5 design things to do this week: June 17 - 23, 2019

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This week, you can: celebrate the LA design world with 80 events packed into four days; check out artist-designed rugs; learn about preserving LA's architectural legacy; reflect on 15 years of Design Observer; and party at the unveiling of Dolores Huerta Square.

1) The LA Design Festival

The LA Design Festival is back and this year compresses 80 events into a packed four days centered on ROW DTLA, with screenings, receptions, talks, and window design displays hosted by partner organizations in Culver City, West Adams, and other LA locations. The festival's annual ICON Award goes to the multitalented architect/designer/engineer/SCI-Arc professor Elena Manferdini (see her pop exterior decor of Mei Mei Lou, Chinatown, above), who will talk about her work Thursday with Clever podcast host Amy Devers. There will plenty of design store eye-candy as well as a tour of cutting edge ADUs and a Forbidden City tour that, says organizer Mark Vallianatos, will show "how past zoning eliminated many once-popular housing types."

On Saturday DnA producer Avishay Artsy will discuss alternative architecture education here and south of the border, with architects Peter Zellner and Jorge Gracia. On Sunday, you can learn more about L.A.’s Green New Deal at a lunchtime conversation between DnA's Frances Anderton and Lauren Faber, Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Los Angeles. 

You can see a full schedule of events and locations here.

When: Awards night and fundraiser Thursday, June 20, 6 - 9 pm.  Events run June 20-23. 

Where: Various locations. 

Tickets: Fundraiser $50. You can get tickets here. Pricing varies by event; many are free.

2) Twentieth / Henzel Studio: Artist-Designed Rugs 

LA’s design gallery Twentieth  marks its 20th birthday with a partnership with Swedish luxury bespoke rug company  Henzel Studios, also turning 20.  The gallery will display artist-designed rugs by designers including Ashley Bickerton, Sanford Biggers, Jwan Yosef, Lawrence Weiner, Olaf Breuning, Bjarne Melgaard and Carsten Holler whose pieces will be making their U.S. debut (and really tie the room together). See also rugs designed by Twentieth’s owner Stefan Lawrence together with artist Daniele Albright The exhibition launches in conjunction with the LA Design Festival but will be on show all summer, at THE NEW, Twentieth’s neighboring exhibition space.

When: Launching Thursday, June 20

Where:  THE NEW Gallery (Twentieth’s neighboring exhibition space), 7466 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles 90036

Tickets: Free

3)  Preserving the City of the Future: Civic and Corporate Los Angeles in the 20th Century

As big changes come to the LACMA campus, the museum will host a two-day conference about preservation and LA's architectural legacy. Architects, historians, and preservation advocates including Linda Dishman, Barbara Bestor, Alan Hess, Wim de Wit, Frank Escher, Carolina Miranda and Kulapat Yantrasast will discuss L.A.’s 20th civic and corporate architecture. DnA's Frances Anderton will talk with historians Ken Bernstein, Eric Avila and Ruth Wallach about the nature of change in LA's urban fabric and how to achieve a balance between preservation and new building.

When: Friday-Saturday, June 21-22 

Where: LACMA's Bing Theater, 5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles 90036

Tickets: Free, however tickets are required. You can get tickets here.

4) Culture is Not Always Popular: Fifteen Years of Design Observer

Some of the brightest lights in LA graphic design -- Lorraine Wild, Sean Adams, Louise Sandhaus, Dmitri Siegel -- and Curbed's Alissa Walker join Designer Observer editor Jessica Helfand for a reflection on 15 years of writings in Design Observer, a publication dedicated "to the pursuit of originality, imagination, and close cultural analysis." This is one of the 80 design events taking place at the LA Design Festival.

When: Saturday, June 22, 4 - 6 pm

Where:  Hennessey + Ingalls, 300 South Santa Fe Avenue, Suite M, Los Angeles 90013

Tickets: Free; get more information here.

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5) Dolores Huerta Square Unveiling and Street Festival

Lifelong activist Dolores Huerta has fought for justice since founding what would become the United Farm Workers union in 1962 with César Chávez. She has continued to inspire a new generation of changemakers to advance the causes of equality and civil rights. This weekend she gets her due with the unveiling of Dolores Huerta Plaza in Boyle Heights. The 89-year-old Huerta will be on hand, along with Latinx punk icon Alice Bag and other musical acts, art and food.

When: Saturday, June 22, 12 - 4 pm

Where: Boyle Heights City Hall, 2130 E 1st St, Los Angeles 90033

Tickets: Free. More information here.