This month, art meets architecture in two new museums--one temporary, the other permanent. At the Nomadic Museum, just north of Santa Monica Pier, architect Shigeru Ban created a monumental temple for art photography out of shipping containers and columns made of paper chips. At the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, Machado and Silvetti have transformed a faux Roman villa into a museum of antiquities and an art object in itself. We hear from both architects. Plus, figuring out how to use all those gadgets you received this past holiday. And LA City Council President Eric Garcetti kicks off a new feature, a personal look at favorite LA buildings.
Calendar of Design and Architecture Events
NEW LISTINGS:
Please note that all calendar information is listed by closing date. Provided to us by presenting institutions, it can be subject to change or cancellation, so please confirm all information with presenting organizations.
Save the Planet with Chris Hacker: January 24
The sustainable design expert discusses how it's possible to make environmentally-sound design choices for global brands. Hacker is the former Vice President of Design for Aveda and winner of the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt Design Award.
MOCA Grand Avenue, Downtown
The Getty Villa: Opens January 28
The recently restored Roman-inspired estate reopens as an educational center and museum surrounded by stunning gardens and grounds. Tickets to the villa are free, but you must reserve them ahead of time online or calling 310-440-7300. Open Thursday through Monday, in Pacific Palisades.
LA Design Week: March 26-30
Five days of events, open houses, and exhibits showcasing the city's rich and varied design and interior decorating resources---plus a sand castle competition. See the website for a complete listing of events and prices.
Downtown, Santa Monica and West Hollywood.
Dark Places: Through April 22
The experimental architecture collective servo designed this exhibit that features 75 artists, designers and architects exploring how "phantom memories" distort our sense of social spaces. Guest curated by Joshua Decter.
Santa Monica Museum of Art, Bergamot Station; Tuesday through Saturday
Ashes and Snow at the Nomadic Museum: Through May 14
Shigeru Ban built a 56,000 square-foot temporary structure for 100 large-scale photographic works and three 35-mm films by Gregory Colbert featuring poetic interactions between humans and animals. Hours and prices online; Santa Monica Pier
Cameron Sinclair in conversation with Laura Moorhead: March 1, 7pm
Cameron Sinclair is Executive Director of Architecture for Humanity and author of Design Like You Give a Damn. Laura Moorhead is Senior Editor of Wired magazine. Together they explore the notion of disaster as an opportunity for sustainable development, rather than a temporary band-aid for those in crisis.
Central Library * Mark Taper Auditorium, Fifth & Flower Streets, Downtown Los Angeles. For more information go online or call 213-228-7025.
CONTINUED LISTINGS:
Julius Shulman: Modernity and the Metropolis: Through January 22
The photographer's 95th birthday is celebrated with a phenomenal collection of his iconic images that glamorized the emerging modern architecture and innovation of Los Angeles. The Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Masters of American Comics: Through March 12
Two-part show featuring 15 of the last century's most influential comic artists is open at both MOCA Grand Avenue (Downtown) and the Hammer Museum (Westwood). On January 22, author Michael Dooley leads a tour of the MOCA exhibit. Several weeks of comics and graphic novel programming are scheduled at the Hammer.
Building for Bacchus: The New Wine Architecture: Through March 20
Thirty photographs by Erhard Pfeiffer, selected from Michael Webb's Adventurous Wine Architecture, feature exceptional new establishments from the major winegrowing regions of the world.
Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts in Napa, California
Links to other institutions offering public events in design and architecture:AIGA/LA, American Institute of Graphic Arts, the professional association for designArtCenter College of DesignCalArts, California Institute of the ArtsFIDM, Fashion Institute of Design and MerchandisingLA Forum for Architecture and Urban DesignLACMA, Los Angeles County Museum of ArtMOCA, Museum of Contemporary ArtOtis College of Art and DesignSCI-Arc, Southern California Institute of ArchitectureUCLA School of Art and ArchitectureUSC School of Architecture