5 design things to do this week

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This week: attend a talk on women in public practice, discuss how the built environment might coexist with LA’s natural habitat, hear from Dutch designer Petra Blaisse, explore art at Santa Monica Airport, and celebrate the 50th anniversary of a CalArts conceptual art project.

Bicycles hang on the wall at iZip in Venice, CA, a branded design by Summer Vaughn’s March Studio.  Summer Vaughn will be one of the panelists at this year’s Julia Morgan Talk, a discussion about women in public space. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

1) 2018 Julia Morgan Talk

Mark Women’s History Month with a visit to the Annenberg Community Beach House for the annual Julia Morgan “Beach=Culture” talk on women in public practice.

Artists Tanya Aguiñiga and Elana Mann, garment designer Anna Telcs, architect Summer Vaughn of architecture firm March Studio, and urban planner Helen Leung of LA Más will share their stories about “Women Breaking Down Walls – in art, design, and society.” The conversation will be moderated by Sherry Hoffman, Professor at ArtCenter College of Design and Founder of March Studio.

When: Tuesday, March 20, 6:30 – 7:30 pm

Where: Annenberg Beach House, 415 Pacific Coast Hwy, Santa Monica 90402

Tickets: Free. RSVP here.

Mountain lions, such as P-22 pictured here, have become the unlikely stars of Los Angeles nightlife—and symbols of the complicated relationship between nature and cities. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

2) Future L.A./Engineering a Sustainable Supercity: Cohabitation: Cities, Nature, and the Evolving Ecosystem

DnA’s series Bridges and Walls recently examined a proposed wildlife crossing over the 101 freeway to connect mountain lion habitats. Supporters of the project are using LA’s most famous mountain lion, P-22, as the poster lion of the project (even though the Griffith Park resident won’t be able to benefit from it).

The mountain lions of Southern California have become symbols of the complicated relationship between nature and cities. As the region prepares for a hotter and more populous future, we’re expecting more encounters between humans and wildlife. This panel examines how the built environment might coexist with Los Angeles’ natural habitat. Lori Bettison-Varga, president of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County; Mia Lehrer, landscape designer of Studio-MLA; and Ryan Harrigan, assistant professor for the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, join moderator Mark Gold, associate vice chancellor for environment and sustainability at UCLA.

When: Wednesday, March 21 at 7:30 pm

Where: Hammer Museum, Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles 90024

Tickets: Free, however tickets are required and available at the Box Office one hour before the program. General admission tickets are available one per person on a first come, first served basis following member ticketing. Early arrival is recommended.  Parking is available under the museum, $6 flat rate after 6 p.m. Cash only.

Petra Blaisse (Photo courtesy Inga Powilleit) (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

3) Petra Blaisse Lecture: Moving On!

Dutch designer Petra Blaisse works on interiors, exhibition design, textiles and landscape from her Amsterdam-based office Inside Outside.

A longtime collaborator with OMA as well as other architects, Blaisse is known for her curtains of non-traditional shimmering or synthetic textiles: velour, faux leather, PVC plastic and photovoltaic cells. She will share stories “about us, at IO… stories about new developments within our studio: two new partners and moving into a new work space in a different setting… stories about new and recent projects, showing different perspectives, experiences and results.”

When: Wednesday, March 21 at 7 pm

Where: W.M. Keck Lecture Hall, SCI-Arc, 960 East 3rd Street, Los Angeles 90013

Tickets: Free and open to the public. More information here.

Attendees of the 12th Annual Santa Monica Artwalk can participate in art and ceramics workshops. (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

4) 12th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk

You can go to the Santa Monica Airport anytime to watch planes take off and land, but this Saturday you’ll be able to explore art and ceramic demonstrations, theater and art workshops, live music and food trucks. The ArtWalk includes 60 artist studios and multiple creative venues filling the airport’s converted airplane hangars with paintings, sculpture, ceramics, and mixed media.

Among the highlights are a print making workshop using simple materials and integrating social justice themes, led by artist Regina Herod; the lively Carmen Perez Memorial Marching Band performing a blend of jazz, afro-funk, klezmer, New Orleans second line and liberation music from all parts of the world; and abstract painter and lifelong quadriplegic Tommy Hollenstein demonstrating his painting technique using his wheelchair tires.

When: Saturday, March 24, 12 – 5 pm

Where: Santa Monica Airport, along Airport Ave. between Bundy Dr. and 23rd Street, Santa Monica

Tickets: Free. More information here.

House of Dust structures circa 1971 (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

5) Reframing the House of Dust: Activations and a Symposium

Fifty years ago, Fluxus artist Alison Knowles led students at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in building a “house” inspired by one of the first computer-generated poems. CalArts students have marked the anniversary of the “House of Dust” project by building a new house inspired by a different stanza of the poem.

The project will culminate with “Reframing The House of Dust: Activations,” a day of performances in the newly constructed House of Glass on the CalArts campus on Friday, March 23, from 3 – 8 pm and “Reframing the House of Dust: A Symposium” at Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT) in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, March 24, from 10 am – 6 pm.

On Friday, current faculty, students and guest artists will perform pieces scored or inspired by Knowles and other Fluxus artists who once taught at CalArts. Knowles herself will participate in performances of her iconic scores “Newspaper Music” and “Make a Salad.” Presenters at the symposium will consider questions of radical pedagogy (both Fluxus and feminist), participatory ecology, and cross-pollinations among poetry, architecture and early cybernetics.

When: Friday, March 23, from 3 – 8 pm and Saturday, March 24, 10 am – 6 pm

Where: REDCAT – Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, 631 W 2nd St, Los Angeles 90012

Tickets: GA $11, Members and Students $8, CalArts $5.  You can get tickets here.

And don’t forget that WESTWEEK 2018 comes to the Pacific Design Center this Wednesday and Thursday, March 21-22, with worldwide inspiration for creativity and design without borders. Most events are sold out, but try your luck at the registration page here.