But Astani proposes a much more modulated, artistic, and dimmed level of lighting. If the images could look as subtle -- yet powerful -- as Blade Runner's, it could work, but there's no garantee, that if permitted, subsequent developers would follow in that "artistic" style.

Another aspect is this: the proposal, if it's art, also calls into question just how intrusive public art should be in public space. Does it have a right to be so intrusive as to be impossible to ignore? Can I, as a citizen, be obliged to register public art -- and admittedly, it would be impossible not to register this project?

Is part of what captures my attention/ imagination regarding this project its uncanny fusion of subtlety and assault, packaged as visual stimulus?

Another question: is this an art form that expresses a corporate and anti-pedestrian city ("...neighborhood anchored by Staples Center and L.A. Live, the hotel and entertainment complex that includes the recently opened Nokia Theatre"), fitting for LA where people don't walk anyway (but just wait: it'll show up soon enough on the very v

www.astanienterprises.com/...article016.html - Preview

astani advertising billboards outdoor_installations public_art public_space los_angeles

Attach
an animated sign 14-stories tall on the 33-story condominium
project he is building in downtown L.A.
The proposed sign would loom 12 stories above the sidewalk at
9th and Figueroa streets, facing the 110 Freeway. And city planners
say it would represent a first in the city's residential architecture
-- a sheet of light-emitting screens spaced close enough to form
a vast electronic image, yet far enough apart to allow occupants
to look outside.
9 more annotations...
- Astani's proposal is only the latest controversial effort to
  bring massive advertising and colorful light shows to the neighborhood
  anchored by Staples Center and L.A. Live, the hotel and entertainment
  complex that includes the recently opened Nokia Theatre.
  
  Civic boosters promised two years ago that L.A. Live would transform
  Figueroa's entertainment district into Times Square West -- a
  California counterpart to the bright lights and in-your-face
  advertising seen at Broadway and 42nd Street in Manhattan.
- Although much of L.A. Live is under construction, the district
  around Staples already has some of those colorful lights, including
  the red squares that percolate like soda bubbles on the exterior
  of the Met Lofts and the spotlights at Nokia that strafe the
  sky,
- at least two high-rises could be partly covered with rows of
  tiny panels embedded with LEDs, or light-emitting diodes -- a
  concept viewed by some at City Hall as the next frontier in outdoor
  advertising.
- In November, the City
  Council approved Fig Central, a hotel and condominium complex
  across from Staples Center that will have at least one 330-foot-long
  band of animated advertising. And at least seven more electronic
  signs are planned for the rest of L.A. Live, according to city
  officials.
  
  The courtyard outside Nokia Theatre has 12 LED signs -- enormous
  screens that intersperse concert footage with advertisements
  for mobile phones and Coca-Cola. The theater is adorned with
  more screens and billboards, a fact that disappoints some neighbors.
- "It might actually be beautiful," she said. "It
  might actually be art, as opposed to just ads."
- The billboard question seemed finally to have been answered
  in 2002, when then-Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, after 14 years
  of trying, won passage of a ban on outdoor advertising. But that
  law also contained a provision allowing the creation of "supplemental
  use districts," places like Hollywood, where billboards
  would be permitted in large numbers.
- he argues that his LED displays should
  not be considered billboards.
  
  To make the images less blinding, the signs would have a brightness
  of only 1,200 candelas at night -- roughly one-sixth the intensity
  of the signs found at L.A. Live, Astani said. And because the
  movements of his LED sign would be slower than the images on
  a television screen, Astani contends, his 14-story sign would
  be graceful, not gaudy.
  
  "We don't want to create a monster," Astani said. "If
  this is bright or intrusive, we cannot sell the condominiums.
  It will have to be so unique and unobtrusive that people will
  be proud to live behind it."
- If approved, the signs would contain artistic content during
  10% of their operation, with another 10% devoted to community
  announcements, according to Astani's proposal. The sign rules
  also would dictate the speed with which the animated images change.
  - Only 10% artistic content sounds pretty mingy... - on 2008-05-26
  Add Sticky Note
- Most of the companies installing the new lights have ties to
  City Hall. L.A. Live builder Anschutz Entertainment Group has
  given $485,000 to causes backed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
  The developer of Fig Central has given $100,000; Astani has given
  $150,000.

