Producer, DnA: Design and Architecture
KCRW news producer and producer of DnA: Design and Architecture
PROFILE
Avishay Artsy
Kcrw Staff/Producer
FROM Avishay Artsy
Design and Architecture
Public art and politics, California design Everyone is Californian now, says the co-curator of California: Designing Freedom, a show on display in London. We look at how West Coast design dominates the world. And as cities around the country remove Confederate statues, there's a debate over whether they should be torn down in the name of today's social values, or maintained as teachable moments.
Design and Architecture
A long-awaited makeover for San Pedro's Ports O'Call Village A rendering of San Pedro Public Market Image courtesy LA Waterfront Alliance The redevelopment of Ports O' Call Village has been decades in the making. The village opened in 1963 with cobblestone streets, souvenir and gift shops and seafood restaurants. Now there are plans to change the New England-style seaside village into the modern steel and glass San Pedro Public Market . In 2013, the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners called for the redevelopment of the waterfront site, and in 2016 the board approved a 50-year lease for an expansion of the village in the style of San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. Mike Galvin is the Director of Waterfront and Commercial Real Estate at the Port of Los Angeles. "Part of the [Port of LA's] mission there is to make the waterfront accessible to the public and we view through this development we will really do that on a very large scale by creating this half a mile promenade down the main channel of the Port of Los Angeles," Galvin said. Photo by Avishay Artsy The plans for Public Market include 150,000 square feet of restaurants and shopping, as well as office space, a 30-foot-wide waterfront promenade, a playground, 16 acres of park space, and an open-air 500-seat amphitheater for live entertainment. It's expected to open in 2020. The developer is LA Waterfront Alliance, which includes The Ratkovich Company and the San Pedro-based Jerico Development. The landscape architect is James Corner Field Operations. Eric Johnson, principal of Jerico Development. "A New England fishing village never made sense to me. We have our own maritime culture. So we're trying essentially to celebrate California for what it is," Johnson said. Photo by Avishay Artsy The 15 shop owners claim they haven't been given enough notice to vacate, and that the developers and the Port of LA reneged on offers to provide temporary locations during the construction phase. They've been asked to move out by early October. Demolition is set to start late this year or early next year. Public reaction to the planned redevelopment is mixed. Some residents think the village is seedy and rundown, and needs an overhaul. There's a skeptical, "I'll believe it when I see it" attitude from some residents, since this renovation has been talked about for 20 years. There's a sense of nostalgia from people who grew up coming here or worked there during the summers. There's concern that the family-owned businesses that have been around for decades will be replaced by chain retail businesses, which will kill the local flavor and the eclectic charm. There are also concerns that the Public Market won't be for them. The San Pedro Fish Market draws working-class immigrant families who may not like the spruced-up new port. Some of the shopkeepers at Ports O' Call Village who want to be able to stay in the new San Pedro Public Market. "I started here in 1963. I have over 50 years in this place and I will be willing to come back if they give me a chance, no matter what the rent will be. This is like my second home. My roots here are very deep," said Virginia Pavkovich, owner of Mexilatin Gifts Photo by Avishay Artsy. But officials say this is a long overdue development that will create jobs and reduce crime. This is all part of a $1.2 billion master plan to turn the port into a coastal destination, which includes the recent openings of the Battleship USS Iowa Museum; Crafted at the Port of LA, an arts marketplace; and Brouwerij West, a craft brewery and tasting room.
Design and Architecture
Three changing waterfronts in Southern California Developers have big plans to make over older waterfronts in San Pedro, San Diego and Santa Barbara. It’s the next step in the urbanization of these cities. Old world-style fishing villages are out. In are coming designers Bjarke Ingels, James Corner and bigger commercial attractions. Their designs vary and so does public response. How will they affect the character and life of these coastal destinations?
Design and Architecture
From acid to Apple: a survey of California design From the drug-fueled 1960s style of the hippies to the tech-utopian visions of Silicon Valley's founders, California's design sensibilities have had a global reach. The exhibition California: Designing Freedom at the Design Museum in London looks at how the Golden State came to have such a powerful influence on contemporary design.
Design and Architecture
Future Aleppo, Norman Bel Geddes A Syrian boy hand-built a model of what his hometown might look like after the country's civil war, and now Future Aleppo is on display in Los Angeles. Also, do you think driverless cars are a new idea? Just wait 'til you hear about Norman Bel Geddes, an industrial designer decades ahead of his time.
Design and Architecture
'Columbus' muses on modernism, David Hockney turns 80 The Los Angeles-based painter David Hockney turned 80 last month and his birthday is being marked with shows from London to LA's Getty Museum. Critics and Hockney talk to DnA about his enduring appeal. And the movie Columbus is set in the small town of Columbus, Ind., a mecca of modernist architecture. The filmmaker, Kogonada, explains why he placed buildings at the center of his directorial debut.
