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Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc.
Fire protection engineer and fire investigator Nathan Wittasek is a vice president and principal at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger.
PROFILE
Nathan Wittasek
Guest
FROM Nathan Wittasek
Design and Architecture
Fire safety in high-rise towers The exact cause of the fatal blaze that consumed London's Grenfell Tower in the Borough of Kensington is not yet known, but the findings will be closely watched by fire safety experts, designers and builders worldwide. That includes in Los Angeles where new high-rise towers are under construction, and some older towers are being retrofitted. Grenfell Tower fire, June 14, 2017 Photo by Natalie Oxford To find out more, DnA turned to Nathan Wittasek. He is a former fireman, now a fire protection engineer who has consulted on many high rises including Wilshire Grand, LA's tallest building which opens later this week. He talks about cultural attitudes to fire prevention, the challenges of retrofitting older towers, and lessons learned from past disasters that have made US towers much safer.
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Design and Architecture
Rethinking mobility with “Flipping the Bird!” design jam Love ‘em or hate ‘em, dockless e-scooters have disrupted the cities they land in. Can "game thinking" help us think more creatively, and less reactively, about their potential? That’s the question at the heart of an event this Saturday at noon called "Flipping the Bird!" It’s a collaboration between KCRW, DnA and IndieCade, the international festival of independent games.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
MacArthur ‘Genius’ Vijay Gupta on trauma, choices, and excellence LA Phil violinist Vijay Gupta recently won a MacArthur “genius” grant. He’s known for launching Street Symphony, a nonprofit that brings classical music to Skid Row, homeless shelters, and the LA County jail. He explains that now, he can finally write his own rules and choose his own excellence. He didn’t have many choices as a kid, raised by Indian immigrant parents in New York.