14 Apr 08

"Don't be dense" by Zev Yaroslavsky - Los Angeles Times

"The debate about the availability of housing in Los Angeles and the city's development policies has been testy but long overdue." An interesting article by Yaroslavsky that initially makes the reader think that he's advocating a sort of nimby-istic "pulling up the drawbridges" mentality, but if the reader perserveres to read the entire piece, it seems his suggestions are really LA-specific. They're not necessarily in conflict with infill development; development around transit routes & hubs; and creation of density in areas that really need it (in our case, downtown). He does bring in late 80s experiences, however, which make you wonder if things haven't irrevocably moved beyond thel contexts he's referencing.

www.latimes.com/...oslavsky13apr13,0,544304.story - Preview

urbanplanning urban_design density los_angeles neighbourhoods nimbyism smartgrowth eco_density affordable_housing

The debate about the availability of housing in Los Angeles and the city's development policies has been testy but long overdue.
Fueling public outrage over growth policies that would significantly increase density are well-grounded fears that, in the clash between overdevelopment and neighborhood preservation, the developers will prevail.
8 more annotations...
- Urged on by some elected officials, city planners have decided that the "smart" and "elegant" way to grow the city's housing stock is to double the allowable size of new buildings,bust through established height limits and reduce parking-space requirements -- effectively rolling back more than two decades of neighborhood-protection laws.
  
  There is nothing smart or elegant about such growth. On the contrary. It's development run amok and with an utter disregard for how it affects the livability of the city's neighborhoods. Should these efforts -- the city's version of a state law encouraging greater density; ad hoc zoning changes to double the size of residential development on commercial property to facilitate more density; widespread approval of zoning variances for parking, height and property-line setbacks -- succeed, they will irreparably harm some of our most cherished neighborhoods and diminish our traditional sense of place.
  - - at first blush, this reads like possible nimbyism, but when Y. gets into the nuts & bolts of zoning policies as they relate specifically to his place, Los Angeles, his stance can be seen as well-differentiated, modulated urbanism. However, I could see how this opening volley could become a rallying cry for change-resistant neighbourhoods and neighbours everywhere, too... - on 2008-04-14
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- * Can more housing be built without destroying neighborhoods?
  
  Absolutely. Housing development should be encouraged on the thousands of properties throughout the city that have sufficient lot size and depth relative to surrounding neighborhoods. Such properties can accommodate well-designed, denser and even taller buildings without the collateral damage of traffic congestion, loss of privacy and other community effectsoften associated with such development. In some cases, these projects would even enhance commercial thoroughfares -- such as the Figueroa corridor near USC -- that are in desperate need of revitalization. At short, larger housing projects should be built where they fit.
- * Where can this housing be built?
  
  It belongs in the city's many employment and residential centers -- downtown, Hollywood, Wilshire Center, Harbor Gateway, Warner Center and the Van Nuys Civic Center. These and similar areas can absorb more housing under current zoning laws. In Century City, for instance, developers are converting traffic-generating commercial buildings to residential uses, resulting in more housing and a net reduction in peak-hour traffic.
- Housing should also be built around subway, bus and light-rail stations. Many of these transit stops -- Warner Center, where the Orange Line busway ends in Woodland Hills, is one -- are already employment magnets, and they would be appropriate sites for additional housing as well. But it makes no sense to reflexively boost residential density and building size along every Metro Rapid bus route, as the city's version of the state's density-bonus law allows, when the streets that the buses travel often cross low-density, pedestrian-friendly commercial districts serving some of the city's most charming neighborhoods. The city should be guided by one principle: The scale of development should be informed by the character of its surrounding neighborhood. The one-size-fits-all approach embodied in the density-bonus law and the indiscriminate approval of denser residential housing on commercial property is not an appropriate growth strategy for Los Angeles.
  - "The scale of development should be guided... informed by the character of its surrounding neighborhood." --> well, that's *tricky* insofar as it can result in a drawbridge or stand-off. At what point do you say, "the character has to change"? And at what point do you say, "the character *deserves* protection"? Why should it? Who determines that? - on 2008-04-14
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- * What can the city do to provide more affordable housing?
  
  It can require developers as a matter of city policy to set aside a certain percentage of units in new buildings for people with low-to-moderate incomes. L.A. doesn't need to offer development bonuses allowing taller and bigger buildings to achieve this.
  - ? really - on 2008-04-14
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- The city also owns a considerable amount of underutilized real estate on which affordable housing could be built. As a council member, I pioneered the creation of several housing developments above city-owned parking lots that were 100% affordable, a policy that should be applied more widely. The county has also made surplus property available to nonprofit developers to build affordable family and senior housing. The office building formerly housing the Department of Public Social Services, at Pico Boulevard and Veteran Avenue in West Los Angeles, is one example.
- It's noteworthy that a major contributing factor to the loss of our affordable housing stock is the demolition and conversion of apartments to make way for condominiums and other luxury housing. Accommodating renters displaced by such developments must be one of the city's top housing priorities.
- The burgeoning neighborhood rebellion we are witnessing throughout the city is the predictable consequence of an increasingly insular and exclusionary planning process.
  - It could also be the result of a vociferous resistance to change. - on 2008-04-14
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