Design and Architecture
Will Santa Monica's affordable housing goals backfire? Home prices keep hitting record highs in Southern California. What’s the solution? Some say Santa Monica – with its recent downtown development and light rail extension – is the model. But a split vote by that city’s lawmakers suggests otherwise.
Design and Architecture
A summer camp for teens with design dreams Girls work on their group projects at Designer Camp Photo by Sarah Shreves Thousand of kids are at camp for the summer. And many will be horseback riding, making crafts and singing around the campfire. But what about a camp for kids who dream of having their own fashion or interior design empire? DnA producer Avishay Artsy went to the Big Blue Whale, aka the Pacific Design Center, in West Hollywood to check out Designer Camp . He talks with the teen girls studying furniture, interior and entertainment set design and trend forecasting -- and finds they enjoy a camp where "if you're going to put glue and paper together, they're going to teach you the right way to do it."
Design and Architecture
Designer Camp, Louis Kahn barge, Architectural Imagination Pack your bags, we're off to summer camp! But forget lanyards and campfire singalongs. We visit a boutique camp for teen designers. Los Angeles architects take "The Architectural Imagination" to Detroit. Do their dreams offer more hope than grassroots solutions? Louis Kahn's floating concert hall has sent up an SOS. Can a Hudson Valley town save it from the scrapyard?
Design and Architecture
Border wall breakdown, David Adjaye President Trump's border wall project appears to have ground to a halt. Will it ever materialize? And David Adjaye, the designer of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, reflects on the museum's significance, emerging African architecture, and improving social housing.
Design and Architecture
Is HHH housing getting built? In the past year, residents of both the city and county of Los Angeles voted to tax themselves to pay for more housing for the homeless, and for the services needed to keep them in those homes. Local elected officials say those extra dollars couldn't come at a better time. Homelessness is up 23 percent in LA when compared to last year. So what's being built right now, and what's coming down the line?
Design and Architecture
LA's electric bus future, construction giant Paul Matt Los Angeles-based electric bus manufacturing companies aim to meet a growing demand for emission-free urban transit. And it's one thing to design a building, but it's another thing to build it. We pay tribute to the late Paul Matt, the construction giant who realized many Southern California landmarks.
Design and Architecture
Proterra and the rise of electric buses For Swedish automaker Volvo, the combustible engine in a thing of the past. Beginning in 2019 all of the new car models it introduces will be fully electric or hybrids. It's the first major traditional automaker to set a concrete date for phasing out combustion-engine-only models. The trend, however, isn't limited to just car companies. There is a boom in electric bus manufacturers in the U.S. as well, including right here in Southern California.
Design and Architecture
Freedom sculpture, Henry Rollins, surfboards The Fourth of July holiday is a great time to crank up the music and hit the beach. Henry Rollins likes his punk played on a perfect sound system, which he shows us on a tour of his home. And we hear about the enduring tradition of innovative surf design in Santa Barbara. We also mark Independence Day with a look at the new Freedom Sculpture in Century City. Designed by engineer-artist Cecil Balmond, it draws inspiration from the ancient Persian king Cyrus.
Design and Architecture
Should extremely creative CEOs get away with bad behavior? Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has been ousted from the company he created. Was this the best way to address the negatives of a highly creative entrepreneur? "Serial entrepreneur" Z Holly and another controversial business leader -- American Apparel's Dov Charney - weigh in.
Design and Architecture
The $1.2 billion Wilshire Grand finally set to open The tallest building west of the Mississippi River will officially open for business on Friday. The Wilshire Grand Center has been years in the making. It rises 73 stories, or 1,100 feet with its spire at the top, and includes a near-900 room InterContinental Hotel. And its architecture tells the story of a changing Los Angeles.
Recommended
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Previewing James Comey's blockbuster testimony Former FBI director James Comey testifies Thursday in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, but his opening statement has been released. In it, he says he felt pressured by Donald Trump to declare loyalty to him and publicly clear him of any wrongdoing in the Russia investigation.
Design and Architecture
Securing Public Spaces, Super Wealthy Asians Vehicles are increasingly being used as weapons, as seen in the London Bridge attack over the weekend and in New York’s Times Square last month. The Compton-based company Calpipe is designing security bollards to help make public spaces safer. And novelist Kevin Kwan satirizes the “crazy rich” Asian jet set and their luxurious tastes in his latest book, “Rich People Problems.”
The Treatment
Kenya Barris: Black-ish Black-ish creator Kenya Barris joins Elvis Mitchell to discuss utilizing his show as a conversation starter.
Good Food
'Dandelion and Quince,' food and crime, 'All About Eggs' Sarah Lohman talks about the murder and historic recipes that form the backbone of her new book, “Ohio 1910,” and Rachel Khong shares highlights from Lucky Peach’s last cookbook, “All About Eggs.” Michelle Mckenzie tells us how to cook oft-forgotten fruits, veggies and herbs, and Jonathan Gold reviews AR Cucina in Culver City. Plus: raspberries at the market and a special guest DJ set from Alton Brown.