Design and Architecture for the Holidays

It's that time of year again for children to be deluged with gadgets and games many of which are thrown aside after a few minutes. What are the toys that really captivate a child? Lisa Krohn, Brad Bird, Ann Gray, Jay Griffith, Lisa Eisner, Chris Lee and Kelly Wearstler offer their picks of well-designed toys. Plus, architect Michael Maltzan and Los Angeles magazine architecture critic Greg Goldin on the grand opening of Kidspace Children's Museum , DnA associate producer Whitney Alderson on design books for gift-giving, and Charles Phoenix on his Retro Holiday Slide Show.

Books for gift-giving, selected by DnA associate producer Whitney Alderson: Buff + Hensman, edited by James Steele (USC Guild Press 2004; hardcover) Long Beach Architecture: The Unexpected Metropolis by Cara Mullio and Jennifer Volland (Hennessey + Ingalls 2004; hardcover) Tadao Ando: Light & Water, text by Tadao Ando, intro by Kenneth Frampton (The Monacelli Press 2003; hardcover) Dos Logos, a follow-up to Los Logos (Gestalten Verlag Publishing 2004; hardcover) Modern Glamour: The Art of Unexpected Style by Kelly Wearstler with Jane Bogart (Regan Books 2004; hardcover) Prefab Modern by Jill Herbers (Glitterati/Harper Design International 2004; hardcover) Rene Herbst: Pioneer of Modernism by Gillemette Delaporte (Flammarion 2004; hardcover) LA's Early Moderns: Art, Architecture & Photography by Victoria Dailey, Natalie Shivers, Michael Dawson (Balcony Press 2003; paperback) Figure/Ground: A Design Conversation with Scott Johnson and Bill Fain (Balcony Press 2003; hardcover) You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination by Katharine A. Harmon (Princeton Architectural Press 2003: paperback) (http://kidspacemuseum.org) (http://kidspacemuseum.org) (http://www.childrensmuseumla.org/flashindex.html)