Designing the Broad, rare viewing of “M” featuring Angels Flight, typography honoring the Black Panthers and stylin’ retail. Your week in design events from DnA.
1) Designing the Broad
The Broad on Grand Avenue has received as much attention for its architecture as its contemporary art. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the team that oversaw the building of The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and the Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) expansion in New York, the building has received both praise and criticism (its facade has been compared to a cheese grater, gefilte fish and a “mattress”).
One of the biggest challenges for the architects was overwhelming presence of Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall next door. But at that venue Monday night you can hear architect Elizabeth Diller, philanthropist and museum founder Eli Broad, and The Broad’s founding director Joanne Heyler discuss how The Broad came to be. Architectural critic Paul Goldberger (author of Frank Gehry‘s new biography) moderates the discussion.
Read DnA’s interview with Elizabeth Diller (principal-in-charge at DS+R) here.
When: Monday, Nov. 2 at 8 pm
Where: Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tickets: Tickets are $15. Buy them online here or call 323-850-2000.
2) See the remake of “M” featuring Angels Flight
Back when Bunker Hill was a residential neighborhood, downtown residents relied on Angels Flight to shuttle them toward Grand Avenue and back up. But the historic funicular railway that connects Hill Street with California Plaza has been closed for two years because of safety and regulatory issues. LA preservationists Kim Cooper and Richard Schave (who lead Esotouric, an unconventional bus tour company) are committed to seeing Angels Flight choo-choo up the hill again. At a fundraiser for Angels Flight Railway they are screening Joseph Losey’s never-released 1951 remake of the classic German thriller M, which features Angels Flight, along with a lecture on Bunker Hill and an update on the status of restoring the rail line.
When: Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7 pm
Where: Million Dollar Theatre, 307 S. Broadway
Tickets: Tickets are $35. Buy them online here or call 213-373-1947.
3) Maison de Luxe Showcase House at Greystone Mansion
At a time of year when haunted house attractions abound, why not visit a real-life haunted house? The Greystone Mansion and Park in Beverly Hills is where Ned Doheny (son of oil baron Edward Doheny) and his secretary Hugh Plunkett were both shot dead in a still unexplained murder-suicide. One rumor is the pair were secretly lovers. The Gothic English-style home was built in 1928 and designed by architect Gordon Kaufmann, who is also responsible for the Hollywood Palladium and the Los Angeles Times building.
It’s rarely open to the public (though many a movie has been shot at Greystone), but now the the 55-room mansion is about to get a major (temporary) makeover, courtesy of Luxe Interiors + Design. The magazine has commissioned two dozen interior designers from across the country (including Oliver Furth, Cliff Fong, Sara Story, Chloe Warner, Jane Hallworth, Timothy Corrigan, Nina Campbell and Natasha Baradaran) to reimagine the insides of this historic mansion.
For those interested in the backstory of the mansion, design historians Eleanor Schrader and Ian Patrick will deliver a scandal-filled talk and slide show on the stories of the mansion and its architecture and decorative interiors on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 pm at Santa Monica College, HSS105. Tickets are $11 and can be purchased here.
When: Self-guided tours are available Nov. 7-8, 11-15, 18-22, on the hour from 10 am to 3 pm
Where: Greystone Mansion, 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Tickets: Tickets are $39 per person and can be bought here or by calling 310-285-6830
4) Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography: Symposium and Opening Celebration
If you can wax poetic about the beauty of serifs, if your favorite movie is Helvetica, and if Google’s new logo had you up in arms, then this event is for you. It’s the inaugural symposium and exhibition to be presented by the new Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography, “85_15: Typography_Past/Present/Future,” dedicated to a well-loved typography teacher Leah Hoffmitz, who died last year.
The period of discussion begins in 1930, when ArtCenter was founded, and takes us to the contemporary typographic landscape. The panelists include Mike Abbink, Brad Bartlett, Laurenz Brunner, Tyrone Drake, Karin Fong, Louise Paradis, Paul Shaw, Erik Spiekermann and Lorraine Wild. The keynote speaker is writer and curator Paul Holdengraber, known for organizing the literary conversation series Live from the New York Public Library.
The inaugural exhibit in the space is by Tyrone Drake, called “Hard Bop: Reflections and Interpretations of a Militant Manifesto,” and offers up a personal interpretation of the 10-Point Plan of the Black Panther Party (excerpt from invite, above). Drake is an adjunct professor of graphic design at Art Center. The show is on view until Jan. 15, 2016 (Martin Luther King’s birthday).
When: Saturday, November 7, symposium: 8 am–5 pm; opening celebration: 5–7 pm
Where: HMCT + Wind Tunnel Gallery, ArtCenter South Campus, 950 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena
Tickets: Seating is limited for the symposium. Reservations required. RSVP to HMCT@artcenter.edu.
5) Shop — and party — ’til you drop this weekend
There are lots of design-oriented retail opportunities for you to support local artisans and get your holiday shopping done especially early this Saturday, November 7.
The SHAG retail mecca in Palm Springs, home of all things fabulous and retro, is opening a second outpost in West Hollywood, and they’re kicking things off with a grand opening from 7-10 pm. Get your retro prints and merchandise at 8443 Melrose Ave. (at La Cienega), West Hollywood, CA. The event is free and open to the public, and complimentary beverages will be served.
EASTSIDE HANDMADE is an outdoor market hosted at SHOPCLASS in Highland Park. The market runs from from 11 am – 5 pm and features Eastside makers and artisans, such as Alyson Iwamoto Ceramics, Knotwork LA, Nina Savill Jewelry, Janel Foo Glassworks, Gold Coast Goods and many others peddling home accessories, jewelry, pottery, paintings, photography, paper goods and other lifestyle objects.
For those interested in modern classics, pieces by emerging product designers, and affordable understated fashion, COS will launch a pop-up store showcasing their latest season in downtown Los Angeles from Nov. 6-15 within Austere, a concept space for Scandinavian design and innovation. The monochromatic installation for COS, featuring a mirror dissecting the interior, was created in collaboration with Daniel Arsham and Alex Mustonen of Snarkitecture, who also designed a pop-up for COS at Salone del Mobile earlier this year in Milan.
And if you are in Hollywood, drop by the Hollywood Music and Arts Festival, for four days of music and arts events sponsored by local businesses owners, including Dublab at Amoeba Records, a pop-up gallery featuring artist-design apparel store at Co-Lab Gallery, and a reprieve from the crowds in a temporary parklet at Cahuenga Crossing.